Metropolitan Club (Washington, D.C.)

Last updated
Metropolitan Club
The Metropolitan Club of the City of Washington
FormationOctober 13, 1863;160 years ago (1863-10-13)
TypePrivate
53-0109340
Headquarters1700 H Street NW, Washington, D.C., U.S.
Location
  • United States
Website www.metroclub.com
Architect Heins & LaFarge
NRHP reference No. 95000441 [1]

The Metropolitan Club of the City of Washington is a private club in Washington, D.C. In September 1983, The New York Times called it "Washington's oldest and most exclusive club". [2]

Contents

History

19th century

The entrance to the Metropolitan Club Metropolitan Club (2022).jpg
The entrance to the Metropolitan Club

On October 1, 1863, six U.S. Treasury Department officials met to discuss the creation of a social and literary club in Washington, D.C. [3] The Metropolitan Club officially organized twelve days later, with 43 members. [3] The first year, dues were $50. [2]

On June 25, 1883, the club acquired a lot on the corner of H Street and 17th Streets for $10. [3] Later In 1883, the club moved into the first purpose-built structure for a club in Washington, D.C. [3] Designed by the architects W. Bruce Gray and Harvey L. Page, the Victorian-style, four-story building was destroyed in a fire in 1904. [3] From 1905 to 1908, the Metropolitan Club met in various rental properties. [3]

The club's current home, designed by the architectural firm of Heins & LaFarge of New York City, was built from 1904 to 1908. [4] [3]

The brick and limestone Renaissance revival-styble building was rebuilt on the 1700 H Street NW lot, two blocks from the White House. [2] [3] In 1925, a two-story annex designed by Frederick H. Brooke of Donn and Deming was added. [3]

Inside the five-story building, there is a lobby, coat room, card room, a library with 15,000 books, a grill room, a lounge, a dining room, sleeping quarters, and a barbershop. [3] [2] There is also a steam room, an exercise room, and two squash courts. [2] Another room serves as a museum, honoring the governors. [3] Other spaces are for offices, the kitchen, and the wine cellar. [3]

In 1898, Theodore Roosevelt plotted much of the Spanish–American War at the club. [2]

20th century

During the Watergate scandal, Henry Kissinger regularly met New York Times journalist James Reston at the club. [5] To ensure confidentiality of such meetings, the club prohibits the use of cell phones or note taking at the tables. [5]

The Metropolitan Club building was listed on the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites since 1964 and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. [3] [4]

21st century

In April 2021, the club opened a new open-air rooftop venue, an $11 million project. [6] The space is used for live music, private functions, and smoking cigars. [6]

Membership

For the first century of its existence, the members of the club refused to accept non-white people as members. [2] Thirty club members quit in protest in 1961, including Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. [2] The club started accepting black members in 1972; the first black member it admitted was Bishop John T. Walker. [2] The club also did not allow women to join until 1988. [7]

In 1983, there was a five-year waiting list for membership. [3]

Notable members

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Society of the Cincinnati</span> American lineage society

The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers who served in the Continental Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Brahmin</span> Upper class Bostonians

The Boston Brahmins or Boston elite are members of Boston's traditional upper class. They are often associated with a cultivated New England or Mid-Atlantic dialect and accent, Harvard University, Anglicanism, and traditional British American customs and clothing. Descendants of the earliest English colonists are typically considered to be the most representative of the Boston Brahmins. They are considered White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs).

<i>Lincoln</i> (novel) 1984 novel by Gore Vidal

Lincoln: A Novel is a 1984 historical novel, part of the Narratives of Empire series by Gore Vidal. The novel describes the presidency of Abraham Lincoln and extends from the start of the American Civil War until his assassination. Rather than focus on the Civil War itself, the novel is centred on Lincoln's political and personal struggles. Though Lincoln is the focus, the book is never narrated from his point of view ; Vidal instead writes from the perspective of key historical figures. He draws from contemporary diaries, memoirs, letters, newspaper accounts, the biographical writings of John Hay and John Nicolay, and the work of modern historians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rock Creek Cemetery</span> United States historic place in Washington, D.C.

Rock Creek Cemetery is an 86-acre (350,000 m2) cemetery with a natural and rolling landscape located at Rock Creek Church Road, NW, and Webster Street, NW, off Hawaii Avenue, NE, in the Petworth neighborhood of Washington, D.C., across the street from the historic Soldiers' Home and the Soldiers' Home Cemetery. It also is home to the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington.

The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS), or, simply, the Loyal Legion, is a United States military order organized on April 15, 1865, by three veteran officers of the Union Army. The original membership was composed of commissioned officers of the Regular or Volunteer Army, U.S. Navy, or U.S. Marine Corps who served during the American Civil War, or who had served and thereafter been commissioned and who thereby "had aided in maintaining the honor, integrity, and supremacy of the national movement" during the Civil War.

The Pilgrims Society, founded on 16 July 1902 by Sir Harry Brittain KBE CMG, is a British-American society established, in the words of American diplomat Joseph Choate, 'to promote good-will, good-fellowship, and everlasting peace between the United States and Great Britain'. It is not to be confused with the Pilgrim Society of Plymouth, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knickerbocker Club</span> Gentlemens club in New York City

The Knickerbocker Club is a gentlemen's club in New York City that was founded in 1871. It is considered to be the most exclusive club in the United States and one of the most aristocratic gentlemen's clubs in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buckley School (New York City)</span> Private independent school in New York City

Buckley School is an independent, K-9 day school for boys located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City, United States.

Membership in the Council on Foreign Relations comes in two types: Individual and Corporate. Individual memberships are further subdivided into two types: Life Membership and Term Membership, the latter of which is for a single period of five years and is available to those between the ages of 30 and 36 at the time of their application. Only U.S. citizens and permanent residents who have applied for U.S. citizenship are eligible. A candidate for life membership must be nominated in writing by one Council member and seconded by a minimum of three others.

The General Society of Colonial Wars is a patriotic society composed of men who trace their descents from forebears who, in military, naval, or civil positions of high trust and responsibility, by acts or counsel, assisted in the establishment, defense, and preservation of the mainland American colonies of Great Britain.

The Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences (1816–1838) was a literary and science institution in Washington, D.C., founded by Dr. Edward Cutbush (1772–1843), a naval surgeon. Thomas Law had earlier suggested of such a society "at the seat of government." It was the first "learned society" established in Washington and was organized on June 28, 1816, sixteen years after the city was occupied, and less than two years after the invasion by the British troops. The second article of its constitution states: "The Institute shall consist of mathematical, physical, moral and political sciences, general literature and fine arts."

The University of Notre Dame's annual commencement exercises are held each May, currently in the Notre Dame Stadium. The exercises award undergraduate and graduate degrees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yale (surname)</span> Surname list

The surname Yale is derived from the Welsh word "iâl", meaning fertile ground, which was the name of the lordship of Yale in Wales of the royal house of Mathrafal. The name was later given to the estate of Plas-yn-Iâl by the House of Yale, a cadet branch of Mathrafal through the princes of Powys Fadog and Fitzgeralds of Corsygedol.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Gamarekian, Barbara (1983-09-10). "Enduring Bastion of Exclusivity for 'Gentlemen'". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Eve Lydia Barsoum (12 March 1995). Metropolitan Club Historic Landmark Application (PDF) (Report). National Park Service. p. 7. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  4. 1 2 "District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites". DC Preservation. Archived from the original on 2011-07-01. Retrieved 2011-12-19.
  5. 1 2 Mccarthy, Aoife (2007-12-04). "Clubbing with the elite". Politico. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
  6. 1 2 Barks, Joe (2021-12-03). "The Road Ahead: Up on the Roof at The Metropolitan Club of The City of Washington". Club + Resort Business. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
  7. Pressley, Sue Anne (26 June 1988). "Metropolitan Club Ends Ban on Women Members". Washington Post. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  8. "George H. Goodrich Obituary". Legacy.com. The Washington Post. September 25, 2015. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
  9. "Judge E. B. Parker, Debt Expert, Dies". The Evening Star. 1929-10-30. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-01-13 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  10. "Henry White Weds Mrs. Wm. D. Sloane; Ex-Ambassador to France Is 70 and Daughter of Late Wm. H. Vanderbilt Is 68". The New York Times . 4 November 1920. p. 13. Retrieved 21 July 2017.