Preface

In 1990 Club President Susan Peterson, appointed a small committee to prepare a history of the Richmond-First Club. The Committee consisted of former president, Jim Doherty, Ivor Massey, a member of the Club for over fifty years, and J. Whaley, (chair) the Club's archivist and historian. Wayland Rennie later volunteered his considerable talents to the joint project. After several years of research and writing, we are pleased to present this history of the Richmond-First Club in honor of the seventy fifth anniversary of its founding.

A word about the sources for this brief history of the Club. All available reports, bulletins, minutes and correspondence have been reviewed and cited as appropriate. "A Fifty-Year Participation in Local Government: Richmond-First Club 1919-1960" has a useful summary for the period it covers. Much valuable information came from interviews with former presidents conducted by members of the History Committee. The Committee is grateful to former presidents Irving Held, Ed Lane, Bob Buford, Ed Hirschler, J. Stuart White, Jim Doherty, Tom Yeaman, Jerry McCarthy, Skip Hamill, Bob Schaberg, Susan Fore Brown, George Peterson, Susan Peterson and Pat McSweeney for their enthusiastic cooperation. Transcripts of the interviews are available in the Club archives, housed in the Special Collections and Archives Department in Cabell Library at Virginia Commonwealth University.

making a difference: The Richmond-First Club

In 1919 Professor Dice R. Anderson, a University of Richmond faculty member, met briefly with B. Roy Dudley on the steps of the central post office in downtown Richmond. From that chance encounter was born the Richmond-First Club. Dedicated to the concept of "better government," the Club over the past 75 years has demonstrated remarkable consistency in its methods, goals, issues, problems and solutions.

Aiming to introduce much needed efficiency in local government, a reform movement swept through Richmond after World War One. Professor Anderson had been active in the Richmond Civic Association (RCA) which led the fight to improve municipal administration. The reformers pushed through a new charter which gave the city a strong-mayor form of government and a smaller city council.

As happens with many such movements, once the goal had been reched, enthusiasm flagged and the citizen coalition broke up. Fearing that hard-won gains would dissipate over time, Professor Anderson encouraged the cadre of young men from the RCA to form a group dedicated to improving local government. Roy Dudley and others heard that call and arranged a meeting to discuss tactics. They then debated the name for their new group and decided to organize under the banner of the Richmond-First Club. The founding fathers chose this name to signal their determination to rise above the factional disputes that had characterized Richmond's politics and to announce their sense of community as a Club, one that fostered close social and professional relationships. They limited members to young businessmen and professionals who voted in Richmond. Members of the Club would identify issues, study problems and present reports that offered solutions and, by educating their fellow citizens, encourage elected officials to take action.