Wilmington Expresses Appreciation To The Historic Monday Club For Supporting Wilmington's Beautiful City Efforts

Wilmington DE

11 June, 2022

3:58 PM

Description

Press release from the City of Wilmington: June 9, 2022 Club members will beautify three East Side locations tomorrow Club members will beautify three East Side locations tomorrow Club members will beautify three East Side locations tomorrow Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki and City Parks and Recreation Director Ian Smith today expressed the City's thanks and appreciation to members of the City's historic Monday Club for scheduling three beautification projects for tomorrow on the City's East Side. The Mayor said the Monday Club's community service efforts will support Wilmington's Beautiful City Program which has been underway since 2017 to keep neighborhoods and streets cleaner and more beautiful. The Monday Club, founded in Wilmington in 1876, is the oldest Black Men's Social Club in Delaware and is believed to be the oldest such club in the United States. Tomorrow, and just ahead of next week's opening of Wilmington's 35th Annual Clifford Brown Jazz Festival, the Monday Club and the City's Parks and Recreation Department will team up to perform landscaping projects at Millie Cannon Park, B Street and South Heald Street (9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.), Clifford Brown Lot (the site of Clifford Brown's former home) at 1013 Clifford Brown Walk (10:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.), and the Clifford Brown Listening Garden at 1500 Clifford Brown Walk (1 p.m. to 3 p.m.). The landscaping will consist of planting shrubs and flowers, as well as mulching the beds being planted. Mayor Purzycki and Director Smith said they are especially proud of one of our City's employees—Lenny Williams, Superintendent of Park Maintenance for the City's Parks and Recreation Department— who not only helped to coordinate the East Side landscaping events but is a member of the Monday Club. The History of the Monday Club (as provided by club members): Founded in 1876 by a group of seven black men—Mr. Alonzo G.B. Anderson, Mr. Walter S. Glasgow, Mr. Burnside E. Anderson, Mr. William H. Till, Mr. John Mason, Mr. John H. Benson, and Mr. Hiram Colder—the Monday Club is the oldest Black Men's Social Club in the State of Delaware and Club members also believe that the organization is the oldest, longest running of its kind in the country. For Black men of the community who worked as butlers, cooks, coachmen, janitors, and chauffeurs, Monday was a special day for them as they would stop in a hotel on Front Street in Wilmington to socialize on their day off. The club members served as an employment agency for the wealthy families of Wilmington and surrounding areas. The experienced members instructed their fellow members on how to serve large and small dinners and to attractively prepare food for parties. The training enabled others to obtain employment. The Monday Club was incorporated and granted a charter according to the laws of the State of Delaware on November 4, 1893. Notable members of the Monday Club have included: Mr. Louis L. Redding Mr. James H. Gilliam Sr. Mr. Edward R. Bell Mr. Herman Holloway Sr. Dr. Woodrow Wilson Mr. Al O. Plant Mayor James H. Sills, Jr. Dr. W. W. Goens Mr. Charlie Kent Mr. Granville Brewington Mr. Sydney Clark Mr. Robert Snow This press release was produced by the City of Wilmington. The views expressed here are the author's own.