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Show THE HISTORY BLAZER A'EH'S OF UTAH'S PAST FROM THE Utah State Historical Society 300 Rio ~ railde Salt Lake City. I'T 84101 ( 801) 533- 3500 FAX ( 801) 533- 3503 i Utah Expatriates Formed a Club in New York h THE EARLY DECADES OF- THE 2m'CENTURY PMs claimed a- grOUp of American - -. - expatriates that included the likes of Ernest Hemingway , Gertrude Stein, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, to mention a few of the more famous names. Similarly, New York has exerted a magnetic force on Utahns, drawing many of them to the great metropolis to pursue careers in the arts, education, business, science, and other fields. Like their counterparts in Paris, Utahns in New York occasionally longed for companion-ship with others from home. According to Leon L. Watters, Utah- born scientist and author of me Pioneer Jews of Utah, by the early 1890s Utahns living in New York " felt the urge of common memories of their former home and came together more or less informally to exchange news and experiences." This desire to meet continued, but not until Verona Pollock Roach put her organiz-ing genius to work ca. 1924 was the Utah Club of New York founded. Born in Virginia, Roach said she had lived much longer in Utah and " spent several of the happiest years of my life in Salt Lake City. " Her first husband, Alexander Pollock, was a newspaperman associated with the Salt Lake Herald and the Salt Lake Z'lntes. Their son, Channing Pollock, became a noted writer and dramatist. His plays boosted the acting careers of Douglas Fairbanks, Ed Wynn, and Lillian Gish. Channing became an active member of the club founded by his mother as did his brother John, a Broadway show manager,- w h a - s e d aka- Utah- Uub- board . member. Both traced their theatrical beginnings to performances in a barn Elbert D. Thomas ( later a U. S. senator from Utah) converted into an auditorium. Verona Roach served as president of the Utah Club for five years and saw it grow from the eleven women who organized it to an association of men and women which at its maximum strength in the 1930s would attract almost four hundred participants. The 1936 National Dinner, held at the Hotel McAlpin on January 25, was one of the club's most dazzling affairs. Leon Watters, then president of the Utah Club, welcomed a distinguished group of guests, including Utah's congressional delegation, Supreme Court Justice George Sutherland, Federal Reserve Board chairman Marriner S. Eccles, and Secretary of War Gwrge H. Dem. The pre- dinner reception featured an exhibit of Utah artists residing in New York and music by the 16th Infantry Band. Both the ' Star Spangled Banner" and ' Utah, We Love Thee" preceded the meal. The dinner featured several Utah foods- turkey, courtesy of the Utah Poultry Dealers Association, Utah celery sent by express, and Martha Washington Candies made in Salt Lake City with Utah- Idaho sugar. The floral centerpiece was sent by the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce and the Utah Manufacturers Association. The speaker's gavel was made of Utah copper* Artist John Held, Jr., creator of the Flapper who symbolized the Roaring Twenties, served as toastmaster. Other notitbles on the program included Ogden native Phyllis McGinley ( Pulitzer Prize poet, 1961) and Broadway composer Otto Harbach who, like Held, was born and raised in Salt Lake City. In addition to formal dinners, members of the Utah Club of New York cheered the Utah Aggies basketball team when it played in Madison Square Garden on January 23, 1937; and 150 of them purchased a block of tickets to applaud Utah actor Moroni Olsen when he appeared on the New York stage in Mary of Scotland. The club also sponsored a summer outing at the New York University camp on Lake Sebago, probably arranged by NYU professor Howard R. Driggs. A writer as well as an educator, Driggs served a term as club president; an elementary school in Salt Lake City is named for him. On another. oaaSi~ n.~ cthlu~ b held a ball at the Men's Faculty Club of Columbia University, sponsored by- Harold W. Bentley, professor of English and Spanish ' there and later dean of the University of Utah Division of Continuing Education. Club newsletters touted the accomplishments of Utah expatriates such as Mrs. Floyd B. Odlum of St. George, president of the fashionable Bonwit Teller store; Miss Lyle Nelson, an assistant buyer for Lord & Taylor; actresses Hazel Dawn, Donna Jones, Helen Mencken, and Nana Bryant; writer Vardis Fisher; inventor Harvey Fletcher; sculptor Mahonri Young; and FBI agent Sam Conley of Logan who assisted in the capture of the notorious criminal John Dillinger. Although many members of the Utah Club of New York lived most of their lives outside of the Beehive State, the records of this organization confm the love these expatriates felt for their western roots and their pride in each other's accomplishments. In the highly competitive New York arena they had proved their merit, and somehow they wanted their achievements associated with Utah. Source: Leon L. Watters donated his records, incomplete but including newsletters and correspondence, of the Utah Club of New York to the Utah State Historical Society Library; see MS A1255. THE HETORY BLAZER is produced by the Utah State Historical Society and funded in part by a grant from the Utah Statehood Centennial Commission. For more information about the Historical Society telephone 533- 3500. |
