There’s a lot of scuttlebutt this week in political circles about Pennsylvania Society weekend. Who’s hosting events? Who’s going to events? Or, sometimes more importantly (or interestingly), who’s not going to events? Politicians and their staffs, lobbyists, community leaders and business people will flock to New York City for the opportunity to rub elbows with their favorite politicians in a more relaxed, social setting than the capitol rotunda or, say, an office tucked away in a remote corner of the East Wing. But what exactly is the Pennsylvania Society? And why is its annual dinner held in the Big Apple?
According to its website, the Pennsylvania Society is a non-profit, charitable organization comprised of members from around the world and is not affiliated with any particular political party, business or profession. It was established in 1899 by James Barr Ferree, a native Pennsylvanian living in New York City, who invited 55 fellow natives of the Keystone State to join him for dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria. The party ultimately decided to form a group known as “The Pennsylvania Society of New York” with the hopes of uniting all Pennsylvanians “in bonds of friendship to their native or adopted state.” The following year, a young Winston Churchill dropped by the dinner and began the tradition of hosting a guest speaker at the annual dinner. Going forward, noteworthy speakers included Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Dwight Eisenhower, Andrew Wyeth, Arnold Palmer and Fred Rogers.
And so the tradition was born. It seems the dinner morphed into a weekend full of events signifying the end of one political season and serving as the pre-game for the following political season. And while the weekend definitely allows those going to New York the opportunity for networking, it also gives everyone a chance—whether by the candlelight of the annual dinner or the glow of the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center—to remember that even though politics is sometimes a rough game, we’re all in it together.