Adventurers' Club of New York
Adventure-oriented private men's club
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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, and 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., leadership changes and 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 several such clubs in New York. The other clubs were the also now dormant Ends of the Earth Club, which included Mark Twain as a member, and the still exant Explorers Club.[6]
The New York club appears to have faded out in the 1970s, but is survived through its Los Angeles chapter.[1]
Chapters
Spin-off clubs were founded in Chicago, Los Angeles, Copenhagen, Pretoria, Honolulu, and Singapore. The Adventurers' Club of Los Angeles and the Adventurers' Club of Denmark remain active[7], The Adventurers' Club of Honolulu was last known to have met in 2023.[8][9] The Copenhagen chapter was founded in 1938, and the Honolulu chapter was founded in 1954.[10]
Los Angeles
Founded in 1921 and incorporated in the State of California the following year, The Adventurers' Club of Los Angeles has the distinction of being the only extant chapter in continuous operation for its entire existence. The club has been located in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood east of Los Angeles for the past 30+ years. They were formerly located in the basement of the Masonic Temple on Pico Boulevard at Figueroa just south of Los Angeles for some 20 years prior to that. That Masonic Temple was demolished in 1985 to make way for the Los Angeles Convention Center South Hall expansion.[1][11]
Like the New York club, it was originally founded as a gentlemen's club, prohibiting female members and resisting calls to admit women until 2024, when declining membership finally necessitated the need to do so.[12][13]
The club was started by Jack Roulac, a member of the Chicago chapter who founded the club when he moved to Los Angeles. The membership has included actors and adventurers as varied as Buddy Ebsen, John Anson Ford, Bob Gilliland, John Goddard, Sterling Hayden, Dick Kelty, and Paul MacCready. The club's logo and flag was originally designed by Ginger Lamb, whose husband Dana was also a member. A plaque with the logo was affixed on the Ranger 4 space mission by members who worked at JPL, and remains on the moon to this day. Honorary members and speakers have included Buzz Aldrin, James Cameron, and Tenzing Norgay.[10]
Members
In 1925, the club had 185 total members, of whom 140 were active.[14] The Adventurers' Golden Jubilee (1964) listed 195 active members and 68 associate members, for 263.[15]
Among the members of the Adventurers' Club of New York were many prominent citizens, travelers, writers, artists, and explorers, including the following.[16] Members who attended the first meeting on December 7, 1912, are indicated with "[O]," for original.[17]
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Speakers
Notable speakers before the club include the following:
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Presidents
| # | From | To | President[22] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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[23] |
| 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 Archived March 14, 2012, at the Wayback Machine |
| 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 | 1963 | 1963 | Frederick Houk Law (Emeritus) |
| 33 | 1964 | 1964 | Justin William Pierce |
Award winners
The club also awarded medals and honors. Recipients include:
Gold Medal
- William O. Douglas (1964). Supreme Court justice; mountain climber.[25]
Bronze Medal
- Alexander de Seversky (1971)[26]
Life Membership
- William Willis (1954). Ocean rafter.[27]
Books
Call to Adventure
In 1935, Robert Spiers Benjamin edited an anthology Call to Adventure. Contributors were:[28]
- 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.[29]
See also
- Explorers Club, an extant club of about the same age, also founded in New York with a scientific mission
- National Geographic Society, founded in Washington D.C., it is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world today.