Brief histories of the "First 100" Clubs

Rotary Club of Duluth 25

Rotary International District 5580

 

Rotary Became International at the
1912 Rotary Convention in Duluth

Rotary held its Third Annual Convention in Duluth in 1912. At that time, the Constitution was revised, changing the Rotary name from the National Association of Rotary Clubs to the International Association of Rotary Clubs.

Thus in 1912, Rotary became international and was comprised of 46 U.S. clubs and clubs in Winnipeg, Canada; London, England; and Belfast and Dublin, Ireland… 50 clubs in all.

Two members of Rotary Club of Duluth have served as directors of Rotary International:

1911-1913…………Edward J. Filiatrault

1913-1914………………Frank E. Randall

 

Duluth Rotarians Helped Design the Rotary Wheel,
the Emblem of Rotary

The first Rotarians chose a buggy wheel as their emblem. Within a few years there were as many designs as there were clubs.

National headquarters invited clubs to submit a new design. At the 1912 Convention in Duluth the gear wheel in royal blue and gold was adopted as Rotary’s official emblem. But even it was to survive for only eight years.

Engineers complained that wheel was as designed mechanically unsound and could do no work. So a two man committee, Rotarians Oscar Bjorge and Charles H. Macintosh of Chicago (a former Duluth Rotarian), was appointed to make the necessary corrections. Their design was adopted and announced in 1920, and has been used through the years… with one exception. Because a gear wheel without a keyway is only an idler incapable of transmitting power to or from a shaft, the keyway was added in 1923. The power, thus applied, has kept the wheel of Rotary turning ever since.

See Rotary's 3rd Convention

Duluth Women's Rotary Club in 1911

See our delegation at Rotary's 2nd convention in Portland, Oregon, USA in 1911. A rare, early Rotary Global History photo.  Edward J. Filiatrault, one of the club's charter members, and the only representative sent to Portland in 1911, landed the 1912 Convention for Duluth. He became Duluth's 2nd President, and was

President during the 1912 Duluth Convention.

Minnesota's 100's

Rotary Club of Minneapolis 9

Rotary Club of St. Paul 10

Rotary Club of Duluth 25