A One Page History
of the Beginning and Growth of Rotary
In 1905..... 37 year old
attorney
Paul Harris changed the world.
1891-1896 Paul Harris,
who was raised by his New England grandparents with values of tolerance toward all, gained his law degree in 1891.
1In his
senior year, a former graduate told his class that they should “Go to a
small town for five years make a fool of themselves, then go to the big
city!” Paul decided to hit
the road for the entire world. He worked as a reporter for the San
Francisco Chronicle, 1891; manual laborer on a fruit ranch, then raisin
packing plant, teacher at the L.A. Business College in 1892.
Denver, Colorado, 1892: Actor in a stock company, reporter for the Rocky
Mountain News, cowboy, reporter for The Republican. Jacksonville, Florida:
St. James Hotel night clerk, traveling granite/marble salesman 1892/93,
reporter on the Washington Star, cattleman on a ship 1893, haymaker and
cannery worker 1893, sub-foreman of the gang of cattlemen 1893, (where he
wrote that, on his first voyage, he experienced sub-human conditions);
orange picker in Florida 1893, back to Jacksonville selling marble granite.
His territory included the southern states, Cuba, the Bahamas and Europe.
When he announced that he was going to Chicago to practice law his employer
said, "Whatever the advantages of settling in Chicago may be, I am satisfied
you will make more money if you remain with me." To which Paul replied: "I am
sure you are right but I am not going to Chicago for the purpose of making
money; I am going for the purpose of living a life."
1896-1905
In 1896, he did go to Chicago to practice
law. One evening, in 1900, Paul went with a professional
friend to his suburban home. After dinner, as they strolled through
the neighborhood, Paul’s friend introduced him to tradesmen in their stores.
This reminded Paul of his grandparent’s home in New England. “Why not have
a fellowship composed of businessmen from different occupations, without
restrictions of politics or religion?” he thought.
1905-1908 2On February
23, 1905, Paul Harris had dinner with his closest friend, Chicago coal
dealer
Silvester Schiele.
Afterwards they walked over the river to
Room 711 of the Unity Building
where they met their host, Gustavus Loehr, a mining engineer; and
another friend, Hiram Shorey, a merchant tailor. Harris proposed
that they form a club. No name was chosen for the group. The second
meeting was March 9th. Three other men,
Harry Ruggles,
William Jenson, and A. L. White joined them. Ruggles was a printer, and
created the “name badge” version of the Rotary “wheel” and also started
singing in Rotary. In fact his singing kept the group from disbanding
more than once. Paul Harris later wrote: "The significant occurrence of
the second meeting was the introduction of
Harry Ruggles, the printer. Harry was
destined to play an important part in the life of the Chicago club, for
through his suggestion of club singing his influence has been made felt
by the entire movement." Paul P. Harris, page 95 "The Founder of Rotary
1928. Two weeks later the group gathered at the office of Silvester
Schiele, in his coal yard at Twelfth and State Streets. Six of the
previous seven were present along with Charles Newton and Arthur B.
Irwin.
1908-1910 1Paul
was very interested in starting Rotary in other cities. The second
Rotary club was founded by
Homer Wood in
San Francisco in 1908. 7Wood then quickly organized
Oakland #3
(When
did weekly meetings begin? 6According to the
general secretary in 1948,
it was
Oakland #3 in 1909.)
Seattle #4 and
Los Angeles #5. In fact, before the
end of 1909, there were seven clubs, including New York City #6 and
Boston #7. That's right, in 1908 and 1909, Homer Wood started four
clubs. In the rest of the United States there were two, and the San
Francisco club is credited,
by some, with starting
New York.
GROWTH OF
ROTARY AROUND THE WORLD Paul Harris had a vision of “Around
the World Rotary” which was also opposed by many of his fellow
Rotarians. It was not until he won the loyalty of the man who was to be
Rotary’s secretary from 1910 – 1942 that Rotary became organized and
international. That man was
Chesley Perry, whom Paul called the “Builder of Rotary.”
1910-1911
3&7 By August 1910 there were
sixteen clubs and the National Association of Rotary Clubs
was organized and held its
first convention that year, in Chicago.
At the 1911 Portland Convention, “Service, Not Self” was
introduced by
Frank Collins of
Minneapolis. It later became “Service Above Self. ” The slogan “He
profits most who serves best,” was also read there. It had
been written by
Arthur Sheldon and
delivered by him at the first convention the previous year in Chicago.
Both were approved by RI in 1950. Learn what Sheldon really meant
by his well thought phrase. You can study all of Rotary's conventions
from 1910 on and learn about each of our presidents from Paul
Harris to the present as well as their clubs from our website
dedicated to presidents of Rotary.
Another important event at the 1911 Portland
convention was the
platform brought forward by
Seattle #4. This platform, is still
essential to the
philosophy of Rotary today.
1912-23 4When
clubs were formed in Canada and Great Britain in 1912, the name was
changed to the International Association of Rotary Clubs, and was later
shortened to Rotary International in 1922. 5Paul Harris
was the first
president of the National
Association of Rotary Clubs, serving two terms. He was
named President Emeritus of the International Association in 1912 and
served until his death in 1947. 1Harris suffered a near
fatal heart attack
in his final year as president of the National Association and required
a full year to recover. Yet, over the next 35 years, he and his wife
Jean Thomson Harris
made numerous exhausting trips to nearly every continent, visiting
hundreds of cities, planting
friendship trees
and attending Rotary conferences.
The
design in the Rotary Wheel changed as Rotary grew.
Click on the
photo for a large view
1947
5As
Rotary spanned the globe, branch offices were opened in Europe, South
America, South Asia, Southwest Pacific. In the UK
British Rotary had its own office.
6When Rotary
International President Emeritus, world traveler, author and prominent
Chicago attorney
Paul Harris passed away on January 27, 1947, his dream had grown
from one group of four to 6,000 clubs in 75 countries with 300,000 members
brought together through the service and fellowship of Rotary
1947-89 4Two
world wars changed the face of Rotary – parts of the Far East and Eastern Europe were closed to
Rotary. Eventually, clubs were re-established in Japan, Germany, Poland and Hungary.
In 1990 the first club was opened in the former Soviet Union and
China. In 1987,
Rotary membership was
opened to women,
and in 1989 the RI Council on Legislation standardized
all Rotary documents and rules.
1989-2005 Rotary came close to removing polio from the face of
the earth and, in 2005, returned, again, to Chicago to celebrate the
first 100 years.
How did Rotary get its name? Harris explains from "The Founder of
Rotary" page 96: "During the course of one of the early meetings, Paul
suggested several possible names for the new club. Among others—Rotary. It
met with general favor and was adopted forthwith. The significance of the
name becomes apparent on examination of the original plan of the club, which
provided for rotation in the place of meeting, in the chairmanship, and even
in membership which was to be continued for one year only." (For
other "Firsts" in Rotary, Click here)
2Who
was the first Rotary president? Silvester Schiele. The
meeting, where a president was chosen, happened to be in Schiele's office, hence, as a courtesy, he became the
president.
"Silvester
Schiele, my most intimate Chicago friend, and one of the three who
first met with me, was made our first president, and has been a constant
member. Gustavus Loehr and Hiram Shorey were the other two but they failed
to follow through. On the other hand Harry Ruggles, Charley Newton, and
others who were quickly added to the group, with hearty zest joined in
developing the project." (Paul Harris, page 231 "My Road to Rotary")
1My Road To
Rotary, Copyright Rotary International 2The Golden Strand,
Copyright Rotary Club of Chicago 3First Men of Rotary, The
Rotarian Magazine, copyright Rotary International 4Rotary Club of
Peoria 5Rotary International 6My Road To Rotary
– Appendix, copyright A. Kroch and Son 7 Rotary Archives
Department 8Seventy-Five Years in San Francisco, copyright SF#2
This page was inspired by
RC of Peoria, IL, USA #76 District 6460
Find the latest history at
www.rghfforum.org Study our history at
www.historylearningcenter.org The entire world of Rotary history is
found at
www.regionalhistory.org Get involved at
www.historycomment.org
There
is also a complete website dedicated to the wisdom and inspiration of
Rotary's Founder, Paul P. Harris.
(last update 1 April 2007)
