The Chemists' Club

The Chemists' Club is a private club in New York whose membership is open to research and industrial chemists from all areas. The Chemists' Club filed for incorporation on December 9, 1898. 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 , the American Electrochemical Society and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). From 1910 to the 1980s, the Club was located at 52 East 41st Street, New York City. Built by the architects York and Sawyer, the 41st Street building contained areas for talks, meetings, and dinners, living and laboratory spaces that could be rented by members, and a world-class chemical research library. The New York Times called it “absolutely unique in the world”. The board room was a recreation of an alchemist's laboratory. Sold in the 1980s, and now the Dylan Hotel, the building has been proposed as an individual landmark by the New York Landmarks Conservancy. Formation Before the club was founded in 1898, members of the American Chemical Society and the Society of Chemical Industry held events and meetings in homes, classrooms, and lecture halls, using whatever space was available. In 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 154 charter members, including Leo Baekeland, Edward G. Love, William H. Nichols and Maximilian Toch. The Chemists' Club filed for incorporation on December 9, 1898. The papers were signed on December 24, 1898 and recorded on December 30, 1898. Locations