1942 Toronto

THE CARNAGE of war and the suffering in its wake are not new. Every age since the memory of man runneth not to the contrary has known the conflict of ideas and the clash of arms. Read the entire essay here.

Host committee

Convention Theme

Officers

Harris attends and speaks

The 1942 Convention was originally meant to go to Rio de Janeiro but because of war Toronto, again, hosted Rotary International as they had done previously in 1924. 6,624 registered for the first Convention with the USA at war.

In response to the hostilities, the Board of Directors had adopted a statement in January of 1942 which read:
"The board maintains its conviction that the full attainment of the Rotary ideal, 'service', can only be achieved in countries where there is liberty of the individual, in freedom of thought, speech and assembly, freedom of worship, freedom from persecution and aggression, and freedom from want and fear. Where this liberty does not exist Rotary cannot live".

Toronto - 'where friends meet' - was the most apt of Rotary Convention venues. It was, significantly, the most overtly loyal Anglophile city in North America. President Davis paid tribute to the city and remembered the convention some 18 years previous as 'no finer convention'.

The war made traveling difficult, if not impossible. Yet, Vice President Tom Warren made the trip from England over not a few weeks. For example, he spent 4 weeks waiting for a ship to take him to the New World in Lisbon.

Tom Davis had also made the arduous trip to Britain during his Presidency and had witnessed at first hand the types of war service that would also be classed as vocational or community service by Rotarians in Britain. British Clubs had actually expanded during these dark days. Davis told the Convention that: "There is no greater problem confronting mankind today than learning how to live together".

Paul Harris attended and spoke eloquently of Canada's contribution to Rotary. They had produced 3 President's of RI.

This war, according to the founder, was one for the preservation of civilization. But he made clear that, "Live and let live should be the rules of men". The League of Nations had had no heart but his old fellow Princetonian Woodrow Wilson's spirit 'lives on'. He finished by saying: "Let us fervently hope that when the sun does rise it will usher in a day of unprecedented glory - the day of the brotherhood of man."

The 'real first lady of Rotary' -Jean Harris - also spoke at Toronto. Betraying her strong Presbyterian roots, she told the audience "For things that are fundamental…we must acknowledge the Eternal power".

Another eternal power Chesley Perry - the builder of Rotary- finally threw in the towel and retired. The Convention was for new officers of Rotary International, Perry felt. Therefore he stayed away. His annual report, however, was read out on his behalf.

This modest man chose not to attend the Toronto Convention and so, the only man left that had up till then a 100% record attendance at all of Rotary's Conventions finally left the stage.
Calum Thomson

Perry photo from Wolfgang Ziegler

From The Rotarian, August 1942, located and scanned by Wolfgang Ziegler

PAUL P. HARRIS, the man who founded Rotary, is now 74, but the throngs of Rotarians at Toronto whom he surprised and delighted by his appearance found his fluent wit as fluid as ever.

"There is no end of things to fight about, of course, if that is what we want to do," Paul told the Convention crowd. "The colored races‑brown, black, yellow, and red‑can fight the proud whites, and the flaxen haired can fight the dark haired; the gray haired, the baldheaded. My fealty most naturally adheres to the baldheads. Long may they life and become the dominant race. Their judgment is generally mature and kindly, and one seldom sees a baldheaded man in an insane asylum."

Excerpts from Addresses from the Toronto 1942 Convention, including Paul Harris. Provided by RGHF senior historian Dr. Wolfgang Ziegler, Bavaria 24 April 2009

Finances RI 1942: From the time.

Yes we Will

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