The Baker Street Irregulars Trust

BSI, Inc. Stock Certificate

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6TLSbNSgoa80mM5cnCMp7mUzSM9I_bA-ECG3s3BzX37CCGD7ifWmb4JRJ8I1u25OBByIh_0X9xpIqIY3xe6T7rSfJEYFlpwkbh3KI988aaWDGxdgEeKHARoRrzSXHByLqcNvnOyiJmKmM/s1600/memorabilia-bsi-inc-stock-certificate-hall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="1948 BSI Incorporated stock certificate" border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6TLSbNSgoa80mM5cnCMp7mUzSM9I_bA-ECG3s3BzX37CCGD7ifWmb4JRJ8I1u25OBByIh_0X9xpIqIY3xe6T7rSfJEYFlpwkbh3KI988aaWDGxdgEeKHARoRrzSXHByLqcNvnOyiJmKmM/s1600/memorabilia-bsi-inc-stock-certificate-hall.jpg" title="Click this 1948 BSI stock certificate to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
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In November 1947, Edgar W. Smith, Christopher Morley, and Vincent Starrett joined together to formally incorporate The Baker Street Irregulars.  Smith described it as a "miniscule corporation...which has been created for the philanthropic purpose of defending before the law the public rights and equities of Sherlock Holmes."  While there was now both a BSI social body and a BSI, Inc., the nature and constituency of the social body was not affected.<br />
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The stock certificate shown above, for one share in The Baker Street Irregulars, Inc., was issued to William S. Hall and dated January 22, 1948.  Christopher Morley signed the certificate as the President of the BSI Inc.  Miriam Alexander served as Secretary-Treasurer and also signed it.   She was Edgar W. Smith's secretary at GM Overseas Operations.<br />
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The certificate number of "4" and the certificate date suggest that Hall received his share directly after the three founders.  Based on a 1948 Smith letter, Hall probably paid $200 for his share.  Other early shareholders included Frank V. Morley, Richard W. Clarke, Carl Anderson, Ben Abramson and Julian Wolff.<br />
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The BSI Trust acquired Hall’s stock certificate in 2014.<br />
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Click on the above photo to see a larger version of it, and maximize your browser window to see the most detail.<br />
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Reports about the BSI, Inc.:</h4>
<i>The Baker Street Journal </i>Old Series v3 n2 (April 1948) pp. 135-136, 259.  (available in the eBSJ)<br />
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<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=119">1948 BSI Meeting Minutes</a> (digitized images at Harvard)<br />
2 pages, Sequence 119-120.<br />
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The Baker Street Irregulars, <i>Irregular Crises of the Late ‘Forties</i>, ed. Jon L. Lellenberg, (New York: The Baker Street Irregulars, 1999).  See especially pp. 104-156.<br />
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Related Materials</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354170?n=115">Letter, Smith to Morley, 2/9/48</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
Mentions Hall's investment in the BSI, Inc.<br />
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The <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1948-bsi-dinner.html">1948 BSI Dinner</a> (endorsement of incorporation)<br />
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See all the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/search/label/Memorabilia">BSI Memorabilia</a> on our website<br />
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The BSI Archive is located at the Houghton Library at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Archival material may be used by any qualified scholar, subject to the normal rules and regulations of the Library. For links to a detailed finding aid and related information, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive at Harvard</a> page.<br />
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Page composed on 8/19/14 by Randall Stock.<br />
This page last updated 4/29/15 by Randall Stock.<br />
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BSI, Inc. Stock Certificate

In November 1947, Edgar W. Smith, Christopher Morley, and Vincent Starrett joined together to formally incorporate The Baker Street Irregulars. Smith described it as a "miniscule corporation...which has been created for the philanthropic purpose of defending before the law the public rights and eq…

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29 Apr 2015

Russell Merritt Interview: Oral History Project

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqJbxDjUzuk0-eD4KP_0A_qgfHlfqzZ7ImPXzAsPB1bmoikcEtCIyn67QoZ68a0gqZBsU_V4g6-yovms__qwaD4UVT8Xmos21kN749p54DTlelO48DNRUOzQmzmtVM8iKGyhStcvrGntrd/s1600/russell-merritt-v1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Russell Merritt, BSI" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqJbxDjUzuk0-eD4KP_0A_qgfHlfqzZ7ImPXzAsPB1bmoikcEtCIyn67QoZ68a0gqZBsU_V4g6-yovms__qwaD4UVT8Xmos21kN749p54DTlelO48DNRUOzQmzmtVM8iKGyhStcvrGntrd/s1600/russell-merritt-v1.jpg" title="Russell Merritt, BSI" width="175" /></a></div>
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Russell Merritt (The Trepoff Murder, 1960) says he has a single claim to fame:  he first read  <i>A Study in Scarlet</i> in an actual copy of <i>Beeton's Christmas Annual</i> 1887. He gave the 2015 keynote address at the Sherlock Holmes Society of London Meeting at the House of Commons, and was instrumental in the restoration of the long-lost William Gillette film <i>Sherlock Holmes</i>. He has written and spoken about Holmes in the movies in the the 2014 BSJ Christmas Annual, the 2013 BSI Dinner, and the 2012 BSI UCLA conference. Merritt has also contributed to the BSJ, the SHJ, and a chapter to the BSI Manuscript series book <i>Out of the Abyss.</i> He has been going to BSI Dinners since 1958 and has wonderful stories to tell about the early days of the BSI.<br />
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Merritt has also taught for many years as a Visiting and Adjunct Professor in the Film Studies and Media Department at the University of California, Berkeley. He has written two books with J. B. Kaufman on Walt Disney's early films and has authored numerous articles on D. W. Griffith, Sergei Eisenstein, Disney, colour theory, animation, and early film.<br />
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Click to play this interview.</div>
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Interviewee: Russell Merritt<br />
Interviewer: Marsha Pollak<br />
Interview date: March 13, 2008<br />
Interview Length: 1 hour 52 minutes<br />
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<h4>
Related Materials</h4>
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/07/the-1960-bsi-dinner.html">The 1960 BSI Dinner</a><br />
Russell Merritt received his Investiture at this BSI Dinner.<br />
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<a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/2014/12/31/out-of-the-abyss/">Out of the Abyss</a> - "The Empty House" (at the BSI website)<br />
Merritt writes on "Colonel Moran and Celluloid Air-Guns"<div><br /></div><div><div><a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/2016/12/27/bsj-2016-christmas-annual/">BSJ 2016 Christmas Annual</a></div><div>Merritt edited the issue about Gillette’s Sherlock Holmes movie</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2021/06/the-1932-clive-brook-sherlock-holmes.html">The 1932 Clive Brook Sherlock Holmes Feature — Restored at Last</a></div><div>Merritt discusses the restored film (at I Hear of Sherlock)</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.bestofsherlock.com/movies/1950s-tv-history.htm">Holmes and the Snake Skin Suits: Fighting for Survival on '50s Television</a></div><div>Merritt writes about Holmes on TV in the 1950s (at Best of Sherlock)  </div><div><br /></div>
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For an index to all OHP interviews, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/oral-history.html">Oral History Project Summary</a> list.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/search/label/Audio+Oral%20History">Interviews recently added online</a> (sorted by when recording was posted online)<br />
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<br /><span style="text-align: center;">Material in the BSI Archive may be used by any qualified scholar, subject to the normal rules and regulations of the library. For links to a detailed finding aid and related information, see our </span><a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html" style="text-align: center;">BSI Archive</a><span style="text-align: center;"> page</span>.<br />
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Page composed on 8/9/14 by Randall Stock.<br />Page updated 4/21/15 by Randall Stock.<div>This page last updated 6/8/21 by Randall Stock.<br />
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Russell Merritt Interview: Oral History Project

Russell Merritt (The Trepoff Murder, 1960) says he has a single claim to fame: he first read A Study in Scarlet in an actual copy of Beeton's Christmas Annual 1887. He gave the 2015 keynote address at the Sherlock Holmes Society of London Meeting at the House of Commons, and was instrumental in t…

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21 Apr 2015

The 1951 BSI Dinner

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq7Ew1KcbYEGCrYkmOB_lco6kRnboC-E9818YdNDYmv0R6tGc3_xmAT5ibiLwCaSuLlpPmzFqAlhRE225p_z28EyUdhLGKUV5Rp926u_TKSt9Lg19uR8u3aL873oK-7PcBOHOjK72fOolV/s1600/bsi-dinner-1951-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 1951 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq7Ew1KcbYEGCrYkmOB_lco6kRnboC-E9818YdNDYmv0R6tGc3_xmAT5ibiLwCaSuLlpPmzFqAlhRE225p_z28EyUdhLGKUV5Rp926u_TKSt9Lg19uR8u3aL873oK-7PcBOHOjK72fOolV/s1600/bsi-dinner-1951-v1.jpg" title="Click this 1951 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
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Festivities on the 97th anniversary of the Master’s birth commenced at 6:45pm with dispatches from scion societies in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, and Denmark, as well as greetings from President Harry S. Truman. <br />
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Paul Gore-Booth reported on the favorable prospects for the mounting of a Sherlock Holmes exhibition by the St. Marylebone Borough Council during the forthcoming Festival of Britain. This development had already received coverage in <i>The London Times</i>. James Montgomery presented the attendees with a medley of songs, concluding with his leading the assemblage singing “We Never Mention Aunt Clara.”<br />
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The first annual Designation for Scientific Merit was awarded to the Six Napoleons of Baltimore for “assiduous and scholarly pursuit of their endeavors.” This distinction was marked by the gift of a plaster bust of the titular ruler to Lloyd H. Denton, “past master” of the Baltimore group. Of especial note is the presentation by Roger G. Harris of the Amateur Mendicant Society of Detroit regarding the erection of a plaque in the Criterion Bar in London to commemorate John Watson and Stamford’s initial meeting, “without which all would have been naught.” Some funds had already been collected towards this end. However, a dispute arose over whether the plaque should be placed in that suggested location, at 111 Baker Street, or in the laboratory of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. Edgar W. Smith, Buttons-cum-Commissionaire, was charged to confer with the Detroit Society and to mediate a final decision.<br />
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Dinner Details: January 5, 1951<br />
Racquet and Tennis Club, New York, NY<br />
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Dinner Photo Information</h4>
Click on the above photo to see a larger version of it, and maximize your browser window to see the most detail.<br />
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<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-1951-photo-key.pdf">Key to People in the 1951 BSI Dinner photo</a> (PDF)<br />
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BSI Honours List</h4>
<b>Investitures:</b><br />
Carl H. Anderson as The Resident Patient<br />
Rolfe Boswell as The Five Orange Pips<br />
Roger Clapp as Wilson, the Notorious Canary Trainer<br />
Benjamin S. Clark as The Retired Colourman<br />
Basil Davenport as Thor Bridge<br />
Isaac S. George as The Veiled Lodger<br />
Peter Greig as The Three Gables<br />
Herbert T. Hand Jr. as The Missing Three-Quarter*<br />
Page Heldenbrand as Charles Augustus Milverton<br />
Cyril A. Keller as The Colossal Schemes of Baron Maupertuis<br />
George Macy as The Bruce-Partington Plans<br />
Svend Petersen as The Mazarin Stone<br />
David A. Randall as The Golden Pince-Nez*<br />
Herbert W. Starr as The Three Students<br />
Thomas L. Stix as The Darlington Substitution Scandal<br />
Norman W. Ward as The Priory School<br />
Frank Waters as The Yellow Face<br />
Manly Wade Wellman as Wisteria Lodge<br />
* received Investiture at another event during the year<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a><br />
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<b>Two-Shilling Award:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1962.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a><br />
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<b><i>The </i>Woman:</b><br />
Not identified; possibly none.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is <i>The </i>Woman honour?</a><br />
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<b>"Stand with me here upon the terrace..."</b><br />
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing)<br />
None this year.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a><br />
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<b>Morley-Montgomery Award:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1959.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a><br />
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Reports on the Dinner</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=137">1951 BSI Dinner Minutes</a> (digitized images at Harvard)<br />
Note: the minutes repeat some past investitures from 1944.<br />
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<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=137">List of 1951 BSI Dinner Attendees</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
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<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-1951-photo-key.pdf">Key to People in the 1951 BSI Dinner photo</a> (PDF)<br />
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Recordings</h4>
None available online at this time.<br />
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Related Materials</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:11370673">1951 BSI Dinner Menu</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
Cover, interior, and back.  Sequence 35-37.<br />
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<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354173?n=38">Blegen, Theodore C., “The Crowded Box-Room, Sherlock Holmes as Poet”</a> (digitized images at Harvard)<br />
Brochure (which may have been distributed at the 1951 BSI Dinner) announcing a new book.  3 pages.  Sequence 38-40.<br />
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"An Ideal Interview with Sherlock Holmes" by "Anyhow"<br />
Reprint booklet by the House of El Dieff from <i>The Bohemian</i> 1.5 (October 1893), distributed at the 1951 BSI Dinner (De Waal C21720).<br />
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Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1950-bsi-dinner.html">1950 BSI Dinner</a><br />
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Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/05/the-1952-bsi-dinner.html">1952 BSI Dinner</a><br />
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For an index to all BSI Dinners and photos, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/dinner-summary.html">BSI Dinner Summary</a> list.<br />
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The BSI Archive is located at the Houghton Library at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Archival material may be used by any qualified scholar, subject to the normal rules and regulations of the Library. For links to a detailed finding aid and related information, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive at Harvard</a> page.<br />
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Page composed on 1/03/15 by Tamar Zeffren<br />
Page updated 3/22/15 by Andy Solberg.<br />
Page updated 8/1/19 by Randall Stock.<br />
This page last updated 10/9/19 by Randall Stock.<br />
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The 1951 BSI Dinner

Festivities on the 97th anniversary of the Master’s birth commenced at 6:45pm with dispatches from scion societies in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, and Denmark, as well as greetings from President Harry S. Truman. Paul Gore-Booth reported on the favorable prospects for the mounting of a Sherlock Hol…

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14 Apr 2015

Two-Shilling Award: William S. Hall

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QaWfgEllBYe-_9tXxyMCSYz1bGb0tZysj7qrq0Fum2j1A3H3FlSb42VBaQcJ3i94BWUxJaCmvJmLgOL3mwwVMkOkSGZbo1ZBB_YgPJ2RUbQFkLVDklYmfiGPXEVeh1r83vCEyxh4LwRi/s1600/memorabilia-2-shilling-hall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Two-Shilling Award: Baker Street Irregulars 1966" border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QaWfgEllBYe-_9tXxyMCSYz1bGb0tZysj7qrq0Fum2j1A3H3FlSb42VBaQcJ3i94BWUxJaCmvJmLgOL3mwwVMkOkSGZbo1ZBB_YgPJ2RUbQFkLVDklYmfiGPXEVeh1r83vCEyxh4LwRi/s1600/memorabilia-2-shilling-hall.jpg" title="Click this Two-Shilling Award for W.S. Hall to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
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Julian Wolff initiated the “Two-Shilling Award” in 1962, and bestowed this first “extraordinary Irregular award” on Rex Stout "for extraordinary devotion to the cause beyond the call of duty."  In 1966, Wolff gave the fifth Two-Shilling Award to William S. Hall, “one of our Founding Fathers.”<br />
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William S. Hall was, indeed, there at the beginning.  A member of Christopher Morley’s Three Hours For Lunch Club and Grillparzer Club (Morley’s clubs that eventually morphed into the BSI), Hall frequently was mentioned in Morley’s <i>Saturday Review of Literature</i> articles.  Hall attended the "<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/02/the-1934-bsi-dinner.html">first meeting</a>" of the BSI, on January 6, 1934.  In his 1/27/1934 “Bowling Green” article, Morley wrote:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
W.S.H. [i.e., Bill Hall] secretary of the Baker Street Irregulars, has allowed us to look over the minutes of the first meeting of the club.”</blockquote>
In 1944, when Edgar Smith instituted Investiture in the BSI, Hall was part of the first class of Investitures, as The Blue Carbuncle.<br />
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The Two-Shilling Award is a tradition that has lasted through the years, and it is still periodically bestowed on worthy BSI. For a list of Two-Shilling Award recipients, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/links.html">Links</a> page.<br />
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The BSI Trust acquired Hall’s Two-Shilling Award in 2014.<br />
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Click on the above photo to see a larger version of it, and maximize your browser window to see the most detail.<br />
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Related Materials</h4>
The <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/02/the-1934-bsi-dinner.html">1934 BSI Dinner</a><br />
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The <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1944-bsi-dinner.html">1944 BSI Dinner</a> (Hall's investiture)<br />
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<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">Explanation of BSI Honours & Terms</a><br />
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See all the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/search/label/Memorabilia">BSI Memorabilia</a> on our website<br />
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<br /></div>
The BSI Archive is located at the Houghton Library at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Archival material may be used by any qualified scholar, subject to the normal rules and regulations of the Library. For links to a detailed finding aid and related information, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive at Harvard</a> page.<br />
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Page composed on 9/6/14 by Andy Solberg.<br />
This page last updated 9/7/14 by Andy Solberg.<br />
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Two-Shilling Award: William S. Hall

Julian Wolff initiated the “Two-Shilling Award” in 1962, and bestowed this first “extraordinary Irregular award” on Rex Stout "for extraordinary devotion to the cause beyond the call of duty." In 1966, Wolff gave the fifth Two-Shilling Award to William S. Hall, “one of our Founding Fathers.” Willi…

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07 Apr 2015

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