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 This portion of "Rotary Global History" is
separate from every other section.
While the our
sections on "presidents"
and "conventions" cover material from the inauguration of Rotary in Chicago in 1905
to the present day, much of their material exists in published form,
although not collected and edited as we have done.
This is
different. When the site is finished, over 90 percent of the historical
material, found here, will have never before been published, except in
snippets on the Internet.
Some of the Jean Harris history, a portion of the Rotary Anns story, and
some of the Inner Wheel past has been written previously. The rest of
this information has been compiled and written from personal interviews,
diaries, RI board records, district and club documents, and as
first-person accounts by many of the participants. It is anecdotal in
nature. Many of the pieces are collaborative, as the information is not
contained in any one location, such as the archives at Rotary
International.
As Rotary International
had never planned on admitting women, the Secretariat had never set out
to retain information on them, except where the subject was officially
discussed. Not until the
U.S.
Supreme Court decision on 4 May 1987, did RI actually believe
that they would have to admit women. Yet,
had the Belfast
club, in July of 1912, voted to admit women, this entire area
of Rotary Global History might not have been necessary.
Since much of this material has just happened, in historical terms, that
history is still being written.
And, since Rotary International has not yet had a woman serve as either
President of Rotary International or as a member of the Board of
Directors (a requisite for becoming President, some of this history has
not yet occurred.
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So, aside from future
events, why is so much of this history still unrecorded? Here is what
the RI Secretariat has to say about collecting information about women
members, "When an individual becomes a Rotarian, information on that
person is sent to Rotary International in order for us to send the new
member our magazine 'The Rotarian.' The question of gender is not asked
nor needed. Consequently, we have no statistics, nor names, to offer you
regarding the first women Rotarians."
The addition of women in
Rotary represent the single greatest force in the growth of Rotary
International since the chartering of
Winnipeg,
Stuart Morrow and RIBI, the exploits of
Ralston and
Davidson, and the founding of Havana
and Madrid by Angel Cuesta.
Women and Rotary will
continue to evolve. Mistakes that have been made will need to be
corrected. Omissions will need to be recognized. And, the history needs
to live, teach and help not only Rotarians, but future Rotarians. Your
input will always be welcomed by the historians of the this
project.
Doug Rudman
History Fellow
The RGHF board member for this section of RGHF is
PDG Sandy Duckworth, USA D7610
VA, USA
Webmaster and creator of this section is RGHF founder
Jack
Selway
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