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HISTORY OUTLINE ROTARY GLOBAL HISTORY First 100 Clubs of Rotary International HISTORY CALENDAR  CLUBS 1 -100
ALPHABETICAL LIST ANNIVERSARIES CENTENNIAL BELL OTHER 100'S LANDMARK CLUBS ROTARY/One
CANADA THE UK CLUBS OF RIPS CONVENTION CLUBS RI 50TH ANNIV. DISTRICTS
REGIONS COUNTRIES HISTORY CALENDAR FRIENDSHIP TREES COMMITTEE FEATURES
First 100 Clubs Census Study DIST, CLUBS, & COUNTRIES DISCUSSION RI ARCHIVES WHAT'S NEW? HISTORY OUTLINE

Brief histories of Rotary's First 100 Clubs

Rotary Club of Austin 63

Rotary International District 5870
ROTARY CLUB OF AUSTIN


On June 2, 1913, the Rotary Club of Austin Texas celebrated the 63rd charter awarded by the Association of Rotary Clubs in Chicago during an inaugural luncheon held at the Driskill Hotel. Roy Rather, a businessman who persuaded a former University of Texas classmate to bring members of the San Antonio club to Austin for a meeting with interested businessmen, initiated the impetus for the Austin Club. The meeting was held in Austin on March 6, 1913, the 77th anniversary of the fall of the Alamo. Ten San Antonio Rotarians and thirteen "movers and shakers" in Austin met over lunch to talk Rotary, and it didn't take long for them to decide that Rotary would be good for this growing city of 30,000. So, in a year when O.P. Colquitt was Governor, President Woodrow Wilson was beginning his first term of office, (and on the day that the major headline in the Austin Statesman proclaimed, "Snake Saves House From Lightning: Reptile Forms Connection Between Ends of Broken Rod, and is Burned to Death,") the Rotary Club of Austin was organized.

A list of the thirteen charter members appears on page xxxvi of this roster. The Austin club held the sixty-third charter in an organization that had been developed only eight years before by Paul Harris, a young attorney in Chicago. It was called Rotary because meetings were rotated between the members' offices.

Roy Rather was the Austin club's first president; Fred K. Fisher was vice-president; William L. Vining was secretary; and William H. Folts was treasurer.

Before he could complete this term as president, Roy Rather changed businesses, and thus his classification, so he was forced to resign since his new classification was filled. He became an Honorary Member of the Rotary Club of Austin, and Fred Fisher completed his term of office.

The Rotary Club has had seven previous homes. It met at the Driskill Hotel until June 3, 1947, when it moved across the street to the Stephen F. Austin Hotel. From July 1955 to June 1969, the Club moved back to the Driskill, but when the hotel was closed for extensive remodeling, the club moved to the Commodore Perry Hotel. In January 1977, it was back to the Stephen F. Austin, and in 1981 it returned to the Commodore Building. From August of 1983 to 1990, the club met at the Sheraton Crest Inn. That was followed by a move to The Terrace, our home until sale of the property forced a move in February 1996; at that time Palmer Auditorium became our home. In the summer of 2002, closure of Palmer Auditorium for transformation into the Long Center for the Performing Arts necessitated another move, this time to the Hyatt Regency Hotel. On January 1, 2005, the meeting place changed to St. David’s Episcopal Church.

Through the years, members of the Rotary Club of Austin have been civic leaders serving on countless boards and the City Council. Several have been mayors and one governor of the state.

In addition to wide recognition for its outstanding speakers and programs, the club has a superlative record in areas of vocational, community and international service. One of its earliest projects, the Helping Hand Home for Children, continues to be a priority of the organization. It was extremely active in the initial PolioPlus Campaign. Through the estates of former Rotarians Evans Swann, PDG George K. Marshall, and Charles Burton, and donations from current members, college scholarship funds have been established for Austin area high school students.

To help high school students better understand the Free Enterprise System in America, the club annually conducts a weekend seminar, “Rotary Camp Enterprise.” In recent years international service has become even more important, and this is reflected in the projects carried out by the International Friendship Committee and various exchange projects worldwide. The club is a substantive supporter of The Rotary Foundation, and several hundred members are Paul Harris Fellows.

Through the years, the Rotary Club of Austin has furnished leadership on the District level through committee service and conference program participation. Members having served as District Governor are William H. Richardson, Jr., Governor of the 12th District in 1915-16; Robert E. Vinson, 18th District, 1991-20; Thomas H. Shelby, 129th District, 146-47; Jack H. Dillard, 187th District, 1950-51; George K. Marshall, 187th District, 1953-54; O.V. Koen, 587th District, 1959-60; J. Neal Miller, Jr., Governor, District 591, 1960-61; Maurice Acers, 587th District, 1965-66; Dave Smith, 587th District, 1969-70; Wilson E. Speir, 587th District, 1974-75; and James L. Stoner, 5870th District, 1992-93. John W. Ezelle was nominated to serve as Governor of District 129 for the year 1939-40, but had to withdraw because of ill health, and Thomas J. Hemphill was Governor nominee in the old District 187 for 1955-56, but died before taking office. Members and former members of the Club who served their District while members of other clubs are John A. Crockett, 47th District, 1931-32; Allen Sears, 130th District 1942-43; Leon Graham, 185th District, 1950-51; George K. Marshall, 130th District, 1943-44; Clarence R. Miller, 187th District, 1955-56; J. Neal Miller, Jr., 591st District, 1960-61; and John B. Mayo, Jr., 5340th District, 1992-93.

PDG Dave Smith was the first member of the Rotary Club of Austin ever to be elected a vice president and director of Rotary International. He served on the International Board of Directors from 1975-77, and was Vice President of Rotary International in 1976-77. He has represented the President of Rotary International at Rotary meetings and conferences worldwide and served on various international committees. He was General Chairman of the Rotary International Convention held in Dallas in 1982.

Dorothy Fitzgerald was the first paid Executive Director, a position she held from 1950 until her retirement in 1980. Carolyn Henderson was Executive Director from 1981 - 1989. After Rotary International voted to include female members, Carolyn was the first woman asked to join the RCA in 1987. Dorothy and Carolyn are now Honorary Members. Nancy McCoy became the Executive Director at the end of 1989.

As the Rotary Club of Austin has grown, it has shared its territory so other Rotary Clubs could be organized. Today, Austin has thirteen additional clubs.

Rotary Club of                          Organized              Rotary Club of          Organized

 

                West Austin                  1953                  University Area Austin 1987

                South Austin                1958                   Cedar Park                        1989

                North Austin                1960                   Lakeway/Lake Travis   1994

                Northwest Austin        1980                  East Austin                       1993

                Westlake Austin           1982                 N. Shore Lake Travis      1995

                Oak Hill                          1982                  Capitol                                2002                 

                Northeast Austin         1984

PDG Jack Mayo, District Historian

Member of RGHF

 

Texas "100 Clubs"

The Most of the First 100

Dallas 39

San Antonio 52

Houston 53

Austin 63

Beaumont 72

Galveston 73

Waco 74

Fort Worth 75

 

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