Arthur Alois Baer
(1896-1975)

Arthur Alois Baer was born in Chicago on November 26, 1896.
He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Chicago in
1918. He intended to become a writer, but in 1920 took over the
management of the family dry goods department store in Beverly,
Illinois. He managed the store successfully for almost twenty-five
years, selling it in the mid-1940s. In the early 1920s Baer had
joined the board of directors of the Beverly Bank, then a small,
struggling local institution. After selling his dry goods store, he
took over the management of the bank on a full-time basis and
built it into a strong regional bank.

Baer's philanthropic activities equaled or perhaps exceeded his
business interests. He was intensely devoted to his alma mater, the
University of Chicago, and was a member of its board of trustees.
He had a lifelong interest in art and was a founding member of the
Beverly Art Center, where an art competition was named in his
and his wife's honor. He was also a trustee of Morgan Park Acad-
emy and in 1968 was named "senior citizen of the year" by the
Chicago Park District.

Baer's wife, Alice Hogge Baer, was a constant companion in his
endeavors. For health reasons, her early education took place at
home. Her father was a close friend of William Rainey Harper,
president of the University of Chicago. She attended the univer-
sity and graduated in three years with the class of 1904 at age
eighteen. After graduation, she taught at Calumet High School,
where Baer was at one point her student.

Baer became a member of the Chicago Literary Club in 1944.
He became chairman of the Committee on Rooms and Finances
in 1959 and, with the exception of the year in which he was pres-
ident of the Club (1966-67), held that position until his death in 1975.
Baer was also chairman of the Centennial Committee. He
presented nine papers during his thirty-one years as a member.
After his death, Baer's wife donated twenty-five thousand dollars
to the Club, the largest gift in its history.

Baer's quiet devotion to the Club was legendary. On April 26,

1976. the Club established the Arthur Baer Fellowship Fund in his
memory. The purpose of the fund was to provide a one-year mem-
bership for a promising candidate who would enjoy the Club and
contribute to its proceedings. So admired and respected was Baer
that contributions from members far exceeded what was necessary
for this purpose.

Read before the Club: April 19, 1999