There are businesses and organizations in this old town that have withstood the test of time.
And then there’s The Book Club.
You might call it an institution.
“The Book Club was established in Fayetteville, North Carolina, in 1894 and has been continuously active since that time,” says Sarah Kirkgard, a summer intern with the State Archives of North Carolina in Raleigh. Kirkgard joined with Elizabeth Bates to restore historical memorabilia for the club that was unveiled Dec. 5, when members met to celebrate its 130th anniversary at the Highland Presbyterian Church fellowship hall.
Talk about longevity.
The club, according to Kirkgard, was organized by Lavinia Rutherford McKelway (Smith) who was married to the pastor of First Presbyterian Church downtown, and Mrs. J.H. Edwards, wife of the pastor of First Presbyterian Church.
“Mrs. McKelway conceived of the idea of forming a book club after a visit to Charlotte, where she attended a meeting of a local book club,” Kirkgard writes. “Upon her return to Fayetteville, she found that there were several women who were interested in her idea, and The Book Club was born.”
The first meeting, according to Kirkgard, was held at the First Presbyterian Church manse. Charter members were Mrs. R.A. Sutherland, Mrs. Neil Ray, Mrs. T.M. Hunter, Mrs. A.S. Huske, Mrs. B.R. Huske, Mrs. T. J. Whitted, Edwards and McKelway. Mrs. A.S. Huske, who died in 1952, was the last surviving charter member.
Just to give you an idea of American life in 1894, Grover Cleveland was the U.S. president; Republicans dominated the U.S. House of Representatives; and Coca-Cola began selling the soft drink in bottles. Don’t get the idea that old Bill has knowledge of everything happening in 1894, but the internet is a reasonable source of reference. But Bill does know The Book Club was founded in 1894, and it has been something of a generational membership with daughters and granddaughters following in the footsteps of their mothers and grandmothers in preserving the club’s existence.
Gillie Revelle is the oldest active member of the club today, serving as its vice president. She reminded the club at the Dec. 5 anniversary tea about how she was proud to follow her late mother in the club. She likely could have spent an hour telling us about the club’s history, but the tea was brewing.
There’s no telling how many books have been read and discussed in 130 years, but records and minutes discovered by Marian Boyette and her brother, Ted Lepper, tell us that there have been discussions of book authors, M. deRosset’s “famous brandied peaches” and one meeting, according to the 1978 minutes, about “a lively discussion concerning Fayetteville’s problems and their solutions.”
Restoration of club records
The club’s meeting on Dec. 5 wasn’t just a celebration of its 130 years, but a celebration, too, of restoring old club records and history, courtesy of Kirkgard, the summer intern with the State Archives of North Carolina. Kirkgard is a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Information and Library Science.
Kirkgard took boxes and boxes of the club’s history that Marian Boyette and her brother located in the attic at the home of their late mother, Barbara Lepper, and Kirkgard preserved degrading material such as newspaper clippings, refurbishing discolored items and restoring fragile items, including historical photographs.
The club, you cannot argue, has staying power.
In-person meetings were suspended from February through May of 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, although the club says it resumed in-person meetings in May 2021. Club members will tell you they miss “vibrant members” who have passed on in recent years, including Charlotte Nagel in 2019, May Hunter Cromartie, Lee Peters and Patricia Schaefer in 2020, Barbara Lepper in 2022 and Mary Fant Everett in 2023.
Epilogue
Susan Bender, Sharon Coker, Carolyn Dawson, Bettie Downing, Laura Downing, Kensley Edge, Noel Harris, Cathryn Helms, Kris Johnson, Marilyn Kiser, Carolyn Lancaster, Parker Lindsay, Mary Beth McCoy, Leigh Anne McLean, Clara Moffiff, Mary Erwin Olive, Susan Staten, Cheryl Warren, Marian Boyette and Gillie Revelle today carry on the club legacy. Olive is the current club president.
The Book Club is an institution in Fayetteville, and these ladies surely know how to serve a spot of hot tea in a cup of fine china.
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
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