A snippet of NPC history: End of Cold War marked by historic speeches at the Club

"The Cold War: A series of remarkable speeches between 1988 and 1991 marked the end of the Cold War. Soviet Marshal Sergei Akhromeyev announced that Hungary and Poland were free to leave the Soviet Bloc. Polish Solidarity leader Lech Walesa declared the Iron Curtain was dead. And Russia's first elected president, Boris Yeltsin, vowed there would be no return to Communism in his reborn nation. All these vital speeches were delivered at the National Press Club -- where news (some of it historic) is made in the nation's capital."

This snippet is one of many put together by Art Wiese, who served as president in 1979. He was responsible for planning much of the reconstruction of the Club during its renovation in the early 1980s.

In his later years, Wiese put together a series of snippets on the Club's history. In honor of his passing this year, the Wire will run one of these each week.