- Century Association
-
Century Association 
Century Association Clubhouse in 1892U.S. National Register of Historic Places Official name: Century Association Clubhouse Designated: July 15, 1982 Reference #: 82003369[1] Location: 7 West 43rd St, Manhattan, New York City Coordinates: 40°45′16″N 73°58′52″W / 40.75444°N 73.98111°W Built: 1889-1891[2] Architect: McKim, Mead & White Architectural style: Italian Renaissance Revival New York City Landmark Designated: January 11, 1967 New York City Landmark Official name: Former Century Association Building Designated: January 5, 1993 Location: 11 East 15th St, Manhattan, New York City Coordinates: 40°44′06″N 73°59′20″W / 40.735°N 73.98889°W Built: 1869[2] Architects: Charles Gambrill and H. H. Richardson The Century Association is a private club in New York City. It evolved out of an earlier organization – the Sketch Club, founded in 1829 by editor and poet William Cullen Bryant and his friends – and was established in 1847 by Bryant and others as a club to promote interest in the fine arts and literature[3] which was open to "Artists, Literary Men, Scientists, Physicians, Officers of the Army and Navy, members of the Bench and Bar, Engineers, Clergymen, Representatives of the Press, Merchants and men of leisure."[4] It was originally intended to have a limited membership of 100 men.[3] Its early members included Bryant, painters Asher Durand, Winslow Homer, and John Frederick Kensett, architect Stanford White, judge Charles Patrick Daly [5], author Lewis Gaylord Clark [4] and architect Calvert Vaux,[6] the co-creator with Frederick Law Olmsted of Central Park. However, by the middle 1850s, the membership primarily consisted of merchants, businessmen, lawyers and doctors.[4]
The Century possesses a notable art collection, including important works by Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Thomas Doughty, and other Hudson River School painters. It is also an important venue for the exhibition of contemporary art created by its members.
In 1989, after a strenuous legal battle, the club was compelled to start admitting women members.[7][8]
The 15th Street clubhouse in 2011
15th Street clubhouse
The club's first permanent headquarters was located at 111 East 15th Street, between Union Square East and Irving Place, and was built in 1869 as designed by Charles Gambrill and Henry Hobson Richardson, both members of the club. The clubhouse was one of Richardson's early works, before he became one of the most influential architects in the United States,[2] and he joined the team after Gambrill, who was later his partner, had already begun the design: Richardson added the mansard roof.[9] The building is the oldest surviving clubhouse in Manhattan, and has been a New York City landmark since 1993.[2] The exterior was restored and the interior converted in 1996-1997[2] by Beyer Blinder Belle,[9] and in recent years it has been the Century Center for the Performing Arts, which had a 248-seat theatre, a ballroom and a studio. As of 2006 it is the New York production facility for Trinity Broadcasting Network, a religious television company.[10]
43rd Street clubhouse
The Century Association, which at the time had about 800 members,[3] left 15th Street in 1891 for a McKim, Mead & White-designed Italian Renaissance-style palazzo at 7 West 43rd Street, which is also a New York City landmark, designated in 1967,[2] as well as on the National Register of Historic Places since 1982. McKim, Mead & White's design established a preferred style for private clubhouse buildings all over the United States in the following decades.[2] The building was restored by Jan Hird Pokorny in 1992.[2]
Controversy
In late 2010 members of the Century Association – which had only begun admitting female members in 1989, and then by court order[7][8] – were embroiled in a hotly contested internal debate and "unusual vote of the entire membership" over whether it "should sever ties with a prestigious, all-male club in London, called the Garrick Club, that allows women to enter only in the company of men. ... As of March 1 [2011] the reciprocity agreement will end."[11] London's Daily Telegraph interviewed a Garrick Club member who "would not be mourning the loss of his colonial cousins — or access to their facilities. 'The Century's a crap club anyway,' he said."[12] Giving up infrequent visits to the Garrick "versus condoning the discrimination of women -- it seems like a pretty easy trade-off," a male Century member told the New York Observer."[13]
See also
References
- Notes
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.
- ^ a b c d e f g h New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.) New York:Wiley, 2009. ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1, pp.85, 103
- ^ a b c Mooney, James E. "Century Association" in Jackson, Kenneth T., ed (1995). The Encyclopedia of New York City. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300055366., p.200
- ^ a b c Burrows, Edwin G. & Wallace, Mike (1999). Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195116348., p.713
- ^ Fitch, Charles E (1916). Encyclopedia of biography of New York, a life record of men and women whose sterling character and energy and industry have made them preëminent in their own and many other states. Boston: American historical society. OCLC 3548810.
- ^ Burrows, Edwin G. & Wallace, Mike (1999). Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195116348., p.793
- ^ a b Brozan, Nadine. "Century Club Tradition Nears Its End". New York Times (November 27, 1988)
- ^ a b Lee, Felicia R. "121 Years of Men Only Ends at Club". New York Times (July 28, 1989)
- ^ a b White, Norval & Willensky, Elliot (2000). AIA Guide to New York City (4th ed.). New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0812931076.
- ^ "Trinity Broadcasting Network Acquires 111 E. 15th Street From Theater First Foundation" at the Cushman & Wakefield website {August 6, 2006)
- ^ Barbaro, Michael (February 9, 2011). "At Elite Club, Debate Over More Exclusive One". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/nyregion/10century-club.html.
- ^ Swaine, Jon (10 February 2011). "New York's Century Association severs ties with London's Garrick Club". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8316861/New-Yorks-Century-Association-severs-ties-with-Londons-Garrick-Club.html. Retrieved 2011-02-16.
- ^ Freeman, Nate (March 2, 2011). "Clash of the Centurions: Gender Spat Splits a Venerable Redoubt". New York Observer. http://www.observer.com/2011/daily-transom/clash-centurions-venerable-clubs-gender-wars.
- Bibliography
- Century Association. The Century, 1847-1946. (1947)
- Duffy, James (ed.) The Century at 150: Excerpts from the Archives. (1997)
- Gourlie, John Hamilton. The Origin and History of the Century. (1856)
- Mayor, A. Hyatt & Davis, Mark. American Art at the Century. (1977)
- Nathan, Frederic S. Centurions In Public Service. (2010)
External links
- The Century Association (official website)
- The Century Association Archives Foundation's website (includes a finding aid to the collection, which is accessible to qualified researchers)
Categories:- 1846 establishments in the United States
- Buildings and structures completed in 1869
- Buildings and structures completed in 1891
- Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan
- Clubs and societies in the United States
- Private clubs
- Traditional gentlemen's clubs in the United States
- Clubs and societies in New York City
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