Union League Club facts for kids
The Union League Club is a private social club in New York City. It was started in 1863 and is connected to the Union League. Its current clubhouse is located at 38 East 37th Street, near Park Avenue, in the Murray Hill area of Manhattan. This building was designed by Benjamin Wistar Morris and opened in 1931. It was recognized as a New York City landmark in 2011. The club is known as one of the most important clubs in New York City.
Other Union League clubs, which are separate but share similar histories, are found in Chicago and Philadelphia. There used to be Union League clubs in Brooklyn, New York, and New Haven, Connecticut, too.
Exterior of the clubhouse in 2022
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| Formation | 1863 |
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| Type | Private social club |
| Location | |
| Affiliations | Union League |
| Website | unionleagueclub.org |
Contents
Club History and Purpose
The Union League Club was founded on February 6, 1863, during the American Civil War. At that time, many people in New York City were against the war. They wanted to make peace with the Southern states.
Because of this, people who supported the Union (the Northern states) decided to form their own club. Their main goals were to encourage strong national loyalty and to increase love and respect for the United States. The club also aimed to fight against unfair practices and to make American citizenship more valued.
The Union League Movement
The Union League was first a political movement before it became a social club. Its members raised money to help the United States Sanitary Commission. This group was like an early version of the American Red Cross. It cared for Union soldiers who were hurt in battles. They also raised money to support the Union cause in general.
The New York League was started by four important thinkers and professionals: Henry Whitney Bellows, Frederick Law Olmsted, George Templeton Strong, and Oliver Wolcott Gibbs. These men were all part of the United States Sanitary Commission. They wanted to make the country stronger and unite its people.
They first tried to get wealthy professionals to join them. They believed the club would do well with many rich and respected members. They especially wanted to attract young, wealthy men. They hoped to teach them about their duties to society as upper-class citizens.
Supporting the Union Cause
The founders wanted to convince important political leaders to support the Union and to end slavery. They also believed that a strong central government was very important for the country's success. The national government helped with things like business agreements, trade rules, and building new roads and bridges. These things helped professionals in business, finance, and manufacturing, which in turn helped everyone.
As the war continued, the ideas of the Union League became more popular. Many wealthy New Yorkers bought war bonds, which are like loans to the government. This meant they had a strong financial reason for the Union to win, in addition to their beliefs.
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Early Challenges and Actions
The club held its first official meeting on March 20, 1863. At this meeting, Robert B. Minturn, who ran a large shipping company, was chosen as president. Other important leaders were also elected.
The club soon faced challenges. On July 13, 1863, just five months after the club started, the New York Draft Riots began. These riots happened right near the club. The Union League Club was a target for angry crowds. However, brave members stayed inside the locked clubhouse on East 17th Street. They protected it and kept the crowds away.
A few months later, the members decided to show they were not afraid. With permission from the U.S. War Department, the club decided to help create a Colored infantry regiment for the Union army. The 20th U.S. Colored Infantry was formed in February 1864.
The next month, the regiment marched from the Union League Club to the Hudson River piers. They were going to Louisiana for duty. Even though there were threats, members of the Union League Club marched with the soldiers. During World War I, the club also supported the 369th Infantry, known as the Harlem Hellfighters.
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After the Civil War
During the Reconstruction period, which brought many civil rights changes, Union Leagues were formed across the Southern states. They helped formerly enslaved people register to vote. They talked about political issues and supported community projects. They also helped workers who were against unfair treatment by white employers. Most of these groups were separated by race, but a few were mixed.
After Reconstruction ended, the Union League Club of New York focused on community projects and good government. The club and its members helped start important places like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Grant's Tomb. They also helped fund the Statue of Abraham Lincoln in Union Square. They helped raise money for the Statue of Liberty and its base.
Clubhouse Locations
The Union League Club has had several homes over the years.
- Its first clubhouse, built in 1863, was at 26 East 17th Street, facing Union Square.
- The second clubhouse was the Jerome Mansion. This was the childhood home of Winston S. Churchill's mother, Jennie Jerome. It was located at Madison Avenue and East 26th Street, facing Madison Square Park (1868).
- The club then moved to Fifth Avenue and West 39th Street in 1881. This building had special decorations by famous artists like John La Farge and Augustus Saint-Gaudens.
- The club stayed there until it moved to its current building at 37th Street and Park Avenue. This property was bought from J.P. Morgan II. Unlike many club buildings, the current clubhouse was built specifically for the club. It was not a converted house or another type of building.
Club Membership
The club has always supported good government and public service. Many early members, like cartoonist Thomas Nast, helped to expose and stop the unfair political group led by "Boss" Tweed.
Fifteen U.S. presidents have been members of the club. Two of them, Theodore Roosevelt and Chester A. Arthur, were members before they became president. Two former presidents, Ulysses S. Grant and Herbert Hoover, were active members after leaving office.
Theodore Roosevelt was not accepted into the club when he first applied in 1881. This might have been because his mother, Martha Bulloch Roosevelt, was known to support the Southern states during the Civil War. However, after his wife and mother passed away in 1884, he was offered membership and accepted. Later, after he ran for president with a different political party in 1912, he was not welcome at the club for several years. He was welcomed back after the United States joined World War I.
The club was originally only for men. In the mid-1980s, members decided to allow women to join. Faith Whittlesey, who was President Reagan's Ambassador to Switzerland, became the first female member in 1986. Today, women hold important positions in the club's leadership. In 2020, Mary Beth Sullivan became the club's first woman president.
Some famous honorary members have included Sandra Day O'Connor, Henry Kissinger, Neil Armstrong, Margaret Thatcher, and Barbara Bush.
The club has a strong tradition of art. In the 1800s, some artist-members gave paintings to the club instead of paying their membership fees. These paintings are still part of the club's art collection today.
Notable Members
- Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States
- Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States
- Chester A. Arthur, 21st President of the United States
- Henry Whitney Bellows, Clergyman and social reformer
- Albert Bierstadt, famous artist
- William Cullen Bryant, poet and editor
- George H. W. Bush, 41st President of the United States
- George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States
- Peter Cooper, inventor and giver of money to good causes
- Cyrus West Field, who helped create the first Atlantic cable
- Herbert Hoover, 31st President of the United States
- Charles Evans Hughes, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
- Jack H. Jacobs, Medal of Honor winner
- John Jay, U.S. Minister to Austria-Hungary
- J.P. Morgan, famous financier
- J.P. Morgan Jr., financier
- Levi P. Morton, 22nd Vice President of the United States
- Thomas Nast, political cartoonist
- Frederick Law Olmsted, landscape architect who designed Central Park
- Horace Porter, Union Army officer and U.S. Ambassador to France
- Frederic Remington, Western artist
- J.D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil
- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States
- Elihu Root, Secretary of War and Secretary of State of the United States
- William T. Sherman, Union Civil War general
- George Templeton Strong, Civil War writer and club founder
- Charles S. Whitman, New York Governor
- Faith Ryan Whittlesey, U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland
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See also
- Union League
- Union League of Philadelphia
- Union League Club of Chicago
- List of American gentlemen's clubs
