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| 2nd
Convention, Portland, Oregon - August 21-23 with 149 in
attendance |
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  Paul
Harris was elected for a second term office as president of the National
Association of Rotary clubs and
Chesley R. Perry
(right) was elected for the 2nd of
what would become 32 terms as secretary, then general secretary of RI.
Visit Paul Harris' president's
home page
The Road I Have Traveled
Harris' convention address
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Rare
1911 Delegate Photo
There are 22 clubs represented in
this rare photo of the 1911 convention delegates. There are about 93
individuals in the photo. Some are wearing officer's ribbons very similar to
what we use today. Also seen are ribbons that appear to have a "Portland
Rose" on them. In the area of the Chicago delegation there is a woman
wearing ribbons similar to the men. She is singular in her gender.
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l-r click
here to see each delegation:
Portland 15,
SF#2,
Seattle 4,
Tri City
(Oakland 3 - Note Paul Harris holding their banner),
Chicago 1
(Note women in photo. Secretary Ches Perry - center, Harry Ruggles to his
right),
Philadelphia 19,
St. Louis 11,
Kansas City 13,
Minneapolis 9,
Frank Collins "Service Above Self",
Des Moines 27,
Providence 22,
Lincoln 14,
Spokane 21,
Tacoma 8,
Cleveland 18 and Arch Klumph
RIP 1916 - father of The Rotary Foundation), New
Orleans 12,
Salt Lake City 24,
Duluth 25,
Los Angeles
LA5, New York
City #6,
St. Paul 10 and
Boston 7 |
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To view sections of this portrait, the
FIRST
SECOND OR
LAST SECTION
OR THE ENTIRE PORTRAIT - ABOUT 37 INCHES WIDE |
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The original, framed photograph (37 x 8.5
inches) has been donated, by
Rotary Global History, to the Rotary
International Archives as an expression of thanks for the many
contributions by the archivists to this project. |
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Frank Collins,
from an article in The Rotarian February 1977. This Minneapolis, Minnesota
Rotarian spoke at the 1911 Portland convention. It was Rotary's second
convention with Paul Harris in his second term as president of the National
Association of Rotary Clubs. After meeting Harris, he was asked to
address the convention and one phrase of his talk stuck: "Service,
Not Self." |
Arthur Frederick Sheldon joined Rotary Club
of Chicago in 1908. He became responsible for our vocational service, but is
best known for our motto when he coined the phrase, "He
profits most who serves best." He first reported on it at the 1910
convention, but Paul Harris asked that he present it again at Portland.
Unable to attend, it was read to great acclamation. |
Was she the second employee
of
Rotary? Earlier in 1911 the Rotary
Club of Chicago and the National Association of Rotary Clubs had agreed to
share the services of a stenographer. The first office of the Association
had been in Harris' office. With the move to the 1st Nat'l Bank Bldg on
Dearborn, the association got its first office and Chicago shared the
offices as their first office. |
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The second
Convention of the National Association met at the Commercial Club
Convention Hall in the City of Roses - Portland, Oregon - between the
21st and 23rd of August 1911.
Again, there was a clear effort to define the embryonic organization.
Arthur Sheldon gave a written definition of Rotary. He went on to
extend his famous words in an essay entitled 'My Platform' discussing
the so-called scientific age. It said, "That the science of business is
the science of service, he profits most who serves best."
James E Pinkham (President of the
Seattle Rotary Club)- someone who
understood the true notion of Rotary better than almost anyone in 1911 -
and Chesley Perry
also wrote of the "Elements of Rotarianism". It has been
said that it was Pinkham that picked out Sheldon's famous phrase to be
used by the Rotary movement.
The Elements of Rotarianism included concepts such as Integrity - the
qualification of Rotary, Opportunity - the privilege of Rotary, Service
- the responsibility of Rotary and Success - the result of Rotary.
There were
clearly many differences of opinion as to the definition and objectives
of Rotary. The third part of the Resolutions Committee stated, "That as
each member is selected to represent his business, an invitation and
opportunity is thereby extended to him to use the Club and his
acquaintance therein in the extension of his business relations with
other members and their friends, and that no obligation of patronage
exists."
Twenty-two
Clubs were represented with a total delegate vote of 58. 149 delegates
attended. Perry was announced as Rotary's new secretary on a salary of
$100 per month plus $25 expenses. |
Furniture for
Perry's new office were loaned by Ches and
Silvester Schiele.
Unlike today, the initial clubs were allowed to design their own Rotary
wheels with "such additional element as may be peculiar to the city in
which the Club is located". This produced a wide variety of taste and
design!
When the Convention was called to order, it was announced that the
Rotary Club of London had been
formed. Clubs in foreign countries was discussed extensively. This made
a total of 36 Clubs with 34 in the USA, 1 in Canada (Winnipeg)
and 1 in England (London). Interest in Rotary was spreading fast with
reports of initial movement in places as diverse as Atlanta, Saskatoon,
Glasgow and Melbourne, Australia.
Not for the first time, President Harris admitted to the Convention that
he had acted on his own initiative and with no authority
to consider forming the Rotary Club of London. As always, Harris motives were genuine and pure. Paul had
taken up with Harvey C Wheeler of the
Boston Rotary Club the matter of
establishing a Club in London. Wheeler responded that the club had been
successfully started. Wheeler intended to start a club in
Paris, France the next year. Harris
also told of how he was in communication with gentlemen in
Glasgow, Scotland and also with
gentlemen in
Melbourne and
Sydney Australia.
Even at this early stage, it was becoming clear that Rotary could
potentially become an international force.
(***NOTE - Formation, Organization and Chartering all occur at different
times!***)
Doug
Rudman &
Calum Thomson |
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