Alibi Club

In 1884, seven Washingtonians founded the Alibi Club, a private social club of prominent political and social figures. Its name derived from the club practice of providing an alibi when the member's family questioned the whereabouts of a member. The club's founding purpose was to foster "mutual improvement, education, and enlightenment" among members of Washington society. Membership also extended to out-of-town figures from New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia, most likely to share information between communities and help in the development of strategies to address civic issues. Throughout its history, it has hosted numerous world leaders, including King Leopold of Belgium, Prince Albert of Belgium, Prince Henry of Prussia, and Viceroy Li Hongzhang.

The first clubhouse was situated at 17th and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. Since 1886, the club has occupied a three-story, brick townhouse blocks away from the White House. The clubhouse is furnished with donated memorabilia and artifacts covering nearly every available wall section on the first two floors. The clubhouse is also notable as a well-preserved example of residential architecture in a commercial district and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 21, 1994. In 2018, the building was listed as a vacant property.{{cite web | url=http://dcist.com/2018/06/what_happened_to_the_alibi_club.php | title=Did This Old Timey Washington Gentleman's Club Go Extinct? | publisher=DCist | date=June 13, 2018 | accessdate=June 14, 2018 | author=Delgadillo, Natalie | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614134344/http://dcist.com/2018/06/what_happened_to_the_alibi_club.php | archive-date=2018-06-14 | url-status=live }}

Membership is limited to fifty, with new members admitted upon unanimous vote after the death of a previous member. Membership is not revealed to outsiders, and the first public notice of membership is often in a member's obituary.

Some of the Alibi Club's most prominent members have included: President George H. W. Bush,{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/01/us/bush-belongs-to-3-men-s-clubs.html|title=Bush Belongs to 3 Men's Clubs|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 1, 1989|accessdate=May 12, 2009}} his father, Senator Prescott Bush, Supreme Court Justices Potter Stewart and Stanley F. Reed, Allen Dulles and John Foster Dulles, Speaker of the House Nicholas Longworth, and General George C. Marshall.

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{{Incomplete list|date=May 2009}}

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• David M. Abshire{{cite web|url=http://www.georgebushfoundation.org/Page.aspx?pid=326|title=ConocoPhillips White House Lecture Series - 10/26/2005: David M. Abshire|publisher=George Bush Presidential Library Foundation|date=|accessdate=July 28, 2011}}
• David Acheson{{cite web|url=http://dcchs.org/DavidCAcheson/DavidCAcheson_Complete.pdf|title=DAVID C. ACHESON, ESQUIRE: Oral History Project|publisher=Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit|date=2010|accessdate=December 21, 2011}} Pg. 35
• Dean Acheson{{citation needed|date=July 2011}}
• Theodore Achilles{{citation needed|date=July 2011}}
• Lamar Alexander{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/67807.html|first=Manu|last=Raju|title=On the menu: Bipartisanship|publisher=Politico|date=November 7, 2011|accessdate=December 21, 2011}}
• Chandler Anderson
• Larz Anderson
• Warren R. Austin{{cite web|url=http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/finding%20aids/austin.xml|first=|last=|title=Inventory of the Warren R. Austin Collection, 1877-1962|publisher=University of Vermont|date=|accessdate=January 4, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715044807/http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/finding%20aids/austin.xml|archive-date=July 15, 2014|url-status=dead}}
• Truxtun Beale
• Gist Blair
• Robert Woods Bliss
• Frederick N. Brooke
• David K.E. Bruce
• George H. W. Bush
• Prescott Bush
• George E. Corcoran
• Thomas Gardiner Corcoran
• Dwight F. Davis
• Allen Dulles
• John Foster Dulles
• James Dunn
• Walter Edge
• George A. Garrett
• Charles C. Glover III
• Gordon Gray
• Cary Grayson{{citation needed|date=July 2011}}
• Joseph Grew
• Alfred Gruenther
• Frederick Hale
• George Hamilton, Jr.
• Nelson Hartson
• Christian Herter
• William Hibbs
• Archibald Hopkins
• Walter Bruce Howe
• David B. Karrick{{Cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1960/08/07/99773245.html?pageNumber=85 |title=David Karrick, 67, Ambassador, Dies |date=1960-08-07 |newspaper=The New York Times |page=85 |access-date=2022-02-16}}
• Samuel Kaufman
• John Kean
• Emory S. Land{{citation needed|date=July 2011}}
• Nicholas Longworth
• Robert A. Lovett
• George C. Marshall
• Clarence Moore{{cite news |url=https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/presidents-aide-among-passengers-crippled-ship.html |newspaper=Washington Times |date=April 16, 2012 |title=President's Aide Among Passengers on Crippled Ship |access-date=February 20, 2019 |via=Encyclopedia Titanica }}
• Benjamin Mosby McKelway
• John Lord O'Brian
• Thomas Nelson Page
• Stanley F. Reed
• Henry Roosevelt
• Jules Henri de Sibour
• Potter Stewart
• James W. Symington{{citation needed|date=December 2011}}
• Maxwell Taylor
• J.W. Wadsworth
• John F. Wilkins
• Clarence R. Wilson
• Blanton Winship
• Jerauld Wright
• William M. Wright
• John Adams Bross
• C. Boyden Gray{{div col end}}

• List of traditional gentlemen's clubs in the United States
• National Register of Historic Places listings in central Washington, D.C.

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{{National Register of Historic Places}}

Category:1884 establishments in Washington, D.C.

Category:Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C.

Category:Clubs and societies in Washington, D.C.

Category:Houses completed in 1869

Category:Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C.

Category:Italianate architecture in Washington, D.C.

Category:Gentlemen's clubs in Washington, D.C.