The India House Club is the premier gathering place for business in Downtown Manhattan. Located in its own landmark building on Historic Hanover Square, all the services and attractions of the financial district are just a short walk away, including the New York Stock Exchange, World Financial Center, South Street Seaport, Battery Park, Federal Reserve Bank, and more. Founded as a luncheon club in 1914, the Club has operated continuously since being founded and remains an exclusive private club with a diverse membership, attracting senior executives from Wall Street and around the world. Private clubs then, as now, were pleasant retreats where the leaders of industry could share a meal while cementing personal and professional relationships. Presidents of Lackawanna Steel Company, Dollar Steamship Company, W.R. Grace Shipping, Chase National Bank, and United States Rubber all became governors of India House and remained active for its first two decades. National Foreign Trade Council made India House its headquarters. Leaders in commerce worldwide graced the halls at India House. Indeed, from its very inception, the club's charter stated that its goal was to "create in this country a relation between the bankers and the promoters of foreign enterprises that would make it possible to handle foreign undertakings..." We will never fully know how discussions over luncheon and private meetings at India House changed history from 1914 through World War Two. The maritime historian, Frank O. Braynard, in his 1973 foreword to the second edition of The Marine Collection at India House, states that "England could not have survived [ World War Two ] without the armada of American-built, American-manned, American-operated merchant vessels...managed by many of the outstanding members of India House."