The Family (club)
Encyclopedia
Gentlemen's club
A gentlemen's club is a members-only private club of a type originally set up by and for British upper class men in the eighteenth century, and popularised by English upper-middle class men and women in the late nineteenth century. Today, some are more open about the gender and social status of...
in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, formed in 1901 by newspapermen who left the Bohemian Club
Bohemian Club
The Bohemian Club is a private men's club in San Francisco, California, United States.Its clubhouse is located at 624 Taylor Street in San Francisco...
. The club maintains a clubhouse in the city as well as rural property 35 miles to the south in Woodside
Woodside, California
Woodside is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It uses a council-manager system of government. The U.S. Census estimated the population of the town to be 5,287 in 2010....
.
An exclusive, invitation only, all-male club, it calls new members "Babies", regular members "Children" and the club president "Father". The club rules forbid the use of its facilities or services for the purposes of trade or business. Furthermore, each member must certify that he will not deduct any part of club payments as business expenses for federal or state income tax purposes. The Family sponsors charity projects such as a hospital in Guatemala.
History
The Bohemian Club was formed by and for journalistsJournalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
, and included a number who worked for the San Francisco Examiner and other papers owned by William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
. In 1901, Ambrose Bierce
Ambrose Bierce
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist and satirist...
wrote a poem that seemed to predict or even call for President William McKinley
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
's death by an assassin's bullet, and the Hearst chain ran the piece. When McKinley was assassinated shortly thereafter, opponents of Hearst created a furor over the poem's publication, ending Hearst's ambitions for the US presidency and causing the Hearst newsmen to resign from the Bohemian Club in protest over the Bohemian Club's banning of Hearst newspapers from the premises. A group of 14 reporters, editors, and other resigned members formed their own club and called it "The Family".
Early public activities by the club included the sponsoring of a horse race called the "Family Club Handicap" held in Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
in 1904. A racehorse named "Fossil" took first place, receiving a silver cup from the Family as well as US$1,000 from the California Jockey Club.
The Family clubhouse was originally located at 228 Post Street, but the building was lost two days after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco, California, and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude of 7.9; however, other...
in the subsequent calamitous fire, though not before serving as temporary rest station and meal place for earthquake victims such as the bereft Conreid Metropolitan Opera Company. The club rebuilt at the corner of Powell and Bush Streets, and still conducts meetings at this site two blocks from the peak of Nob Hill
Nob Hill, San Francisco, California
Nob Hill refers to a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, centered on the intersection of California and Powell streets. It is one of San Francisco's 44 hills, and one of its original "Seven Hills."-Location :...
.
The Family's clubhouse has served as a venue for musical events such as an annual benefit for San Francisco Sinfonietta as well as black-tie dinner lectures by various experts and personages such as Stanlee Gatti
Stanlee Gatti
Stanley Ray Gatti , San Francisco's "resident creative genius," is among the first Americans to practice event design as visual art, and one of the best-known event planners in the country.- Origins :...
speaking to benefit horticultural programs and Charles M. Schulz
Charles M. Schulz
Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz was an American cartoonist, whose comic strip Peanuts proved one of the most popular and influential in the history of the medium, and is still widely reprinted on a daily basis.-Early life and education:Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Schulz grew up in Saint Paul...
appearing to promote the Cartoon Art Museum
Cartoon Art Museum
The Cartoon Art Museum is a California art museum that specializes in the art of comics and cartoons. It is the only museum in the Western United States dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of all forms of cartoon art...
.
The Family Farm
The Family conducts annual social events among the redwood and oak trees and open meadows at its rural property on the San Francisco peninsula. The Family Farm entrance is at 1400 Portola Road in Woodside.In 1909, Family club members decided upon the Woodside location for their rural getaways. While summering there in 1912, club members of a variety of religious backgrounds including Judaism, Protestantism and Catholicism pooled their resources to build a Catholic church in nearby Portola Valley: Our Lady of the Wayside Church
Our Lady of the Wayside Church
Our Lady of the Wayside Church is a modest church built in 1912 for the then-growing Catholic parish of Portola Valley by a combined effort of Jewish, Protestant and Catholic members of The Family, a San Francisco men's club that owns a nearby rural retreat....
. Architect member James R. Miller
James Rupert Miller
James Rupert Miller was an architect active in San Francisco, California in the first half of the 20th century...
assigned the design of the church to a promising young draftsman at his firm, Timothy L. Pflueger
Timothy L. Pflueger
Timothy Ludwig Pflueger was a prominent architect, interior designer and architectural lighting designer in the San Francisco Bay Area in the first half of the 20th century. Together with James R...
. This was Pflueger's first architectural commission, and was the start of his interaction with the Family. Pflueger would soon join the Family to become a member in good standing.
An annual "Flight Play", as well as a number of other stage and musical performances, are written and performed by club members. Plays aren't published or performed beyond the privacy of the club, and all original written materials are the sole property of the Club. One handwritten musical score, Thine Enemy, composed by Meredith Willson
Meredith Willson
Robert Meredith Willson was an American composer, songwriter, conductor and playwright, best known for writing the book, music and lyrics for the hit Broadway musical The Music Man...
for the 1937 Flight Play 20 years before The Music Man
The Music Man
The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with...
was staged on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, will be donated by The Family to a museum in the composer's birthplace, Mason City, Iowa
Mason City, Iowa
Mason City is the county seat of Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States. The population was 28,079 in the 2010 census, a decline from 29,172 in the 2000 census. The Mason City Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Cerro Gordo and Worth counties....
. Diego Rivera
Diego Rivera
Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was a prominent Mexican painter born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, an active communist, and husband of Frida Kahlo . His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in...
and José Clemente Orozco
José Clemente Orozco
José Clemente Orozco was a Mexican social realist painter, who specialized in bold murals that established the Mexican Mural Renaissance together with murals by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and others...
were guests of Timothy Pflueger's at the Farm in 1930. The two leftist Mexican muralists argued forcefully with one another about art during one visit.
Famous members
- Edward BowesEdward BowesEdward Bowes was an American radio personality of the 1930s and 40s whose Major Bowes' Amateur Hour was the best-known amateur talent show in radio during its eighteen-year run on NBC Radio and CBS Radio.-Early life and radio career:Bowes made his first business success in real estate, until the...
, realtor - Colbert Coldwell, founder of Coldwell BankerColdwell BankerColdwell Banker is a large real estate franchise founded in 1906 in San Francisco.Coldwell Banker has an international presence, with offices on six continents, 46 countries and territories...
- Joseph M. Long, founder of Longs DrugsLongs DrugsLongs Drugs is an American chain of over 40 drug stores throughout the State of Hawaii. Before being acquired by CVS Caremark in 2008, it was a chain of over 500 stores, located primarily on the West Coast of the United States...
- Ty CobbTy CobbTyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb , nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in Narrows, Georgia...
, famous baseball player - Henry J. CrockerHenry J. CrockerHenry J. Crocker was a prominent San Franciscan businessman, one of the Committee of Fifty formed after the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and a noted philatelist.-Business career:...
, nephew of Charles CrockerCharles CrockerCharles Crocker was an American railroad executive.-Early years:Crocker was born in Troy, New York, to a modest family and moved to an Indiana farm at age 14. He soon became independent, working on several farms, a sawmill, and at an iron forge. In 1845 he founded a small, independent iron...
, banker, oil magnate, 1903 mayoral candidate, member of the Committee of Fifty (1906)Committee of Fifty (1906)This Committee of Fifty, sometimes referred to as Committee of Safety, Citizens' Committee of Fifty or Relief and Restoration Committee of Law and Order, was called into existence by Mayor Eugene Schmitz during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake... - Arthur FiedlerArthur FiedlerArthur Fiedler was a long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, a symphony orchestra that specializes in popular and light classical music. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one of the best-known orchestras in the country...
, conductor - Herbert FleishhackerHerbert FleishhackerHerbert Fleishhacker , son of Aaron Fleishhacker and Delia Fleishhacker, was an American businessman, civic leader and philanthropist. He built Fleishhacker Pool, the world's largest swimming pool, in 1924....
, businessman, civic leader, philanthropist - John Emmett Gerrity, California modernist artist
- Henry F. GradyHenry F. GradyHenry Francis Grady was an American diplomat. Born in San Francisco, California to John Henry and Ellen Genevieve Grady, he earned a PhD in Economics from Columbia University. On October 18, 1917 he married Lucretia Louise del Valle Henry Francis Grady (February 12, 1882 - September 14, 1957)...
, first US ambassador to India. Dean of the Commerce department at the University of California Berkeley, President of American President Lines. - Peter E. Haas, Levi-Strauss executive, son of Walter A. HaasWalter A. HaasWalter A. Haas, Sr. , son of the founder of Hellman-Haas Grocery , was a former President and Chairman of Levi Strauss & Co. Haas was credited with saving the once struggling company....
- Herbert HooverHerbert HooverHerbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
, President of the United States - Clarence W. W. MayhewClarence W. W. MayhewClarence William Whitehead Mayhew was an American architect best known as a designer of contemporary residential structures in the San Francisco Bay Area...
, architect - James Rupert MillerJames Rupert MillerJames Rupert Miller was an architect active in San Francisco, California in the first half of the 20th century...
, architect - Timothy Pflueger, architect
- William SaroyanWilliam SaroyanWilliam Saroyan was an Armenian American dramatist and author. The setting of many of his stories and plays is the center of Armenian-American life in California in his native Fresno.-Early years:...
, American author and dramatist - Max Thelen, senior partner at Thelen LLP
- Henry Albert van Coenen Torchiana, author, Consul-General from the Netherlands and Commissioner of the Panama-Pacific International ExpositionPanama-Pacific International Exposition (1915)The Panama-Pacific International Exposition was a world's fair held in San Francisco, California between February 20 and December 4 in 1915. Its ostensible purpose was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was widely seen in the city as an opportunity to showcase its recovery...
- Meredith WillsonMeredith WillsonRobert Meredith Willson was an American composer, songwriter, conductor and playwright, best known for writing the book, music and lyrics for the hit Broadway musical The Music Man...
, American composer, lyricist, Broadway producer