Cosmopolitan Club records, 1916-1970, bulk 1922-1958
A Guide to its records at the Indiana University Archives
Kate Ball
Electronic finding aid encoded by Beth
Benda.
Summary Information
Repository
Indiana University Archives
1320 East Tenth Street
Herman B Wells Library E460
Bloomington, IN 47405-7000
Phone: 812-855-1127
Email: archives@indiana.edu
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/archives
Creator
Association of Cosmopolitan Clubs in the
American Universities. Indiana University Chapter.
TitleCosmopolitan Club records, 1916-1970, bulk 1922-1958
Collection No.
C237
Extent
.6 cubic feet (1 box and 2 oversize folders)
Language
Materials are in English.
Abstract
The Indiana University Cosmopolitan Club
was founded in 1916 and received its charter from the Corda Fratres Association of
Cosmopolitan Clubs in 1918. The Club was dedicated to fostering understanding and
fraternity between foreign and American students in order to promote international
cooperation and peace. The collection consists of correspondence, programs, financial
records, membership lists, and newspaper clippings. Also included are publications,
including issues of the Club newsletter, the Cosmo reporter.
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for research.
Advance notice is required.
Historical Note
The Corda Fratres Association of Cosmopolitan Clubs was founded at the University of
Wisconsin in 1904, out of an International Club that had formed in 1903. The Corda
Fratres Association of Cosmopolitan Clubs began to expand to other Universities and
started to hold national conventions of the Cosmopolitan Club chapters in 1907. The
first convention was held at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. A Cosmopolitan Club
member from the University of Wisconsin, Louis Luchner, wrote to President Bryan in
October and November of 1907, inviting Indiana University to form an International or
Cosmopolitan Club in order to attend the first convention.
This attempt was unsuccessful; however, an Indiana University chapter of the
Cosmopolitan Club was founded nine years later, on November 19, 1916, by 12
international students. The original constitutional committee consisted of: T.V.
Petranoff (Bulgaria), Heinman Blatt (Russia), Y. Kodera (Japan), and Club President,
J.T. Hsi (China). The Indiana University Cosmopolitan Club adopted a constitution on
December 9, 1916 and received a charter from the Corda Fratres Association of
Cosmopolitan Clubs on January 1, 1918.
On December 26-29, 1923, Indiana University hosted the 17th annual National Convention
with 77 delegates of 15 different nationalities registered in attendance. This same
year, the Indiana University chapter was the executive chapter for all Cosmopolitan
Clubs in the United States. In conjunction with this honor, I.U. history professor, Dr.
James A. Woodburn, was elected national president of the Corda Fratres Association of
Cosmopolitan Clubs. Additional Cosmopolitan Club faculty advisors of note at Indiana
University include Leo R. Dowling in the 1940’s and Walter E. Burnham in the 1950’s and
1960’s.
As illustrated by the club motto, “Above all nations is humanity,” the Cosmopolitan Club
was founded to foster understanding and fraternity between foreign and American
students, in order to promote international cooperation and world peace. Throughout its
existence at Indiana University, the Cosmopolitan Club strove to maintain a 50/50
balance of U.S. and international members. By 1965, the club membership roster for the
Indiana University chapter documented a membership of 515 individuals, representing 54
different countries.
On March 25, 1922, the
Indiana Daily Student reported on
the first ‘International Revue’ (held March 24, 1922), marking the beginning of the
Cosmopolitan Club’s long tradition of presenting international dance, music and culture
to the Indiana University community. The international performances and socials led to
the development of an annual International Dinner, coinciding with a week of exhibitions
and activities celebrating the United Nations. The first of these dinners was held in
1953 and they continued for 16 years. The International Dinner proved to be one of the
most popular and widely attended activities of the club.
Through out the 1950’s and early 1960’s, interest in the Cosmopolitan Club remained
high, as illustrated by events programming, newsletters, and membership rosters. By
1969, however, events and publications had waned and only 6 members were pictured in the
Arbutus yearbook. 1969 was the last year the club was pictured in the Arbutus, but the
collection contains an invitation to the 1970 International Dinner, indicating that the
club remained active after ceasing to appear in the Arbutus. This document, dated
February 12, 1970, is the last transaction of Cosmopolitan Club activity in the
collection.
Arrangement
Organized into two series: Subject files and Scrapbook.
Scope and Content Note
This collection documents the formation and activities of the Indiana University
Cosmopolitan Club chapter from 1916-1970, with most of the material dating from the
1920s through the 1960s. Types of material in the collection include meeting minutes,
constitutions, and by-laws; newspaper clippings, correspondence, event programs and
invitations, financial reports, membership directories. Similar material is contained in
a disassembled scrapbook (1921-1943) of clippings, photographs, meeting minutes,
membership rosters, financial records, club constitution and by-laws, event programs and
posters, and correspondence. Publications in the collection include an incomplete run of
the Cosmo Reporter, the official newsletter of the IU Cosmopolitan Club chapter, the
issues of which contain news and announcements and interest pieces on specific students
and other countries and cultures.
The collection is organized into two series: Subject files and Scrapbook.
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Indexing Terms
-
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
IUCAT, the IU Libraries' online
catalog. Materials about related topics, persons or places can be found by searching the
catalog using these terms.
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Separated Material
Duplicates removed from collection.
Related Material
Related photographs may be available in the IU
Archives Photograph
Collection
.
The IU Archives also holds an additional Cosmopolitan Club scrapbook (Accession 0195),
which could not be located at the time of processing.
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
Accession 0454, reference files, and publications
Usage RestrictionsCopyrights for records originating with Indiana University administrative units,
departments, and other offices are held by the Trustees of Indiana University. For
more information, please contact the Indiana University Archives staff.
The Indiana University Archives respects the intellectual property rights of others
and does not claim any copyrights for non-university records, materials in the public
domain, or materials for which we do not hold a Deed of Gift. Responsibility for the
determination of the copyright status of these materials rests with those persons
wishing to reuse the materials. Researchers are responsible for securing permission
from copyright owners and any other rights holders for any reuse of these materials
that extends beyond fair use or other statutory limitations.
Digital reproductions of archival materials from the Indiana University Archives are
made available for noncommercial educational and research purposes only. If you are
the copyright holder for any of the digitized materials and have questions about its
inclusion on our site, please contact the Indiana University Archivist.
Preferred Citation
[Item], Cosmopolitan Club records, Collection C237, Indiana University Archives,
Bloomington.
Processing InformationProcessed by Kate Ball
Completed in 2004.
Cosmopolitan Club of Indiana University charter added to the collection in May 2018 by Mary Mellon.
Series:
Subject Files, 1916-1970,
undated
Box 1
Administrative documents, 1924-1941,
undated
![[image]](images/image_icon.gif)
View item(s)
Scope and Content Note
This file include extracts of meeting minutes from February to April, 1924 and
May 1925; a 1924 club initiation ritual; and various drafts of the national and
local Cosmopolitan Club constitutions and by-laws.
Box OS5
Charter, Cosmopolitan Club of Indiana University, January 1, 1918
(oversize)
View item(s)
Box 1
Clippings, 1916-1958,
undated
View item(s)
Scope and Content Note
This file contains
Indiana Daily Student
articles that cover the formation and activities of the Cosmopolitan Club as
well as interest stories about international students and international issues,
in general.
Correspondence, 1922-1967,
undated
Scope and Content Note
This file contains communication between club officers and members; the faculty
advisors, Leo R. Dowling and Walter E. Burnham; participants in events, such as
the International Dinner; and general correspondence informing members of
meetings and events.
View item(s)
Corda Fratres Association of Cosmopolitan Clubs publications, 1922-1923 and circa
1920s
View item(s)
Cosmo Reporter newsletter,
Events, 1922-1970,
undated
Scope and Content Note
The Events file includes programs for various events, including the first
International Revue, March 24, 1922 and the 17th annual convention of the Corda
Fratres Association. It also contains invitations to numerous events, such as
the International Dinners, Movie Nights; receptions; open houses; and meetings.
There is also a great deal of planning material related to the International
Dinners, including committee reports, hand-written notes, tickets, and flyers.
Additional items of interest in this file are a guestbook from the 1923
convention and schedules of several trips arranged by the Cosmopolitan Club in
the 1950s.
View item(s)
Financial records, 1922-1958,
undated
Scope and Content Note
The Financial records file includes one receipt from 1922, a preliminary draft
of a financial summary for January through May 1923, two documents from 1924
and 1928 relating to the Cosmopolitan Club Loan Fund for foreign students, a
ledger and treasury report from 1955, a financial report for the 1957-1958
school year, instructions to treasurers of student organizations, and an
undated, hand-written account of members who paid for a picnic event.
View item(s)
Miscellaneous publications and drafts, 1922-1965,
undated
View item(s)
Series:
Scrapbook, 1921-1943,
undated
Scope and Content Note
This series consists of the remains of an original scrapbook. This scrapbook has
been disassembled and partially photocopied due to poor condition and
acidification, so facsimiles of newspaper clippings from 1921-1928 and some pages
of the scrapbook follow the original items. These remaining original items include
photographs, meeting minutes, membership rosters, financial records, the
constitution and by-laws, event programs and posters, and correspondence –
including a condolence letter to first lady, Mrs. Warren G. Harding, upon the
death of the President and a response from the White House.
Box OS3
Posters, 1923, 1945
(oversize)
View item(s)
International Revue by the Cosmopolitan Club:
"The Phoenix"
, 1923
"Good Will Show"
, 1945
