First 100 Archives

(From the Archives of Rotary International) Prepared by Cyndi Beck

, highlighted item added by Rotary Global History Fellowship editors

Dates for the first 16 are organizational clubs. The association was created on 18 August 1910; after which they are admission dates. The club numbers are correct as assigned, however Hartford, Connecticut should have been #21 and Winnipeg, Ontario, Canada, should have been #39 according to their dates. (also see the 2006 explanation)

National Association of Rotary Clubs - 18 August 1910

17.

Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A.

26 November 1910

18.

Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A.

26 April 1911

19.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

30 April 1911

20.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

3 June 1911

21.

Spokane, Washington; U.S.A.

17 July 1911

22.

Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.A.

17 July 1911

23.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

17 July 1911

24.

Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A.

17 July 1911

25.

Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.A.

17 July 1911*

26.

Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A.

14 July 1911*

27.

Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.A.

1 August 1911

28.

Buffalo, New York, U.S.A.

22 August 1911

29.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.A.

7 October 1911

30.

Wichita, Kansas, U.S.A.

18 November 1911

31.

Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.

9 December 1911

32.

St. Joseph, Missouri, U.S.A.

1 February 1912

33.

San Diego, California, U.S.A.

5 February 1912

34.

Davenport, Iowa, U.S.A.

16 February 1912

35.

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

13 April 1912

36.

Rochester, New York, U.S.A.

5 March 1912*

37.

Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.A.

1 March 1912*

38.

Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A.

5 March 1912

39.

Dallas, Texas, U.S.A.

9 April 1912

40.

Superior, Wisconsin, U.S.A.

1 May 1912

41.

Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.A.

1 May 1912

42.

Syracuse, New York, U.S.A.

1 June 1912

43.

Pueblo, Colorado, U.S.A.

1 June 1912

44.

Toledo, Ohio, U.S.A.

1 June 1912

45.

Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A.

23 July 1912

46.

Washington, D.C., U.S.A.

1 August 1912

47.

Dayton, Ohio, U.S.A.

1 August 1912

48.

Baltimore Maryland, U.S.A.

1 August 1912

49.

Newark, New Jersey, U.S.A.

1 August 1912

50.

London, England

1 August 1912

NARC becomes the International Association of Rotary Clubs 9 August 1912, at the 1912 Convention in Duluth

51.

Worcester, Massachusetts

1 September 1912

52.

San Antonio, Texas

1 November 1912

53.

Houston, Texas

1 November 1912

54.

Sioux City, Iowa

1 December 1912

55.

Toronto, Ont., Canada

1 March 1913

56.

Birmingham, Alabama

1 March 1913

57.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

1 March 1913

58.

Indianapolis, Indiana

1 March 1913

59.

Camden, New Jersey

1 April 1913

60.

Glasgow, Scotland

1 April 1913

61.

Vancouver, BC, Canada

1 April 1913

62.

Edinburgh, Scotland

1 May 1913

63.

Austin, Texas

1 May 1913

64.

Binghamton, New York

1 May 1913

65.

Dublin, Ireland

1 May 1913

66.

Manchester, Lancaster, England

1 May 1913

67.

Belfast, Ireland

1 May 1913

68.

Albany, New York

1 May 1913

69.

Richmond, Virginia

1 June 1913

70.

Patterson, New Jersey

1 June 1913

71.

Madison, Wisconsin

1 June 1913

72.

Beaumont, Texas

1 June 1913

73.

Galveston, Texas

1 June 1913

74.

Waco, Texas

1 June 1913

75.

Fort Worth, Texas

1 July 1913

76.

Peoria, Illinois

1 July 1913

77.

Grand Rapids, Michigan

1 August 1913

78.

Joliet, Illinois

1 August 1913

79.

Atlanta, Georgia

1 August 1913

80.

Liverpool, Lancaster, England

1 August 1913

81.

Halifax, NS, Canada

1 August 1913

82.

Hamilton, Ont., Canada

1 August 1913

83.

Springfield, Illinois

1 August 1913

84.

Terre Haute, Indiana

1 October 1913

85.

Montreal, Que., Canada

1 October 1913

86.

Montgomery , Alabama

1 November 1913

87.

Muskogee, Oklahoma

1 November 1913

88.

Reading, Pennsylvania

1 December 1913

89.

New Castle, Pennsylvania

1 December 1913

90.

Victoria, BC Canada

1 January 1914

91.

Erie, Pennsylvania

1 January 1914

92.

Stockton, California

1 February 1914

93.

Saginaw, Michigan

1 February 1914

94.

Nashville, Tennessee

1 February 1914

95.

Savannah, Georgia

1 February 1914

96.

Memphis, Tennessee

1 February 1914

97.

Sacramento, California

1 February 1914

98.

Springfield, Ohio

1 March 1914*

99.

Little Rock, Arkansas

1 March 1914*

100.

Phoenix, Arizona

1 March 1914* (*additional clubs on 1 March)

All of our lists and records reflect two things -- that the charter numbers are 36. Rochester and 37. Omaha BUT that Omaha was organized and chartered first. I do not have any documents that support number 36 for Omaha or 37 for Rochester. (A similar issue exists with 25 Duluth and 26 Hartford, ed)

Omaha's official charter date is 1 March 1912. Rochester's official charter date is 5 March 1912. The old Official Directories say that Omaha was organized in August of 1911 and Rochester in September of 1911. I looked up the historical binders for each club and found that the Rochester binder has been lost. The Omaha binder contains correspondence regarding the club's election for membership in May of 1925 but the club is given credit for a March 1 charter date -- maybe because all but one of the 'yes' votes from the board were filed earlier. It is unclear from the papers I have why this was the case. So it seems likely that there was a delay in getting the charter to Omaha, and in the mean time the Rochester club was given a charter number of 36, the next one available. So Omaha was the 36th club but was assigned the charter number 37.

I am attaching a one-page document that I send out often to Rotarians who want to know what their club number means. I hope this helps!

Francine Keyes
Reference Archivist
Rotary International Archives

The following historic list was provided by Robin Dillow of the RI Archives

The "WHEN ISSUED" dates here refer to the issuance of the new charter for the "International Association of Rotary Clubs" and this list then must include all the "Charter Clubs" of the new association. Those who were charted on June 2, 1913 that is.