This week in National Press Club history

January 13, 2006: The National Press Club opens its Broadcast Operations Center.

January 15, 1971: The National Press Club votes 27 to 56 to admit women, after a lengthy struggle. Twenty-four women are sworn in several months later, including Katherine Graham, whose father, Eugene Meyer, and husband, Philip Graham, had been members, and Sarah McClendon, an active newswoman in Washington for twenty-seven years.

January 17, 1969: President Lyndon B. Johnson chooses the Club for his farewell address to the nation as chief executive. His autograph in the guest registry disappears almost immediately, but Johnson eventually sends another signature as a replacement. The original is never found. He indicates his support of the campaign to admit women during his appearance by proclaiming that he is “in favor of both women and credit (another controversial issue before the Club) and I would not be here today if it were not for women and credit.”


This Week In National Press Club History is brought to you by the History & Heritage Committee, which preserves and revitalizes the Club’s century-plus history with lobby displays of distinguished Club visitors, panel discussions, events and a long-standing oral history project.

For more information about the Committee, or to join it, contact Chair Gilbert Klein at [email protected].