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The records of the Explorers Club of Pennsylvania include club minutes and
bulletins, camp narratives, logbooks and one camp guest book, correspondence,
the charter of incorporation, by-laws, account and financial records, photograph
and scrap albums, slides, and newspaper clippings. Information concerning the
administration and events of camps is essentially complete from 1872-1988. Information
from 1950 onward is best represented, as material referring to earlier camps
and activities and does not always contain the same kind of a consistent depth
and breadth, although there are portions of handwritten narratives that discuss
earlier encampments. Much of the information comes by way of bulletins and minutes
sent to the membership that recite camp activities, decisions made by the membership,
and other club business. Other important administrative records are the charter
of incorporation and copies of the original and updated by-laws. Correspondence
is most complete from 1964 to 1981. While letters generally occur between individual
club members, the correspondence files also include Michaux Forest Association
newsletters and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources notices.
The financial records of the club are intermittent, covering inclusively the
accounts pertaining to the years 1914-1954, and 1977-1983. Insurance and lease
records exist for a period from 1960-1974. Account records and information sometimes
appears in bulletins, minutes, and committee reports, as well as occasionally
in the general correspondence. The Explorers kept a good collection of photographs
and slides of their encampments, which offers an interesting and often entertaining
glimpse of what an Explorers camp was like. Of particular interest are the photograph
albums of early encampments beginning around 1904 and the collection of slides
covering the years 1958-1977. Membership albums contain photographs of each
member. Numerous scrapbooks contain news clippings and information pertaining
to a variety of activities, camp related and not, from 1884-mid-1940's.
The records are arranged in subgroups. Administrative and financial records
make up two subgroups, and photographic records constitute a third. Within these
subgroups, records are arranged in series based on the type of file or subject.
The file organization of the Explorers Club has been maintained as accurately
as possible. Within the series, records are arranged chronologically.
As a result of time and wear, some nitrate photographic negatives were destroyed.
However, these negatives all had corresponding photographs, so no images were
lost permanently.
ADMINSTRATIVE RECORDS
FINANCIAL RECORDS
PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORDS
PA State Archives | Hours, Directions, & Fees | Research Topics | Online Catalog | Land Records |