page_title: Union League of Philadelphia
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Union League of Philadelphia / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Union League of Philadelphia
context_page_description: The Union League of Philadelphia, founded in 1862 as a patriotic society to support the Union and policies of Abraham Lincoln, laid the philosophical foundation of other Union Leagues across a nation torn by civil war. Today as a private members-only club, The League continues to be driven by its founding motto, Amor Patriae Ducit or Love of Country Leads and, consequently, has proudly supported the American military in each conflict since and including the Civil War.
  Though its early membership included many members of Philadelphia society, it was NOT an exclusive bastion of the elite and had Jewish and Catholic members when almost all other clubs in Philadelphia did not as League's purpose was patriotic not social. The membership remained committed to patriotism until the last decade of the 19th century.
  Its present 4,000 male and female members continue to include leaders in academia, art, business, culture education, government, healthcare, law, medicine, politics, religion, and technology. Starting in the 1980s the League began to accept females, and once again after a lapse of roughly one hundred years, Catholic and Jewish members.
context_section_description: The Union League of Philadelphia is the oldest and most prominent of the remaining loyalty leagues. Founded in 1862 as a patriotic society to support the Union and the policies of President Abraham Lincoln, it laid the philosophical foundation of other Union Leagues across a nation torn by Civil War. It has given loyal support to the American military in all conflicts since. Its motto is "Love of Country Leads." The only condition of membership at its founding was “unqualified loyalty to the government of the United States, and unwavering support of its efforts for the suppression of the Rebellion,” but its primary task was activist: “to discountenance and rebuke by moral and social influences all disloyalty to the Federal government . . .” see philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/union-league-of-philadelphia/
  As in 1862, its members prize tradition and represent the Philadelphia region's elite in business, education, religion as well as the arts and culture. Although no longer exclusively Republican or male in membership, The Union League of Philadelphia has maintained its identity as distinctly traditional and politically conservative. The club has hosted U.S. presidents, heads of state, industrialists, entertainers and visiting dignitaries from around the world.
  The club's building, a classic Second Empire-style structure with a brick and brownstone façade and dramatic twin circular staircases leading to the main entrance on Broad Street, was designed by John Fraser and completed in May 1865 [the opening was originally scheduled for March 1865, with President Lincoln in attendance, but was delayed due to wartime construction supply shortages]. 
  Two of the more prominent Presidents of Union League who served it and society as a whole with much success are identified below.Christopher Stuart Patterson, the Dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School from 1890 through 1896, was the 13th President of the Union League in 1897 and 1898 and is known for volunteering to be a sergeant in Landis' First Battery of Philadelphia Light Artillery, and being  wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg. David Charles Auten (1938 to 2020) used his expertise as a real estate and banking lawyer to help guide the Union League (as President and/or Board Member) when it made the important decision to acquire the large parking facility across Sansom Street. In addition to serving Union League, Auten also counseled the region's leading business and charitable organization in his role as (1) managing partner of the Philadelphia office of Reed Smith LLP for 16 years, (2) one of the foremost experts in laws of banking and laws of Usury in United States in the last quarter of 20th century; (3) serving a variety of institutions related to his college and law school alma mater in roles as (a) University of Pennsylvania Trustee from 1977 to 1988, (b) Penn Medicine Trustee, (c) University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences Overseer, (d) Penn General Alumni Society President, (e) Penn Annual Giving Chair, (f) Penn Interfraternity Alumni Council President, and (g) Penn Presbyterian Medical Center Trustee and Chair of the Board of Trustees (where he was instrumental in the 1995 acquisition of Penn Presbyterian by Penn Medicine); and (4) serving Committee of Seventy as Board Member https://almanac.upenn.edu/volume-66-number-36
  In 1905, Philadelphia architect (and Union League member) Horace Trumbauer won a design competition to build major additions to the building. The Beaux Arts-style additions, completed in 1910 and 1911, expanded the length of the building to a city block. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
  Adorning the walls and hallways is the club's collection of art and artifacts, a chronicle of Philadelphia's imprint upon the American landscape. A Heritage Center was added to provide a permanent place to store and display the extensive collection of Civil War-related documents and objects. While much of the historical content is located at the Heritage Center, the club does maintain a large libra
caption: Union League of Philadelphia
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