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A One Page History
of the Beginning and Growth of Rotary
In 1905..... 37 year old
attorney
Paul Harris changed the world.
 From
the years 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.”
ROTARY ORGANIZES
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 larger 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 Rotary1947-89 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") |
