Early Service Clubs

The early history of Flint, Michigan service clubs

Red Cross Volunteers producing bandages during World War II

In the late part of the 19th and early part of the 20th century, a new type of organization became popular in American life: the Service Club. Unlike earlier fraternities like Freemasonry, which focused on improving their members, service clubs were voluntary nonprofit organizations where members meet regularly and focus on performing charitable works. Some of the early clubs were based on religious organizations like the Red Cross, Salvation Army, YMCA, YWCA, and Elks. But others began primarily as social clubs or business networks like Odd Fellows, Rotary and Kiwanis which may still be the primary reason that members join. However, these social and business clubs also organized around a principle of doing good works and bettering society. It is not surprising then that Flint, MI with its booming business in the carriage industry and the rapid rise of automobile manufacturing quickly adopted some of the first chapters of service clubs as they spread.

Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.)
"Friendship, Love, and Truth"

Independent Order of Odd Fellows Vestment ca 1890 – Courtesy Sloan Museum

The Creed of the Odd Fellow:

I Am an Odd Fellow

I believe in the Fatherhood of God
and the Brotherhood of Man;
I believe in Friendship, Love and Truth
as the basic guides to the ultimate destiny of all mankind;
I believe my home, church or temple,
my lodge and my community
deserve my best work, my modest pride,
my earnest faith and my deepest loyalty,
as I perform my duty
"To Visit the Sick, Relieve the Distressed,
Bury the Dead and Educate the Orphan"
and as I work with others
to build a better world because,
in spirit and in truth, I am, and must always be,
grateful to my Creator, faithful to my Country
and Fraternal to my fellow Many;

I Am and Odd Fellow

Likely the first service club in Flint (if you don’t count the Masons) was the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Founded nationally in 1819, the Flint Chapter first met on June 1, 1847. The original members were E. H. Thomson, Charles D. Little, George N. Hazelton, Cornelius Roosevelt, S. A. Pengra, William M. Fenton, and C. H. Abbott. On July 22, 1847, the group established their charter and called themselves Genesee Lodge No. 24. It was not until 1912 that the local I.O.O.F. built their temple. On April 26, they held a dedication ceremony, which was their biggest celebration to date.

The Odd Fellows are dedicated to helping others, seeking to improve and elevate the character of man. At the organization’s beginnings, this behavior was seen as countercultural. The group was called “an odd bunch of fellows” for selflessly giving aid to those in need and looking to benefit mankind. The moniker stuck and the organization incorporated it into their name.

Young Men's Christian Association (Y.M.C.A.)

Y.M.C.A. building at 218 E. Kearsley St, August 2, 1939.

Another early service club in Flint was the Young Men’s Christian Association, (YMCA). Established nationally in 1844, the local flint chapter was founded in 1879 by a group of citizens that came together to discuss a need in their community for an organization that promoted good health and active bodies and minds. The Flint group actually started six years before Flint incorporated as a city. By 1913, Flint’s population had boomed. The Flint Daily News reported that the YMCA had become a “necessity… as part of a city that was bidding to become one of the country’s foremost automobile manufacturing centers.” A building committee of five prominent businessmen, led by Charles Stewart Mott, quickly raised over in $100,000 to construct a new clubhouse on Kearsley Street. Never before was so much money raised for a single organization in Flint. One of the YMCA’s biggest contributions to Flint area has been Camp Copneconic. Land from the camp was donated by C.S. Mott, with $45,000 donated by Carl Bonbright and $25,000 by Floyd Allen for construction of lodging on the property. This 700-acre property in Fenton has been used and enjoy for over 100 years. Since opening in 1915, Camp Copneconic has provided a fun educational environment to teach children the 5 Cs: character, camaraderie, caring, confidence, and collaboration.

Young Women's Association (Y.W.C.A.)

Similarly, the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) was founded in Flint, although starting a bit after the YMCA in 1908. In 1907, 20-year-old Nina Mills realized the need for a women’s social organization in Flint that would provide “…a place for girls to go and meet and learn and enjoy themselves.” Despite many difficulties, just one year later, the Flint Young Women’s Christian Association was established and had elected a board of directors.

Nina and Geneva Mills

Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks

In 1892, these early clubs were joined by the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks another early religious and patriotic club. It had been established nationally in 1868. On June 22, 1892, Flint Lodge No. 222 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks was officially chartered at the Grand Session in Buffalo, New York. The charter was the result of an effort by 28 local men who wanted to form a club. Among the men was GM Founder Billy Durant, who would become Flint membership number 1.

The men first met at the First National Bank Building at Kearsley and Saginaw Streets, but relocated several times before their new clubhouse was built in 1913. When construction was announced in 1912, the Flint Journal reported “The plans indicate a handsome brick building… members of the committee who have visited other cities in the state declare the new building will be one of the finest Elks’ temples in the state.” The Elks Clubhouse cost $80,000 and opened as “a place of recreation, amusement and comfortable surroundings, more than a mere place of meeting.”

Banquet honoring Billy Durant, member number 1 of the Flint Elks Club, January 28, 1937.

Some of the best-known business-related service clubs, such as Rotary, Kiwanis, The Exchange, Optimists and Lions all started between 1905 and 1915 in the industrial centers such as Chicago or Detroit. Of these, Rotary and Kiwanis quickly developed chapters in Flint shortly after being founded in other Midwest cities. Lions and Optimist came several decades later.

Rotary

Rotary or now Rotary International, was founded by Paul Harris 1905 in Chicago. The Flint Chapter started with four local businessmen who would meet regularly around Flint for lunch. According to club legend, a traveling salesmen noticed the group and remarked that the Flint businessman has sort of a Rotary Club, to which they replied, “What is a Rotary Club?” With some assistance from the Detroit and Chicago clubs, the Flint Rotary was organized on April 7, 1916 and official chartered on May 1, 1916 with 23 members. Walter Dunkin was elected the club’s first president and by the end of the club’s 1st year, it had 60 members. The Flint Rotary then helped set up and charter other Rotary groups around Genesee County. Rotary focused on helping ill or disabled children setting up rides to hospitals. “If anyone is going to do anything on earth to improve humanity, doing something for children is a good place to start.” Flint Rotarian Charles Stewart Mott, 1939.

Rotary Bell – This bell is rung at the beginning of every Flint Rotary meeting.

Kiwanis Club

Kiwanis Club similarly served children. The fist Kiwanis Club was founded in Detroit in 1915 and the Kiwanis Club of Flint started only 2 years later in April 1917. The initial name of the organization was “Supreme Lodge Benevolent Order Brothers” but was officially changed to Kiwanis shortly thereafter. The term Kiwanis is from a Native American phrase “NunKeewan-is” or “We Trade.” The club motto of “We Build” was solidified in 1920.
The Kiwanis Club of Flint was instrumental in a number of early Flint projects. They organized 5,000 Flint citizens in 1917 to clean up the site of the former Atwood Lumber Mill. In 1927, Edwin Atwood presented the City with a check to build a park in his father’s name, and construction of Atwood Stadium began. In 1919 Kiwanis built the new mess hall at the Fenton Boy Scout camp, Camp Copeneconic. Kiwanis has also been involved in many city beautification efforts, including in 1923 member Harry Black had and idea for a reforestation project and the club planted 61,000 seedlings on 40 acres of city-owned land on West Pasadena Ave that became “Kiwanis Forest”. This expanded to planting 2,500 seedlings in the Huron National Forest and with other clubs they planted a forest that grew to cover 10,000 acres. Kiwanis also established Health Camp in 1928 to “help children who had had tuberculosis or who had contact with eh disease to grow strong in body by providing good, wholesome food, lot of fresh air, adequate rest, and necessary medical care.” Kiwanis was also instrumental in starting the Whaley Children’s Center’s Kiwanis House and partnered with Bobby Crim in 1977 to create a race to raise money for Special Olympics.

Flint Kiwanis Forest Tree-Planting Crew, 1923

The American Red Cross

Vintage American Red Cross poster, circa 1917, courtesy of US National Library

The American Red Cross was founded nationally earlier in 1881, but the Flint Chapter started about the same time as Rotary and Kiwanis. The American Red Cross was nationally known as for disaster relief and a soldier’s aid organization and the Flint chapter was founded as the United States drew closer to entering World War I. On March 4th, Flint’s leading citizens held what they called “a patriotic meeting” attended by 300 people at the First Baptist Church, regarding the need to create that chapter. Mrs. Clifford Bishop, who was president of a local organization of the Kings Daughters, Mrs. J.N. Buckham, and Mrs. N.C. Webster (all wives of businessmen and bankers) chaired the meeting, with J. Dallas Dort among the speakers addressing the meeting on the need for a Red Cross chapter. Just a month after that meeting in Flint, the U.S. Congress voted to declare ware on Imperial Germany. Within 10 days, the first Red Cross chapter in Flint was formally organized and within weeks several thousand people in Flint had joined volunteering to make surgical dressings and hospital garments. The Red Cross was instrumental in helping in relief efforts for the 1947 flood and with the 1953 Beecher tornado.

Each of these service clubs has contributed strongly to the fabric and community that makes up Flint today. Many of them are still very active and continue to serve and aid those in our community each with different focus. Although they may have changed significantly since their founding days the late 1800’s and early 1900’s they still carry on their original charitable missions. There are also other more recent service clubs in Flint, such as the Lions and West Flint Optimist Club that also contribute their efforts towards a better Flint.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Charles, Jeffrey A. Service Clubs in American Society. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1993.

All images provided courtesy Sloan Museum Archives

Please note, much of the original research and some of the text of this article was from an exhibit created by Heather Moore during her time at the Sloan Museum. Thanks should also go to the service clubs themselves who provided material for this exhibit.

Written by Todd Slisher, Executive Director of the Sloan-Longway