H.L. Mencken's Saturday Night Club Concert

Known as the Saturday Night Club, the weekly gathering of early 20th century literati serves as the inspiration for a planned revival of music built around Mencken’s piano, with the first event being scheduled for 7 p.m. January 18, 2025, at the H.L. Mencken House Museum at 1524 Hollins Street overlooking Union Square Park.

Organized as a fundraiser to support the ongoing restoration of the piano and other Mencken House initiatives, the event is a $100 per person affair with a strict limit of 30 participants because of the small size of the space. Proceeds go to the Society to Preserve H.L. Mencken’s Legacy, Inc., the steward organization for the Mencken House Museum.

The January 18, 2025 gathering will feature a variety of skewers and substantial finger food options catered by Kerellas Cafe of Baltimore's Greektown, along with other offerings, plus a variety of libations. The musical performance will feature a selection based on Mencken’s preferences, which are well documented in the volume Mencken on Music, gathered and edited by Louis Cheslock, the last of the Saturday Night Club regulars, who died in 1981.

The performance is organized by Carter McMullen, Artistic Director and founder of the Salon Concerts of Baltimore and accomplished pianist.

There will be a brief presentation at intermission and time for socialization and discussions.

On prominent display in the H.L. Mencken House Museum is the shield of the Saturday Night Club.

H.L. Mencken's father, August Mencken Sr., bought a piano for his young family, which remains in the parlor of the Mencken House museum. Over the summer it was tuned and otherwise made suitable for performances.

H.L. Mencken's dour pose belies his a fun-loving nature that led him to organize performances in his parlor and elsewhere for nearly three decades.

Host or Publisher H.L. Mencken House