The Explorers Club

Updated on Nov 27, 2023

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Founded 1904

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The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1905, and has served as a meeting point for explorers and scientists worldwide.

The Explorers Club hosts an annual dinner to honor accomplishments in exploration, which is known for its adventurous, exotic cuisine.

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History

In 1904, a group of men active in exploration met at the request of noted journalist, historian, and explorer Henry Collins Walsh, to form an organization to unite explorers in the bonds of good fellowship and to promote the work of exploration by every means in its power. Joining Walsh were Adolphus Greely, Donaldson Smith, Carl Lumholtz, Marshall Saville, Frederick Dellenbaugh, and David Brainard. After several further informal meetings, The Explorers Club was incorporated on October 25, 1905. Women were first admitted in 1981, with a class including Sylvia Earle and Kathryn Sullivan. Famous honorary members have included Theodore Roosevelt, John Glenn, Jim Fowler, Walter Cronkite, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Albert I, Prince of Monaco.

The Explorers Club has 26 chapters in the United States and around the world, which serve as local contact points for explorers, scientists, and students. Many chapters hold monthly dinners, lectures and seminars, award field-research grants to students, publish newsletters and organize expeditions, field trips and educational events.

Charter members

David Legge Brainard (1856–1946): U.S. Army Lieutenant-Colonel: Sioux, Bannock, and Nez Perce Campaigns; Survivor, Lady Franklin Bay Expedition (1881–1884); in 1882 claimed Farthest North at 83º24’30” North latitude

Frank Chapman (1864–1945): Curator of Birds and Mammals, American Museum of Natural History

Frederick Cook (1865–1940): Surgeon and ethnologist to the first Peary Expedition to Greenland (1892); leader of the SS Miranda Expedition (1894); surgeon on the Belgica Expedition (1897–1898), the first ship to winter over in the Antarctic; founding member of the American Alpine Club (1902)

Herschel Clifford Parker (1867–1944): Professor of Physics, Columbia University; mountaineer; author; founding member of the American Alpine Club (1902)

Marshall Howard Saville (1867–1935): Professor of American Archaeology, Columbia University; Curator of Archaeology, American Museum of Natural History

Henry Collins Walsh (1863–1927): Journalist; historian; explorer of Central America and Greenland; founding member of Arctic Club of America (1894); nominal "Founder" of The Explorers Club (1904)

Caspar Whitney (1862–1929): War correspondent,explorer of North and South America, outdoorsman, sports journalist, member of the International Olympic Committee (1900–1905),author; Editor, Outing magazine.

Famous firsts

The Explorers Club is renowned for a series of "famous firsts" accomplished by its members, or those admitted after their achievements, including:

First to the North Pole (1909) – Robert E. Peary & Matthew Henson

First to the South Pole (1911) – Roald Amundsen

First solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean (1927) – Charles Lindbergh

First to the summit of Mt. Everest (1953) – Sir Edmund Hillary & Tenzing Norgay

First to the deepest point in the ocean (1960) – Don Walsh & Jacques Piccard

First to the surface of the Moon (1969) – Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin & Michael Collins

First recovery of an authenticated pirate ship – Whydah Gally (1984) – Barry Clifford

Headquarters

The Explorers Club held its first regular meeting at its original headquarters in the Studio Building at 23 West 67th Street in New York City. The club finished construction on its next headquarters at 544 Cathedral Parkway in 1928 and there the club continued to expand its extensive collection of artifacts, trophies and books on exploration. In 1965, the club purchased its current headquarters on the Upper East Side, a six-story Jacobean revival mansion on East 70th Street, where it houses the James B. Ford Exploration Library, the Sir Edmund Hillary Map Room and a collection of artifacts from more than a century of exploration. The building was previously the home of Stephen C. Clark.

Lectures and publications

In the 1920s, the club began to invite both explorers returning from the field and visiting scientists to relate their experiences and findings. By the 1930s these informal gatherings developed into academic lectures and illustrated talks. The club continues to provide weekly lectures and programs, which are often open to the public at its headquarters. In November 1921, The Explorers Club published the first edition of The Explorers Journal to share news from the field, remarks from headquarters, recent acquisitions, obituaries, and book reviews. The Explorers Journal is still published quarterly, with articles and photography from Explorers Club members in the field.

The Explorers Club flag

To obtain permission to carry the flag, a club member must show that an expedition holds the promise of scientific results. Once approved, the flag must be exhibited at every suitable opportunity on the expedition, and must be returned to the club along with a written record of the expedition — the Flag Report. The club’s research collections is the repository for these unique reports, including the original "Flag Book" — a bound journal of hand-written reports, vintage prints, clippings and assorted records submitted by the explorers who first carried The Explorers Club flag on expeditions.

Today there are 202 numbered flags. These include flags carried on such expeditions as:

Flag #2 – Roy Chapman Andrews – the Gobi Desert expeditions

Flag #7 – Sir George Hubert Wilkins – the first trans-Arctic flights

Flag #32 – Capt. Robert A. "Bob" Bartlett – the Effie M. Morrissey expeditions

Flag #50 – Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg – Solar Impulse across America

Flag #61 – Luc Hardy – the Pax Arctica expedition (Canadian Arctic)

Flag #123 – Thor Heyerdahl – the Kon-Tiki expedition

Flag #132 – Jeff Bezos – the Saturn V F-1 engine search and recovery expedition

Flag #150 – George Kourounis – collecting soil samples from the Darvaza gas crater

Flag #193 – Naomi Uemura – first solo North Pole expedition

Flag #161 – James Cameron – the Deepsea Challenger expedition

NASA missions Apollo 8, Apollo 11, Apollo 13 and Apollo 15 each carried miniature club flags on board

Honors and grants

The Explorers Club Medal, the highest honor that can be bestowed by the Club, is awarded for extraordinary contributions directly in the field of exploration, scientific research, or to the welfare of humanity. Past recipients include:

Beyond The Explorers Club Medal, the club also presents, among others, The Lowell Thomas Award, The Sweeney Medal, a Citation of Merit, The Buzz Aldrin Space Exploration Award and The Tenzing Norgay Award.

The club also awards a range of grants for field science and exploration, including The Youth Activity Fund Grant, The Exploration Fund Grant, and the Scott Pearlman Field Awards for Science and Exploration, and the Presidents Award for Exploration and Technology.

Presidents

Presidents of the Explorers Club are elected by a vote of the Board of Directors after the Annual Meeting. Men and women may offer their name for consideration.

References

The Explorers Club Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA