According to the program of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the club, “In 1947 a group of fifteen gentlemen of Columbus organized a literary and discussion society under the name of The Candun Club, with an objective . . . to provide a sociable environment for intellectual discussion, to create the opportunity to explore contemporary subjects, issues, and problems of common interest to us all; to contribute to our mutual moral and philosophical edification, we do hereby associate ourselves in The Candun Club.” Membership was originally limited to 12 members. This number was later increased to 15 and by 1997 membership had increased to 18. The organizational meeting was held on April 21, 1947 at the Ralston Hotel, where it was decided to meet once a month and that “each member would serve as host in alphabetical order and would present a paper on such subject as he might choose, limited in length to twenty minutes, following which discussion would take place. Theo J. McGee was elected to serve as the first president.” Occasionally men of prominence were invited to speak, such as Secretary of State Dean Rusk, and Congressman Walter Judd.