The A.D. Club is a final club established at Harvard University in 1836, the continuation of a chapter of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity existing as an honorary chapter until 1846, and then as a regular chapter until the late 1850s. At that time, owing to the prevailing sentiment against such societies, it became a strictly secret society, known among its members as the "Haidee," the name of a college boat. The chapter surrendered its charter in 1865, and has since existed as the A.D. Club.
In 1872, the club rooms were moved from the upper story of a brick house on Palmer Street to a building on Brattle Street. These rooms were occupied until 1878, when a club-house was obtained on the corner of Mt. Auburn and Dunster Streets. In 1900, the club moved to its present club-house at 1 Plympton St.[1]
William Randolph Hearst - American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher.[2]
Benjamin C. Bradlee - Executive Editor of the Washington Post. Oversaw Watergate scandal[3]
James Blake - Professional tennis player, reached a high of number 4 in the world.[4]
Thomas Blake - Professional tennis player.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. - Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Professor at Harvard Law School.[5]
Stephen Minot Weld - Scion of the Weld Family of Boston. Schoolmaster, real estate investor and politician.[6]
J. Harleston Parker - American architect, founder Parker, Thompson & Rice.[6]
Henry Lee Higginson - Noted American businessman and philanthropist, founder of Boston Symphony Orchestra.[6]
Murray Taylor - Composer of "Ten Thousand Men of Harvard"[6]
Manning Ferguson Force - was a lawyer, judge and soldier from Ohio. Recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions during the Civil War.[6]
Charles William Eliot - American academic and President of Harvard University.[6]
John Kelley - Former Assistant General Manager for the Turkish team Besiktas. Also a mediocre table tennis player.