The records of the Pleasant Lakes Club consist primarily of organizational and administrative documents. Most early records have not survived, with the 1950's onwards being the most comprehensively documented period. The collection has been divided into four series: History, Organizational, Property, and Miscellaneous.
The Pleasant Lakes Club ("PLC") was founded in 1894 as the Hunting and Fishing Club by a group of University of Michigan professors. The founding members included: Dean Worcester, President Harry B. Hutchins, Edward D. Campbell, Paul C. Freer, George Hench and Jacob Reighard. PLC property was originally rented on Winans Lake, also known as Pleasant Lake, and in 1908 the club was renamed the Pleasant Lakes Club.
The early members of the club were interested in fishing, bird life and plant life. Therefore, when the Winans Lake land was renovated for new resort apartments, it had lost all appeal for PLC members. At this time, in 1921, the Club found a new home on Bass Lake and Strawberry Lake in Livingston County, Michigan, where the Club remained until the end of its existence in 1998. Club property at this new location included two cottages (North and South) and a boathouse on each lake.
The first club minutes were concerned with the election of officers, new members and security of the property. This trend continued throughout the life of the PLC, with administrative matters dominating meeting agendas. How many members the Club should contain and who these members would be were constant topics of conversation. Members could nominate other University of Michigan faculty by submitting a profile of that faculty person (including a description of his wife and family). Candidates were voted on at general meetings of the Club, which were often held in the University chemistry building. These meetings were typically held twice a year: a Memorial Day picnic at the PLC and a winter meeting held in Ann Arbor. In addition to annual dues, new members were required to loan the PLC a fixed amount of money, which was refunded if and when a member left the club.
Building and land maintenance were important to the success of the Club. There were seasonal "workdays" with different responsibilities for men and women. Typical work for men included repairing screens, building docks and cutting firewood, while women were responsible for the upkeep of cottage interiors.
A fire destroyed the North Cottage in 1993, and the lack of money to rebuild it brought the future of the Club into question. Two years later the Club decided to sell the property and dissolve. The property was sold in the summer of 1997, although the South Cottage continued to be used by PLC members until this time. The PLC disbanded in February 1998.
More detailed information about the Club's history will be found in the volume written by Elizabeth Bishop in 2000 to be found in the History series.
