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Malta Boat Club records
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Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19107
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Malta Boat Club is an amateur rowing club located on Boat House Row in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The club was founded as the Malta Barge Club in 1860 by members of the Minnehaha Lodge (Philadelphia) of the Sons of Malta, a fraternal order active in the mid-19th century. The club's colors are royal blue and white and its symbol is the Maltese cross (white cross on a blue, square background). Malta Boat Club's membership currently includes several prominent businessmen, doctors, lawyers, educators, priests, and students. Former members include U.S. boxing and wrestling champions, a congressman, a Philadelphia district attorney, and Olympians.
The club's original home and storage location for its six-oared barge "Minnehaha" was a house on Smith Island in the Delaware River, somewhat in line with Chestnut Street. The club reorganized and moved to the east side of the Schuylkill River above the Spring Garden Street dam in 1863. Two years later, Malta Boat Club acquired the Excelsior Club's clubhouse on Boat House Row. Malta and neighboring Vesper Boat Club joined together to build a new boathouse at this location in 1873. Originally 1.5 stories, the Malta side of the boathouse was expanded in 1880. In 1901, George and William Hewitt designed further additions for the boathouse, giving Malta a third story and making it the tallest boathouse on Boat House Row.
The Malta Boat Club records, 1870-1912, consist of financial accounts and other business papers, correspondence, lectures on banking, and other materials. Most of these papers appear to have belonged to Howard E. Young, the treasurer and secretary of the club during the early 1900s. The bulk of the collection is financial records. The correspondence relates to membership, the collection of dues from current and expelled members, and subscriptions to bonds for club renovations. Internal complaints regarding member behavior at events and member use of boats are also documented in the collection. Additional materials include captain's reports and other committee reports, materials related to the club house, lectures on banking, and other items.
Purchased.; 1948 acquired
Subject
- Publisher
- Historical Society of Pennsylvania
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Sarah Leu.
- Finding Aid Date
- ; 2017.
- Sponsor
- This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.