The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904, and has served as a meeting point for explorers and scientists worldwide. The Explorers Club hosts an annual dinner to honor accomplishments in exploration, which is known for its adventurous, exotic cuisine.

History

In 1904, a group of men active in exploration met at the request of noted journalist, historian, and explorer

Henry Collins Walsh Henry Collins Walsh (1863–1927) was a journalist, historian, explorer of Central America and Greenland, a founding member of the Arctic Club of America (1894), and the nominal founder of The Explorers Club (1904). He is associated with the Hen ...

, to form an organization to unite explorers in the bonds of good fellowship and to promote the work of exploration by every means in its power. Joining Walsh were Adolphus Greely, Donaldson Smith, Carl Lumholtz,

Marshall Saville Marshall Howard Saville (1867–1935) was an American archaeologist, born in Rockport, Massachusetts. He studied anthropology at Harvard (1889–1894), engaged in field work under F. W. Putnam, and made important discoveries among the mound build ...

Frederick Dellenbaugh Frederick Samuel Dellenbaugh (September 13, 1853 – January 29, 1935) was an American explorer. Biography He was born in McConnelsville, Ohio on September 13, 1853, and was educated in the United States and in Europe. An explorer of the Amer ...

, and David Brainard. After several further informal meetings, The Explorers Club was incorporated on October 25, 1905. Women were first admitted in 1981, with a class including

Sylvia Earle Sylvia Alice Earle ( née Reade; born August 30, 1935) is an American marine biologist, oceanographer, explorer, author, and lecturer. She has been a National Geographic explorer-in-residence since 1998. Earle was the first female chief scien ...

and Kathryn Sullivan. Famous honorary members have included Theodore Roosevelt,

John Glenn John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was an American Marine Corps aviator, engineer, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the third American in space, and the first American to orbit the Earth, circling ...

, Jim Fowler, Walter Cronkite, Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, Sir Edmund Hillary, Buzz Aldrin and Albert I Prince of Monaco. The Explorers Club has 32 chapters in the United States and around the world, which serve as local contact points for explorers, scientists, and students. Many chapters hold monthly dinners, lectures and seminars, award field-research grants to students, publish newsletters and organize expeditions, field trips and educational events.

Charter members

David Legge Brainard David Legge Brainard (December 21, 1856 – March 22, 1946) was a career officer in the United States Army. He enlisted in 1876, received his officer's commission in 1886, and served until 1919. Brainard attained the rank of brigadier genera ...

(1856–1946): U.S. Army Lieutenant-Colonel: Sioux, Bannock, and Nez Perce Campaigns; Survivor, Lady Franklin Bay Expedition (1881–1884); in 1882 claimed Farthest North at 83º24’30” North latitude * Frank Chapman (1864–1945): Curator of Birds and Mammals,

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

* Frederick Cook (1865–1940): Surgeon and ethnologist to the first Peary Expedition to Greenland (1892); leader of the SS ''Miranda'' Expedition (1894); surgeon on the Belgica Expedition (1897–1898), the first ship to winter over in the Antarctic; founding member of the American Alpine Club (1902) * Herschel Clifford Parker (1867–1944): Professor of Physics, Columbia University; mountaineer; author; founding member of the American Alpine Club (1902) * Marshall Howard Saville (1867–1935): Professor of American Archaeology, Columbia University; Curator of Archaeology, American Museum of Natural History *

(1863–1927): Journalist; historian; explorer of Central America and Greenland; founding member of Arctic Club of America (1894); nominal "Founder" of The Explorers Club (1904) * Caspar Whitney (1862–1929): War correspondent, explorer of North and South America, outdoorsman, sports journalist, member of the International Olympic Committee (1900–1905), author; Editor, ''

Outing Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBT person's sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia in order to discredit political opponents or to com ...

'' magazine.

Famous firsts

The Explorers Club is renowned for various "Famous Firsts" accomplished by its members, including: *First to the North Pole (1909) – Robert E. Peary (honorary membership in 1912) & Matthew Henson *First to the South Pole (1911) – Roald Amundsen, honorary membership in 1912 *First to the summit of Mt. Everest (1953) – Sir Edmund Hillary & Tenzing Norgay, elected honorary members 1953 *First to the deepest point in the ocean (1960) – Don Walsh (honorary member 1997) & Jacques Piccard *First to the surface of the Moon (1969) –

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. ...

& Buzz Aldrin (honorary member 2018) *First to both poles, space, and the deepest ocean (2021) – Richard Garriott

Headquarters

The Explorers Club held its first regular meeting at its original headquarters in the Studio Building at 23 West 67th Street in New York City. The club finished construction on its next headquarters at 544 Cathedral Parkway in 1928 and there the club continued to expand its extensive collection of artifacts, trophies and books on exploration. In 1965, spurred by

Lowell Thomas Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen ...

, the club purchased its current headquarters on the Upper East Side, a six-story Jacobean revival mansion on East 70th Street, where it houses the James B. Ford Exploration Library, the Sir Edmund Hillary Map Room and a collection of artifacts from more than a century of exploration. The building was previously the home of Stephen C. Clark. Certain designated rooms of the Club are open to the general public.

Lectures and publications

In the 1920s, the club began to invite both explorers returning from the field and visiting scientists to relate their experiences and findings. By the 1930s these informal gatherings developed into academic lectures and illustrated talks. The club continues to provide weekly lectures and programs, which are often open to the public at its headquarters. In November 1921, The Explorers Club published the first edition of ''The Explorers Journal'' to share news from the field, remarks from headquarters, recent acquisitions, obituaries, and book reviews. ''The Explorers Journal'' is still published quarterly, with articles and photography from Explorers Club members in the field.

The Explorers Club flag

To obtain permission to carry the flag, a club member must show that an expedition holds the promise of scientific results. Once approved, the flag must be exhibited at every suitable opportunity on the expedition, and must be returned to the club along with a written record of the expedition — the Flag Report. The club's research collections is the repository for these unique reports, including the original "Flag Book" — a bound journal of hand-written reports, vintage prints, clippings and assorted records submitted by the explorers who first carried The Explorers Club flag on expeditions. Today there are 202 numbered flags. These include flags carried on such expeditions as: *Flag #2 – Roy Chapman Andrews – the

Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert (Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world. Geography The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast an ...

expeditions *Flag #7 – Sir George Hubert Wilkins – the first trans-Arctic flights *Flag #32 – Capt. Robert A. "Bob" Bartlett – the '' Effie M. Morrissey'' expeditions *Flag #50 – Bertrand Piccard and

André Borschberg André Borschberg Royal Scottish Geographical Society, FRSGS (born December 13, 1952) is a Swiss entrepreneur, explorer, pilot, and speaker. He is the co-founder of the Solar Impulse project, the first ever round-the-world solar flight, success ...

– Solar Impulse across America *Flag #61 –

Luc Hardy Luc or LUC may refer to: Places * Luc, Hautes-Pyrénées, France, a commune * Luc, Lozère, France, a commune * Le Luc, France, a commune * Luč, Baranja, Croatia, a settlement People and fictional characters * Luc (given name) * Luc (surname) ...

– the Pax Arctica expedition (Canadian Arctic) *Flag #71 –

Raphaël Domjan Raphaël Domjan (born 19 January 1972) is a Swiss explorer and lecturer. He initiated and completed the first round-the-world trip using solar energy between September 2010 and May 2012 aboard the MS catamaran PlanetSolar. In 2015, he carried ...

– PlanetSolar the first around the world with solar energy *Flag #80 – Tim Taylor FN’04, Citation of Merit Laureate 2008 — Discovery of three lost US WWII submarines: Expedition R-12, Expedition S-26, Expedition S-28 *Flag #81 – Victor Vescovo and Patrick Lahey – the Five Deeps expedition *Flag #105 – L. Ron Hubbard – The Alaska Radio Experimental Expedition *Flag #123 – Thor Heyerdahl – the '' Kon-Tiki'' expedition *Flag #132 – David Concannon for Jeff Bezos and Bezos Expeditions – the Saturn V F-1 engine search and recovery expedition *Flag# 134 – Gino Caspari – Discovery of Royal Scythian Tomb Tunnug 1 *Flag #150 – George Kourounis – collecting soil samples from the Darvaza gas crater *Flag #161 –

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...

– the '' Deepsea Challenger'' expedition *Flag #163 – L. Ron Hubbard – The Oceanographic-Archeological Expedition (1961) and the Hubbard Geological Survey Expedition (1966) *Flag #193 –

Naomi Uemura was a Japanese adventurer who was known particularly for his solo exploits. For example, he was the first person to reach the North Pole solo, the first person to raft the Amazon solo, and the first person to climb Denali solo. He disappeared a ...

– first solo North Pole expedition NASA missions

Apollo 8 Apollo 8 (December 21–27, 1968) was the first crewed spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit and the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times without landing, and then departed safely back to Earth. These ...

, Apollo 11,

Apollo 13 Apollo 13 (April 1117, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the lunar landing was aborted aft ...

and

Apollo 15 Apollo 15 (July 26August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the United States' Apollo program and the fourth to Moon landing, land on the Moon. It was the first List of Apollo missions#Alphabetical mission types, J mission, with a ...

each carried miniature club flags on board.

Honors and grants

Honors

The ''Explorers Club Medal'', the highest honor that can be bestowed by the Club, is awarded for extraordinary contributions directly in the field of exploration, scientific research, or to the welfare of humanity. Past recipients include: *1914 – Robert E. Peary *1918 – Vilhjalmur Stefansson *1923 – Adolphus Greely *1927 – Roald Amundsen, Robert Bartlett &

Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 186113 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, and humanitarian. He led the team t ...

*1937 – Richard E. Byrd *1954 –

Auguste Piccard Auguste Antoine Piccard (28 January 1884 – 24 March 1962) was a Switzerland, Swiss physicist, inventor and explorer known for his record-breaking Gas balloon, hydrogen balloon flights, with which he studied the Earth's upper atmosphere. Picca ...

*1961 – President Herbert Hoover *1964 – Gilbert H. Grosvenor *1968 –

*1971 –

, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr., & Michael Collins for NASA *1979 – Thor Heyerdahl *1980 – Willard Bascom *1983 – Sir Ranulph Fiennes *1986 – Sir Edmund Hillary *1989 – Mary Leakey *1993 – Jane Goodall *1995 – Robert Ballard *1996 –

*2001 –

Joe Kittinger Joseph William Kittinger II (July 27, 1928 – December 9, 2022) served as a United States Air Force (USAF) officer from 1950 to 1978. He was a fighter pilot who earned Command Pilot status and retired as a colonel. He held the world record for ...

*2005 – Burt Rutan, Brian Binnie and Mike Melvill for ''SpaceShipOne'' *2008 – Eugenie Clark *2009 – E. O. Wilson *2013 –

*2014 – Walter Munk *2015 – Neil deGrasse Tyson *2016 – E. Frederick Roots *2019 – Kenneth Lacovara *2020 – Victor Vescovo Beyond ''The Explorers Club Medal'', the club also presents, among others, ''The

Award'', ''The Sweeney Medal'', a ''Citation of Merit'', ''The Buzz Aldrin Space Exploration Award'' and ''The Tenzing Norgay Award''.

Grants

The club also awards a range of grants for field science and exploration, including The Youth Activity Fund Grant, The Exploration Fund Grant, and the Presidents Award for Exploration and Technology. One club award, the Scott Pearlman Field Award for Science and Exploration, is named for one of the youngest club members (inducted at age 22) who was a photographer and participant in three flag expeditions. Scott Pearlman contracted hepatitis C and died at the age of 38. Pearlman was a son of Explorers Club member & officer Robert E. Pearlman.

Presidents

Presidents of the Explorers Club are elected by a vote of the Board of Directors after the Annual Meeting. Men and women may offer their name for consideration.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Explorers Club Organizations established in 1904 Organizations based in New York (state) Clubs and societies in New York City 1904 establishments in New York City