The Science and Art Club of Germantown has endured from 1880 until now based on this very simple format:
Club members take turns organizing an evening’s “intellectual entertainment” for each other.
Members either give a talk themselves or have an outside speaker address the group or, occasionally, arrange a musical or similar program. The purpose is “to promote intellectual culture in the departments of Science, Art and Literature,” but with the proviso that “no theological subjects or partisan politics shall be allowed.”
The Club meets seven times a year, normally on the fourth Monday of the month from October to May, except in December.
A Social Hour follows each presentation. This Social Hour is no less important than the presentation. “The members…mingle freely together,” wrote William Woods in 1950, and “thus we have the opportunity to become more intimately acquainted. Warm and enduring friendships are thus frequently formed and add to the enthusiasm with which members look forward to meetings.” This is as true today as when these words were written.
Existing members may propose new members by submitting their names and a short biography to the President or Membership Secretary.
Over the years, club members have chosen a rich diversity of topics for their intellectual entertainment, from H. C. McCook’s talk on “The Honey Ant of the Garden of the Gods” on February 5, 1880, to the present day.