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voted unanimously to have “excuses be shown for non-attendance.” This unanimous decision remained in place for only three months, when it was rescinded in response to the protest
of the secretary who inquired “how to apply the By-Law adopted at the November 2, 1938, meeting.”
What else do we know of the first Antiquarians? Current Antiquarians who have been members for two or three decades can remember meetings in which the older ladies arrived in suits and hats and gloves, a dress code presumed to be a holdover from the early years. We know that they were strictly formal in minutes, abiding by the convention of referring to each other by married names. The only first names we see recorded are those of the unmarried ladies.
THE PROJECTS
Early on, Antiquarians undertook special projects. In their very first year, they presented a show of some of their own treasures in the ballroom of the Virginian Hotel.
In October 1940, they staged a china exhibit at St. John’s Church as a benefit for British War Relief. The secretary reported that the show had been,
“most successful, very beautiful and most artistic in its setting,” but she also confessed that the “receipts at the door did not reach the amount hoped for.” The club sent a check for $115 to the local branch of British War Relief.
A more ambitious project was the club’s effort to find information about old portraits, paintings, and miniatures in Lynchburg. This ultimately resulted in an outstanding exhibition at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College
of locally owned eighteenth- and nineteenth-century paintings. Gathered in the art gallery on Quinlan Street
were paintings by Flavius Fisher, Louis Mathieu Didier Guillaume, James Peale, Rembrandt Peale, Thomas Sully, and George Caleb Bingham. Spearheaded by Mrs. E. Alban Watson and Mrs. J.
R. Gilliam Jr., the exhibit also featured the Surrender of General Lee to General Grant, April 9, 1865. This painting by L. M. D. Guillaume had been obtained for the McLean House in Appomattox with the help of a contribution from the Antiquarians.
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LUNCHEON GUESTS: Craig Colgate Jr., standing, addressed members of the Antiquarian Club at a Guest Day program. He and Mrs. Colgate, seated left, are shown at The Columns where they were honored guests at a luncheon. With them from left to right
are Mrs. George Flippin Jr. and Mrs. Sidney B. Loyd, president of the club. (Lib Wiley Photo)
The 1937 Membership List
Mrs. William R. Barksdale (Mary) Mrs. Samuel Chambers (Edith) Mrs. W. E. Graves (Mary)
Mrs. W. B. Harris (Ruby)
Mrs. E. C. Ivey, Jr. (Eugenia)
Mrs. John Earley Jackson (Elinore) Mrs. Walter Kelly (Emily)
Miss Josephine Kinnier
Miss Georgia Morgan
Mrs. Gordon Moore (Mary)
Mrs. William Moore, Jr. (Dorothy) Mrs. B. Roberts Neubauer (Agnes) Mrs. L. S. Nottingham (Elizabeth) Miss Louise Payne
Mrs. Paul E. Sackett (Bessie)
Mrs. Robert C. Scott (Frances Deane) Mrs. W. S. Sholes (Irene)
Mrs. Hadden Snead (Phyllis)
Mrs. John Thomasson (Margaret) Mrs. E. Alban Watson (Lucille)