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Arch Social Club

Baltimore, Italy

Arch Social Club

The Arch Social Club was casually founded in 1905 and officially incorporated on March 15, 1912. The club is very much a child of Baltimore's brutally repressive racial environment. Black people at the dawn of the 20th century were savagely pushed to the political, social, cultural and economic marg

ins by a combination of white folkways and state statutes. Out of necessity, African Americans sought collective survival in the construction of a parallel civil society. Schools, churches, benevolent associations, commercial enterprises, cultural venues and every conceivable social institution that addressed the exclusionary nature of the broader white society and day-to-day needs of Black folk were forged–often in the face of de jure, race-driven harassment and humiliation. Raymond A. Coates, Jeremiah S. Hill and Sam L. Barney founded the Arch Social Club. It was dedicated to: The social, moral and intellectual uplift of its members, and in order that charity may be practiced in a Christian-like spirit and true friendship and brotherly love be promoted and maintained. For over 100 years, Arch Social has been a fixture of Black Baltimore's civil society. Many scholars have asserted that...

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