This Week in National Press Club History: Prince Albert, Jesse Jackson, Carl Lewis, Nat 'King' Cole

November 30, 2009: His Serene Highness Prince Albert ll of Monaco in a sold-out appearance at a Club luncheon urges the international community to take bolder action against climate change and other global environmental threats. He warns that “our survival ultimately is at stake and that "we will have to travel, consume, work and live in a different way” if we do not act. He says his foundation supports “over a hundred and twenty projects all over the world. Some are directly operational, others aim to raise awareness among populations or aid scientific research.” His great-great grandfather Prince Albert l was the first European ruler to speak at the National Press Club in 1911.

December 2, 1987: Jesse Jackson, founder of the Rainbow/PUSH organization, addresses a Club luncheon during his second race for the Democratic presidential nomination. He had just returned from a fact-finding trip to the Middle East, and details his policy positions on the U.S. role in the Iran-Iraq war.

December 6, 1991: Track and field star Carl Lewis appears at a Club luncheon. His career as a sprinter and long jumper spanned the Olympic Games from 1984 through 1996, and included nine gold medals and one silver.

December 13,1962: Jet magazine describes as a “first” popular singer Nat "King" Cole’s appearance at the National Press Club’s Presidential Ball.

This Week In National Press Club History is brought to you by the History & Heritage Committee, which preserves and revitalizes the Club’s distinguished history through lobby displays, events, panel discussions and an oral history project.

For more information on the committee’s plans and activities, or to join it, contact chair Gilbert Klein at gilbert.klein @yahoo.com.