Washington Irving, the First American Man of Letters, 1981 June 1

Series II, Papers Presented by Members, contains autograph manuscript, typescript, and printed essays presented since 1869 by more than sixty members of the club. The papers consider local, national, and international aspects of diverse topics in politics, fine art and artists, religion, medicine, literature, history, cuisine, sports, commerce and industry, ranging from the broad (war and peace) to the specific (the history of the corkscrew). A favorite theme is life in Hartford and Connecticut in bygone days, and a number of papers feature first-person remembrances of electric automobiles in Hartford at the turn of the twentieth century, social life in various neighborhoods, family narratives constructed from ancestors’ letters, and tributes to mentors and other influencers in the essayists' lives.

The topic of each month's paper is chosen by the essayist, and the author is requested to provide a copy of his paper to the club secretary for the club's records. While there are a few papers dating from the nineteenth century (particularly those of Frank Woodbridge Cheney and Charles Hopkins Clark dating from 1880) the majority of the writings are from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The earliest paper in the series was written in 1869 by James Hammond Trumbull; the original manuscript is in the Connecticut Historical Society and a twentieth-century photocopy is present in the club's files.

In addition, readers consulting the two published histories of the club in Series I will find a complete listing of all papers presented by the members since the founding, as taken from the club's minute books. It is important to note that most of the papers listed, such as those in Frances Goodwin's 1970 history, are not present in the records as they exist today.

Paper titles given below are taken from the paper on file, regardless of what published club histories have recorded. Titles given in [brackets] indicate that no title appears on the paper.