Formation | 1883 |
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Legal status | 501(c)(3) not-for-profit fencing organization |
Location |
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Website | fencersclub |
The Fencers Club in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, is the oldest fencing club in the Western Hemisphere. [1] It is a member of the Metropolitan Division of the U.S. Fencing Association. Established in 1883, it has evolved into a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit fencing organization dedicated to fencing and community service. It has produced a number of national champions and Olympians.
The Fencers Club includes 22 full-length metal grounded training strips with electronic scoring equipment, as well as an in-house pro shop and armory.
The Fencers Club was founded in 1883 by Charles de Kay and other New Yorkers. [2] [3] [4] One had to be in the Social Register to be a member. [5] Its first fencing master was Captain Hippolyte Nicolas, a French officer who had fought in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, who was partial to the Italian school of fencing. [6] [3]
In 1892 it had about 200 members. [7] In 1902 annual dues at the club were $30 ($1,060 in current dollar terms). [8] In 1914, one third of its members were women. [4] Rene Pinchart, a Belgian sergeant major in World War I, was fencing master at the club from 1927 to 1955. [9] French-American Michel Alaux was fencing master of the club from 1956 until 1974. [10]
It is the birthplace, in 1991, and home of the Peter Westbrook Foundation. [11] In 2012, the Fencers Club became only the ninth organization to be recognized by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) as a Community Olympic Development Program (CODP), for its innovative and world-class programs that embody the Olympic ideals. [12]
In 2020, the Fencers Club fired a fencing coach after he made racist remarks. [13] [14]
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