At the time of its founding in 1946, what is now the MIT Club of Boston was known as the Boston Luncheon Club. "We weren't allowed to be an MIT club because we were too close to the campus," reports William S. Edgerly '49, who was president of the club in 1960-61. Further proving the cynical observation that battles in academia are waged so fiercely because the stakes are so small, Edgerly had to fight for a name change. "It was thought that a Boston club would compete with alumni activities at the Institute," he remembers. "I set out to change that since I felt that Boston, of all cities, should have an MIT Club." Edgerly and his allies prevailed and the MIT Club of Boston formally came into being in 1961-62. In its 50 years and under both names, the Club has hosted scores of activities that evoke many memories. The staple of the club in its early days was its luncheon speakers. Club members heard from prominent people such as former Attorney General Elliot Richardson, and William Loeb, the somewhat notorious publisher of the Manchester Union Leader newspaper. Not surprisingly, these luncheon events reflected their times, as Glenn Strehie remembers from his tenure as president in 1967-68. "The major event in the lives of young people was the Vietnam War," reports Strehie. "Members of the MIT faculty and others associated with the Institute were important participants in the public debate about the War. "The Club directors made a decision to invite key Institute participants in these discussions to address the Club. I was fortunate to find Richard Goodwin, a key foreign policy advisor to the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, located in a small office in the Dewey Library. He spoke for over an hour and gave us a balanced view of the issues.

"Professor Noam Chomsky also spoke to the Club at another luncheon and gave the reasons for his opposition to the War."

While the Club has frequently served as a forum for discussion on weighty and pressing issues, it has had more than its fair share of celebratory moments, as well.

Terry Bower remembers how some inspired thinking and fortuitous planning made for a successful event during his 1980-81 tenure as President. "The big event during my year as president was the Tall Ships Hunt," according to Bowers. "For that one event we had 1,750 people in attendance, with five cruise ships rented for the evening, each with a band and a caterer." Planning for the event began in January. Initial inquiries found that the cost for renting cruise ships in Boston Harbor during the days the Tall Ships would be visiting were near extortionate-assuming the boats were available at all. "Someone had the insight to mention that the ships would be bound to arrive prior to the 'official' visit days," Bowers remembers. Given the unpredictability associated with sailing these vessels into Boston from distant ports, it was highly unlikely that all the ships would arrive simultaneously. "Still, we faced a problem. The MIT Club could not guarantee which ships would arrive in the harbor prior to the event, and we were concerned about misrepresenting the event to our membership. The key brilliant suggestion was from Dave Prerau." Prerau had the inspiration to suggest the Club advertise the event as a 'hunt' for the tall ships. "That did it," said Bowers, and the event was a rousing success. "When all was said and done, we had to turn away hundreds of requests and stop advertising a month in advance."