Meet The Chicago Literary Club
Having celebrated its 150th anniversary, our club is among Chicago’s oldest and most distinguished institutions. Founded in 1874, the Club brings together men and women who write and present original essays on topics of their own choosing. Meeting each Monday evening between October and May, one member presents their work to other members gathered in person and via remote viewing.
Members write on subjects from the profound to the ordinary in any genre – biography, history, language, fiction, and sometimes verse. Essays cover a variety of topics from Greek history to the Civil War, to horse-racing, the invention of French fries and even the famous clown, Bozo.
Beginning just three years after the Great Chicago Fire, the Club has drawn its members from a collection of especially notable Chicagoans of the time: architects like Daniel Burnham and Louis Sullivan; poet Edgar Lee Masters; educators; lawyers including Paul Shorey and Elmer Gertz, and Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg; theologians like Preston Bradley; and inventor and nuclear physicist Leonard Reiffel.
Today’s members continue to come from a cross section of occupations, men and women, both active and retired - teachers, business executives, lawyers, and doctors. Those who make up the membership today remain committed to the Club’s legacy and future, “In Practice and Celebration of the Written Word.”
Links for further information:
Bob Jordan Interview about the Club on CBS Morning News
Bob Jordan on NBC News
Bob Jordan on WGN Midday News
Bob Jordan on WGN Morning News
Article in Chicago Magazine
Article in Classic Chicago Magazine
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Collyer Fellowship
A New Three-Year Fellowship
The Club has recently established a three-year Collyer Fellowship to open the membership and culture of the Club to a younger presence and to support literary culture among younger writers in the Chicago area. Those interested are invited to click the link below to apply for this fellowship.
Collyer Application
The Club Archives primarily consist of papers presented before the Club, and are housed at The Newberry Library. Most of those papers date from the 1930s, 1940s and later.
There are also Histories of the Club in four major volumes and smaller occasional pieces; the Roll of Members includes the name and date of membership of all members from inception as well as the titles of their papers and offices held. If a paper noted therein has notation (N) following the date of presentation, it is held in the collection at the Newberry. If it does not have this notation, the Club does not possess a copy. The Club would be very grateful for copies of any papers it does not possess -- please contact the Webmaster. Copies can be digital or on paper.