CMAC FOUNDED IN 1878

An important compliment to those institutions, however, were the various organizations and societies which existed in Lowell. In the 19th century, several benevolent societies for men and women existed but by 1900, the most important and most powerful had become the men's society, the C.M.A.C., the Corporation of the Members of the Catholic Association founded in 1878. In 1900 the spacious new edifice of the society facing Merrimack Street on Pawtucket Street was erected and became the center of the social and political life of many. In 1897, the Pawtucket Social Club was founded to encourage the political and social advancement of the Franco-Americans of Pawtucketville. Later in 1898, the C.C.A. (now on Salem Street the American Citizen's Club was formed to foster naturalization and to give citizenship courses. The city's professional and businessmen in 1913 joined to found the Lafayette Club to promote the general advancement of the French element in the city.