A series of fortunate experiences led us to the desire to design a project about the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, a private fraternal organization. Months of secretarial efforts led to a certain itinerary as well as countless uncertain lists of preparations and strategies. We will spend this summer on the road collecting images and oral histories of Elks lodges.

With gasoline prices rounding off at $3.25 and temperatures surpassing the dreaded 90-degree mark, we headed off to our first appointed lodge, Cicero-Berwyn, No. 1510, located just outside of Chicago in Berwyn, IL. The cumulative effort expended on both of our parts to planning and discussing the project led to an intensely exciting anxiety, which was dislocated when we discovered the lodge was closed for the day.

Needing an immediate fix of Elkdom, we located the next nearest lodge on Google Maps, No. 1531 in Elmhurst, IL. We joined the regulars by the time their nightcaps were dispensed; topics of conversation included: $5 round-trip rides into the city on the CTA, gambling in IL (including pull tabs, slot machines, and bingo), sodding, camping, and cigars.

Our introduction to the Cicero-Berwyn lodge coincided with the Friday Fish Fry and National Bingo Night. We were given a tour of the lodge and met with members, young and old, which enabled us to earmark future photographs and interviews. Our visit ended ceremoniously with the lodge's bingo night—when the entire bar lost to the televised audience, the whole pot was donated to the Crippled Children's Fund of Illinois. We departed with a box of exposed film, several hours of recorded interviews, and a hard drive full of scanned documents related to the lodge's history.

Rachel Gargiulo is a current student of the Museum School.
Matthew Gamber (MFA '04) is currently Editor-in-Chief of Big RED and Shiny, an online arts journal for the visual arts in New England.