Father Flanagan, 1947

These records represent a range of items documenting the activities of the City Club of Rochester, including the club's constitution, lists of officers, speakers and programs, correspondence, financial records, member lists, publicity items, and papers documenting the club’s history.

Described in one piece of correspondence as “a forum for enlightened discussion on important topics,” the City Club of Rochester was founded in 1909 as a weekly luncheon forum, a format quickly gaining favor at the close of the first decade of the century. Initially known as the City Lunch Club, the City Club of Rochester was an offshoot of the Rochester Ad Club. The club’s first president was Dr. Paul Moore Strayer, and its first speaker was Dr. Algernon Crapsey. Its headquarters were in the Powers Hotel. Past presidents included Frank E. Gannett, Isaac Adler, James M. Spinning, Conrad Henry Moehlman, and John Adams Lowe, former lead librarian of the Rochester Public Library. With World War I came a shift from local to international topics that frequently aroused strong reactions in attendees. Prominent speakers included Emma Goldman, then-Governor of New York Franklin D. Roosevelt, Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. DuBois, and Clarence Darrow, as well as a wealth of experts in the fields of economics, politics, and civic and world affairs. The City Club of Rochester prided itself on presenting a variety of viewpoints in its selection of speakers, and its yearly banquet for all newly naturalized citizens of the United States demonstrated an interest in inclusiveness.