Ivan
Allen, historian of the Atlanta Club, introduces his book as a brief
history. The 377page story of the Atlanta Club’s first 25 years is
anything but brief. It is a wonderful resource for Rotary historians
that as the author hoped for would be not only a souvenir but also a
source of guidance and inspiration for the future.
Like
the first Rotary Club, it begins with four young fellows meeting in an
office. The venue was President Woodrow Wilson’s old law office and the
date was June 18th 1913. Irwin Allen, Henry Grady, Evelyn
Harris and Howard Geldert decided then to organize a club. All but one
of those invited by the four attended the first meeting at the Atlanta
Chamber of Commerce.
Rotary
was not the first Lunch Club in Atlanta – that distinction befell the Ad
Club- initially an organization of professional advertising men that had
spread to encompass civic and business leaders. Many of the initial
Rotarians were members of the Ad Club but became disenchanted with the
ruthless ethos of the advertising professionals. These young businessmen
wished to express their civic and charitable interests. The Ad Club had
become a booster-type organization – ‘Business Babbitts’ as Allen
described them.
Further
south, in Jacksonville, Florida there was a Rotary Club (the first in
the southeast). Some Rotarians, along with their colleagues from the
Texas Clubs, attended the Baltimore Convention of the National
Advertising Association. The young Atlanta businessmen found what they
were looking for at Baltimore. The Atlanta men learned of a new type of
organization for the public-spirited professional.
In
fact, thirteen of these young Ad Club members had started an informal
organization themselves – the Thirteen Club in which they had developed
the concepts of acquaintance and fellowship that Rotary promoted. They
were Rotarians before they had formed a Rotary Club! They were willing
recruits and joined the original four to form the Atlanta Rotary Club.
A first
meeting was called for on July 2nd 1913 with a letter sent
out to potential members and signed by Allen, Grady, Ben Lee Crew, R L
Foreman and, a certain, A S Adams. On that date, Hubert W Anderson was
elected President and Henry Grady the first Vice-President. There were
38 Charter Members of the Rotary Club of Atlanta. The Club asked for
affiliation to the International Association on July 20th and
received their Charter (#79) on August 1st.
Source
Rotary
in Atlanta – The first Twenty-Five Years-
by Ivan
Allen 1939
[This
book is a limited edition (no.39) and is signed by the author.]
The Rotary
Club of Atlanta has hosted two International Conventions: the
