Calvert Club
Lapp, John A.
CHICAGO'S CALVERT CLUB By JOHN A. LAPP \X7HEN the proposition to organize the Calvert * * Associates and establish The Commonweal was made known in Chicago, it was received favorably by a large...
...Plans are now being made by the Chicago Calvert club for the public celebration on March 25 of the founding of Maryland by George Calvert and the English Catholic pilgrims...
...and again the subscriber to The Commonweal is delighted to find that his subscription leads to his enrolment in the Chicago Calvert club...
...There were also, of course, many individuals not connected with clubs or societies, who desired to join the movement...
...It brings people into association of ideas, and likewise into an association of individuals...
...Among them all there was instant agreement that the project of "issuing a weekly journal of art, literature, and public opinion, representative of Catholic principles" was a worthy endeavor...
...Nearly four hundred people, mostly members of the Calvert Associates, were present...
...the novelty was attractive, and almost spontaneously about two hundred and fifty people responded to a call to hear the subject of the Calvert Associates explained by the editor of The Commonweal...
...The Chicago Calvert club is an organized consumer of the published product of the Calvert Associates...
...The most important result was the creation of a new organization on a large scale and with a selected membership...
...But enthusiasm is an evanescent thing unless it is promptly diverted into some form of practical organization, and a great deal of very useful interest might have been dissipated had not Chicago promptly taken steps to organize a local Calvert club...
...The Calvert Associates have held such a celebration in New York yearly since their establishment in 1923...
...The Chicago members take pride in the fact that their work is being studied by Calvert Associates in other cities where clubs are being formed...
...The Chicago Calvert club is but one spontaneous product which may readily be expected to be brought forth under the leadership of The Commonweal in many centres throughout the country...
...The first activity of the club was a novel feature— a Sunday breakfast at high noon...
...The national aims and the program of the Calvert Associates permit a field of interest that is broad enough to include every Catholic who is interested in things intellectual, and yet they are particularly adapted to the needs and interest of each local group...
...A second meeting planned by the first group brought together ninety persons, all alert to the intellectual possibilities of the new venture...
...Without formal organization or formal and continuous promotion, this seemed like a notable demonstration of interest in Catholic literature and culture...
...The time seemed to suit the convenience of people generally...
...It took some time for the significance of the undertaking to be fully realized, but at last a small group of interested individuals, seven to be exact, met and formed a preliminary platform...
...The club now approaches such affairs with justifiable optimism...
...The vision then set forth was that the Calvert group could be the basis for the discussion of The Commonweal, and thereby aid its promotion, together with other forms of Catholic literature...
...There is a reciprocal reaction between the local club, the Calvert Associates, and The Commonweal...
...Sometimes it is interest in the local group that brings membership in the Calvert Associates and a subscription to The Commonweal...
...At this meeting the aims and purposes of the Calvert Associates were set forth, and a plan whereby an organization based upon the membership of the Calvert Associates in Chicago might be used for Catholic intellectual projects was suggested...
...Besides the formal Sunday breakfasts, the Chicago Calvert club holds informal evening meetings at which, in addition to addresses upon phases of Catholic literature, there is discussion of new intellectual developments in literature, art, and public affairs...
...Genuine enthusiasm was displayed for the proposal to have a Chicago Calvert club, and an informal organization was effected...
...It may be hoped that the Chicago celebration will give impetus to a movement that in time will become truly national, since it honors and promotes a fundamental principle of the American republic, namely, religious liberty...
...In this it serves a unique purpose in stimulating its members in the practical study of Catholic literature...
...CHICAGO'S CALVERT CLUB By JOHN A. LAPP \X7HEN the proposition to organize the Calvert * * Associates and establish The Commonweal was made known in Chicago, it was received favorably by a large number of women's clubs representing many interests and social endeavors...
...Particularly, it was set forth that the club might become a forum to hear from time to time eminent Catholic or non-Catholic artists, writers, lecturers, and leaders in various lines...
...In addition to the support that the Calvert Associates could give to such a journal, there was a widespread feeling that it would be desirable to bring the supporters of such an enterprise in Chicago together for other cultural purposes, where men and women, who usually only came together in separate groups, could manifest their common interest in many intellectual interests and movements...
...The Commonweal is the tie that draws and binds...
...The place of the Chicago Calvert club is assured, and interest in it increases continually...
...At the centre around which this activity revolves is The Commonweal, which serves as the generator by its constant appeal to the intellectual as well as the spiritual side of current life...
...The second Sunday breakfast was held in February, 1925, with Professor Carlton J. H. Hayes of Columbia university as the speaker...
...Its third main event was held on February 14, when Professor Charles G. Fenwick of Bryn Mawr addressed the members on international peace...
...He discussed reappraisal of the middle-ages...
Vol. 3 • February 1926 • No. 15
