ARCHERY CLUB

ARCHERY CLUB. The organization of an archery club was announced in the Dubuque Herald on July 26, 1878. Members practiced on the lawn of William ANDREW. (1) Club members attended the Eighth Harvest Home celebration in Farley on August 24 1878 and demonstrated their skill. (2) The existence of the club was not well known. The editor of the Dubuque Herald received a letter from Thomas J. Irish in June 1882 commenting that a recent issue of the paper had mentioned that 'the Dubuque Archery Club would organize and elect officers.' Irish commented that the group had been organized for five years and had been in regular practice. The editor replied that "Dubuque" had never been attached to the name thus the mistake. (3)

The writer of an article in 1930 was apparently unaware of the earlier club. In reporting on clubs formed at JEFFERSON JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL in 1929, the writer referred to the new archery club as the first archery club in Dubuque. Consisting entirely of boys, the club studied the technique and ethics required by an archer in target shooting and tournament. A second objective was a study and mastery of the art of constructing archery equipment: bows, arrows, quivers, arm-guards and targets. Based on the manual of the Boy Scouts of America, National Archery Association. Each student received a hickory stave, six birch dowels, six arrow points and feathers. Tools were obtained and the balcony of the gymnasium became a workshop. The archery club was sponsored and supervised by Mrs. Minna Roedell, of the library and study hall department. (4)

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Source:

1. "Caught on the Fly," Dubuque Herald, July 26, 1878, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=uh8FjILnQOkC&dat=18780726&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

2. "The Harvest Home," The Daily Herald, August 25 1878, p. 4

3. "Dubuque Archery Club," Dubuque Herald, June 16, 1882, p. 4

4. "Boys of the Jefferson School Archery Club Will Take Part in Spring Tournaments, Telegraph-Herald and Times-Journal, March 23, 1930, p. 25