History
The club was founded in 1913 and its function was to celebrate the birthday of Confederate Civil War General Robert E. Lee; it did not admit blacks until 1974, or women until 1994. In 2009, President Barack Obama spoke at the club's annual dinner, saying "this dinner began almost one hundred years ago as a way to celebrate the birthday of General Robert E. Lee. If he were here with us tonight, the General would be 202 years old. And very confused."
In addition to its January dinner in Washington, the club used to have an annual summer picnic.
In 1986, William H. Rehnquist's membership in the club became the subject of discussion in a Senate Judiciary hearing after Rehnquist was nominated to be Chief Justice. He described the club as one that "met once a year to listen to patriotic music and 'hear some funny political speeches'" and said "he did not think his membership in such a once-a-year group violated the canons of judicial ethics."
In 1994, the club admitted its first women members—Sandra Day O'Connor, Elizabeth Dole, and Katharine Graham (whose father had also been a member)—in response to a 1993 boycott by President Bill Clinton. Clinton's boycott had been the first by a U.S. president since Jimmy Carter.
During the 2012 dinner, protesters from Occupy D.C. gathered outside the building to protest the meeting of government and business literally behind closed doors.
Read more about this topic: Alfalfa Club
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Hence poetry is something more philosophic and of graver import than history, since its statements are rather of the nature of universals, whereas those of history are singulars.”
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“The history of the genesis or the old mythology repeats itself in the experience of every child. He too is a demon or god thrown into a particular chaos, where he strives ever to lead things from disorder into order.”
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