Connecting—that’s what the HCRT has been doing since its humble beginnings in 1929, when a handful of Harvard College alumni decided it would be nice to see one another more often. If they couldn’t picnic on the banks of the Charles, they could at least share a sweet iced tea as they remembered the horrible icy Northern winters they’d graduated from. 

Staying connected—that’s what the HCRT offers its 2,500 alumni in this corner of the US, eastern Piedmont from Burlington to Wilmington. Instead of waiting through that long stretch (five years!) between class reunions, the Club helps you meet local members who share interests similar to—or wildly, fascinatingly different from—your own, all year long. 

Forging new connections—that’s what happens when you come to one of our club’s amazing programs. Whether it’s a networking luncheon or an evening of art, politics, or innovation, the night will not leave you where it found you. 

One of the first Club events I attended several years ago was an evening of music from America’s “Tin Pan Alley.” I figured I’d hear a few Gershwin songs, a couple George M. Cohan tunes, a dreamy love song or two by Hoagy Carmichael. The Club’s own Bob Whyte sang us through the “Alley,” on banjo and washboard. A woman with a voice like honey sang her heart out alongside Bob and the unstoppable piano player.

And then something magical happened: a couple notes, the start of a long-forgotten song, and there I was: transported back thirty years to my grandfather’s living room, listening to him strum his ukulele and sing one of his old stand-by favorites: “K-K-K-Katy, beautiful Katy, you’re the only g-g-g-girl that I adore…” I could envision Grandfather’s handsome Clark Gable face, with that pencil-thin moustache stretching across his mouth as he moved from tune to tune, all—I learned that night—from the wellspring of Tin Pan Alley.

That evening carried me not only to the vanished New York neighborhood at Broadway and 28th Street, but also across the Midwest to a family memory of long ago, forging a connection to my own forgotten past.

Join us…We’ve got a stunning lineup of programs this season. Come connect with other alumni, with the wider community of eastern NC, and with innovative ideas that challenge the mind and move the heart.  

We look forward to seeing you at our next event! 

Warm regards,

Liz Brown, AB ’83