In 1931, the Frog Social Club sponsored its second annual holiday party — the Frog Hop. Held in Samuel H. Vick‘s “casino” in the Odd Fellows building, the soiree promised a good time to the select with an “admit card.”
The Frog Club drew its members from the rarefied heights of Wilson’s African-American social circles.
- S.H. Vick — Samuel H. Vick, businessman
- G.K. Butterfield, dentist
- Sidney Boatwright, barber
- Daniel L. Vick, carpenter
- R.H. Johnson
- Bill Bryant
- Milton Fisher, principal
- Hubert Mitchner, barber
- J.E. Cowan — Joseph F. Cowan, physician
- Edward Barnes, high school principal
- W.B. Crawford
- L.G. Grimes, physician, High Point, N.C., and later Tarboro, N.C.
- Levi Peacock, postal clerk
- Levi Jones, barber
- W.B. Bryant
- J.T. Thomas
- Theodore Speight, barber — in the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Thedro Seight [sic], 27; wife Marie, 25; and children Robert E., 3, and Margrit E., 9 months; and brother Rufus, 22.
The Journal and Guide‘s 10 January 1933 issue described the Frog’s first New Year’s party.
Founded by black movers and shakers, Frogs social clubs sprang up throughout the country in the decades prior to World War II. The legendary precursor to all of them was formed in Harlem in 1908 by legendary theatrical pioneers Bert Williams, George Walker, and Sam Corker. Named after Aristophanes’ play, The Frogs, the Harlem club’s peak years were the 1910s and 1920s, but its renown inspired the formation and tone of the clubs like the one in Wilson.
Thank you, Vicki Cowan, for sharing!