The Explorers Club

The Explorers Club is an exclusive nonprofit professional society dedicated to the advancement of science and exploration, and it has included some of the most illustrious explorers and scientists since it first met in the early twentieth century. The club hosts weekly lectures and events that are open to members, and sometimes the public, at its historic New York City headquarters and chapter locations. It serves to educate, inspire, and support the work of scientists and researchers all over the world, along with preserving the history of past explorations, such as those of Sir Edmund Hillary to the North Pole.

Brief History

In 1904, The Explorers Club was founded in New York City when Henry Collins Walsh invited a group of men to form an organization for the purpose of promoting exploration. Walsh was already a well-known journalist, historian, and explorer. He had been on several expeditions to Central America and Greenland and was a founding member of the Arctic Club of America, which was an Arctic exploration club founded in 1894. He also published a record of his Arctic adventures in 1895 and a book of verses in 1889.

Walsh wished to unite fellow explorers in an organization that could also provide support for their work. The first men he invited to an informal meeting to discuss the possibility of forming an exploration club were polar explorer Adolphus Greely, African explorer Donaldson Smith, Central American and Australian Indigenous researcher Carl Lumholtz, archeologist Marshall Howard Saville, American West explorer Frederick Dellenbaugh, and arctic explorer David Brainard. They discussed the possibility of such a society.

On October 25, 1905, the club was officially incorporated at its New York City headquarters at the Studio Building at 23 West 67th Street. The charter members were Walsh, Brainard, and Saville, along with Museum of Natural History curator Frank Chapman, ethnologist Frederick Cook, professor Herschel Clifford Parker, and explorer and journalist Caspar Whitney.

In 1921, the club published the first edition of its newsletter, The Explorers Journal. It is published quarterly and includes news from the field, book reviews, news on recent artifact acquisitions, and other items of interest.

In 1928, the club decided to expand its headquarters with a new building at 544 Cathedral Parkway. The club had already acquired an extensive collection of books, artifacts, and trophy awards from its members, and the new building could accommodate the growing collection. The club encouraged members, and visiting explorers and scientists, to attend meetings to relate their field experiences and findings. By the 1930s, these informal meetings were organized into regular events with lectures and talks, often with illustrations and artifacts.

In 1965, the club moved to its headquarters on the Upper East Side of New York City, on East 70th Street. It was able to accommodate the new James B. Ford Exploration Library and the Sir Edmund Hillary Map Room. For more than seventy-five years, the club was exclusive to men, but in 1981, women were admitted when marine biologist and National Geographic explorer Sylvia Earle and geologist, oceanographer, and astronaut Kathryn Sullivan were inducted.

Overview

An Explorers Club Expedition is marked by a red, white, and blue diagonally striped flag bearing the insignia in red. Each flag is numbered sequentially to identify a particular expedition. In order to qualify to display the flag on an expedition, the trip must be proven by a member to hold scientific value. Once the expedition is successfully carried out, the flag is displayed at the club along with a record of the results of the expedition called the Flag Report.

The club has several awards that members can attain through their work with the club. These awards include The Lowell Thomas Award, The Sweeney Medal, a Citation of Merit, The Buzz Aldrin Space Exploration Award, and The Tenzing Norgay Award. Grants are also awarded to students who are pursuing science and exploration, and these include The Youth Activity Fund Grant, The Exploration Fund Grant, the Scott Pearlman Field Award for Science and Exploration, and the President’s Award for Exploration and Technology. The highest honor a member can earn is the Explorers Club Medal, which is given for outstanding contributions to exploration, research, or humanity.

The Explorers Club is no longer just in New York City, but it has expanded to more than thirty chapters both in the United States and around the world. These chapters serve as local contact points for the members, who are multinational explorers, scientists, and students. Many chapters also hold monthly member dinners, as well as educational lectures and seminars. In addition, each chapter publishes its own newsletters and organizes events, such as expeditions, field trips, and educational classes. Field research grants are also made available to science students to promote exploration and research.

Becoming a member is an exclusive privilege, and prospective members of the club usually must either be sponsored by a current member or submit an extensive application proving their value to the club. Usually, before becoming a full member, a person is made an associate member with limited membership benefits. Those studying science or a field related to exploration can become student members at the age of sixteen; they can become full team members after college graduation. Membership fees are based on the membership category and the local chapter to which a member belongs.

Members who have contributed the most to scientific progress can become fellows of the club. Famous members of the club over the years have included many people known for exploration and scientific discovery, such as Theodore Roosevelt, John Glenn, Jim Fowler, Walter Cronkite, Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, Sir Edmund Hillary, Buzz Aldrin, and Albert I Prince of Monaco.

Although membership to the club remains exclusive, portions of the club are open to the general public, as well as certain lectures and events. The club aims to not just inspire members but to inspire anyone with an appreciation for scientific research and exploration. In 2022, the club partnered with the Discovery Channel to make a series about famous club members, such as Ernest Shackleton, Sir Edmund Hillary, Gertrude Bell, Jim Lovell, and Jeff Bezos, called Tales from The Explorers Club, hosted by club member Josh Gates.

Bibliography

Donnenberg, Sam “How to Become a Member of The Explorers Club.” Men’s Journal, 1 Feb. 2018, www.mensjournal.com/adventure/how-to-become-a-member-of-the-explorers-club-w487146#. Accessed 11 July 2023.

“History.” The Explorers Club, www.explorers.org/about/history-including-famous-firsts/. Accessed 4 Feb. 2025.

Howarth, Peter. "How the World's Explorers Are Saving the Oceans." The Times, 6 June 2024, www.thetimes.com/life-style/luxury/article/oceans-week-rolex-perpetual-planet-initiative-times-luxury-q0nvctsc7. Accessed 4 Feb. 2025.

MacEacheran, Mike. "The Secret Travel Club That's Been Everywhere". BBC, 17 Jan. 2019, www.bbc.com/travel/article/20190116-the-secret-travel-club-thats-been-everywhere. Accessed 11 July 2023.

Jackson, Benjamin. “The Explorers Club; What is the Club that Hamish Harding and Paul-Henri Nargeolet were Members of?” People World, www.peopleworld.co.uk/influencers/titan-submersible-titanic-implosion-explorers-club-hamish-harding-4194317. Accessed 11 July 2023.

“Josh Gates is Taking Us Inside The Explorers Club.” Discovery, 21 Apr.2022, www.discovery.com/dnews/tales-from-the-explorers-club-takes-you-inside-their-legendary-h. Accessed 11 July 2023.

Springer, Kate. “The Explorers Club: Inside the world’s most elite group of adventurers.” CNN, www.cnn.com/travel/article/explorers-club-hong-kong/index.html. Accessed 11 July 2023.