Adventurers' Club of New York
The Adventurers' Club of New York was an adventure-oriented private men's club founded in New York City in 1912 by Arthur Sullivant Hoffman, editor of the popular pulp magazine Adventure.[1][2] There were 34 members at the first meeting. In its second year, "Sinclair Lewis, Hoffman's assistant, was elected secretary and served three years."[3] Monthly dinner meetings, and weekly luncheons, were the primary functions of the club.
According to club secretary, newspaperman Fred J. Splitstone, the club's "One inviolate rule is that no publicity is ever given to the meetings. It makes men freer to talk.[4] It also makes the club difficult to research. However, soon after making those comments, in 1926, the club began publishing a monthly newsletter, The Adventurer. It ran at least until 1960. Its content primarily concerned club business, e.g. changes in leadership, new members. It occasionally ran profiles—and obituaries—of members. The main content was typically a description of the previous monthly dinner meeting. The speakers were described along with a summation of their speeches.
A weekly CBS radio show, Gold Seal Associates, featuring members of the club describing the most exciting moment of their lives, was inaugurated on June 13, 1930. Major C. E. Russell was the inaugural speaker.[5]
The club was one of at least two such clubs in New York. The other club was the Ends of the Earth Club, which included Mark Twain as a member.
The club appears to have faded out in the 1970s.
Chapters
Spin-off clubs were founded in Chicago, Los Angeles and Honolulu. The Adventurers' Club of Los Angeles remains active.[6]
Members
In 1925, the club had 185 total members, of whom 140 were active.[7] The Adventurers' Golden Jubilee (1964) listed 195 active members and 68 associate members, for a total of 263.[8]
Among the members of the Adventurers' Club of New York were many prominent citizens, travelers, writers, artists and explorers, including the following.[9] Members who attended the first meeting on December 7, 1912, are indicated with "[O]," for original.[10]
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Speakers
Notable speakers before the club include the following:
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Presidents
# | From | To | President[15] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 1912 | 1917 | Henry Collins Walsh |
2 | 1918 | 1918 | Robert Welles Ritchie |
3 | 1919 | 1925 | William E. Aughinbaugh |
4 | 1926 | 1927 | Wesley H. Wallace |
5 | 1928 | 1928 | Norman Schwarzkopf |
6 | 1929 | 1930 | George W. B. Witten |
7 | 1930 | 1930 | Fred J. Willock |
8 | 1930 | 1930 | George W. B. Witten |
9 | 1931 | 1931 | Wyndham Phinny |
10 | 1932 | 1932 | C. E. Russell |
11 | 1933 | 1933 | John J. Lyons[16] |
12 | 1934 | 1935 | Tex O'Rourke |
13 | 1936 | 1937 | Raymond C. Schindler |
14 | 1939 | 1939 | Henry M. Kalvin |
15 | 1940 | 1940 | Lewis N. Cotlow |
16 | 1941 | 1942 | Charles R. Haffenden |
17 | 1943 | 1944 | John McElraevy, Jr. |
18 | 1945 | 1945 | James B. Pond |
19 | 1946 | 1946 | Charles R. Haffenden |
20 | 1947 | 1947 | Raymond C. Schindler |
21 | 1948 | 1948 | Harry Bruno |
22 | 1949 | 1949 | Harry C. M. Reed |
23 | 1950 | 1950 | Arthur M. Menken |
24 | 1951 | 1951 | G. Theon Wright |
25 | 1952 | 1952 | Norris L. Bowen |
26 | 1952 | 1952 | Russell B. Aitken |
27 | 1953 | 1953 | Paulus P. Powell |
28 | 1954 | 1954 | Edward L. Bill |
29 | 1955 | 1955 | G. Theon Wright |
30 | 1956 | 1956 | John S. Davis, Jr. |
31 | 1957 | 1957 | Raymond E. Buck |
32 | 1958 | 1958 | Bernt Balchen |
33 | 1959 | 1959 | Patrick B. Fay |
34 | 1960 | 1960 | Ansel E. Talbert |
35 | 1961 | 1961 | A. Fred Nielson |
36 | 1962 | 1962 | Carl von Hoffman |
37 | Frederick Houk Law (Emeritus) |
Award winners
The club also awarded medals and honors. Recipients include:
Gold Medal
- William O. Douglas (1964). Supreme Court justice; mountain climber.[18]
Bronze Medal
- Alexander de Seversky (1971)[19]
Life Membership
- William Willis (1954). Ocean rafter.[20]
Books
Call to Adventure
In 1935, Robert Spiers Benjamin edited an anthology Call to Adventure. Contributors were:[21]
- Major George Witten, president
- Zane Grey
- Lowell Thomas
- Allan J. Villiers
- Frank M. Hawks
- A. E. Dingle
- Gordon MacCreagh
- Seymour Pond
- F.F. Van de Water
- Victor Shaw
- George E. Holt
- S. E. Sangster
- Frances Gow-Smith
- John N. Page
- Frederick Law
- Ozark Ripley
- Victor Weybright
- F. S. Dellenbaugh
- W. H. Wallace
- F. J. Franklin
The Adventurers' Golden Jubilee
In 1964, the club published The Adventurers' Golden Jubilee 1912–1962: A History of the Adventurers Club of New York.[22]
See also
- Explorers Club, an extant club of about the same age, also founded in New York, with a scientific mission.
References
- ↑ http://www.adventurersclub.org/information_about_the_club.php
- ↑ "Arthur Hoffman, Editor, Teacher" (obituary). The New York Times, March 15, 1966.
- ↑ "The Adventurers' Club." The Adventurer, January 1937. A history of the club. The Adventurer periodically printed an updated history of the club. Most of this information rolled over into the The Adventurers' Golden Jubilee.
- ↑ "The Adventurers." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 5, 1925.
- ↑ "Exciting Adventure New Series' Basis." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 1, 1930.
- ↑ http://www.adventurersclub.org/
- ↑ "The Adventurers." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 5, 1925.
- ↑ The Adventurers' Golden Jubilee, 1964. New York: The Adventurers' Club, Inc., 1965, 145-154.
- ↑ Names were obtained from The Adventurers' Golden Jubilee, selected issues of The Adventurer, and newspaper articles. Some individuals were members for decades, while others joined the club but participated little. Activity frequently depended on the member's proximity to New York City.
- ↑ "Hardy Spirits Organize." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, December 8, 1912.
- ↑ "The Adventurers." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 5, 1925.
- ↑ "Wits Used By Adventurer to Get Into Prison." Bellingham Herald, February 4, 1914.
- ↑ A. E. Dingle. Letter dated December 1, 1936, in The Adventurer, December 1936.
- ↑ "Boro Associations Hold Social Events." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, January 18, 1926. This was the "10th annual dinner." The anniversary may refer to the incorporation of the club, since the founding was in 1912.
- ↑ The Adventurers' Golden Jubilee, 1964. New York: The Adventurers' Club, Inc., 1965, 139.
- ↑ Probably the NY politician John J. Lyons.
- ↑ Death in the Silent Places, by Peter Hathaway Capstick.
- ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/1964/11/19/justice-douglas-honored-by-the-adventurers-club.html
- ↑ http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?object=nasm_A19750563000
- ↑ "Solo Raft Voyage Cited for Honors." Omaha World Herald, October 28, 1954.
- ↑ Call to Adventure. 1935
- ↑ Adventurers Club of New York. (1965). The Adventurers' Golden Jubilee, 1964: A history of The Adventurers' Club of New York. New York: The Club