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Undaunted by the Great Depression, in 1933, four ladies—Mrs. Walter Kelly, Mrs. B. Roberts Neubauer, Mrs. Hadden Snead, and Miss Louise Payne—gathered to launch the Lynchburg Antiquarian Club. We do not know where they met. The minutes
of the meeting, if they ever existed, did
not survive. What we do know is that they adopted this broad directive: “To study the artistry and spirit of our forefathers.” Over the years that aim has been demonstrated by investigations and presentations spanning
a wide range of topics. It has inspired programs, projects, field trips, and fund-
raising events. LYNCHBURG
By 1937, the earliest surviving membership list reveals that the first four ladies had been joined by sixteen others to honor the “artistry and spirit” of former times. These early Antiquarians were women whose talents and credentials were impressive. The plucky founding group had also acquired a clubhouse.
Lynchburg Antiquarians had a fifteen-year jump on Richmonders in establishing an antiquarian organization. The Lynchburg Antiquarian Club minutes of April 1948 report that “an Antiquarian Society has been formed in Richmond.” The following year, Lynchburg’s Mrs. E. Alban Watson
visited the Virginia Museum in Richmond, where the new Antiquarian Society had three rooms of period furniture and furnishings displayed.
By the time the Richmond group was formed, Lynchburg had already mounted a couple of exhibits, presented several prominent speakers, and informed themselves and others on various subjects.
It is interesting to ponder just why Lynchburg was the early inaugurator of an antiquarian club. Perhaps, in those lean days as the country climbed out of the Depression, an appreciation of the “artistry of forefathers” was a pursuit that could still be enjoyed. These were women, who, in spite of their shrinking budgets, were daily acquainted with handsome furniture, fine paintings, graceful Lynchburg-made silver, and
Antiquarian Club
The First Twenty-five Years: 1933-1956 BY JESSICA BEMIS WARD
26 LYNCH’S FERRY
Surrender of General Lee to General Grant, April
9, 1865. This painting by L. M. D. Guillaume was obtained for the McLean House in Appomattox with the help of a contribution from the Antiquarians.
grand architecture acquired during the city’s great prosperity in the mid-nineteenth century.
However they managed, the first Antiquarians set patterns which have been largely followed for nearly eighty years. The female-only membership has been limited to thirty, a number small enough to be accommodated in the home of a hostess. The program of the day was developed and presented by the hostess or by a guest authority. At the end of the business session and program, the earliest minutes repeatedly report that “a delightful social hour followed.”
Business seems to have been conducted with a happy blend of Roberts Rules and good manners. For the first couple of decades, members’ presences and absences were noted on
a hand-drawn chart. At one point, at the November 1938 meeting, when there had been slack attendance, there was a motion to “have the roll-call again put into use.” Members