Commonwealth Club of California.

Private nonprofit organization for the study of public issues, based in San Francisco, California.

Historical Note

The Commonwealth Club of California is a private, nonprofit organization for the nonpartisan study of public issues based in San Francisco, California. It was founded on February 3, 1903, by San Francisco Chronicle editorial writer Edward F. Adams to investigate and discuss public issues and contribute to their solution, provide an open and impartial forum for discussion of disputed questions, and influence public opinion according to conclusions reached after proper investigation.

Adams envisioned limiting the club's membership to "men of decided competence" until the club was well established. The club had 60 members in 1904, 3,192 in 1935, and 14,027 in 1970. Membership was opened to women in 1971.

Through much of its history, the club's structure included a president, vice president, board of governors, and an executive committee, as well as other officers and committees. The board of governors transacted most of the club's business. The president appointed members of the board of governors to the executive committee, which typically met more frequently than the board and exercised whatever powers given to it by the board. The board created study sections and special and standing committees as it deemed necessary to conduct the club's work. Committees carried out the club's business operations, while study sections investigated and reported on public issues. The president appointed section chairs, committee chairs, and all committee members, while section membership was open to any member of the club. Initially the club's work was performed by volunteers, but over time a permanent staff grew.

The club incorporated on March 15, 1926. This enabled the club's board of governors to hold and manage the club's permanent fund and to receive bequests from members.

On August 12, 1903, the club approved its governors' recommendation that members organize themselves for work in study sections, created as need for them appeared. The function of these subgroups was to study and make reports on a general area of state, national, or international problems. Technically the club's original constitution did not provide for studying national problems, but club members quickly discovered that it was not possible to study California issues without weighing aspects of matters beyond its boundaries. The four initial study sections were: commercial interests, public education, public finance, and social welfare. More than seventy-five study sections existed at various times, though the total number functioning at one time was far less. Several language sections, including French, Japanese, and Spanish, were also created. Club members could join and drop out of any study section at any time.

The study sections typically held a series of meetings in which authorities on all sides of the issue presented their views. After about a year or more of such hearings the study section prepared a report. The report was presented at a monthly report meeting of the club, where discussion by the membership was invited. The report and discussion were subsequently published in the Transactions of the Commonwealth Club and distributed to the membership. In some cases club members voted by mail on the issues covered by the report, and the ballot results became official club policy. Over time the club gradually produced fewer studies, and after it became a charitable organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code in 1969, which disallowed lobbying, the club's study section program essentially ended.

Some of the club's studies were instrumental in developing parts of the framework for government in California, such as the public defender's office, small claims courts, civil service system, jury selection system, and state election booklets. In 1913, the club also completed what some believe to be the first study of air pollution ("smoke problems") undertaken in the United States. Sections also regularly prepared analyses of California ballot measures for each election.

Interest from funds held by the Commonwealth Club, Inc., occasionally supported special research studies written by qualified experts hired by the club. This occurred with approval of the board of governors, and under the direction of the club's Research Committee or Research Service. These special studies concerned occupational restrictions (1929), courts vs. commissions (1931), the legislature of California (1943), the population of California (1946), California social welfare (1956), powers of the president in foreign affairs (1966), and land use, open space, and the government process (1974).

In addition to the club's monthly study section report meetings, in which section reports were presented for discussion, the club held weekly luncheon meetings. At the weekly meetings speakers gave addresses on a variety of local, national, and international issues.

The luncheon programs started when the executive committee adopted a report on August 6, 1908, providing a "Section on Current Topics," which was charged with arranging a weekly luncheon and providing a speaker. The report was forwarded to the board of governors with a favorable recommendation. A Committee on Current Topics, which later became the Luncheon Program Committee, was formed by the board to arrange for speakers at the luncheons. In 1919 the luncheons were moved to Fridays. Dinner programs were added in the mid-1970s.

The club's luncheon programs were broadcast on the radio within California starting in 1924, and in the 1950s the broadcasts expanded beyond California. A Radio and TV Committee was established by the board of governors in 1959; it was given exclusive charge of all radio and television broadcasts or filming of club talks. Meanwhile, in the mid-1940s the first sound recordings of the club's weekly radio program were made. Until 2003 the club outsourced the work of recording its programs, an arrangement that caused it to be somewhat selective about which programs were recorded. In 2003 the club hired its own staff to perform recording work and started recording all of its programs.

To stimulate California authors to greater excellence and increase public recognition of their work, the club established literature medal awards in 1931 for the best books written by California authors, regardless of subject matter. Several gold and silver medals are awarded annually in various categories by the literature medal award jury, whose members were appointed by the club president.

The club began sponsoring international study tours in 1968 as an extension of its activities and as an additional service to members. A Tour Committee, established by the board in 1967, managed this work.

As early as 1979, the club offered programs in the South Bay. Beginning in 1990, the club began offering regular programs in other regions of the Bay Area beyond San Francisco. In 1990 the regional chapters were: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Peninsula, Santa Clara, and Sonoma. The program offerings in the South Bay expanded significantly in 1997 when the World Forum of Silicon Valley merged with the club. Regional programs in Marin and Sonoma Counties, and in the East Bay, continue to be part of the club's programming effort.