INTHEKNOW
The Pursuit of Knowledge
Residents of Wexford enjoy membership in Sewickley’ s Query Club as it continues 151-year-old tradition.
BY JENNIFER BROZAK
In 1727, Benjamin Franklin gathered a group of his friends and officially established a club for the purpose of asking— and answering— questions. This club, which Franklin called“ The Junto,” discussed a wide variety of intellectual, personal and community topics.
While interest in that club diminished over time, it eventually found new life as the American Philosophical Association and spawned numerous like-minded organizations across the country, including one in Sewickley.
Founded in 1885, the Query Club of Sewickley is modeled after Franklin’ s original precepts, which, according to the group’ s brochure, are to“ love the pursuit of truth for its own sake” and“ love mankind in general, regardless of religion or profession,” among others. The club originated from a literary class called“ The Milton Club,” which was established by Dr. Joseph Bittinger in 1865. The club became“ The Shakespeare Club” in 1867. After a four-year hiatus, the group reorganized itself as a history class, which lasted until 1883. Two years later, the Query Club was formed.
The club, which currently has approximately 20 members, meets on Monday nights from September until April at the Sewickley Library. Each night, two members present their papers, which center on a common topic. This year’ s topic is“ Art and Culture,” with presenters delivering speeches on everything from technology in music to religious iconography to the symbolism in Oriental art.
The last meeting of the year takes place at member Peter Sour’ s home, where the group holds an ice cream social, votes for the following year’ s topic and elects new officers.
“ Any member can suggest a topic,” says Linda Zang, president.“ From there, we pick the top 10, and then the top three, and then narrow it down to one topic. It can be hotly contested.”
Previous themes have included“ Fisher’ s History of the Christian Church” in 1893;“ Egypt” in 1911;“ English Life and Manners” in 1933;“ Great Novels” in 1954;“ Colonization” in 1983;“ The Renaissance” in 2001 and“ Spies” in 2015.“ The topics allow for a lot of latitude,” Zang notes. Sour, 81, initially joined the club in 1975 but had to leave it behind for two decades when he moved out of state for his job. He rejoined
when he moved back to Pittsburgh. He will deliver his presentation on“ Musical Comedies” this spring. Zang delivered her presentation,“ Life in a Parallel World: The Amish and Mennonites,” in November.
Zang explains that The Junto group allowed Ben Franklin to get a feel for the types of men who would lead the future United States of America. In fact, one of Franklin’ s maxims is cited in the club’ s brochure:“ Knowledge is obtained rather by the use of the ears than of the tongue.”
“ You can tell a lot about people’ s personalities by the topics they choose,” says Zang, 60.“ The group helped [ Franklin ] get a sense for how this new government was going to operate.”
Sour agrees, adding that Franklin, a notably gregarious man, used the group as a way to“ stir things up. He used to see what type of trouble he could make. He was a great man, but mischievous.”
Joining the Query Club doesn’ t require a background in writing or speaking, says Zang, who works in finance and joined the club about six years ago. Members span numerous professional backgrounds in fields like business, teaching, law, medicine and religion. Nearly a third of the members are retired.
“ It’ s a good intellectual exercise, to have to sit and research and think and write about a subject, especially in this day and age,” she adds.
The Query Club is open to adults of all ages and requires a nominal membership fee of $ 10 to cover printing and supplies. Each meeting lasts approximately two hours, and refreshments are served. For more information, contact Secretary Mary Anne Riley at rileymaryannet @ verizon. net. n
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