Milwaukee Press Club


Click the image to learn more. In its earliest years of existence, the Milwaukee Press Club established its home in rooms on the third floor of Adam Roth's Quiet House saloon, on the corner of E. Mason and N. Broadway Streets. One of the several rooms is depicted here around 1895.

In 1885, four newspapermen established the Milwaukee Press Club to promote journalism while fostering camaraderie among their peers.[1] Recognized as the oldest continuously operated press club in North America, the private social organization has fulfilled its mission through celebratory dinners, publication of its annual journalism magazine, and professional development opportunities.[2] Over time, the club’s base has expanded to include non-print media applicants as well as publishers, editors, and individuals especially interested in the press.[3] Still, aside from admitting the Milwaukee Journal’s Edna Dunlop in 1910, the group denied women formal membership until 1971.[4] That year, following six years of protests, the club admitted thirty-six women.[5] As of 2005, the club featured approximately 275 members.[6] Numerous venues, including spaces in the Jung Building (1914-1948), the Fine Arts Building (1948-1983) and, as of 2000, the Newsroom Pub, have served as the society’s headquarters.[7]

Footnotes [+]

  1. ^ “A (Brief) History of the Milwaukee Press Club,” Milwaukee Press Club, accessed September 18, 2013, http://www.milwaukeepressclub.org/about/history, information now available at https://milwaukeepressclub.org/about-us/our-history/, last accessed July 31, 2017; Henry E. Legler et al., Milwaukee Press Club Book (Milwaukee: Milwaukee Press Club, 1895).
  2. ^ “Articles of Incorporation,” Box 1, Folder 5, Milwaukee Press Club Records, 1885-[ongoing], UWM Manuscript Collection 146, Archives Department, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries; Philadelphia’s “Pen and Pencil Club” claims to be the oldest continuously operated press club in America. “A (Brief) History of the Milwaukee Press Club”; Jason Wilson, “Philly’s Pen & Pencil Club Has Put Out a New Edition,” Philly.com, October 6, 2011, accessed September 18, 2013.
  3. ^ “A (Brief) History of the Milwaukee Press Club.”
  4. ^ “Press Club Ends Ban on Women,” The Milwaukee Journal, August 9, 1971, part 2, page 1.
  5. ^ Kimberly Wilmot Voss and Lance Speere, “Way Past Deadline: The Women’s Fight to Integrate the Milwaukee Press Club,” Wisconsin Magazine of History 92, no. 1 (Autumn, 2008): 34-36; “Mrs. Edna Dunlop, Journalist, Dies at 95,” The Milwaukee Journal, July 14, 1969, part 1, page 5.
  6. ^ Maryann Lazarski, “Partnership Helps SPJ Campus Chapter Succeed,” Society of Professional Journalists News, April 1, 2005, accessed September 23, 2013.
  7. ^ “A (Brief) History of the Milwaukee Press Club.”

For Further Reading

Bieterman, Jane. The Milwaukee Press Club. Milwaukee: WMVS/WMVT, 1999. Film.

Legler, Henry E., et al., Milwaukee Press Club Book. Milwaukee: Milwaukee Press Club, 1895.

Wilmot Voss, Kimberly, and Lance W. Speere. “Way Past Deadline: The Women’s Fight to Integrate the Milwaukee Press Club.” Wisconsin Magazine of History 92, no. 1 (Autumn 2008): 28-43.

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