The University Club of New York (also known as University Club) is a private social club at 1 West 54th Street and Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Founded to celebrate the union of social duty and intellectual life, the club was chartered in 1865 for the "promotion of literature and art". The club is not affiliated with any other University Club or college alumni clubs. The club is considered one of the most prestigious in New York City. The University Club's predecessor, the Red Room Club, was founded in 1861 when a group of Yale College alumni founded the club to extend their collegial ties. Once the University Club received its charter, it struggled with financing, and from 1868 to 1879 the club had no permanent clubhouse and relatively few members. The club was reorganized in 1879 and became a popular social club, being housed at John Caswell's residence until 1883 and then at the Jerome Mansion until the current clubhouse was completed in 1899. Women were not permitted to become members until 1986, and are today highly represented within the membership. The current clubhouse, a nine-story granite-faced Renaissance Revival structure, was designed by Charles Follen McKim, a member of the club. It contains three main floors with a reception area at the first story, a set of library rooms on the fourth story, and a dining area on the seventh story. There are various mezzanines with bedrooms and club rooms as well, in addition to a bath and swimming pool in the basement. The tenth story contains five singles squash courts and one hardball squash doubles court. The clubhouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a New York City designated landmark.
History
Early years In late 1861, a group of Yale College alumni from the classes of 1859 to 1861 formed the Red Room Club to continue their collegial friendship. The club initially held meetings at the family house of Francis Edward Kernochan at 145 Second Avenue in Manhattan. During the winters of 1862 and 1863, the club met on Saturdays in one room of the Kernochan house, dubbed the "Red Room". According to a later Harper's Weekly magazine article, the club had no regular organization; the only common trait was that the members were Yale alumni. The club met at 7 West 30th Street during 1864 after Kernochan's father Joseph fell ill, interfering with the activities of the club. Cofounder Henry Holt recalled that, in late 1864, one member of the club had suggested that a university club be created. Joseph Kernochan died in late 1864 and the estate was broken up, including the family's Second Avenue house. Francis and his brother J. Frederic took rooms on 12th Street, where the Red Room Club continued to meet through early 1865.
Incorporation and early difficulties
The University Club of the City of New York was officially incorporated on April 28, 1865, by act of the New York State Legislature. The club was incorporated "for the purpose of the promotion of literature and art, by establishing and maintaining a library, reading-room, and gallery of art, and by such other means as shall be expedient and proper for such purpose." The founding members had graduated from various colleges and universities in addition to Yale. The club's first president, Theodore William Dwight, was a Hamilton College alumnus and a professor at the Columbia College Law School. George Van Nest Baldwin was the vice president, Theodore B. Bronson was treasurer, Edward Mitchell was secretary, and the founders listed in the acts of incorporation were appointed to the club's council. The original constitution did not appear to have initiation fees and the club seems to have not restricted membership based on how long ago a member graduated from a college or university. Nonetheless, membership was restricted to men. After incorporation, the club officers wished to collect $4,500 from members to raise money for a clubhouse. In November 1865, Dwight announced that all membership dues had to be paid immediately, but that less than half of members had paid their dues. The next month, the club was able to sign a short-term lease at a townhouse on 9 Brevoort Place. This clubhouse was on what is now 10th Street east of Broadway. In its first year, the University Club had over 100 names on its rolls. The club had so little money, the townhouse's landlady agreed to accept $750 of the $1,250 lease payment. Disputes over financing continued through 1867, even though the space was subleased to Loyal Legion, which similarly had low finances. Having no money to pay off outstanding debts or lease space, the University Club moved out of Brevoort Place in late 1867. The club was nearly dormant for the next twelve years, with low membership and no permanent clubhouse. In 1869, the club met in the rooms of Luther M. Jones at 32 Waverly Place, and George V. N. Baldwin was elected as president. The next year, the University Club met at the office of F. E. Kernochan at 23 Broadway, and in 1871 the members voted to not seek any more clubhouses or elect any new members. Though club records are inconsistent, the members met in late 1871 at 81 Fifth Avenue; Kernochan's house, on 18 West 33rd Street; and George St. J. Sheffield's house, at 11 East 42nd Street. With 28 members in 1872, the club often met for dinners, and its meetings tended to be "more entertaining than serious". By late 1874, the club had dwindled to 24 members and existed as the University Dining Club. The club met at its treasurers' office at 120 Broadway, the Equitable Life Building, for six years in the 1870s, though this fact was not acknowledged until 1879.
Reorganization and growth
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