One of the nation’s oldest and most distinguished literary and arts institutions, the Lotos Club was established in 1870 and included Mark Twain in its early members. The inception of the club involved a half dozen emerging writers, critics, and journalists coming together to create an organization that would welcome writers, artists, actors, and “professional gentlemen of artistic tastes and inclination.”
The name for the club came from the popular verse of Alfred Lord Tennyson called “The Lotos Eaters,” which stated “In the afternoon they came unto a land / In which it seemed always afternoon,” embodying an ideal of “rest and harmony.” The club was initially situated in a brownstone building off 14th Street, adjacent to the Academy of Music. In addition to Mark Twain, the club welcomed guests such as actors Joseph Jefferson and Edwin Booth, and author John Hay, who served as Abraham Lincoln’s secretary.
Fine dining was an early tradition of the Lotos Club, and well-attended “state dinners” quickly evolved. One of the most memorable early dinners honored Henry M. Stanley upon his returning from Africa, having succeeded in his mission of finding Dr. Livingstone. Other distinguished guests included the Hawaiian Islands’ King Kalakaua and The Woman in White author Wilkie Collins. Musical collaborators W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan were feted at the club’s new location at 149 Fifth Avenue on their initial American Tour. In 1894, Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle, then only 35 years old and just gaining popularity for his Sherlock Holmes stories, dined at the club.
In 1922, Lotos invited opera singer Mary Garden as its first female state dinner honoree. She was soon followed by aviator Amelia Earhart. It was not until 1977 that the club welcomed its initial woman member. writer and editor Mary Hemingway. Today, Lotos provides a warm welcome to diverse members of both sexes. Noteworthy state dinner honorees in recent decades include Saul Bellow, Tom Wolfe, Yo-Yo Ma, Henry Kissinger, Stephen Sondheim, and Joe DiMaggio.
A recent noteworthy guest was Jill Biden, who held a November 2023 fundraiser at the Lotos Club. The well-attended event featured the first lady recounting her early romance with Joe Biden in the late 1960s and how shocked she was to see her blind date show up at her door dressed in a “perfect suit and his leather loafers.” Her initial thought was “Thank God it’s only one date!” However, the one date ultimately evolved into several (and five marriage proposals) before she finally acquiesced and tied the knot.
Also in 2023, the Lotos Club held a soiree to celebrate publication of author Elizabeth Topp’s recently published book City People. Inhabiting a fictional milieu that perfectly suits the club’s Upper East Side location, the work focuses on a group of women in the financial world who engage in self-refection and delve into the meaning of life while coming to terms with the suicide of a shared friend.
Established in 1947, the current Lotos Club location at Five East 66th Street is a distinguished five-story mansion that was built by Margaret Vanderbilt at the turn of the 20th century. It is still considered a prime example of French Renaissance architecture.
