Manuscript Group 1538, Guide to the Broad Street Club Papers 1961-1991

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Descriptive Summary
Historical Note
Scope and Content Note
Access Points
Administrative Information

Container List

Diaries, Inventories, Financial Statments, Photographs and Other Documents

Guide to the Broad Street Club Papers 1961-1991
MG 1538
The New Jersey Historical Society
52 Park Place
Newark, New Jersey 07102
Contact: NJHS Library
Phone: (973) 596-8500 x249
Email: library@jerseyhistory.org
URL: https://www.jerseyhistory.org
© 2005 All rights reserved.
The New Jersey Historical Society, Publisher
Inventory prepared by Jeanette Cafaro.

Finding aid encoded by Julia Telonidis. February 2005. Production of the EAD 2002 version of this finding aid was made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Finding aid written in English.


Descriptive Summary

Creator: Broad Street Club (Newark, N.J.)
Title: Broad Street Club Papers
Dates 1961-1991
Abstract: Consists mostly of diaries, inventories, financial statments, photographs and other documentation pertaining to the Broad Street Club, a social club for prominent men, located in Newark, N.J.
Quantity: 5 linear feet/10 boxes
Collection Number: MG 1538

Historical Note

The Broad Street Club was an exclusive private dining club of prominent bankers, attorneys, politicians, and businessmen from all over New Jersey. The club catered parties and banquets for various businesses and organizations, which were held in their large dining rooms named after five counties: Essex, Morris, Middlesex, Monmouth, and Bergen. The Broad Street Club began entertaining business executives, lawyers, and bankers in 1955. Music, as well as audio and projection equipment, was available for business meetings and conferences. Members of the club also had full access to a federal, state, law, and tax accounting library located on the fourth floor of the building.

The Broad Street Club was housed on the 13th floor of the National Newark Building at 744 Broad Street in downtown Newark, New Jersey. The building was built in 1930 for the National Newark and Essex Banking Company. At the time, it was one of the country’s first skyscrapers and New Jersey’s tallest commercial tower. Membership began to decline in the 1960s when Newark’s cultural and commercial prominence began to decline.

The Broad Street Club had three sister clubs in Manhattan: The 200 Fifth Ave. Club, Inc., the 500 Club, and the 60 East Club. The Broad Street Club closed in 1991, the latest date of the records in this collection.

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Scope and Content Note

This collection consists of decades worth of records kept of the Broad Street Club from the early 1960s to the early 1990s. These records consist of various items, such as floor plans of the building, business cards, photographs of guests, menus, matchbooks, and newspaper clippings. Menu suggestions from the restaurant include detailed descriptions of various menu items. Financial statements of the club are the bulk of the collection starting from 1961 to 1985. Within the financial statements are balance sheets, comparative statements of income, and an analysis of the expenses of the Broad Street Club. Store Room inventory books are included in the collection that kept record of different types of beverages and foods purchased from 1988-91. Daily Reminder Books (1986-88) and Standard Diary Books (1986-91) kept record of how many parties were to be held for each day, menu items to be served, and appointments with clients. This collection also contains minutes of annual meetings, correspondence, guest comments, and promotion letters. The Broad Street Club probably closed during the summer of 1991 because there were no written recordings of any operation during this time or after.

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Access Points

The entries below represent persons, organizations, topics, forms, and occupations documented in this collection.
Subject Organizations:
Broad Street Club (Newark, N.J.)
Subject Topics:
Dinners and dining–New Jersey–Newark.
Upper class–New Jersey–Newark.
Subject Places:
Newark (N.J).
Newark (N.J)–Social life and customs.
Document Types:
Business records.
Diaries.
Financial statements.
Menus.
Photographs.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as: Manuscript Group 1538, Broad Street Club Papers, The New Jersey Historical Society.

Acquisition Information

Donated by Dennis L. Frost, October 1999.

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Container List

Diaries, Inventories, Financial Statments, Photographs and Other Documents
Box Title Date
1 Standard diaries 1986-1988
Box Title Date
2 Standard diaries 1989-1991
Box Title Date
3 Daily reminders 1986-1988
3 Store room inventories 1988, 1989-1991
Box Title Date
4 Store room inventories 1991
Box Folder Title Date
5 1 Financial Statements 1961-1962
5 2 Financial Statements 1963-1964
5 3 Financial Statements 1965-1966
5 4 Financial Statements 1967
5 5 Financial Statements 1968-1969
Box Folder Title Date
6 1 Financial Statements 1970-1972
6 2 Financial Statements 1973-1974
6 3 Financial Statements 1975-1976
6 4 Financial Statements 1977-1979
Box Folder Title Date
7 1 Financial Statements 1980-1981
7 2 Financial Statements 1982
7 3 Financial Statements 1983
Box Folder Title Date
8 1 Financial Statements 1984
8 2 Financial Statements 1985
8 3 Miscellaneous
8 4 Miscellaneous
Box Folder Title Date
9 1 Menu Suggestions, Menu n.d.
9 2 Menus Cont., Check Pads, Reserved Table Cards n.d.
9 3 Photographs, Floor Plans, Stationary n.d.
Box Folder Title Date
10 1 Guest Comments, Letters 1975-1991
10 2 Minutes, Correspondence, Clippings 1975-1991
10 3 Guest Book, Business Cards, Matchbooks n.d.
Box Title Date
Ledger box Handwritten inventory
ledger, listing foods and their prices.
1991
Box Title Date
OS Framed photograph, members of the
Broad Street Club
[ca. 1940s]
OS Two signs : “Breakfast Courtesy of the Broad Street Club” n.d.

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