Membership discrimination in California social clubs
Encyclopedia
Membership discrimination in California social clubs has been based on sex, race, religion, political views and social standing. In the late 1980s a successful effort was made in many of the clubs to open up membership first to racial or religious minorities and then to women. Strictly private clubs not open to the public and for which tax exemptions are not claimed maintain their right to discriminate on the basis of sex or race, and all clubs can discriminate on the basis of social standing.
A state law against discriminating in the service of private businesses was gradually made applicable to social clubs that engaged in commercial activities. Rules against discrimination were also applied where clubs were the beneficiaries of government in any way, notably through taxes or subsidies.
The first clubs
The Bohemian ClubBohemian Club
The Bohemian Club is a private men's club in San Francisco, California, United States.Its clubhouse is located at 624 Taylor Street in San Francisco...
was founded in San Francisco in 1872 as a journalists' social group, but it grew to become a refuge for some of the most powerful men in American business and politics. The similarly august California Club
California Club
The California Club is a private social club established in 1888 in downtown Los Angeles, the oldest such club in Southern California. Its building was erected in 1929 and 1930 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.- History :...
was founded in Los Angeles in 1888 when "at least 12 of the 125 founding members were Jews." But "as the original Jewish members died off, this power center became off limits to Jews." The Jonathan Club
Jonathan Club
The Jonathan Club is a private social club in Los Angeles, California, U.S. It maintains two clubhouses, one in downtown Los Angeles at 545 South Figueroa Street and one on the beach in Santa Monica. The Los Angeles headquarters has dining and residential facilities, ballrooms, a health club, a...
, a likewise prestigious social group, was established in Los Angeles in 1894.
Legislative measures
The Unruh Civil Rights ActUnruh Civil Rights Act
The Unruh Civil Rights Act is a piece of California legislation that specifically outlaws discrimination based on age, sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, marital status, or sexual orientation...
, adopted in 1959, outlaws discrimination based on age, ancestry, color, disability, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation and similar characteristics. The law applies to all businesses, including housing and public accommodations.
Section 125.6 of the state's Business and Professions Code, which took effect on January 1, 1976, threatened disciplinary action against "any holder of a state liquor license who discriminates on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, ancestry or national origin," but it specifically exempted private clubs with "discriminatory membership policy." The State Franchise Tax Board has forbidden business tax deductions for fees and expenses incurred at discriminatory private clubs.
Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley
Tom Bradley (politician)
Thomas J. "Tom" Bradley was the 38th Mayor of Los Angeles, California, serving in that office from 1973 to 1993. He was the first and to date only African American mayor of Los Angeles...
on May 28, 1987, signed a bill sponsored by Council Member Joy Picus to ban discrimination at most of the city's large private clubs, based on "sex, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin or disability." It applied to any club with more than 400 members that "takes payments for meetings attended by non-members."
In 1988 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that cities may force large private clubs to admit minorities and women. It said that "clubs which serve meals and rent facilities to outsiders are more like business establishments than intimate social groups and therefore have no right to escape anti-discrimination laws."
1960s
In 1965, the Jonathan Club was charged with "anti-Negro" and "anti-Jew" bias and a complaint was raised that the membership dues of Mayor Sam Yorty were being paid by city taxpayers to support such discrimination. Yorty told a news conference he knew nothing about such a circumstance.The Anti-Defamation League
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
of B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith International |Covenant]]" is the oldest continually operating Jewish service organization in the world. It was initially founded as the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith in New York City, on , 1843, by Henry Jones and 11 others....
said that in 1962 twelve of the "leading country clubs" and eight of the "most prestigious city clubs" in the Greater Los Angeles area were open only to Christians, but in 1969 those figures had dropped to eleven and five. Six of the city and country clubs that discriminated in 1969 were listed in Los Angeles, five in Pasadena, two in Glendale and one each in La Habra, Long Beach and Upland.
In July 1969, there were no Jewish members in the California Club
California Club
The California Club is a private social club established in 1888 in downtown Los Angeles, the oldest such club in Southern California. Its building was erected in 1929 and 1930 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.- History :...
but "at least one Jew" in the Jonathan Club
Jonathan Club
The Jonathan Club is a private social club in Los Angeles, California, U.S. It maintains two clubhouses, one in downtown Los Angeles at 545 South Figueroa Street and one on the beach in Santa Monica. The Los Angeles headquarters has dining and residential facilities, ballrooms, a health club, a...
, yet the latter club hadn't "taken in any Jewish members for at least two decades," Neil C. Sandberg, regional director of the American Jewish Committee
American Jewish Committee
The American Jewish Committee was "founded in 1906 with the aim of rallying all sections of American Jewry to defend the rights of Jews all over the world...
, told Jack Smith
Jack Smith (columnist)
Jack Clifford Smith was a journalist, author, and newspaper columnist who wrote about Los Angeles during its period of greatest growth and increasing influence...
of the Los Angeles Times.
Smith wrote that a campaign had been going on for ten years to "quietly but unrelentingly" persuade "what has been called the 'last bastion' of anti-Semitism in America — the downtown men's clubs of the nation's big cities" to allow Jews to become members. Led by the American Jewish Committee, "with the active aid of the Antidefamation League
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
, American Jewish Congress
American Jewish Congress
The American Jewish Congress describes itself as an association of Jewish Americans organized to defend Jewish interests at home and abroad through public policy advocacy, using diplomacy, legislation, and the courts....
. . . and other Jewish organizations," the campaign was successful in the case of the Stock Exchange Club, the University Club and the Chancery Club, but the Jonathan and the California clubs remained closed. The campaign was publicized upon the report of a seven-year study made at UCLA by Reed M. Powell, a sociologist.
Examples of prejudice
In May 1975, a touring choir from the United States Air Force AcademyUnited States Air Force Academy
The United States Air Force Academy is an accredited college for the undergraduate education of officer candidates for the United States Air Force. Its campus is located immediately north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, United States...
decided not to sing a proposed concert at the Jonathan Club because Academy officers had been informed that the club had a policy against hosting blacks.
Loretta Thompson-Glickman, member of the Pasadena city Board of Directors, recalled that when first elected to the board in 1977, she and Jo Heckman, the only other woman director, had to enter the University Club in that city through a side door. Attorney Candis Ipswich said she applied for membership the same year and was rejected because "I was the wrong sex."
J. Peter Dunston, a Washington, D.C., businessman who was spending a year in Los Angeles, was "surprised" in February 1978 to find "how directly" the prejudices of the Jonathan Club were expressed when he applied for membership and was interviewed by the membership committee. He was told that "Jews and blacks were not welcome in the club." One of the committee members later "denied everything," but the other said "We explained it to him in a different way. We didn't use the word discriminate. 'Invite' was the word."
In 1978 there was still only one Jew in the Jonathan Club
Jonathan Club
The Jonathan Club is a private social club in Los Angeles, California, U.S. It maintains two clubhouses, one in downtown Los Angeles at 545 South Figueroa Street and one on the beach in Santa Monica. The Los Angeles headquarters has dining and residential facilities, ballrooms, a health club, a...
and none in the Los Angeles Country Club
Los Angeles Country Club
The Los Angeles Country Club is a golf and country club in Los Angeles, California.- History :In the fall of 1897, a group of Los Angelenos organized a voluntary association to further the cause of one of Southern California's newest sports...
. The two clubs were known for their discrimination against Jews. Yet the Hillcrest Country Club
Hillcrest Country Club (Los Angeles)
Hillcrest Country Club is a private social club located in Los Angeles, California, United States.-The club:The property includes an 18-hole golf course and tennis courts, and serves as a meeting place for its members. The 18-hole "Hillcrest" golf course was designed by Willie Watson and opened in...
in Beverly Hills was the "Jewish" counterpart to the Los Angeles Country Club, and Lew Wasserman
Lew Wasserman
Lewis Robert "Lew" Wasserman was an American talent agent and studio executive, sometimes credited with creating and later taking apart the studio system in a career spanning more than six decades...
, chairman of the board of the Music Corporation of America
Music Corporation of America
MCA, Inc. was an American talent agency. Initially starting in the music business, they would next become a dominant force in the film business, and later expanded into the television business...
, told Times reporter Robert Scheer
Robert Scheer
Robert Scheer is an American journalist who writes a column for Truthdig which is nationally syndicated by Creators Syndicate in publications such as The Huffington Post and The Nation...
that the Hillcrest club "has consistently discriminated against non-Jewish members."
The Los Angeles Athletic Club
Los Angeles Athletic Club
Los Angeles Athletic Club is an athletic club and private social club in Los Angeles, California, USA. It awards the John R. Wooden Award to the outstanding men's and women's college basketball player of each year....
had admitted blacks as members since the early 1960s, but it was discovered in 1975 that the club was admitting blacks "on a slower, more regulated basis than whites, in an effort not to offend or lose white men." The club quickly changed its policies after complaints were made.
Los Angeles bookseller Jake Zeitlin claimed in 1980 that many clubs, such as his city's Zamorano Club, an organization of bibliophiles, used a refusal to admit Communists as a pretext for excluding Jews; he said he was denied admission for more than forty years under those circumstances.
Outside pressure
By 1976 some businesses were deciding not to reimburse executives for the dues they paid to clubs that discriminated against minorities. Wells Fargo Bank banned meetings at discriminatory clubs in October 1975, and Bank of AmericaBank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...
was also one of the first, announcing moreover that it would not itself maintain such memberships, nor would it sponsor events anywhere "unless all business guests who should attend can attend." Mayor Tom Bradley's office announced that he would no longer attend meetings at either the Jonathan or the California clubs. But a survey made by the Wall Street Journal in May 1976 "indicated that most companies felt any rules could be dodged, primarily by giving employes a salary increase instead of paying their club fees.
Responding to letters from the Jewish Federation
Jewish Federation
A Jewish Federation is a confederation of various Jewish social agencies, volunteer programs, educational bodies, and related organizations, found within most cities in North America that host a viable Jewish community...
Council, California Club president Luther Anderson wrote in September 1975 that the club "has no membership policy of any sort, and that individual decisions are made by an autonomous admissions committee over which the board of directors has no control." A year later, on October 1, 1976, the council mailed letters to top officials at 160 major corporations in Southern California, urging them not to hold meetings or functions at the California Club and to "reconsider" their policies of paying club membership dues for their executives.
In July 1978, the Los Angeles Times reported that Glenn Dumke, chancellor of the California State University
California State University
The California State University is a public university system in the state of California. It is one of three public higher education systems in the state, the other two being the University of California system and the California Community College system. It is incorporated as The Trustees of the...
system, belonged to the California Club and the Bohemian Club, while Paul F. Romberg, president of San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
, was a member of the Bohemian Club and Alistair W. McCrone, president of Humboldt State University
Humboldt State University
Humboldt State University is the northernmost campus of the California State University system, located in Arcata within Humboldt County, California, USA. The main campus, nestled at the edge of a coast redwood forest, is situated on Preston hill overlooking Arcata and with commanding views of...
, belonged to the Ingomar Club
Ingomar Club
The Ingomar Club is a private club in Eureka, California that owns and is based in the Carson Mansion, one of the most notable examples of Victorian architecture in the United States...
. Dumke and Romberg paid their membership fees with privately donated money, but McCrone used state money for his fees.
Policy changes
The Bohemian Club did make a push in 1970 for blacks to join up. Some, like Ernest J. Gaines, the first black to be awarded a creative writing fellowship at Stanford University, declined to join because he was "just sort of tired of being the first to go into things," and he doubted he "would have found people with whom he could discuss [Ernest] Hemingway." Cecil PooleCecil F. Poole
Cecil F. Poole was a prominent African American lawyer and federal judge. Poole was born in Birmingham, Alabama and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania....
, who was a black federal appeals judge, also would not join.
In 1976 the California Club admitted a Jew, Harold Brown
Harold Brown (Secretary of Defense)
Harold Brown , American scientist, was U.S. Secretary of Defense from 1977 to 1981 in the cabinet of President Jimmy Carter. He had previously served in the Lyndon Johnson administration as Director of Defense Research and Engineering and Secretary of the Air Force.While Secretary of Defense, he...
, the United States secretary of defense and former president of the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
, "several years after he was first nominated for membership" by Franklin Murphy
Franklin David Murphy
Franklin David Murphy was an American administrator, educator, and medical doctor. During his life, he served as Chancellor of the University of Kansas and Chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles ....
, chairman of the board of the Times-Mirror Company, and after "a protracted struggle among club members."
Jews were admitted to membership about 1966 in the Los Angeles Chancery Club, for attorneys, and in 1976 there was one black Chancery Club member — Sam Williams
Samuel L. Williams
Samuel L. Williams was president of the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners and the first African-American president of the California State Bar ....
, president-elect of the County Bar Association.
Warner Heineman, vice chairman of Union Bank, who was Jewish, was admitted to membership in the Jonathan Club in October 1977. He said the action was "something of a breakthrough. . . . I personally feel I am a whole citizen now. I can't explain what it means for someone who was persecuted in Germany to still be denied membership in a club of his peers. . . . I feel emancipated." Jonathan Club president Robert Brimberry said in February 1978 that "In recent years certain restrictions have been changing. . . . we are accepting and considering all applications on their merit, including those of minorities and women."
Also in fall 1977, two Jewish men were admitted as members of the Los Angeles Country Club
Los Angeles Country Club
The Los Angeles Country Club is a golf and country club in Los Angeles, California.- History :In the fall of 1897, a group of Los Angelenos organized a voluntary association to further the cause of one of Southern California's newest sports...
— Sherrill Corwin, head of the Metropolitan Theaters chain, and Si Ramo, an executive at TRW, Inc.
TRW
TRW Inc. was an American corporation involved in a variety of businesses, mainly aerospace, automotive, and credit reporting. It was a pioneer in multiple fields including electronic components, integrated circuits, computers, software and systems engineering. TRW built many spacecraft,...
1980s
The membership of William French SmithWilliam French Smith
William French Smith was an American lawyer and the 74th Attorney General of the United States.-Biography:...
, President Ronald Reagan's choice for U.S. attorney-general
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
in both the California and Bohemian clubs became an issue for him before Smith's nomination was approved by the Senate in January 1981.
In 1987 the Board of Governors of the State Bar of California
State Bar of California
The State Bar of California is California's official bar association. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, and prescribing appropriate discipline...
voted to ban from participating in the annual Conference of Delegates any local bar association that patronized any private discriminatory club which excluded people from membership or use of its facilities because of their "race, color, creed, national ancestry, sex or sexual preference." Other controversies in the 1980s included those in:
Avalon
In November 1988, AvalonAvalon, California
Avalon, or Avalon Bay, is the only incorporated city on Santa Catalina Island of the California Channel Islands, and the southernmost city in Los Angeles County. Besides Avalon, the only other center of population on the island is the small unincorporated town of Two Harbors...
city officials on Santa Catalina Island
Santa Catalina Island
Santa Catalina Island, or Catalina Island, may refer to:*Santa Catalina Island, California*Catalina Island, Dominican Republic*Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, one of the departments of Colombia, consisting of two island groups*Owariki or Owa Riki , an island in the...
asked the city attorney to investigate the all-male Tuna Club after City Council Member Irene Strobel said she had " twice accepted invitations to visit the club in her role as a council member, but she refused to enter by the side or back doors that women are supposed to use. Instead, she went through the front door."
After "months of inquiry," city officials agreed that the Tuna Club did not discriminate against women. A March 14 letter from the club said it "does not and will not discriminate . . . on the basis of sex, race, religion and national origin." The club, founded in 1898, leased its facilities from the city.
Los Angeles
In 1982, the city's Community Redevelopment Agency "barred its employees from conducting any business" at the Jonathan Club, and law firms, banks and government agencies adopted policies boycotting the club.In October of the same year, Prince Philip of Great Britain, on a visit to Los Angeles to inspect equestrian sites for the 1984 Olympics
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
, turned down an invitation to an evening at the California Club when he discovered that his host, Mayor Tom Bradley, refused to attend because the club "prohibits women and has no black members."
On May 28, 1986, Lodwrick M. Cook
Lodwrick Cook
Lodwrick Monroe Cook is an American businessman.-Background and education:He received a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Louisiana State University in 1950 and was also a member of the Sigma Chi Gamma Iota Chapter there...
, chief executive officer of the oil giant Arco
ARCO
Atlantic Richfield Company is an oil company with operations in the United States as well as in Indonesia, the North Sea, and the South China Sea. It has more than 1,300 gas stations in the western part of the United States. ARCO was originally formed by the merger of East Coast-based Atlantic...
, sent a memo announcing that the firm would no longer reimburse executives for memberships in "discriminatory private clubs." The order affected "about 30" people who belonged to the California and Jonathan clubs in Los Angeles and the Dallas Petroleum Club.
Hillcrest Country Club president Mark B. Levey said in April 1987 that the club had taken steps to recruit non-Jewish members and had "about two dozen" at that time.
In February 1988, the California Club admitted its first black member in the person of Joseph L. Alexander, 58-year-old surgeon and former Army colonel. The club also approved Ivan J. Houston, the chief executive officer of the predominantly black Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company
Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company
Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, the largest black-owned insurance company in the western United States, was founded by William Nickerson, Jr...
. A "number of Jews" were said to have been admitted in recent years as well.
Santa Monica
At the beginning of 1985 the Santa Monica Planning Commission "grudgingly approved" a permit from the Jonathan Club to expand the club's facilities on the Santa Monica beach. The council also voted to send a letter to the state's Coastal CommissionCalifornia Coastal Commission
The California Coastal Commission is a state agency in the U.S. state of California with quasi-judicial regulatory oversight over land use and public access in the California coastal zone....
stating that the club's membership policies might affect "the public's right to beach access." "Previous councils had refused to act on the matter because of the club's alleged discriminatory policies. . . . Councilwoman Cheryl Rhoden told a club official 'not one grain of sand' would be given to the club until it changed its membership policies." On July 25, 1985, the Coastal Commission did order the club to adopt nondiscriminatory policies before it could expand its recreational use onto state-owned beach property.
The decision was upheld by the state Supreme Court in May 1988 even though the Jonathan Club had said that it did not bar women or minorities as members.
Women
In March 1986, Rotary InternationalRotary International
Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...
was ordered by a state appellate court to reinstate the Duarte
Duarte, California
Duarte is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 21,321, down from 21,486 at the 2000 census....
chapter it had ousted in 1983 for admitting three women members, and three years later the University Club in Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
decided also to admit women. The all-male club had voted against the idea twice before — in 1977 and 1980.
John M. Robinson, president of the California State Club Association, wrote in a 1987 newsletter that "Clubs are under broad attack nationwide." He said:
The proponents of anti-club measures consist principally of a relatively small group of strident professional women in metropolitan centers, the anti-Establishment news media, vote-seeking politicians, a few minority leaders, do-gooders, the radical left, and social engineers who would restructure our social system according to their own ideas. , , , the essence of a club is its exclusiveness. Unless the right to select desired members and to exclude unwanted members is unrestricted, the objective of compatibility and congeniality of members cannot be accomplished. The right thus to select and exclude necessarily includes the right to discriminate on any basis whatsoever. An organization to which everyone has the right to belong ceases to be a club in the traditional sense."
Beverly Hills
The Friars ClubFriars Club of Beverly Hills
The Friars Club of Beverly Hills was a private show business club started in 1947 by comedian/actor Milton Berle, among other celebrities who had moved from New York. It was forced to change its name in 2007 after losing a lawsuit with the New York Friars' Club, and later closed...
, a 700-member club consisting mostly of people in show business or the movies, had four women members by February 1988, including attorney Gloria Allred
Gloria Allred
Gloria Rachel Allred is an American lawyer noted for taking high-profile and often controversial cases, particulary those involving the protection of women's rights.-Early life:...
, who in that month engaged in a "very heated meeting" with club officials over her demand that women be allowed to use the health facilities of the club. Kenneth Reich of the Los Angeles Times wrote that:
The Friars Club dispute is uncommon only in that it involves one of the nation's most celebrated exponents of women's rights. Dispute over the new — if less well-known — members of such facilities as dining rooms, golf courses and health clubs has also marked the integration of other clubs in Los Angeles and elsewhere.
Eureka
In 1974, Ellen Stern Harris, vice chairman of the California Coastal CommissionCalifornia Coastal Commission
The California Coastal Commission is a state agency in the U.S. state of California with quasi-judicial regulatory oversight over land use and public access in the California coastal zone....
, was not allowed to join her fellow commissioners for an informal tour of the Carson Mansion
Carson Mansion
The Carson Mansion is a large Victorian house located in Old Town, Eureka, California. Regarded as one of the highest executions of American Queen Anne Style architecture, the home is "considered the most grand Victorian home in America." It is one of the most written about and photographed...
in Eureka
Eureka, California
Eureka is the principal city and the county seat of Humboldt County, California, United States. Its population was 27,191 at the 2010 census, up from 26,128 at the 2000 census....
because the private Ingomar Club
Ingomar Club
The Ingomar Club is a private club in Eureka, California that owns and is based in the Carson Mansion, one of the most notable examples of Victorian architecture in the United States...
, housed there, admitted women "only on specified days." The state attorney-general's office filed suit against the club in July 1974 after the Ingomar board of directors decided not to change the rule. It was settled in early 1978 with the club agreeing that women have the right to enter "for any business, civic or political function." It did not involve membership, though, "since state law does not prevent a private social club from barring members on the grounds of sex, religion or race."
Los Angeles
In 1975 "neither the Los Angeles Country Club nor any other major country club" had changed "the traditional policy that bans single women as full members, and limits all women to specific starting times on the golf course. And neither the California nor the Jonathan club admitted women as members. Women guests were "limited to certain floors, dining rooms and entrances" but they "can now use the main elevator and lobby" at the Jonathan Club, a member told the Times in 1976, adding that "We no longer have a women's elevator."Brentwood Country Club
The city sued the Brentwood Country Club in August 1987 to force it to stop barring women from its "Men's Grill" and golf course during part of the day. It dropped the suit when the club agreed "to admit women to the restaurant at all hours and make the rules less restrictive to women golfers."California Club
In June 1987 the California Club took a vote on changing its bylaws and decided by a 4-1 margin to admit women. Club president Donald E. Butler said the decision was made by "a group of rational individuals trying to do the right thing." In response to a vociferous campaign by the losers, the club scheduled another vote on the same issue, and in March 1988, the regular members voted 728 to 297 to accept women members. In a separate category of non-resident members, the vote was 149 to 38.The first new members admitted under the new policy were E. Camron Cooper, senior vice president and treasurer of the Atlantic Richfield Company, and Linda Hartwick, a partner in the Korn/Ferry International executive-search firm.
Hillcrest Country Club
The Hillcrest Country Club changed its bylaws in April 1987 to provide for women as members and to allow daughters and wives, as well as sons, to inherit the memberships of deceased members.Jonathan Club
In 1977 the Jonathan Club "voted overwhelmingly" to admit women to membership. But Betty Bryant Morris, associate counsel at Union Bank, found treatment of her membership application "raised suspicions among some that the club has no real intention" of taking a woman as a member. Directors at first wanted to delay her nomination for one year, but, after pressure, they changed their mind and sent Morris's application to the membership committee.By 1988, however, "about a dozen women" had joined the club, one of whom was Brooke Knapp
Brooke Knapp
Brooke Knapp graduated from Winter Haven High School in 1958 under her real name of Nancy Brooke. When she married Charlie Knapp, she was a white-knuckle flyer before he gave her flying lessons....
, an aviator who was the first pilot to circle the Earth at the poles in a private jet, but they were forbidden to enter the men's library, grill and bar. The city attorney in January of that year was preparing a suit against the club to end that practice. Knapp said she opposed the suit because it might "engender a backlash that will slow women's progress." Club attorney John R. Shiner said in June 1989 that the Jonathan would thenceforth serve women in the bar and grill, "no questions asked."
University Club
The University Club had been in the forefront of taking in blacks and Jews as members, and another breakthrough came in February 1975, when it became the first major downtown Los Angeles club to admit women.As late as 1976, though, it required "unaccompanied women guests" to wait in a "ladies' lounge ... and before 5 p.m. [they] must enter and leave the club through a specified door."
Newport Beach
In February 1989, twenty-five of the ninety single women belonging to the Newport Beach Country Club sued, alleging that they had to pay $8,500 more for memberships than single men. Gloria Allred was their attorney.Bohemian Club
Two state AssemblyCalifornia State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
members, women lawyers' groups and a law firm called on the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission
California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control
The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control is an agency of the government of the state of California charged with regulation of alcoholic beverages....
in July 1987 to revoke the liquor license of the Bohemian Club because it excluded members on the basis of race or sex. In the meantime, the city of San Francisco had passed an ordinance "aimed at forcing the 115-year-old club to admit women." A Superior Court judge declined to overturn it, but the club continued to insist that "since the club does not accept money from outside businesses, it is not subject to the court ruling." It fought bitterly, and successfully, to keep from admitting women as members. Women, including political office holders, "must enter via a side door and stay in the downstairs banquet rooms." Dan Morain of the Los Angeles Times wrote:
A few men have quit, some will not join and some groups no longer use it for social functions. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, for one, quietly stopped holding its annual party there in 1979 after several judges, including a black, a Jew and a few women appointed by President Jimmy Carter, protested that it was a symbol of discrimination . . .
When Gloria Allred asked former California Governor Edmund G. (Pat) Brown
Pat Brown
Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown, Sr. was the 32nd Governor of California, serving from 1959 to 1967, and the father of current Governor of California Jerry Brown.-Background:...
for a membership application for the Bohemian Club, "I turned her down," he said. "I think she's a fine lawyer, but there are a lot of women's clubs she could join where they talk about sewing and raising babies." Former U.S. Senator S.I. Hayakawa said women should not be allowed to join for the same reason he didn't "want to go to women's clubs and join a sewing circle, or a ladies' bridge club."
Yorba Linda
Jan Bradshaw, an interior designer, sued the Yorba Linda Country Club in 1988 when she discovered that women could play golf only in the afternoons. On Sundays there was only a single time for women's play "I've received death threats on the phone and nasty, anonymous letters," she said. Gina Walthall, president of the women's board of directors, said that Bradshaw's suit "would ruin it for everyone else so we'll just have an open tee-time. And then you might as well belong to a public course." Bradshaw was represented by Gloria AllredGloria Allred
Gloria Rachel Allred is an American lawyer noted for taking high-profile and often controversial cases, particulary those involving the protection of women's rights.-Early life:...
.