Chemists' Club Records

The Chemists' Club is a private club in New York, New York whose membership is open to research and industrial chemists from all areas. At its inception, the Club's goal was "to promote the interests of chemists and those interested in the science and applications of chemistry", by providing academics and industrial chemists with space to meet, work, and study. It provided a place for members of various chemical societies to meet and mingle, including the American Chemical Society, the Society of Chemical Industry, the Verein Deutscher Chemiker, the American Electrochemical Society and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

The Chemists' Club was established in November 1898. Charles F. McKenna, William McMurtrie, Marston T. Bogert, and others formed an organizational committee, and raised money to rent an available property at 108 West 55th Street. Committee chairperson Charles F. Chandler, a professor at Columbia University, donated $1000 to the fledgling organization and became its first president. As of November 29, 1898, the club had one hundred fifty-four charter members, including Leo Hendrik Baekeland, Edward G. Love, William Henry Nichols, and Maximilian Toch. The Chemists' Club filed for incorporation on December 9, 1898. Before long, newer and larger quarters were needed. In 1909, Dr. Morris Loeb set out to solve this problem. Two years later, the opening of the first Clubhouse was celebrated.

A major impetus for forming the Club was the desire to house the library of the American Chemical Society and make the collection available to working chemists. For a time, the library had been located at the University Building, Washington Square, New York. When the University Building was demolished in 1894, the library went into storage. There was a strong desire to find it a new home.

Although the American Chemical Society‘s library became a core collection of the Chemists' Club in 1912, the Chemists' Club's library also received donations from across the United States. Various funds supported the purchase of new materials. The library eventually absorbed a number of private collections including those of Charles F. Chandler, J. Meritt Matthews, John Mallet, Herman Frasch, Morris Loeb, and Hugo Schweitzer. By 1913, the library was considered the largest chemical library in the country and was opened to the public as well as to members. In 1914, it reportedly contained over 36,000 volumes and carried 400 journals. By 1928, it reportedly included 50,000 volumes.

With the sale of the Chemists' Club building, the library was sold off. Portions of the library were donated to the Othmer Library of the Chemical Heritage Foundation (now the Science History Institute) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1988 and 1997.

This collection represents the culmination of one hundred years of Chemists’ Club history. The collection is largely administrative (i.e. board minutes, committee activities, etc.). There is also a wealth of memorabilia related to the Club, associated organizations, and individuals in the chemical community.

Sources

Chemists’ Club Records, Science History Institute Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Chemists’ Club. “History.” https://www.thechemistsclub.org/history.php.