Lunch & Reminiscences
Tuesday, May 5, 2026
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
$125
Reconnect with old and new friends and enjoy reminiscences of Attingham days gone by with
Annabel Westman, MBE, FSA, Director Emerita of The Attingham Trust
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Walk in the footsteps of Society’s “400” and gather with Midwestern alumni and their guests for a lovely luncheon and reunion at The Casino Club, located in the heart of Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. AFA Treasurer & Vice President of Finance Michael Kerrigan ’19, RCS ’25, along with Past President Beth Carver Wees ’81, RCS ’04, look forward welcoming you at this special gathering, held in honor of textiles historian Annabel Westman, FSA, MBE, Director Emerita of The Attingham Trust.
Guests will gather at the Club beginning at 11:30 a.m. before sitting for lunch at 12:00 p.m. After a brief welcome from Kerrigan, enjoy a delicious meal prepared by the Club, followed by time to catch up with new and old friends. Warm reminiscences by Attingham Trust Director Emerita Annabel Westman will culminate the gathering. Lunch concludes at 1:30 p.m.
AFA is especially pleased to host this special gathering on the occasion of Westman’s visit to Chicago to celebrate her recent receipt of an MBE from King Charles III in the New Year’s Honours “for services to heritage, particularly to The Attingham Trust and historic textiles.” We hope you will celebrate the past, present and future of Attingham by attending this special lunch.
AFA is grateful to Vice President of Finance and Treasurer Michael G. Kerrigan ’19, RCS ’25, and local colleagues for organizing this reunion.
REGISTER
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CAPACITY Lunch is limited to 30 people, including Attingham alumni and their guests. Space is limited, and available on a first-come, first-serve basis to those who register.
REGISTRATION Registration and payment via the button above is preferred and prioritized above registration by phone or email. If you are unable to complete your registration using the button, please secure your place by making your purchase on the AFA website (click here).
TRANSPORTATION Guests should navigate to the Club on their own. Once admitted, staff will be ready to assist you to the lunch in the drawing room.
DRESS CODE Men are expected to wear a coat and tie. Women are expected to dress accordingly.
COST Your $125 ticket covers the cost of lunch and fees, as well as a charitable donation to the American Friends of Attingham Scholarship Fund. Thank you for your participation.
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ABOUT ANNABEL WESTMAN
For many alumni around the world, Annabel Westman is as synonymous with Attingham as her illustrious predecessors, the Summer School founders Helen Lowenthal and Sir George Trevelyan. A member of the Summer School Class of 1977, she went on to lead a generation of scholars across all corners of Britain, serving as Assistant to the Director, Helena Hayward, from 1980 and then as Director of the Summer School for thirteen years, from 1993–2005, first with Dr. Geoffrey Beard and then Giles Waterfield. She was appointed Executive Director of The Attingham Trust in 2005, a position she held until her retirement in 2021. Westman has also led numerous Study Programmes, most recently the 2025 Spain: From Granada to Madrid, with Co-Director Helen Jacobsen, DPhil.
Alongside this, her distinguished, over 40-year career as a textile historian and consultant have enriched the understanding and restoration of historic interiors worldwide. Working with heritage organizations, she advises on the furnishing textiles in interiors, researching the period to be replicated and managing the project through to completion. Projects have involved royal palaces such as Hampton Court Palace, Kew Palace and Osborne House, many country house properties including Chatsworth, Dumfries House and Kedleston Hall, as well as several museums. She is currently working on a project at Kensington Palace. Without doubt one of the highlights of her distinguished career has been the restoration of the saloon in the Royal Pavilion at Brighton. She is also author of Fringe, Frog and Tassel: the Art of the Trimmings-Maker in Interior Decoration, which was published in 2019.
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ABOUT THE CLUB
Founded in 1914, The Casino Club occupies it’s second home in an unassuming, single-story, 1927 Art Deco building, tucked behind the looming shadow of the iconic 1968 Hancock Center designed by SOM. Weeks before the club opened at it’s first location nearby in mid-December, the December 2, 1914, edition of the Chicago Tribune reported that the Casino was “the only social organization reflecting the modern spirit. Its membership includes both men and women—on a Dutch treat basis of finances.” The article continued that “There are 400 on the list. Perhaps this signifies nothing, but some years ago the late Ward McAllister of New York made the number socially famous. He selected 400 members for New York’s society. Since then Society—capitalized—has known no other name more expressive than “The 400.”
The Club’s interiors are replete with original furniture with the interiors show casing bold green, gold and silver accents. Legend says that sometime in the 1960s, the Hancock people wrote to longtime Club president, Mrs. John Winterbotham, asking to buy the land. She tossed the letter into a desk drawer, where it was found years after her death. Apparently, she never replied!
Thank you for your interest in the programs of the American Friends of Attingham.
Image above courtesy Chicago Bike Adventures, 2022.