National Press Club in History: Early Club luncheons

What did an early National Press Club luncheon look like?

From its inception, the Club has attracted prominent people in politics, government, business and entertainment. William Howard Taft, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Sarah Bernhardt, and Andrew Carnegie were all early visitors.

But the idea of a regular luncheon series did not arise until 1933. Ernest Lindley of Newsweek was the first Speakers Committee chairman, and by 1934, the program was up and running, attracting some top names that still reverberate in American history and culture: Filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille; Joseph P. Kennedy, then chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission; author Upton Sinclair; and Secretary of State Cordell Hull.

The first luncheons were off the record, but that soon became impractical with the advent of recordings and radio coverage. A seat in the ballroom and lunch cost 75 cents.

The International News photo here shows Hull addressing the Club. This was not his 1934 speech, but one he gave four years later on March 17, 1938. Harold Brayman of the Philadelphia Public Ledger was the Club’s president that year, although he is not shown here.

Hull spoke while tensions in Europe were escalating, but American public pressure to keep the United States out of any conflict was high. According to the cutline, Hull “tells the world that strict neutrality will be followed, and the United States will follow ‘middle of the road’ policy in dealing with foreign nations and appeals for international law and order.”

The profusion of radio microphones at the podium indicates the speech would be transmitted nationwide. In those days, the seating was arranged “gridiron style” with rows of tables butting up against the head table. Of course, there are no women present – the Club being exclusively male until 1971. And one can make out the haze in the room from the cigarette and cigar smoke. Many things may have changed, but don’t those coffee cups and salt and pepper shakers look familiar?

A total of 24 luncheons were held in 1939. Club President Arthur Hachten of the International News Service, reported to the Club at the end of his term: “Many members have told me that these luncheons give them a new appreciation of their membership and attach a new value to it.”

This is another in a series provided by Club historian Gil Klein. Dig down anywhere in the Club’s 110-year history, and you will find some kind of significant event in the history of the world, the nation, Washington and the Club itself. Many of these events were caught in illustrations that tell the stories.