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A rare 1981 ABC News segment on Bohemian Grove discussed the Satanic "Cremation of Care" sacrificial ceremony, men dressed as women, and the Grove's link to the creation of the nuclear bomb. https://t.co/oaNxjccjvp
Video Transcript AI Summary
Steve Shepherd reports on the Bohemian Club’s annual retreat at Bohemian Grove, a private, all-male gathering near San Francisco. More than 2,000 members descend on roughly 2,700 acres of redwood forest for two and a half weeks in July, staying in dozens of small camps with Mandalay the most prominent. The Grove is described as a secluded summer retreat where club members and guests from across America come to relax, socialize, and engage in various activities.
Membership is by invitation based on social standing, occupation, and connections. Privacy is highly valued; members may not photograph, record, speak, or write about activities at the retreat, and the press is a distinctly unwelcome guest. Outsiders have limited access, though some researchers, including sociology professor William Dumhoff, have studied the Grove.
Notable members and attendees come from business and politics. Among the camps’ members are Leonard Firestone, Edgar Kaiser, Gerald Ford, Henry Kissinger, William French Smith, and George Shultz. President Reagan, Vice President Bush, and Defense Secretary Weinberger are associated with other camps. Richard Nixon is a bohemian, and high-ranking executives from Eastern Airlines, Standard Oil of Indiana, and Bank of America are mentioned. The Grove hosts prominent guests such as Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski, and this year’s speakers include presidential counselor Edwin Meese; CIA director William Casey is scheduled as a guest of John McCone, with Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn invited by Peter O’Malley.
Activities at the Grove include two plays with major sets, orchestral music, and elaborate costumes, as well as swimming, hiking, sunbathing, drinking from the Grove’s own spirits, and other leisure activities. The group performs a ritual known as the cremation of care, in which the body of dull care symbolizing woes is burned on an alder in front of a large owl statue, after which participants cheer and toast with beers. The Grove’s symbol is a fierce-looking owl, and its patron saint is Saint John of Naplemuck, a thirteenth-century Bohemian canonized for his sense of honor.
The Grove is instrumental politically, with historic speeches by Nixon and Eisenhower noted as significant moments. Discussions in the 1930s are credited with contributing to the development of nuclear power and the atomic bomb. In addition to policy discussions, annual guests engage in informal exchanges. The retreat also faces occasional challenges: anti-nuclear demonstrators near the entrance and a California lawsuit over the Grove’s refusal to hire women. Despite these tensions, Herbert Hoover once called it the world’s greatest men’s party, and a long list of powerful individuals continues waiting to enter.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: Now a question. What have Herbert Hoover, Art Linkletter, Jack London, and Richard Nixon all had in common? Well, they've all been members of the exclusive all male Bohemian Club in California, where every year at this time, the elite from around the country get together for two and a half weeks of fun and games. Steve Shepherd has this special assignment report.
Speaker 1: More than 2,000 members of San Francisco's exclusive and all male Bohemian club have once again descended on Northern California. These men will spend most of the month of July encamped on some 2,700 acres of pristine and privately owned redwood forest. Forest very much like this. The place is called Bohemian Grove, and it's located just 80 miles north of San Francisco. The Grove is the Bohemian Club summer retreat, and its facilities are hidden beneath lush forest canopy extending south from the banks of Sonoma County's Russian River.
For more than a century, the camp has been a place where club members and guests from all across America gather to relax. The retreat is divided into dozens of small camps, the most prominent of which is called Mandalay. Among its members are businessmen like Leonard Firestone and Edgar Kaiser, and political figures like Gerald Ford, Henry Kissinger, William French Smith, and George Shultz. President Reagan, vice president Bush, and defense secretary Weinberger are members of other camps. Richard Nixon is a bohemian, and so are high ranking executives of such companies as Eastern Airlines, Standard Oil of Indiana, and Bank of America.
For the most part, the men of Bohemian Grove are over 50, highly successful, and according to many employees, politically conservative.
Speaker 2: Well, each year, many of them seem to have a stunt or try to come up with a stunt. Last year, 1980, the popular button was free the fortune 500.
Speaker 1: Membership in the Grove is by invitation only and is determined by such factors as social standing, occupation, and personal connections. Privacy is one of the Grove's most cherished virtues. Members may not photograph, record, speak, or write about activities at the retreat. While many public officials are Grove members, the press is a distinctly unwelcome guest. We're from ABC News.
We'll get back there. Get back there. Can we talk to somebody in the Get back there. Willing to navigate a boat up the Russian River can get a glimpse of the northern edge of the compound, but that's about all. Still, there are outsiders who have researched the grove.
Sociology professor William Dumhoff found out enough to write a book on the place.
Speaker 3: Well, I think it's a playground for the powerful. It's a place where wealthy men from all of The United States gather for two weeks to relive summer camp with this ceremony called the cremation of care that begins the the two week encampment where the body of dull care symbolizing woes and concerns is burned on an alder in front of a big owl statue. When that ceremony ends, they all start to cheer and yell and hand each other a beer.
Speaker 1: Other regular activities include the production of two plays, one of which involves major sets, orchestral music, extravagant costumes. The other play appears to be just a bit on the lighter side, at least judging from these old photos. Members also spend time swimming, hiking, relaxing in the sun, and doing a bit of drinking from the grove's own privately labeled spirits. Like a boys camp, the grove has a symbol. In this case, a somewhat fierce looking owl.
It also has a patron saint, Saint John of Naplemuck, a legitimate thirteenth century Bohemian canonized for his sense of honor. What the Grove does not have is any women, not even as employees. Despite its camp like atmosphere, the Grove does host some serious business.
Speaker 3: To the degree that there's anything important happens at the Bohemian Grove, it's political. The important speeches that have been made by at the Bohemian Grove have been made, for instance, and the best example, by Richard Nixon. Eisenhower gave a speech there. It was the first time the West Coast establishment really saw him close-up.
Speaker 1: Discussions at The Grove in the nineteen thirties helped lead to the development of nuclear power and the atomic bomb. It was at The Grove in 1967 Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan hashed out differences over their presidential ambitions. Each year, guests like Henry Kissinger or Spigniew Brzezinski address members on their areas of expertise. Presidential counselor Edwin Meese will be among this year's speakers. And each year, other guests come to The Grove simply to enjoy themselves.
This year, CIA director William Casey is a scheduled guest of John McCone, former CIA director. Baseball commissioner Bui Kuhn has been invited as a guest of baseball owner Peter O'Malley. Despite the presence of so many notables, The Grove is not without its small headaches. Anti nuclear demonstrators gathered near the entrance to the retreat this year to wave signs and chant slogans. The Grove is also facing a suit from the state of California because it refuses to hire women.
Still, the Bohemian Grove seems in no danger of passing. Herbert Hoover called it the world's greatest men's party, and there is a list of powerful people waiting to get in on it. Steve Shepherd, ABC News, San Francisco.
