The Orpheus Club of Tacoma was formed as a chorus that would offer both musical fellowship for its members and provide public concerts for the community. The club was founded on May 4, 1903 when a dozen men met at St. Luke's parish house and formed a temporary organization. Later that year the permanent organization was officially established. Members began practicing once a week in January 1904 under the direction of Keith J. Middleton, conductor and founder. The Orpheus Club's first public concert was held at the Masonic Temple at 734-36 Saint Helens Ave. on June 20, 1904. At the height of its membership from the 1930s to the 1950s the club consisted of over 70 singing or active members. Members sang at the opening of Stadium Bowl in 1910 and for the opening of the Camp Lewis Theater in 1918, and performed with the Seattle Philharmonic orchestra and the New York Symphony at the Tacoma Theatre. In addition to concerts, the club provided services to organizations such as hospitals, schools and retirement homes. Members from all walks of Tacoma's business and civic communities were long-time members of the club, such as Judge Hal Murtland, architect John Richards, grocer Iver Belsvig, early pioneer and wholesale supplier Frederick Mottet, and former mayor W. W. Seymour. From its founding until it was disbanded in the 1990s, the chorus performed two concerts a year and practiced once a week September through May.

The Tacoma Centennial Committee was organized to plan and oversee all aspects of the city of Tacoma’s centennial celebration in 1969. The celebration included parades, productions, and many other large-scale events.

Marvin Dement Boland was born in 1873 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to parents James M. Boland and Darah E. Pennington. (1) Bolan attended Vanderbilt University from 1892-1895, then attended Fairmont State Normal School in West Virginia. Boland taught at Fairmont and later in Sterling, Colorado while attending the University of Colorado and Colorado State Teachers College. (1) He would graduate in 1912 with a BA. Boland then moved to Tacoma in 1912 to teach manual arts in various schools. (2) After teaching for a year, Boland became a commercial photographer and owned several photographic studios in downtown Tacoma from 1915-1949.(2) On December 9th, 1950, Boland died while photographing Navy ships in Bremerton. (2) He married Earle Keith Patterson from Ashland, Ky., in 1902. They had two daughters together, Katherine John Boland and Sarah Elizabeth Boland. (1)

Frederick W. (William) Keator was a bishop of the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Olympia from 1902 until his death in 1924. During these years he resided in Tacoma where he was active in fraternal lodges and many clubs and societies, and served as president of the Tacoma Public Library board from 1907 to 1910 and 1912 to 1923. His tenure on the library board included chairing the statewide Washington campaign to raise funds for the American Library Association’s Library War Service effort during World War I. Frederick W. Keator was born in Honesdale, Pennsylvania on October 22, 1855. He entered Yale University in 1876 where he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1880 and a Bachelor of Law in 1882. After practicing as a lawyer in Illinois for several years, he became interested in church work. He graduated from the Western Theological Seminary of Chicago in May of 1891 and was ordained an Episcopal priest later that year. He married Emma Victoria Lyon of Chicago in 1894 and they had one son, Frederic, born in 1896. He was consecrated as bishop of the Diocese of Olympia on January 8, 1902 and arrived in Tacoma on January 25th. He soon became involved in many civic causes and organizations not directly related to his church position. In addition to his service on the Tacoma Public Library Board and many other posts, he served as president of the board of trustees of Annie Wright Seminary, was an overseer at Whitman College, and served on the board of Tacoma General Hospital. Frederick W. Keator died of a heart ailment on January 31, 1924 in New Haven, Connecticut while visiting his son who was an assistant instructor in electrical engineering at Yale University.

Eldred Newell Welch was born on July 24, 1872 in Cordon, Iowa to Rev. William M. and Mary Ann Welch. Although he did not spend much time in Pierce County, he often corresponded with his parents and other family members who lived in the Tacoma area until the 1940s. These letters contain information about everyday news and life in Tacoma, and regularly touch on subjects such as the weather, farm work, local church activities, politics, and various local area events. Eldred Welch lived for many years in Portland, Oregon, and died on January 13, 1947 in Orlando County, Florida.