Association of Cosmopolitan Clubs in the American Universities

The Cosmopolitan Club of the University of Illinois was founded as an independent organization in 1906, when it adopted its original constitution, and joined the Association of Cosmopolitan Clubs, of which it was a charter member, in 1907. 1 According to the 1909 Cosmopolitan Annual of the Association of Cosmopolitan Clubs, The Association of Cosmopolitan clubs was organized in December, 1907, when the constitution and by-laws printed [...] were adopted by delegates of the eight charter chapters assembled in convention at Madison, Wisconsin. By February, 1908, the constitution and by-laws had been unanimously ratified by these eight chapters. An informal organization, however, was effected between the Wisconsin International club and the Cornell Cosmopolitan club as early as October, 1906, and the clubs founded between that date and the Madison convention may be said to have joined this tentative organization to the extent of adopting the designation of chapters of an Association of the Cosmopolitan clubs, co-operating to some extent in propaganda work, and exchanging occasional letters. 2 The histories published by the University of Illinois Cosmopolitan Club use 1907, the date of the founding of the Association of Cosmopolitan Clubs in Wisconsin, as the founding date of the local organization. 3 The local chapter has been called alternately Association of Cosmopolitan Clubs 4 and simply the Cosmopolitan Club.

1 Cosmopolitan Annual, 1909, p. 117 RS 26/20/30; Constitution of the Cosmopolitan Club, University of Illinois, 1910, RS 41/64/8.

2 Cosmopolitan Annual, 1909, p. 117-118.

3 Notes on the History of the Cosmopolitan Club, adapted from a text by Prof. Alan K. Laing, http://www.prairienet.org/cosmo/history/html, 1996.

4 See, for example, The Illio, 1920, p. 156-157.

From the guide to the Association of Cosmopolitan Clubs Records, 1908-1929, 1939-1944, 1949-2009, (University of Illinois Archives)