Bohemian Grove is a restricted2,700-acre (1,100 ha) campground at 20601 Bohemian Avenue, in MonteRio, California, United States, belonging to a private SanFrancisco–based gentlemen's club known as the Bohemian Club. Inmid-July each year, Bohemian Grove hosts a more than two-weekencampment of some of the most prominent men in the world.

The Bohemian Club's all-male membershipincludes artists and musicians, as well as many prominent businessleaders, government officials, former U.S. presidents, senior mediaexecutives, and people of power. Members may invite guests to theGrove. Guests may be invited to the Grove for either the "SpringJinks" in June or the main July encampment. Bohemian Clubmembers can schedule private day-use events at the Grove any time itis not being used for Club-wide purposes, and they are allowed atthese times to bring spouses, family, and friends, although femaleand minor guests must be off the property by 9 or 10 pm.

After 40 years of membership, the menearn "Old Guard" status, giving them reservedseating at the Grove's daily talks, as well as other perquisites.Former U.S. president Herbert Hoover was inducted into the Old Guardon March 4, 1953; he had joined the club exactly 40 years prior.Redwood branches from the Grove were flown to the Waldorf AstoriaHotel in New York City, where they were used to decorate a banquetroom for the celebration. In his acceptance speech, Hoover comparedthe honor of the "Old Guard" status to his frequent role asveteran counselor to later presidents.

The Club motto is "WeavingSpiders Come Not Here," which implies that outside concernsand business deals (networking) are to be left outside. When gatheredin groups, Bohemians usually adhere to the injunction, althoughdiscussion of business often occurs between pairs of members.Important political and business deals have been developed at theGrove. The Grove is particularly famous for a Manhattan Projectplanning meeting that took place there in September 1942, whichsubsequently led to the atomic bomb. Those attending this meetingincluded Ernest Lawrence, J. Robert Oppenheimer, the S-1 ExecutiveCommittee heads, such as the presidents of Harvard, Yale, andPrinceton, along with representatives of Standard Oil and GeneralElectric as well as various military officials. At the time,Oppenheimer was not an S-1 member, although Lawrence and Oppenheimerhosted the meeting. Grove members take particular pride in this eventand often relate the story to new attendees. Other behavior at thecampground has led to numerous claims and even some parody in popularculture. One example was President Richard Nixon's comments from aMay 13, 1971, tape recording talking about upper-class SanFranciscans: "The Bohemian Grove, which I attend from time totime—it is the most faggy goddamned thing you could ever imagine,with that San Francisco crowd."

History

Henry "Harry" Edwards, afounding member

The tradition of a summer encampmentwas established six years after the Bohemian Club was formed in 1872.Henry "Harry" Edwards, a stage actor and foundingmember, announced that he was relocating to New York City to furtherhis career. On June 29, 1878, somewhat fewer than 100 Bohemiansgathered in the Redwoods in Marin County near Taylorville(present-day Samuel P. Taylor State Park) for an evening sendoffparty in Edwards' honor. Freely flowing liquor and some Japaneselanterns put a glow on the festivities, and club members retired at alate hour to the modest comfort of blankets laid on the dense mat ofRedwood needles. This festive gathering was repeated the next yearwithout Edwards, and became the club's yearly encampment. By 1882 themembers of the Club camped together at various locations in bothMarin and Sonoma County, including the present-day Muir Woods and aredwood grove that once stood near Duncans Mills, several miles downthe Russian River from the current location. From 1893 Bohemiansrented the current location, and in 1899 purchased it from MelvinCyrus Meeker who had developed a successful logging operation in thearea. Gradually over the next decades, members of the Club purchasedland surrounding the original location to the perimeter of the basinin which it resides.

Writer and journalist William HenryIrwin said of the Grove,

You come upon it suddenly. Onestep and its glory is over you. There is no perspective; you cannotget far enough away from one of the trees to see it as a whole. Therethey stand, a world of height above you, their pinnacles hidden bytheir topmost fringes of branches or lost in the sky.

Not long after the club's establishmentby newspaper journalists, it was commandeered by prominent SanFrancisco-based businessmen, who provided the financial resourcesnecessary to acquire further land and facilities at the Grove.However, they still retained the "bohemians"—theartists and musicians—who continued to entertain internationalmembers and guests.

Membership and operation

The Bohemian Club is a private club;only active members and their guests may visit. Guests have beenknown to include politicians and notable figures from othercountries. Particularly during the midsummer encampment, the numberof guests is strictly limited due to the small size of thefacilities.

Camp valets

Camp valets are responsible for theoperation of the individual camps. The head valets are akin togeneral managers at a resort, club, restaurant, or hotel. Servicestaff include female workers whose presence at the Grove is limitedto daylight hours and central areas close to the main gate. Maleworkers may be housed at the Grove within the boundaries of the campto which they are assigned or in peripheral service areas.High-status workers stay in small private quarters, but most arehoused in rustic bunkhouses.

Facilities

The main encampment area consists of160 acres (65 ha) of old-growth redwood trees over 1,000 years old,some over 300 feet (91 m) tall.

Sleeping quarters, or "camps",are also scattered throughout the grove. There were 118 as of 2007.These camps, which are frequently patrilineal, are the principalmeans through which high-level business and political contacts andfriendships are formed.

The preeminent camps are:

Hill Billies

Mandalay

Cave Man

Stowaway

Uplifters

Owls Nest

Hideaway

Isle of Aves

Lost Angels

Silverado Squatters

Sempervirens

Hillside

Idlewild

The grove features the followinggathering places:

Grove Stage– an amphitheater withseating for 2,000, used primarily for the Grove Play production, onthe last weekend of the midsummer encampment. The stage extends upthe hillside.

Field Circle– a bowl-shapedamphitheater used for the mid-encampment "Low Jinks"musical comedy, for "Spring Jinks" in early June andfor a variety of other performances.

Campfire Circle–has a campfirepit in the center of the circle, surrounded by carved redwood logbenches. Used for smaller performances in a more intimate setting.

Museum Stage–a semi-outdoor venuewith a covered stage. Lectures and small ensemble performances.

Dining Circle–seatingapproximately 1,500 diners simultaneously.

Clubhouse–designed by BernardMaybeck in 1903, completed in 1904 on a bluff overlooking the RussianRiver; a multi-purpose dining, drinking and entertainment building;the site of the Manhattan Project planning meeting held in 1942.

The Owl Shrine and the Lake–anartificial lake in the interior of the grove, used for the noon-timeconcerts and also the venue of the Cremation of Care, which takesplace on the first Saturday of the encampment. It is also thelocation of the 12:30 p.m. daily "Lakeside Talks."These significant informal talks (many on public policy issues) havebeen given over the years by entertainers, professors, astronauts,business leaders, cabinet officers, Central Intelligence Agencydirectors, future presidents and former presidents.

Security

The Bohemian Grove is protected by asophisticated security team year-round. The Bohemian Club employsex-military personnel to help secure the area. They utilize high-endsecurity equipment, including thermal/night vision cameras, motiondetectors, and vibration sensing alarm systems. The level of securityis particularly heightened during the time periods that members areon-site. During these times, the local Sheriff's office, CaliforniaHighway Patrol, and, if warranted by the guest-list, the UnitedStates Secret Service help to secure the areas and roads surroundingthe encampment.

In 2019, the Sonoma County board ofsupervisors informed the club that 2019 would be the last year theyprovided law enforcement security.

Despite the high level of securitypresent, there have been numerous high-profile successfulinfiltrations of the Bohemian Grove:

In the summer of 1980, RickClogher gained entrance to the Grove with the help of an employee andposed as a worker during two weekends of the annual encampment. Hisefforts, the first magazine reporting from inside the Grove, werepublished in the August 1981 issue of Mother Jones. Around the sametime, ABC Evening News aired a special report on Bohemian Grove.

In the summer of 1989, Spymagazine writer Philip Weiss spent seven days in the camp posing as aguest, which led to his November 1989 article "Inside theBohemian Grove". He was eventually discovered and arrested fortrespassing.

On July 15, 2000, Alex Jones andhis cameraman Mike Hanson clandestinely entered Bohemian Grove andshot footage of the Cremation of Care ceremony. Jones claimed it wasa "ritual sacrifice". From this footage, documentaryfilmmaker Jon Ronson produced the episode "The Satanic ShadowyElite?", in which he characterizes the proceedings as an"overgrown frat party", while Jones produced "DarkSecrets Inside Bohemian Grove", describing what he said wereSatanic rituals.

On January 19, 2002, 37-year-oldRichard McCaslin was arrested after his nighttime infiltration of theBohemian Grove, where he set several fires. He was heavily armed andwearing a skull mask and outfit with "Phantom Patriot"written across the chest. No Bohemian Club members or guests werepresent at the Bohemian Grove at the time.

Traditions, rituals, and symbols

Symbols

The club's patron saint is John ofNepomuk, who, according to legend, died at the hands of a Bohemianmonarch rather than disclose the confessional secrets of the queen. Alarge wood carving of St. John in cleric robes with his index fingerover his lips stands at the shore of the lake in the Grove,symbolizing the secrecy kept by the Grove's attendees throughout itslong history.

Since the founding of the club, theBohemian Grove's mascot has been an owl, symbolizing wisdom. A30-foot (9 m) hollow owl statue made of concrete over steel supportsstands at the head of the lake in the Grove. This statue was designedby sculptor and two-time club president Haig Patigian. It wasconstructed in the late 1920s. Since 1929, the Owl Shrine has servedas the backdrop of the yearly Cremation of Care ceremony.

Cremation of Care

The Cremation of Care ceremony is atheatrical production in which some of the club's members participateas actors. It was first conducted in 1881. The production was devisedby James F. Bowman with George T. Bromley playing the High Priest. Itwas originally set up within the plot of the serious "HighJinks" dramatic performance on the first weekend of thesummer encampment, after which the spirit of "Care",slain by the Jinks hero, was solemnly cremated. The ceremony servedas a catharsis for pent-up high spirits,and "to presentsymbolically the salvation of the trees by the club..." TheCremation of Care was separated from the other Grove Plays in 1913and moved to the first night to become "an exorcising of theDemon to ensure the success of the ensuing two weeks." TheGrove Play was moved to the last weekend of the encampment.

The ceremony takes place in front ofthe Owl Shrine. The moss- and lichen-covered statue simulates anatural rock formation, yet holds electrical and audio equipmentwithin it. For many years, a recording of the voice of club memberWalter Cronkite was used as the voice of The Owl during the ceremony.Music and pyrotechnics accompany the ritual for dramatic effect.

Grove Play

Each year, a Grove Play is performedfor one night during the final weekend of the summer encampment. Theplay is a large-scale musical theatrical production, written andcomposed by club members, involving some 300 people, includingchorus, cast, stage crew and orchestra. The first Grove Play wasperformed in 1902; during the war years 1943–1945 the stage wasdark. In 1975, an observer estimated that the Grove Play cost between$20,000 and $30,000, an amount that would be as high as $151,000 intoday's dollars.

Controversies

Women

Although no woman has ever been givenfull membership in the Bohemian Club, the four female honorarymembers were hostess Margaret Bowman, poet Ina Coolbrith (who servedas librarian for the club), actress Elizabeth Crocker Bowers, andwriter Sara Jane Lippincott. Since Coolbrith's death in 1928, noother woman has been made a member. These honorary members and otherfemale guests have been allowed into the Bohemian "City Club"building and as daytime guests of the Grove, but not to the upperfloors of the City Club nor as guests to the main summer encampmentat the Grove. Annual "Ladies' Jinks" were held atthe Club especially for spouses and invited guests.

In 1978, the Bohemian Club was chargedwith discrimination by the California Department of Fair Employmentand Housing over its refusal to hire female employees. In January1981, an administrative law judge issued a decision supporting thepractices of the club, noting that club members at the Grove "urinatein the open without even the use of rudimentary toilet facilities"and that the presence of females would alter club members' behavior.However, the judge's decision was overruled by the State FairEmployment and Housing Commission, which on October 17, 1981, orderedthe club to begin recruiting and hiring women as employees.

The Bohemian Club then filed a petitionin California Superior Court, which ruled in favor of the club,finding "the male gender [to be] a bona fide occupationalqualification." It was revealed that the trial judge hadpreviously participated in club activities, yet the request that hebe disqualified was denied. The Fair Employment and HousingCommission appealed to the California Court of Appeal which reversedthe lower court's decision, holding that the Bohemian Club's privatestatus did not shield it from the "same rules which governall California employers." The Supreme Court of Californiadenied review in 1987, effectively forcing the club to begin hiringfemale workers during the summer encampment at the Grove in MonteRio. This ruling became quoted as a legal precedent and was discussedduring the 1995–1996 floor debate surrounding California SenateBill SB 2110 (Maddy), a proposed bill concerning whether tax-exemptorganizations (including fraternal clubs) should be exempt from theUnruh Civil Rights Act.

In 2019, Sonoma County Board ofSupervisors member Lynda Hopkins, who was elected to the districtencompassing the Grove, wrote an open letter criticizing the roleBohemian Club had in making it difficult for women to get intopolitics, their lack of investment in the community despite member'spersonal wealth, and the anachronistic and hegemonic attitudes shefelt described the Grove.

Logging

Outside the central camp area, which isthe site of the old-growth grove, but within the 2,712 acres (1,098ha) owned by the Bohemian Club, logging activities have been underwaysince 1984. Approximately 11,000,000 board feet (26,000 m3) of lumberequivalents were removed from the surrounding redwood and Douglas firforest from 1984 to 2007.

In 2007, the Bohemian Club board filedapplication for a nonindustrial logging permit available tolandowners with less than 2,500 acres (1,000 ha) of timberland, whichwould allow them to steadily increase their logging in thesecond-growth stands from 800,000 board feet (1,900 m3) per year to1,700,000 board feet (4,000 m3) over the course of the 50-yearpermit. The board had been advised by Tom Bonnicksen, a retiredforestry professor, that they should conduct group selection loggingto reduce the risk of fire burning through the dense second-growthstands, damaging the old-growth forest the Club wants to protect.

The Bohemian Club stated that anexpansion of logging activities was needed to prevent fires, and thatmoney made from the sale of the lumber would be used to stabilizeaccess roads and to clear fire-promoting species like tanoaks andunderbrush. The California Department of Fish and Game insteadrecommended single-tree logging to preserve the habitats of murreletsand spotted owls in senescent trees. Philip Rundel, University ofCalifornia, Berkeley professor of biology said that redwoods are notvery flammable and "This is clearly a logging project, not aproject to reduce fire hazard". Reed F. Noss, professor atthe University of California, Davis, has written that fires withinredwood forests do not need to be prevented, that young redwoods areadapted to regenerate well in the destruction left behind by thefires typical of the climate.

After controversy raised by opponentsof the harvesting plan, the club moved to clearly establish theirqualification for the permit by offering 163 acres (66 ha) to theRocky Mountain Elk Foundation in Missoula, Montana, for aconservation easement. A further 56.75 acres (22.97 ha) were writtenoff as not being available for commercial logging, bringing the totalto 2,316 acres (937 ha) and thereby qualifying for the permit.Opponents and their lawyers interpret the relevant law as countingall timberland and not just that actually subject to the loggingpermit. They state that if the total of timberland is counted,2,535.75 acres (1,026.18 ha) are owned by the club, so the permitshould not be granted.

On March 10, 2011, Judge René A.Chouteau rejected the Non-Industrial Timber Management Plan (NTMP)that the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection hadapproved. The suit, brought by the Sierra Club and the BohemianRedwood Rescue Club, sought to have the NTMP annulled. The rulingcalls on the Bohemian Club to draft a new NTMP that offersalternatives to its proposed rate of logging. At present the BohemianClub is not allowed to log any of its property.

In popular culture

A large portion of the novelSignificant Others by Armistead Maupin takes place in the BohemianGrove, where the rituals are described in detail.

Harry Shearer's movie Teddy Bears'Picnic is about an