Thursday Evening

The Thursday Evening Club was started by a physician named John Collins Warren - founder of the Massachusetts General Hospital, president of the American Medical Association, Dean of Harvard Medical School, and the first surgeon to use anesthesia on a patient. One one night in 1846, Warren suggested to his friends that they begin a weekly meeting of gentlemen "for social and scientific conversation," and the club was born. In the early days, presentations covered topics including “crystallization by clay; petrifaction by iron; the beauty of trees; and decomposition of lead water pipes.” Warren was obsessed with animal skeletons and regularly entertained participants with his collections, including mammoth and mastodon bones and a zeuglodon (an extinct whale). 

Ready for my presentation to the Thursday
Evening Club. Photo by Bridget Flynn.

The Club's norms have shifted slowly over time and under the direction of its successive presidents. Meetings are now four times per year, and only one presentation is delivered rather than the original two or three. One element has remained the same: membership is by invitation only and exclusively available to men. 

When I arrived at The Country Club in Brookline, MA, for the Thursday Evening Club meeting, I stood out. The middle-aged and retired men who slowly filled our upper-floor dining room had no trouble figuring out I was the speaker. A few even approached me to offer their welcome and pepper me with questions. According to Thursday Evening Club tradition, the identity of the speaker and the topic of their presentation are held secret until after dinner. I may not have been able to keep my identity confidential, but I knew exactly how to throw the club members off of the topical scent. 

"I'm a professional opera singer," I told one man. 

"I work in asteroid mining," I told another. 

I had numerous professions last night, and one club member even became convinced that Kirstin was not my real name.  

After dinner, our host revealed my true identity as a marine biologist, and I delivered a 40-minute presentation on my shipwreck research. It went incredibly well. I got very interesting, broad-ranging questions from the audience, not just about my work but about oceanography in general. One man asked how the ocean influences climate, and I responded by explaining how the Gulf Stream transports heat to northern Europe. In response to another question, I got to explain how DNA fragments and degrades over time in the environment. I answered questions about technical diving and coral reefs. Overall, the club members were curious and deeply engaged. 

It was an honor to be invited to the Thursday Evening Club, and I had a fantastic experience. 

Note: The history of the Thursday Evening Club relayed here was drawn from the document "Thursday Evening Club, 1846 - 1996" by John W. Sears.