glyph 412: history, inspiration, future, club, association

The 1921 Club is for those who believe that the parent of the 21st Century must be the 19th Century, not the 20th Century, and who regard last century as an encounter with severe illness, during which horrifying things arose and taught us much.

If you think that the 19th century should be a driving inspiration for the builders of the 21st century then the 1921 Club extends an invitation. Andrew Carnegie, Friedrich Hayek, Ludwig von Mises, Peter Kropotkin, Karl Popper, Michael Polanyi, Ayn Rand, Frederick Douglass, Emma Goldman, Henry Bessemer, James Watt, Richard Cobden, John Bright, John Morley, Charles Schwab, Andrew Mellon, William James, Louie from the beet field, Gustav Mahler, J. J. Hill, Robert G. Ingersoll, Booker T. Washington, and Elbert Hubbard may smile upon you from afar.

Joining the 1921 Club is a simple matter — decide you're a member. Now you are.

Various people maintain lists of 1921 Club membership. Seek them out. Add your name to the lists you find congenial. Each list keeper will probably describe the Club differently, but will not lose their grip on the fundamental idea.

One list of members is kept by the Explorers Foundation. Our list is private until you are on it yourself. If you think you should be on our list, but don't know if you are, please contact us.

Somewhere there may be a list of list-keepers. If so, we have not found it yet. If you find one, please let us know. We would like to be on that list.

No matter if you are on a membership list or not — begin seeking out members of the Club, invite participation, and make note of the distributed library of fine books that constitute the Library of the 1921 Club.

Leif Smith, Explorers Foundation, Inc., member of the 1921 Club since 2001.

https://explorersfoundation.org/glyphery/412.html
November 5, 2007; edited/updated November 22, 2025