This Week In National Press Club History

August 24, 2000: President-elect Vicente Fox of Mexico at a Newsmaker event proposes an open border with the United States as well as a European-style economic union extending throughout the Americas.

August 25, 1927: The first tenant moves into the new National Press Building.

August 26, 1963: Two days before the March on Washington, chief organizer A.Philip Randolph, renowned leader of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, briefs reporters at a National Press Club luncheon on the March’s goals and sentiments.

August 27, 1976: World heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali and challenger Ken Norton scuffle for the cameras before their joint luncheon appearance at a National Press Club luncheon. A month later at Yankee Stadium, Ali successfully defends his title in fifteen rounds by unanimous decision.

August 29, 2005: Hurricane Katrina devastates the Gulf Coast, flooding New Orleans with eight or more feet of water. A decade later, on August 18, 2015, second-term New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu tells a National Press Club luncheon that “we are America’s comeback city, one of the world’s most remarkable stories of tragedy and triumph, resurrection and redemption.” He focuses on the reforms the city has made in the areas of education, affordable housing and access to health care, although financial challenges remain, he warns, and a rising homicide rate. He thanks everyone for coming to the city’s aid, from the American taxpayer to four American presidents to helpers from all over the world.


This Week In National Press Club History is sponsored by the History & Heritage Committee, which preserves and revitalized the Club’s distinguished century-plus history with oral histories, lobby displays, events and panel discussions. For more information on the Committee’s activities or to join it, contact Gilbert Klein at [email protected]