In 1916, Mr. A.B.Seelenfreund, secretary of the B'nai B'rith, called a general meeting of the members of the B'nai B'rith Lodges of Chicago, for the purpose of organizing a downtown club.

The first meeting was held in a lodge hall in the Capitol Building. Each member present was asked to pay $25.00 as the initiation fee, and $25.00 dues per year. At that time there were not more than 60 members. At the present time the initiation fee for resident members is $275 and a By-Law is about to be adopted increasing it to $550.

The first club rooms of the Covenant Club were the two top floors of a building known as No. 10-14 North Dearborn Street. The original committee in charge of the organization of the club included Alfred Decker, Dr. Julius H. Meyer, Judge Philip Stein, 2Adolph Kraus, Jacob Schnadig, Gustav Freund, Benjamin Samuels, A.S.Roe, Milton Hart, Theodore Geissmann and Henry Blum.

It was agreed that only members of the I.O.B.B. were eligible for membership. In 1920, the by-laws were changed so that the club has no longer any connection with the B'nai B'rith and it is not necessary to be a member of the Order to become a member of the club.

The first officers of the club were;- Morton A. Mergentheim, President; Henry Blum, 1st Vice-President; Theodore Geissmann, 2nd Vice-President; Mark D. Goodman, Secretary; and Maurice Taussig, Treasurer. The club has 600 members at the present time.