United for Libraries to dedicate the Lotos Club a Literary Landmark

New York – United for Libraries, in partnership with the Empire State Center for the Book, will designate the Lotos Club in New York City as a Literary Landmark at a reception at the club on Wednesday, June 21 from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

The Lotos Club, founded March 15, 1870, is one of the oldest literary clubs in the United States. It takes its name from the Tennyson poem “The Lotos Eaters.” Mark Twain joined Lotos in 1873, calling it “The Ace of Clubs.” Many writers of note have been members or have been honored by the club, including Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Frost, Saul Bellow, Louis Auchincloss, Elie Wiesel, Arthur Miller, Robert Penn Warren, and many more.

Today, the Lotos Club continues to be a favorite of journalists, scholars, musicians, painters and sculptors, art collectors and enthusiasts, historians, novelists, and university heads. Highlights include its state dinners that have honored heads of state, philanthropists, leading journalists, and artists, among others. The club’s home since 1947 is a restored, five-story, French Renaissance mansion built in 1900 and designed by Richard Howland Hunt. The Lotos Club is located at Five East Sixty-Sixth Street just off Fifth Avenue.

The Literary Landmark program is administered by United for Libraries. Since the conception of the program in 1986, more than 160 Literary Landmarks across the United States have been dedicated. Any library or group may apply for a Literary Landmark through United for Libraries; visit www.ala.org/united/products_services/literarylandmarks.

United for Libraries: The Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations, is a division of the American Library Association with approximately 4,000 personal and group members representing hundreds of thousands of library supporters. United for Libraries supports those who govern, promote, advocate, and fundraise for libraries, and brings together library trustees, advocates, friends, and foundations into a partnership that creates a powerful force for libraries in the 21st century. To join, please visit www.ala.org/united or call (800) 545-2433, ext. 2161.