Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The Bohemian Club


M.H. de Young, San Francisco Chronicle propietor, described its formation in a 1915 interview:

The Bohemian Club was organized in the Chronicle office by Tommy Newcombe, Sutherland, Dan O'Connell, Harry Dam and others who were members of the staff. The boys wanted a place where they could get together after work, and they took a room on Sacramento street below Kearny. That was the start of the Bohemian Club, and it was not an unmixed blessing for the Chronicle because the boys would go there sometimes when they should have reported at the office. Very often when Dan O'Connell sat down to a good dinner there he would forget that he had a pocketful of notes for an important story.


Poet, and club member George Sterling described it thus:

Any good mixer of convivial habits considers he has a right to be called a Bohemian. But that is not a valid claim. There are two elements, at least, that are essential to Bohemianism. The first is devotion or addiction to one or more of the Seven Arts; the other is poverty. Other factors suggest themselves: for instance, I like to think of my Bohemians as young, as radical in their outlook on art and life; as unconventional, and, though this is debatable, as dwellers in a city large enough to have the somewhat cruel atmosphere of all great cities


The Bohemian Club was founded April 1872 by journalists who would promote a fraternity among men who enjoyed the arts. Prior to that in New York City and other major American cities in the late 1850s, groups of young journalists flourished in creating so-called "bohemian" lifestyles till the advent of the American Civil War turned them into war correspondents. With the founding of the Bohemian Club, journalists were the regular members, musicians and artists honorary ones.


The group relaxed its rules for membership to permit some people without much in the way of artistic talent, but were rather patrons of the arts with rather large bank accounts. Soon, the "bohemian" originals were in the minority and the wealthy and powerful dominated the club. Members were established, successful, respectable family men, who transformed the club into a new form of bohemianism, essentially a secret resort for closet homosexuals to be more free with themselves. And so the club became an essentially homosexual fraternity.


Oscar Wilde, on visiting in 1882, apparently said, "I never saw so many well-dressed, well-fed, business-looking Bohemians (homosexuals) in my life."


Many past member lists are public information, but current member lists are not. Some business and political leaders have received honorary member status, such as William Randolph Hearst and Richard Nixon. 
Membes have included US presidents (mostly before they took the top spot), cabinet officials, and CEOs, including those of major banks.


Military contractors, oil companies, banks, the Federal Reserve, and media companies include top officials that are club members or guests. Still, artists and art lovers are among the most arduous members. Bohemian Club bylaws require 25 % to be accomplished artists of all types (composers, musicians, singers, actors, painters, filmmakers, etc). Artistic members are admitted after passing a "stringent" audition demonstrating their talent. One wonders what form(s) of homosexual activity these "auditions" include.


As we have mentioned before in this blog, the rituals performed at the 2-week annual meeting in July are satanic in nature and include an abundance of homosexual activity as part of the festivities. Inclusion in the list of membership does not designate homosexuality but it is a safe bet most of the members have some proclivity toward such activity. For more information, see previous Bohemian Grove blog.


A list of past members from Wikipedia: 


Nicholas A. Acker   
Frank K. Ainsworth   
Robert I. Aitken   
John Fellows Akers   
Eddie Albert   
Lamar Alexander   
Wallace M. Alexander   
Charles E. Allen   
Pelham W. Ames   
Martin Anderson   
Earle C. Anthony   
Peter R. Arnott   
Samual Armacost   
Norman Ralph Augustine   
Thomas G. Ayers   
Samuel W. Backus   
James Baker   
Mason Ball   
Robert D. Ballard   
Sydney Ballou   
Albert L. Bancroft   
John Barneson   
John M Barry   
George Aiken Batchelder   
Al W. Baxter   
Walter Kirker Beatty   
Riley P. Bechtel   
Stephen Bechtel, Jr.   
Stephen David Bechtel, Sr.   
Francis E. Beck   
D. P. Belknap   
Karl Bendetsen   
Fulton G. Berry   
Cesar Bertheau   
Benjamin Biaggini   
Clarence E. Bickford   
Ambrose Bierce   
H. R. Bloomer   
Charles R. Blyth   
John Henry Boalt   
George C. Boardman   
Louis Boccardi   
Leon Bocqueraz   
Clint Bolick   
James G. Boswell II   
Henry M. Bosworth   
Richard Boucher   
Edward Bosqui   
William B. Bourn II   
Elizabeth Crocker Bowers   
Allan St. John Bowie   
James F. Bowman   
Margaret B. Bowman   
Harry J. Brady   
Nicholas F. Brady   
Frederic H. Brandi   
Edward Lacy Brayton   
Richard L. Breen   
Domenica Brescia   
Nathaniel J. Brittan   
David S. Broder   
George T. Bromley   
Samuel Marsden Brookes   
David Brooks   
Harold Brown   
Pat Brown   
Emile Bruguière   
Frank H. Buck   
Aurelius E. Buckingham   
Christopher Buckley   
William F. Buckley, Jr.   
Jimmy Buffett   
Charles Bundschu   
Clair Burgener   
Frank Gelett Burgess   
Hugh M. Burke   
Daniel M. Burns   
George H. W. Bush   
George W. Bush   
Norton Bush   
Nicholas Murray Butler   
Richard Butler   
Witter Bynner   
Giuseppe Cadenasso   
Guido E. Caglieri   
Joseph A. Califano, Jr.   
Howard Callaway   
George T. Cameron   
Chauncey L. Canfield   
Robert Capelle   
Harris C. Capwell   
Emil Carlsen   
Charles Joseph Carlson   
Harry P. Carlton   
Jimmy Carter   
Albert Vincent Casey   
Alexander T. Case   
William J. Casey   
Harry Chandler   
Norman Chandler   
Joseph A. Chanslor   
Horace B. Chase   
Ernest D. Chipman   
George Chismore   
Andrew Christeson   
William P. Clark, Jr.   
Harry Corson Clarke   
Alden W. Clausen   
John Willard Clawson   
Lucius D. Clay   
Philip T. Clay   
Sydney A. Cloman   
Charles Coburn   
Tony Coelho   
Colbert Coldwell   
Alex K. Coney   
Russell H. Cool   
Ina Coolbrith   
Joseph Coors   
Harry Thomas Cory   
Joseph B. Coryell   
Gordon Coutts   
John Cheever Cowden   
Jennings S. Cox   
Ray F. Coyle   
George Creel   
John C. Cremony   
Charles H. Crocker   
Charles Templeton Crocker   
William H. Crocker   
Joseph B. Crockett   
Walter Cronkite   
Melvin Earl Cummings   
Wiliam Curlett   
Charles S. Cushing   
Sidney B. Cushing   
Andrew McFarland Davis   
Richmond P. Davis   
Willis E. Davis   
Paul W. de Fremery   
George Bowen De Long   
Eugene de Joly De Sabla, Jr.   
Paolo De Vecchi   
Walter E. Dean   
Henry C. Dibble   
Benjamin Dibblee   
Charles John Dickman   
Marshall Dill, Sr.   
Edwin R. Dimond   
Maynard Dixon   
David F. Dodge   
George D. Dornin   
Kingman Douglass   
T. W. Morgan Draper   
William Henry Draper III   
Frank G. Drum   
Allen Drury   
John Eleuthère du Pont   
Edward J. Duffey   
William B. Dunning   
Glenn S. Dumke   
Guy C. Earl   
Clint Eastwood   
Robert M. Eberle   
Henry "Harry" Edwards   
J. Paulding Edwards   
Zoeth S. Eldredge   
Felton B. Elkins   
Dwight D. Eisenhower   
George H. Evans   
Richard Bunger Evans   
Wallace W. Everett, Sr.   
James J. Fagan   
Charles W. Fay   
Paul B. Fay   
Philip R. Faymonville   
Charles N. Felton   
Watson D. Fennimore   
Chester Bailey Fernald   
Reginald Goodwin Fernald   
Manuel Y. Ferrer   
Edwin Feulner   
Charles K. Charles K. Field   
George Russell Field   
Walter G. Filer   
Bush Finnell   
Leonard Firestone   
Bud Fisher   
Donald Fisher   
Robert N. Fitch   
Robert Howe Fletcher   
James L. Flood   
Ernest R. Folger   
Frank M. Folsom   
Harry Stuart Fonda   
Lucius Harwood Foote   
Gerald Ford   
Henry Ford   
Joseph C. Ford   
Tirey L. Ford   
Sands W. Forman   
Arthur W. Foster   
Anthony M. Frank   
J. Eugene Freeman   
Paul Frenzeny   
Emanuel Fritz   
Jacob L. Fuller   
William Parmer Fuller, Jr.   
Evan G. Galbraith   
Porter Garnett   
Albert Geberding   
Larry Gelbart   
Arnold Genthe   
Henry George   
David Gergen   
Louis Glass   
Mario Giannini   
Arthur Hill Gilbert   
Daniel Coit Gilman   
Barry Goldwater   
Geroge E. Goodfellow   
Charles A. Gove   
P. George Gow   
Donald de V. Graham   
Joseph D. Grant   
Enrique Grau   
Harry Gray   
Ellison C. Grayson, Jr.   
Clarence R. Greathouse   
Clay M. Greene   
Percy Grey   
Willard M. Griffin   
Joseph R. Grismer   
Archibald Clavering Gunter   
James F. Gurley   
Isidore Gutte   
Henry Kimball Hadley   
Prentis Cobb Hale   
Reuben B. Hale   
Andrew B. Hammond   
Theodore Michael Hampe   
Lewis E. Hanchett   
Allan Hancock   
Arpad Haraszthy   
Leigh Harline   
William Greer Harrison   
Jerome A. Hart   
Bret Harte   
Fred L. Hartley   
J. Downey Harvey   
Charles D. Haven   
Alexander G. Hawes   
S. I. Hayakawa   
Thomas B. Hayward   
William Randolph Hearst   
Marcus H. Hecht   
Francis J. Heney   
Rudolph Herold, Jr.   
Lester Herrick   
William F. Herrin   
William Reddington Hewlett   
Henry Heyman   
Barton Hill   
Charles Barton Hill   
Horace L. Hill   
Thomas Hill   
Ransome Gillett Holdridge   
Charles D. Hollister   
Oliver Wendell Holmes   
William Hood   
C. Osgood Hooker   
Herbert Hoover   
Richard M. Hotaling   
Preston Hotchkis   
William D. Houser   
Jack R. Howard   
Josiah Rowland Howell   
Charles Franklin Humphrey   
LeRoy P. Hunt   
Henry Edwards Huntington   
Rothwell Hyde   
James Irvine   
Henry Irving   
Benoni Irwin   
Joseph Irwin   
Wallace Irwin   
William Henry Irwin   
Paul R. Isenberg   
George I. Ives   
Livingstone Jenks   
Rufus P. Jennings   
Charles Bartlett Johnson   
Tom Johnson   
David Charles Jones   
Philip Mills Jones   
Thomas Victor Jones   
David Starr Jordan   
Christian Jorgensen   
Virgil W. Jorgenson   
Charles Josselyn   
Amedee Joullin   
Charles Chapel Judson   
Edgar F. Kaiser, Sr.   
Henry J. Kaiser   
David Kawānanakoa   
Charles Keeler   
William Keith   
Charles Kendrick   
Robert D. Kennedy   
Frank G. Kenny   
Clark Kerr   
John C. Kerr   
Henry Kissinger   
John Kluge   
Andrew Knight   
Joe Knowland   
Joseph R. Knowland   
Robert Krebs   
Victor H. Krulak   
Lucien Labaudt   
James B. Lankershim   
Roger Lapham   
Barbour Lathrop   
Lorenzo Latimer   
William P. Lawlor   
Ernest O. Lawrence   
Stephen Leach   
Dana Gibson Leavitt   
John Lehman   
William M. Lent   
George Lette   
Arthur Letts   
Jacob B. Levison   
Andrew L. Lewis, Jr.   
Charles A. Lewis, Jr.   
David S. Lewis, Jr.   
Art Linkletter   
Philip N. Lilienthal   
Frederick L. Lipman   
Sara Jane Lippincott   
Louis Lisser   
Edmund Wattis Littlefield   
Jacques Littlefield   
Reuben H. Lloyd   
James B. Lockhart III   
Maurice Logan   
Jack London   
Louis Lundborg   
James K. Lynch   
M. Hall McAllister   
Atholl McBean   
Jesse McCargar   
John A. McCone   
Alexander S. McDill   
James M. McDonald   
Mark L. McDonald   
Duncan McDuffie   
Dean McHenry   
N. Loyall "Blackie" McLaren   
Dennis McNeil   
Pietro Mascagni   
Frank L. Mathieu   
Arthur Frank Mathews   
Nino Marcelli   
Ulderico Marcelli   
Henry Marshall   
J. Howard Marshall   
Robert Cecil Martin   
Xavier Martínez   
Bernard Maybeck   
Clarence W. W. Mayhew   
Edwin Meese   
Stewart Menzies   
J. Henry Meyer   
Joaquin Miller   
Robert Mondavi   
Ralph Moody   
Arthur W. Moore   
Gordon Moore   
Jo Mora   
Henry S. Morgan   
Carlton E. Morse   
Andrew J. Moulder   
Gabriel Moulin   
Thornwell Mullally   
Ovide Musin   
Benjamin F. Napthaly   
Paul Neumann   
Thomas Newcomb   
John Francis Neylan   
Chester W. Nimitz   
George S. Nixon   
Richard M. Nixon   
Charles Gilman Norris   
Frank Norris   
Daniel O'Connell   
Sean O'Keefe   
David J. O'Reilly   
Roland Oliver   
William Letts Oliver   
Samuel Osbourne   
David Packard   
Ignacy Jan Paderewski   
Haig Patigian   
William A. Patterson, Sr.   
Edwin W. Pauley   
Allen E. Paulson   
Theodore F. Payne   
Warren R. Payne   
Edgar D. Peixotto   
Rudolph A. Peterson   
Timothy L. Pflueger   
James D. Phelan   
Herman Phleger   
Gottardo Piazzoni   
Irving Pichel   
Horace Garvin Platt   
Willis Polk   
Colin Powell   
Richard E. Queen   
Ronald Reagan   
Joseph D. Redding   
Granville Redman   
Carl E. Reichardt   
William Henry Rhodes   
William C. Richardson   
Eddie Rickenbacker   
William Ritschel   
Julian Rix   
George R. Roberts   
Peter Robertson   
David Rockefeller, Jr.   
David Rockefeller, Sr.   
R. C. Rogers   
Albert F. Roller   
James Rolph, Jr.   
Theodore Roosevelt   
J. Thomas Rosch   
William M. Roth   
William Rulofson   
Donald Rumsfeld   
Wallace Arthur Sabin   
Tommaso Salvini   
J. H. Sayre   
Herman George Scheffauer   
Caspar Schenck   
Charles R. Schwab   
William Schwarzer   
Charles Scripps   
Glenn T. Seaborg   
Frederick Seitz   
Eugene Selvage   
William T. Sesnon   
George Shearing   
Frederick Sherman   
J. Wilson Shiels   
George P. Shultz   
Robert Sibley   
John L. Simpson   
H. E. Smith   
William French Smith   
Tony Snow   
Adolph B. Spreckels   
Claus Spreckels   
Robert Gordon Sproul   
Ralph Stackpole   
Kenneth Starr   
Kevin Starr   
Paul Steindorff   
H. Morse Stephens   
George Sterling   
Wallace Sterling   
Roger L. Stevens   
Guyford Stever   
Humphrey John Stewart   
Charles Warren Stoddard   
Michael P. W. Stone   
C. H. Stoutenborough   
Vanderlynn Stow   
Benjamin R. Swan   
Jimmy Swinnerton   
James W. Symington   
Jules Tavernier   
William Howard Taft   
Alec Templeton   
H. F. Teschemacher   
Newton J. Tharp   
John Charles Thomas   
Lowell Thomas, Jr.   
Lowell Thomas, Sr.   
Lawrence Tibbett   
Douglas Tilden   
Joseph Tilden   
Marvin Traub   
Donald Tressider   
Fred L. Turner   
Mark Twain   
F. L. Unger   
Frank van Sloun   
Harry Volk   
Michael von Clemm   
Uda Waldrop   
William T. Wallace   
Thomas Watson, Jr.   
Albert Coady Wedemeyer   
William V. Wells   
F. Marion Wells   
Raphael Weill   
Caspar Weinberger   
Carl Irving Wheat   
Benjamin Ide Wheeler   
Charles Stetson Wheeler   
Frederick Whymper   
Ray Lyman Wilbur   
John H. Williams   
Virgil Williams   
J. C. Williamson   
Carey Wilson   
Russell J. Wilson   
William Winter   
Jean C. Witter   
Dale Wood   
James Woods   
Theodore Wores   
Herman Wouk   
Charles G. Yale   
Rodney A. Yoell   
Waldemar Young   
Earl Zindars  

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