MNHS has information about members and activities of a variety of organizations: social, ethnic, fraternal, patriotic, and service-oriented. Here are a few specifically Black organizations. Check the online catalog for other organizations your ancestors may have been involved in.
Credjafawn Social Club (St. Paul)
Social club founded by Carolyn Johnson, Ruth Gillam, Evalyn Kelly, Lydia Jones, Huron Julian Shelton, Georgia Lee McCright, Fern Pope, Lonnie Carter, John Lawrence, and Nilee Luckie.
Records, 1927-1971
Constitution, officer and member lists, minutes, reports, financial records, correspondence, announcements, and other papers relating chiefly to the social activities of this Black recreational club founded in 1928. Included also are some personal papers of club founder John R. Lawrence, and some financial records of the Club’s Credjafawn Credit Union.
MNHS call number: Digital Finding Aid
50th Anniversary, 1927-1977.
MNHS call number: F613 .S9 A245 1977
A Chronicled History of the Credjafawn Club, by John Lawrence.
A 5-page typescript, probably written in 1939.
MNHS call number: F613 .S9 A246 1939z
John Banks Photograph Collection, ca. 1927-1965
Views of John Banks and his wife Corabelle documenting their social and recreational activities with their friends, including the Credjafawn Social Club.
MNHS call number: Sound and Visual Collection I.202
William J. Gardner Photograph Collection, ca. 1910-1956
Views of William and Ida Gardner, their family and friends, including the Credjafawn Social Club in 1927.
MNHS call number: Sound and Visual Collection I.108
Prince Hall Grand Lodge (Minneapolis)
Records, 1943-1992
Photocopies of the constitution and bylaws (1951), manual of official protocol, programs, speeches, histories, a resume, a photograph, correspondence, and a proclamation related to an African-American Masonic lodge in Minneapolis.
MNHS call number: See the finding aid in the library (P1989).
TSTC
Records, 1901-1998
Miscellaneous papers, scrapbook, and cashbook documenting a Twin Cities African-American men’s social club founded in 1896.
MNHS call number: See the finding aid in the library (P2585).
Gale Family Library
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