Union League Clubs

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Union League of Philadelphia
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The Union League Logo
Location:	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates:	39°56′59″N 75°9′53.37″W / 39.94972°N 75.164825°W / 39.94972; -75.164825
Built/Founded:	1864
Architect:	John Fraser Horace Trumbauer
Architectural style(s):	Renaissance, Other
Governing body:	Private
Added to NRHP:	June 22, 1979
NRHP Reference#:	79002331[1]

The Union League building on S. Broad St. in Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

A Union League is one of a number of organizations established in 1863 and 1864 during the American Civil War to promote loyalty to the Union side and the policies of Abraham Lincoln. They were also known as Loyal Leagues. They comprised upper middle class men who supported the United States Sanitary Commission, which helped treat wounded soldiers after battle. The Clubs supported the Republican Party, with funding, organizational support, and political activism.

Many of these organizations survive. Membership in the League is selective, and is comparable in social status to membership in a country club. Union League buildings often serve as venues for lavish social events. During Reconstruction, Union Leagues were formed across the South after 1867 as working auxiliaries of the Republican Party. They mobilized freedmen to register to vote and to vote Republican. They discussed political issues, promoted civic projects, and mobilized workers opposed to certain employers. Most branches were segregated but there were a few that were racially integrated. The leaders of the all-black units were mostly urban Blacks from the North, who had never been slaves. Foner (p 283) says "virtually every Black voter in the South had enrolled."

After the Civil War, the Union League Club of New York founded the Metropolitan Museum of Art, ^[2] built the Statue of Liberty's pedestal^[3] and built Grant's Tomb. The Union League of Philadelphia still exists as do the Union League Clubs of New York and Chicago. The former Union League Club of Brooklyn now serves as a senior citizen's home^[4], while the former Union League Club of New Haven is used as a restaurant.

The Union League Civic and Arts Foundation was established in 1949 as a public, not-for-profit charitable and educational organization. The Foundation's mission is one of community enrichment; it is funded largely by contributions from members of the Union League Club of Chicago. Famous members include Cyrus McCormick, Robert Todd Lincoln, Daniel Burnham, and William D. Boyce.^[5]

The Union League of Philadelphia

Today, the most prominent of the remaining union leagues is the oldest and first: The Union League of Philadelphia. Founded in 1862 as a patriotic society to support the Union and the policies of President Abraham Lincoln, it laid the philosophical foundation of other Union Leagues across a nation torn by Civil War. The Union League has hosted U.S. presidents, heads of state, industrialists, entertainers and visiting dignitaries from around the globe. It has also given loyal support to the American military in each conflict since the Civil War, and continues to be driven by its founding motto, "Love of Country Leads." Although no longer exclusively Republican or male in membership, the Union League has maintained its identity as distinctly traditional and politically conservative.

The classic French Renaissance-styled League building, with its brick and brownstone façade and dramatic twin circular staircases leading to the main entrance on Broad Street, was designed by John Fraser and completed in 1864. Additions to the building in the Beaux Arts style, by Philadelphia architect Horace Trumbauer and his chief designer Julian Abele and completed in 1910 and 1911, expanded the building to occupy an entire city block. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. Adorning the walls and hallways is the League’s distinguished collection of art and artifacts. The collection is a rich, historical chronicle of Philadelphia’s unique imprint upon the American landscape from the 19th century to today and is recognized by historians and art experts as valuable components of our shared American history.

In the 21st century, the Union League of Philadelphia is home to members who keep alive the League’s traditions. As they did in 1862, today’s members represent the Philadelphia region’s leaders in business, education, religion, the arts and culture. The League’s civic participation and philanthropic outreach takes the form of three charitable foundations: The Youth Work Foundation, The Scholarship Foundation and The Abraham Lincoln Foundation, which educate the public about our nation’s history, recognize student role models in our region’s schools, and provide scholarships to deserving students.

References

• Michael W. Fitzgerald, The Union League Movement in the Deep South: Politics and Agricultural Change During Reconstruction (1989).
• Walter L. Fleming, Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama" (1905), pp 553–59.
• Eric Foner. Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877 (1988) pp 283–86
• Melinda Lawson; "The Civil War Union Leagues and the Construction of a New National Patriotism" Civil War History Volume: 48. Issue: 4. 2002. pp 338+.
• Melinda Lawson; Patriot Fires: Forging a New American Nationalism in the Civil War North (2002).
• Clement M. Silvestro. Rally Round the Flag: The Union Leagues in the Civil War (1966).
• Petterchak, Janice A. (2003), Lone Scout: W. D. Boyce and American Boy Scouting, Rochester, Illinois: Legacy Press, ISBN 0965319873 

Primary sources

• Fleming, Walter L. ed. Documentary History of Reconstruction: Political, Military, Social, Religious, Educational, and Industrial (1906). vol 2 pp 1–29.
• Loyal National League of the State of New York, Opinions of Prominent Men Concerning the Great Questions of the Times Expressed in Their... (1863). The complete book is online at [1]

External links

• The Union League of Philadelphia
• The Union League Club of New York
• The Union League Club of Chicago

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