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From the Publisher
"Chicago's private clubs have always been alluringly mysterious: What does go on behind those closed doors? Now, and it's about time, Lisa Holton uses her fine reporter's skills to unlock many of the secrets, to give us an exhaustively researched, finely detailed, and enlightening look inside those bastions of money and power and influence. This is an important Chicago story." —Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune and WGN radio
"A sweeping, 150-year history of the social habits of Chicago's leadership class, For Members Only captures neatly the spirit of ambition and status-seeking of early Chicago, where clubs offered men (and only recently, women) a way to gather with those of similar standing to relax, boost their city, and build their own stature and wealth. Lisa Holton opens the mahogany doors into a private world that up to this day will captivate—and sometimes dismay—the reader.” —James D. Nowlan, author, Glory, Darkness, Light: A History of the Union League Club of Chicago
"A rich addition to our understanding of our city's expansion [that] informs today's discussion on the directions of its growth." —Windy City Times
Overview
Providing an opportunity to see how the business, nonprofit, and political leaders of Chicago shaped the city for more than 140 years behind closed doors, this book consolidates the histories of current and former private social clubs in words, pictures, and first-person commentary. Chicago would be a very different place without the contributions made by the members of the city’s landmark clubs—which have been oases for the rich and privileged, playgrounds for the social set, and private watering holes for the ...