The modern Press Club of Metropolitan St. Louis dates to 1955, when an
informal group calling itself the Catfish Club began meeting at the Bismarck Cafe on 12th
Street, St. Louis. The first members included Martin Quigley,
then of Fleishman-Hillard, Inc.; Dickson
Terry, Ernest Kirschten, and John Keasler of the ,Post-Dispatch;
and Al Dopkingof the Associated Press. The Club
obtained a charter on October 18, 1956. By the end of 1959, plans focused on a more formal
organization. An organizing committee was formed and prospective members asked to join.
The Press Club opened on February 19, 1960, in offices in the Paul Brown Building, with a
constitution and bylaws, officers, and dues. The Press Club is open to members of the
media, public relations practitioners, and others with media-related backgrounds. The Club
sponsors social and educational programs, supports the Media
Person of the Year award, a scholarship program, and the St. Louis Media Archives at
the St. Louis Public Library.
Brief history of Press Club of Metropolitan St. Louis, articles by Martin
Quigley and Sue Ann Wood; history of earlier St.
Louis press clubs, including the 1882 constitution of the Saint Louis Press Club and
publications of earlier press clubs; constitution, bylaws, 1992 mission statement, lists
of officers, membership brochures. Other materials include a copy of the 1959 charter;
drawings for Press Club logos and other artwork; records from the 30th and 40th
anniversaries; and winners of the Catfish Club plaque. Also, copies of leases, clippings,
menus, material on Club administration, etc., regarding the various locations of the Press
Club, starting in 1967 in the McKinley Hotel.
Photographs. 2 1/2 boxes. 1950s- .
Photographs of Press Club formal and informal activities, including
anniversaries, forums, seminars, final Fridays, and outings. A collection of framed
caricatures of Press Club members is on loan from the Club.
Press Club Charitable Fund.
1 box.
Includes bylaws; Articles of Incorporation (1988); Certificate of
Incorporation (1988); applications for tax-free exempt organizations; minutes, 1988-1993;
and publications: The Foundation:
News From the Press Club’s Charitable Foundation, v. 1, no. 1-v. 3, no. 1
(Dec. 1989-Spring 1992); "Introducing the Press Club of Metropolitan St. Louis
Charitable Fund." Also, correspondence re: and report from
Barbara Gibbs Ostman, recipient
of the first fellowshipJoseph Pulitzer, Jr. Fellowship,
1988- 1989.
St. Louis Media Archives. 1 box. 1987- .
Includes materials from the October 1988 opening exhibit,
correspondence, publications.
St. Louis Newspaper Guild. 2 boxes.
Page One Ball: Souvenir Program . . . ,
1946-1958; newsletters, including "The Newspaperman Who Founded a Union," the
recollections of Heywood Hale Broun, printed as a
special supplement to the December 25, 1964, issues of the Guild Reporter;
clippings from the Guild Reporter, chiefly
"Reporter and Photographer Top Minimums," 1958, 1961, 1966; pamphlets, "As
Simple as ANG / American Newspaper Guild," n.d.; "Why This? St. Louis Newspaper
Guild," rev. June 1948; Feb. 1961; "Union Political Activity Spans 230 Years of
U.S. History," American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations,
July 1960; material on the 1959 St. Louis
Globe-Democrat strike; lists of standing committees; Newspaper Guild membership
cards for 1956 and 1957.
St. Louis Newspaper Guild. 2 photos.
Newspaper Guild convention, 1949, Columbus, Ohio, shows Charles Crawford,
Adolph Rahm, Betty
Loeffler and Charley Loeffler, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Con Kelliher, Morris
Tennebaum, St. Louis Globe-Democrat;
and Paul Meskil, Ray Noonan,
St. Louis Star-Times. Also, members of the
Post-Dispatch management and Guild negotiation committees looking on as the 1969-1972
union contract is signed on May 9, 1969; includes Dave
Pasternak, Barney Wippold, Don Schomburg, Gil Shearing, Bob Steineke, Ian Crowder, Martin Goldman, and Bill Bolata.
Sigma Delta Chi,
St. Louis Professional Chapter.
Charter, 1947; rosters, membership lists, 1961, 1965; "Towards a
better understanding of Sigma Chi, professional journalistic fraternity," ca. 1960;
clippings on the Con Lee Kelliher award, 1962-1970;
clippings and ephemera.
Sigma Delta ChiSigma Delta Chi, St. Louis Professional chapter. 2
photos.
[St. Louis Post-Dispatch 34th
annual convention, Sigma Delta Chi dinner, 1953.] May 7, 1954, at the Bates Hotel, Sparta,
Illinois: H.R. Long, Alva Dopking,
Charles Clayton, Irving
Dilliard, James Flagg, Ed
Gugler, Francis Klein, Karl
Monroe, Horace Barks, Howe
Morgan, and others. Also, an Art Witman
photograph of new SDC members, ca. 1954.
Society of Professional
Journalists, St. Louis Professional Chapter (formerly Sigma Delta Chi).
Constitution and bylaws, with proposed changes, 199?; code of ethics;
proposed guidelines for media coverage of Missouri judicial proceedings, 1991; Headlines & Deadlines , 1990-1996, incomplete;
membership lists, clippings, and ephemera.
Theta Sigma Phi, St. Louis Chapter.
"And now a word from our sponsor . . ., " 1955? List of St.
Louis businesses which sponsored St. Louis chapter concerns and activities; newsletters,
1957-1958; minutes of the Christmas book party meeting, 1963; October 1965 issue of The Matrix, with report on the 33rd national convention, held in St.
Louis, Mo., August 12-14, 1965; letterhead stationery; clippings and ephemera.
Theta Sigma Phi. 1 photo.
Happy Bookworm book wrapping, December 1963, with Betty Jo Isbel, Roselee Wollman, Mary Gamble Abney in photograph.
Women in Communications, Inc.,
St. Louis Chapter (formerly Theta Sigma Phi).
WICI membership directory, 1986; The 80th Anniversary Women in
Communications, Inc., The membership (1989).
