Guide to the Beacon Lodge Records, 1840-1966, undated

North Kingstown Free Library
100 Boone Street
North Kingstown, RI 02852
Tel: 401-294-3306
email:nkiref@nklibrary.org

Published in 2018

Collection Overview

Title:	Beacon Lodge Records
Date range:	1840-1966, undated
Creator:	Beacon Lodge No. 38, Independent Order of Odd Fellows
Extent:	4 linear ft.
Abstract:	This collection is comprised of the organizational records of the Beacon Lodge No. 38, the North Kingstown encampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and includes meeting minutes, membership lists, treasurer reports, statistical reports, visitor records, correspondence, newsletters and other records of the organization.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	North Kingstown Free Library
Collection number:	2010.13

Scope & content

This collection is comprised of the organizational records of the Beacon Lodge, including meeting minutes, lists of members, treasurer reports, statistical reports, visitor logs, newsletters, correspondence and a poster with the lodge's emblem and signatures of its officers.

Access Points

Subject Organizations

• Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Beacon Lodge, No. 38.

Subject Topics

• North Kingstown (R.I) -- History
• Independent Order of Odd Fellows--Rhode Island -- North Kingstown

Geographical Names

• North Kingstown (R.I.)

Subject Topics

• Social Life and Customs

Document Types

• administrative records
• correspondence
• membership lists
• minute books
• minutes (administrative records)

Arrangement

Most of this collection consists of unboxed administrative books, which have been arranged by type and then date. Loose materials have been boxed and arranged by date, with the exception of the 1874 poster which is rolled and housed on the same shelf as the rest of the collection.

Administrative History

Beacon Lodge No. 38 was the Wickford, RI encampment of the international fraternal organization The Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In 1884, a coalition of fraternal organizations including the Beacon Lodge built a hall at 90 Phillips Street in Wickford which was known as Odd Fellows Hall. The fraternal groups held meetings and events in this hall until the early 1900s when the hall became the home of solely the Beacon Lodge. Other groups in town also used the hall for other purposes, such as the High School's graduation ceremonies. By the early 1950s, membership of the Beacon Lodge had dwindled to the point where the group disbanded and the remaining members joined the East Greenwich chapter of the I.O.O.F., the Harmony Lodge. When the Harmony Lodge moved out of its East Greenwich headquarters in 2010, the records the Beacon Lodge records they were holding were donated to the library.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	This collection is open under the rules and regulations of the North Kingstown Free Library.
Use of the materials:	Copyright has not been assigned to North Kingstown Free Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be obtained by the researcher from the copyright holder.
Preferred citation:	[item title], Beacon Lodge records, 2010.13, North Kingstown Free Library. North Kingstown, Rhode Island.
Contact information:	North Kingstown Free Library 100 Boone Street North Kingstown, RI 02852 Tel: 401-294-3306 email:nkiref@nklibrary.org

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	Gift of the Harmony Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 2010.
Custodial history:	Rachel Peirce transferred these materials to the library on behalf of the Harmony Lodge, the I.O.O.F. encampment of East Greenwich, Rhode Island.
Accruals:	No accruals are expected.
Processing information:	The collection was initially processed by Linda Caisse in 2010, with further processing done by Tom Frawley in April, 2018.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Tom Frawley.
Encoding:	Finding aid encoded by Tom Frawley 2018 November 21
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard(DACS).

Additional Information

Inventory

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