In 1906, a group of newspaper men formed an organization with the purpose to make the path of newspaper men more beautiful and have a little fun on the side. William Stryker, editor-publisher of the Tulsa Democrat, forerunner of The Tulsa Tribune, was president. This was before Oklahoma’s statehood, before taxes, before women’s suffrage and before TV or radio. The club began its mission by showing movies at the Majestic Theater as fundraisers and slowly took on larger endeavors. In 1932, the club brought the Oklahoma City Gridiron Show to Tulsa. The first presentation of the show, “The Bells of St. Mary’s,” was at the Mayo Hotel, which later became home base of the Tulsa Press Club clubhouse in the ‘70s and ‘80s. However, the first “home” for the Tulsa Press Club opened on July 30, 1950, in the “swank” quarters on the mezzanine of the Adams Hotel, at Fourth and Cheyenne. Outstanding features included the zebra-striped bar and a couple of large pillars supporting the roof. That same year, Julie Blakely, women’s editor of the Tulsa Tribune (and later women’s editor of the Tulsa World), was named the first female president of the Tulsa Press Club. While moving from place to place for the next couple of decades, members always gathered together to dance, drink, and even play “Dudo,” a sort of South American liar’s dice at lunch and after work. In 1975, the Tulsa Press Club honored 10 outstanding Tulsa leaders as “Headliners.” We now have more than 75 Headliners, strong supporters of the Club and its endeavors, and the board of directors is already in the process of reviewing 2017 Headliners, which we will honor in October. In 1990, the Club moved to its present location on the ground floor of the Atlas Life Building. The Tulsa Press Club is very different in many ways today from the days when it was first established. Today’s members not only work for – or have retired from – newspapers, radio, and television, they are also in advertising and public relations at agencies and corporations. Some members even come from outside the media, including lawyers, politicians, businessmen and businesswomen. While the mission statement is rooted in the same spirit as that of more than 100 years ago, we have developed as a club and as a community where we are now proud to promote the highest standards of journalism and to encourage the pursuit of journalism careers among students, to defend the principle of Freedom of the Press and the public’s right to have access to public information, to encourage the interchange of ideas between members of the media and those of the professional community with whom they come into contact, to foster the highest ideals of ethics and fairness among all members, and to extend benevolence and assistance to recognized charitable organizations as approved by the Board of Directors.