The relatively new Ladies Annex boasts none of these splendors, however, and its parietal rules are stricter. It is only open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Its second floor contains only a cocktail lounge and two relatively small dining rooms, and the chairs in the lounge are not the leather monsters found next door, but the familiarly hard Harvard chairs. But even these facilities represent a large concession, for until 15 years ago, the Ladies were overlooked.

The Alumni Bulletin described the opening of the Annex as follows: "On the evening of Wednesday, October 15, 1941, the Harvard Club of New York City--definitely, finally, and irrevocably--gave in. Its long-awaited Club Rooms for The Ladies were thrown open to use. Let it be said that 76 years of splendid and masculine isolation were yielded up in the grand manner."

This was the first real recognition of women since the beginnings of the Club at an informal meeting of a small group of alumni on October 31, 1865, at which a committee of five was appointed to organize the Club.

Four days later, the first meeting was held in the rooms of the American Geographical and Statistical Society in Clinton Hall. Samuel Osgood '32 became the first president. By 1867, there were 95 members, and the club was incorporated. Its two-article constitution, adopted over a decade later, is probably one of the shortest in history. The first Article states merely that "The Club shall be perpetual." The second provides for alteration and amendment of the constitution, except for Article 1.

'Promote Social Intercourse'

The second section of the certificate of incorporation defines the aims of the Club. "The particular business and object of such society or club shall be to promote social intercourse among ourselves and others, our associates and successors, who are to be persons who have been connected with Harvard University as students or instructors, or who have received honorary degrees therefrom, and for that purpose to establish and maintain in the City and County of New York, for the use of ourselves and such others above mentioned, a Club House, having a library, a gallery of art and such other appurtenances and belongings as are usual in clubs and club houses."

From its small beginnings, the Club has grown tremendously. By the turn of the century, there were 1,410 members; by the First World War, 4,589; and at the heighth of the depression in 1931, 6,444. Since then, this number has fluctuated little except during the War, but the character of the membership has switched. Whereas more than two-thirds of the members in 1900 were residents of the City, more than half today are not.

The character of the Club has changed to a degree over the past few years, as well. Now it is more than just a social organization. Chief among its other functions is working with the Admissions and Scholarship Committee of the College. For this work, there are two major committees composed of club members: the Schools Committee and the Scholarship Committee.

Applicants Interviewed

The function of the first is not only to interview most, if not all, the applicants from the New York City area, but also to keep in touch with all the schools in the area to find out who the prospective applicants are and to encourage them to apply. Sometimes a member will take a high school student to visit the College for a weekend. In any case the records of the interviews are sent to the College's Admissions Office in Cambridge to become part of the student's application.

But it is the Scholarship Committee that does the work which most directly affects applicants. Headed by Francis A. Goodhue Jr. '37, it gets its funds through the newly formed Harvard Club of New York Foundation, a "non-profit corporation organized to foster scientific, literary, and educational interests among members of the Harvard Club of New York City, to provide scholarships for students at Harvard University and otherwise to advance the interests and promote the welfare of Harvard University." Each year, the Foundation sponsors a drive for scholarship funds, since none of its scholarships are endowed.

The program is divided into two parts: scholarships and Slocum Aid Funds. The scholarships are administered in the same way as those given by the College, being only for students from New York who maintain dean's list grades. The Slocum Aid Funds were established, however, "to provide financial assistance for freshmen and upperclassmen regardless of where they lived, who were capable of obtaining satisfactory grades but whose interests and activities at Harvard were not confined to matters academic."

These, Goodhue explains, are chosen from a list provided by the College. The others are selected on the basis of interviews with all the scholarship applicants from the New York area. The final decisions are made jointly by the Club and the College. Last year, the Club divided $15,000 among 17 boys, of whom six were from out of town. This year, it hopes to help 25.

Building Closer Relations

The Clubs' other major extra-curricular function is performed through the University Relations Committee, formed two years ago. Its purpose, according to Frank S. Streeter '40, Secretary of the Club, is to try to build closer relations between alumni and the University by holding events in the Club emanating from the University. Thus far, the committee has organized dinners for the Graduate School of Education, the Divinity School, and the Department of Fine Arts at which an exhibition from Fogg was shown.