U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor will speak to a capacity audience of members of the Union League Club of Chicago during its annual George Washington's Birthday dinner on Friday, Feb. 17.

The event is sponsored by the ULCC Public Affairs Committee, which is chaired by Chicago attorney Brenda A. Russell, director of the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

Committee members expect that the presentation by Justice O'Connor may be her first as a retired member of the nation's highest court. Club members recently elected her the 54th honorary member in its 126-year history.

ULCC President Richard E. Moore said the club's highest honor will be given to O'Connor “during the final days of what history will no doubt refer to as an extraordinary career in public service to ournation.”

Justice John Paul Stevens received an honorary memberships in 1977. Among other Supreme Court justices inducted were John Marshall Harlan, Melville Weston Fuller, Henry Billings Brown and Charles Evans Hughes.

William Howard Taft, who also served on the court, was honored during his tenure as U.S. president. The first three honorary members were presidents: Ulysses S. Grant, James A. Garfield and Rutherford B. Hayes, all in 1880.

The entire list includes 15 presidents, most recently Gerald R. Ford in 1980 and George H. W. Bush in 2000. The last recipient was Elizabeth Dole in 2001.

The Union League Club event has been sold out for several weeks. Invited guests include ISBA President-elect Irene F. Bahr and 18th Circuit Judge Robert J. Anderson, her husband.

The program includes presentation by the Justice O'Connor of Democracy in Action Awards to three Illinois high school students who have demonstrated exemplary civic leadership and commitment to democratic principles.

The Chicago Youth Chamber Orchestra will perform during the 6 p.m. reception. Counterpoint, a female a capella group from Stanford University, where O'Connor received undergraduate and law degrees, will sing during the 7 p.m. dinner.