The Union League for the Deaf was originally founded as the Deaf-Mutes’ Union League in New York City in 1886. Samuel Frankenheim, Adolph Pfeiffer, Charles Bothner, and Joseph Yankauer, all graduates of the Lexington School for the Deaf, decided to establish a social club with membership limited to other Lexington graduates. Frankenheim was elected as the group’s first president. The Union League held biweekly meetings, sponsored debates and lectures for its members, and held parties and balls to raise funds for deaf charities. The League also sent representatives to the International Congress of the Deaf in Paris, 1889, and to the National Association of the Deaf convention in 1889.

The Union League incorporated itself in 1901. Soon after, membership was opened to all deaf Americans rather than Lexington School graduates only, and the Union League grew rapidly. In 1932, the name of the group was officially changed to the Union League of the Deaf. It quickly became the largest deaf club in New York City and became closely related to the International Typographical Union (ITU); deaf printers who were members of the ITU used the Union League to socialize. Like other social clubs, the Union League suffered a decline in membership after the 1950s as interest in club membership declined, it is still an active organization today.