The Ends of the Earth Club was a group of artists and explorers founded in 1903. Its members included

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

General John Pershing General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing (September 13, 1860 – July 15, 1948), nicknamed "Black Jack", was a senior United States Army officer. He served most famously as the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the We ...

, Admiral

Robert Peary Robert Edwin Peary Sr. (; May 6, 1856 – February 20, 1920) was an American explorer and officer in the United States Navy who made several expeditions to the Arctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best known for, in Apri ...

Gutzon Borglum John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum (March 25, 1867 – March 6, 1941) was an American sculptor best known for his work on Mount Rushmore. He is also associated with various other public works of art across the U.S., including Stone Mountain in Georg ...

(the sculptor of

Mount Rushmore Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota: ''Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe'', or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota ...

Herbert Adams Gibbons Herbert Adams Gibbons (April 8, 1880 – August 7, 1934) was an American journalist who wrote about international politics and European colonialism during the early 20th century. He is best known for his books, ''The New Map of Asia'', ''The N ...

(a Princeton professor and journalist),"Ends of the Earth Club Dinner, ''The New York Times'', Dec. 4, 1920, at 16. and more than 100 other prominent businessmen and academics located, primarily, in the northeastern United States. The group's honorary president was the British adventurer and writer,

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

. During the first three decades of the twentieth century, the group held an annual dinner at the Savoy Hotel in New York, where its members would meet and exchange stories about foreign travel and politics.Paul Fatout, ed., Mark Twain Speaking, at 147. The members of the group generally favored Anglo American

colonization Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...

of the non-European world.

recalled an evening at the club in a dictation recorded on March 7, 1906. During the evening, the chairman of the dinner, General James L. Wilson, proudly told the group that they were "all members of the Anglo-Saxon race." Wilson further commented, "And when the Anglo-Saxon wants something, he takes it." Twain said that Wilson's comment meant that Englishmen and Americans were "thieves, highwaymen, and pirates – and proud of it", adding: :''Out of all the English and Americans present, there was not one with the grace to get up and say he was ashamed of being an Anglo-Saxon, and also ashamed of being a member of the human race, since the race must abide under the presence upon it of the Anglo-Saxon taint.'' The club was one of at least two such clubs in New York. The other club was the

Adventurers' Club of New York The Adventurers' Club of New York was an adventure-oriented private men's club founded in New York City in 1912 by Arthur Sullivant Hoffman, editor of the popular pulp magazine ''Adventure''. There were 34 members at the first meeting. In its seco ...

References

{{Reflist Clubs and societies in the United States Mark Twain American writers' organizations Rudyard Kipling American artist groups and collectives Organizations established in 1903 1903 establishments in the United States