Discussion Club of Dayton Records

Early records of the Discussion Club of Dayton are few as there are no official archives for the Club. Our Club was probably founded in early 1931. The earliest record consists of a financial log which shows that the Club spent $50.70 for 39 dinners at the Dayton Woman's Club, and that Edwin Todd received $10.00 per his expenses as speaker. Converting 1931 dollars into today's money that would be about $18.75 per meal and $110.50 for the speaker. Dues were five dollars a member.

The log further shows that the Club met in April, June, and August of 1931. By August the Club had 56 members. The Club had expenses for stenographic work, letter heads, and envelopes. The stenographic expense probably is evidence that the all male and mostly professional members did not include someone willing, or able, to type.

Paul Rice seems to have been the Club's first secretary- treasurer holding that position until February, 1936.

There are many notable Dayton names on the roster: A.B. Brower, L. Custer, R.K. Kemper, F.L. Shively, C.H. Shook, C.L Seasholes, R.K. McConnaughey, Irving Bieser, Siegfried Weng, and C. R. Murray.

The financial records become less detailed with that change in officers. They continued to meet at the Dayton Woman's Club with dues remaining at five dollars. In 1938 there were 57 members. and the dinner costs remained moderate as the Dayton Woman's Club was paid $52. 53 for 51 dinners (or $1.03 a meal) on Dec 2, 1941. Dues went up to $6.00 in January 1943, and then to $9.00 in January, 1944. Dinners had risen to $1.75 by April 1945. By 1949 dues had risen to ten dollars for a half year while one hundred stamps cost $3.00. A member paid $2.25 for a guest's dinner.

By 1952 the log ceases to carry the members names and a record of their dues paying. However, in 1979 the membership list and dues records return. Some familiar names are Dan Elliott, Charles and Ellie Lewis, Ralph Heyman, Wayne Staley, George Stillwagon, John Coleman, John Bell, Alan Klein, and Julian de Bruyn Kops. By 1980 the dues rose to $45 a half year.

In July 1981, after much discussion by the Board, and not on the first ballot, the Board recommended the admission of members' spouses. By a split vote the recommendation was approved, and dues were set at $45.00 for the male members and $30.00 for their spouses. Some of the women listed were Catherine Zahrt, Jean Coleman, Marjorie Fehr, and Joey Thiele. By 1985 other women who joined were Ellie Lewis, Ellie Heilbrunn, Betsy Jefferis and Cathy Brown. By November of 1985 the membership roster had increased to 86 with there being 20 women. It wasn't until 1988 that the dues were made the same for men and women! At an officers meeting held on December 8, 1982, it was decided to list the women separately from their husbands and to indicate their vocations.

The Club had an "Off the Record Policy" which meant that anything said during a meeting was considered confidential, and would never be leaked to the press. This was necessary as the membership included editorial staff from the Dayton Daily News.

Topics for the meetings were to be chosen as current issues with diverse viewpoints. The Club meetings have never lacked for heated and salty opinions (at least not until women got in) as some long time members recall the contributions of Bill Chait, Julian de Bruyn Kops and Carl Lohrey.

Carl Lohrey served as secretary -treasurer for decades and operated like an administrative director. The secretary- treasurer was allowed to serve as long as willing, while other officers had limited terms. Long standing members remember Carl Lohrey hand delivering the monthly newsletter to their business offices in downtown Dayton on foot! Carl had a way with words and would speak mischievously of Ivan the Horrible when announcing the upcoming program. When Carl's health declined, he entrusted his role of secretary -treasurer to Dr. Dan Elliott who continued for the next ten years in this guiding position until his death in 2004.

The ledger ceases to have Club records after 1988; however, there are well kept records of the speakers and their topics. Many of the topics being discussed today were also pertinent twenty- five years ago. Examples are the RTA, Success or Failure; Vice in Dayton; Downtown Dayton; Nuclear Energy; Women in Politics; Legal Ethics and Bizarreness and the Law; The 45 Million Dollar Arcade Project; the Wright State School of Medicine; Issues Facing the State of Ohio; and General Motors in Dayton. It may have been easier to answer some of these issues twenty -five years ago than at the present moment; just think of the Arcade and downtown Dayton.

What has happened in Dayton and throughout the United States is a change in demographics, women's rights and racial rights, and the cost of living. The Discussion Club of Dayton has changed along with the rest of society in these respects but not in its mission which is to provide an amiable social opportunity for the purposeful interchange of information and ideas for the intellectual stimulation of each member.

At the November 2010 meeting, the members of the club voted to dissolve the Discussion Club of Dayton. The remaining funds were donated to various IRS approved exempt organizations and a farewell dinner was held in February of 2011, officially signally the end of the Discussion Club after 78 years of existence.