Mar 24, 2022 - Sale 2598

Sale 2598 - Lot 274

Unsold
Estimate: $ 500 - $ 750
(FRATERNAL.) Pennant for Louisville's elite Menelek Club. Felt pennant, 11 x 26 3/4 inches, with letters sewn on; lacking upper tie, several small holes, somewhat faded and discolored. Louisville, KY, circa late 1920s
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Additional Details

The Menelek Club, named after an emperor of Ethiopia, had a short window as the center of Louisville's high society. Its formal opening was on 1 July 1926, and it was frequently discussed in the "Louisville's Elite" column of the Pittsburgh Courier for the next three years. On 22 January 1927, they announced that "the Menelek Club is rapidly becoming the social center of many of the prominent young men of Louisville." On 7 September 1929, they held a "grand reception and ball" and "the name Menelek Club like a magnet attracted the elite from far and near." We find only one mention of the club's activities after the Great Depression hit in October 1929, when they hosted a dinner for the Kentucky Negro Education Association in 1932.