The question has been asked by Diplomats, Bureau Chiefs and the occasional “J” School Professor…”what is the IPCC and who are you guys and just where did you come from”??

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Simply put, us “guys” have been around for a long, long time!

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Our lineage can be traced back to the daily Chicago newspapers of the latter part of the 19th Century!  Some have said, that it was in the 1880s and especially during the Spanish American War of the late 1890s that the Foreign Correspondent came into their own (especially with a push or two from a West Coast publishing upstart named William Randolph Hearst).

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Not wanting to be outdone, Chicago Dailies sent their journalists worldwide in search of the story of stories.  They in effect became the Adventurers of their day and in turn, their numbers gave rise to the first Chicago Press Club.  It was within their early clubhouse walls the very first Adventurers Club found a home and a ready membership.

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That was our beginning, now how did we get to where we are today?

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From that point on, the status quo was maintained until the early 20th Century when the Adventurers Club broke away! Then the CPC underwent its first reorganization…which was followed by a few more until the late 1980s when the club ran into undisclosed difficulties, eventually leading to the shuttering of its’ Chicago Press Club’s doors for what was supposed to be the last time.

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However, the membership at the time other ideas, and decided instead to reorganize the beleaguered Chicago Press institution once more! After deciding on a vision statement with a global perspective in mind, they decided on a name to match, leading to the birth of the International Press Club of Chicago in 1990s!

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…And we’ve stayed that new course (with an enhancement or two tossed in along the way) since with the founding goal, ever in the forefront, to look for the best in a story, and whenever possible, to develop understanding and shared perspectives between individuals and nations alike!