City Club of Rochester Records

Collection — Box: 1-2

Identifier: 2014-023

Staff Only

Scope and Content Note

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.

Dates

Creation: 1909-1972

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the collection.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, or use in any current or future manifestations must be obtained in writing from the Rochester Public Library Local History and Genealogy Division.

Administrative History

The City Club of Rochester was the local manifestation of a national movement for lunch clubs that met to host lectures on pressing issues of the day and invite civic discussion. In 1907, the City of Rochester began hosting a series of Social Center programs in city schools. These lectures roused controversy as they brought discussions of difficult, radical and reforming material into the public space. The City government soon turned against them, leading Edward J. Ward, who ran the program, to seek an alternative. Ward invited George E. Hooker of the Chicago Civic Club to Rochester, and his speech in front of a group of invited guests at the Powers Hotel inspired Ward and a group of like-minded civic leaders to form a club of their own. This group included Algernon Crapsey, Walter Rauschenbusch, Rev. Edwin Rumball, and Dr. Paul Strayer. By October of 1909, the groupd had a standing Saturday noon appointment at the Powers Hotel.

The club's early meetings were largely informal and intentionally kept "off the record." However, with Ward leaving Rochester for the University of Wisconsin and the City cutting funding for the Social Center programs, both in spring of 1910, the City Club of Rochester began to formalize its proceedings, leading to an official organization in October 1910. From there the club grew rapidly. As a forum for civil debate on difficult topics, had its ups and downs over several decades of existence. While clubs of this type declined in many cities in the 1920s (the Women's City Club of Rochester disbanded in 1930), the City Club maintained an active role in Rochester's civic life long after World War Two. The Club also maintained its reputation for providing a forum to even the most controversial of speakers, such as hosting Emma Goldman on her return to Rochester in 1934 and providing a forum for W.E.B. DuBois in 1936.

The Club maintained a strong presence into the post-war years. Membership peaked at over 1000, but with the decline of Saturday work hours in downtown businesses, the Club had a much harder time drawing attendees. Added to rapidly rising speaker fees, the lack of interest in attending meant that the final meetings drew as few as 40 people. Faced with an empty treasury, the Club's board of directors moved to disband on February 5, 1975.

Extent

2.0 Cubic Feet (2 boxes)

2.0 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

This collection consists of two boxes.

Container List

Box 1 City Club of Rochester Programs (1911-1972) Correspondence (1940-1951) Speakers (1914-1950) Constitution, Officers, Reports (1909-1945) Speakers Table (1935/36, 1946/47)

Box 2 City Club of Rochester Memberships (1911-1947) Membership Drives (1937-1964) History (1916, 1936) Financial (1941-1951) Nominating Committee (1948-1950)

Custodial History

This is an artificial collections whose origins and transfer history is unknown. The collection was removed from RVF2 (the Pamphlet File).

Bibliography

McKelvey, Blake. A History of the Rochester City Club. Rochester History, vol. IX, no. 4 (October 1947). Accessed May 27, 2020 from https://www.libraryweb.org/~rochhist/v9_1947/v9i4.pdf

Zeigler, Michael. "City Club dead - it once hosted the famous." Democrat & Chronicle (newspaper), Rochester, New York, April 10, 1975, page 55.