People everywhere have heard of “Skid Row.” Pioneer Square in Seattle was the home of the original "Skid Road," the original term, born when timber was slid down Yesler Way to a steam-powered mill on the waterfront.

 

Seattle's oldest neighborhood, historic Pioneer Square gets its character from the sturdy red brick buildings that have endured boom, bust, renewal and renovation. Through it all, the area has maintained the grace that hints of upper class regency England.

 

Today, the area is home and neighborhood to many of Seattle's art galleries, eateries and web development companies. It is also the entertainment district of Seattle, and it comes alive when the sun sets across the peninsula in the Pacific Ocean. The historic district becomes entertainment district, with one of the city's liveliest collections of nightspots, from sports bars to hard rock taverns to romantic eateries. Just south of Pioneer Square is the International District, where many former immigrants from the Pacific Rim own thriving businesses that proudly proclaim their multi-cultural heritages.

 

In 1984, Carl E. Swenson, Governor of District 5030, wanted to start a club in the Pioneer Square-International District area. He asked Lloyd Hara, a member of Seattle4, to be his Special Representative to the new club.

 

Hara began immediately. He talked to people in the area, and quickly assembled a possible profile. He felt that the club could be highly diversified and multi-ethnic in membership, if it fairly represented the business people in the International District and Pioneer Square.

 

The chartering members agreed with most all of the provisions from Rotary International to charter a new club except a major one. They voted to change the club charter application, from the standard Rotary charter, by crossing out any reference to membership by males or men.

 

The Secretariat of Rotary International returned the application unapproved because of the deletion of the male gender clause, and a few other minor elements that were changed to comply with the interests and backgrounds of the proposed members. A debate ensued amongst the prospective members. They argued whether to accept the traditional charter language or fight. Universally, they loved the concept of Rotary, they just had some questions about the way it was being run. Finally, they reached consensus by approving the standard charter language. They decided that they would then submit a resolution to change the by-laws of Rotary International, by admitting women, at the 1986 Council on Legislation.

 

The prospective club continued to meet provisionally in regular meetings for six months. Finally, on September 18, 1984, the club was chartered. On its charter it was named the Rotary Club of Seattle - International District. The Governor’s Special Representative, Lloyd Hara, became the chartering president. subsequently, he recalled, "We ran the usual luncheon program, but had a higher degree of political and community-related issues. We also visited each other's businesses, somewhat like an open house, in order to get to know each other better." In other words, they took the early words of Paul Harris to heart, and believed in Harris’ model for Rotary.

 

The new club was very multicultural, and considerably younger than most clubs. The majority of the members were in their 30's and early 40's. Only Hara and one other member had been Rotarians previously. It was a new group of people that were challenged to get involved. It probably was a contributing factor to the effort to permit women members in Rotary.

 

The board soon formed a Women-in-Rotary committee. It investigated alternatives and studied procedures for amending the Rotary constitution to admit women as full members. When every one of the “Women-in-Rotary “proposed amendments were overwhelmingly defeated at the Council on Legislation in 1986, club members were insulted and irate. They decided not to wait until the next Constitutional convention, but take action on their own, if 100 percent of the membership agreed with their challenge to Rotary International.

 

The club’s web site reveals the next part of the story, “On July 31, 1986, the club unanimously voted to admit women. Members such as Bob Hashimoto spoke against discrimination. Because it was believed that admitting only one or two women would create pressure on those individuals, it was decided to admit several women. Ultimately 15 women were proposed and admitted.”

 

Admission of the original women members occurred on September 4, 1986. They included Kay Blackard, Director of Education at Harborview Medical Center, Cynthia Chirot, Senior Vice-President of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle; Harriet Cody, Attorney-at-law; Reidun Crowley, Customer Programs Administrator of Puget Power; Katherine Fletcher, the Chair of the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority, Patricia Frank, Executive Director of Puget Sound Big Sisters; Canadian Consulate General Executive Jane Hardeson; Carol James, President of Carol James Talent Agency; Ginny McCormac, the Executive Director & President of Goodwill Industries of Seattle; and Sonya Kim, who was Associate Director of the Washington State Dept. of Social Work.

 

Other initial women members were Assunta Ng, the Publisher of the Seattle Chinese Post; Seattle City Councilmember Dolores Sibonga; Barbara Vanderkolk, President of Barbara Vanderkolk & Associates, Inc.; Sister Charlotte Van Dyke, Director of Corporate Relations of the Sisters of Providence; and Karilyn Van Soest, who was President of Travel Bug, Inc., and who became President of the club on July 1, 1988.

President Jim Johnson had already made the membership aware of a California case being appealed to the United States Supreme Court, Board of Directors of Rotary International v. Duarte. The Rotary Club of Duarte, California, had admitted women in compliance with state law.

 

To prevent its charter from being revoked, the Rotary Club of Seattle-International District kept silent about its admission of women for about a week. On September 12, 1986, club president Jim Johnson sent a letter to the presidents of the other clubs in District 503 (now 5030). He explained his club’s position vis-à-vis the Council on Legislation and why they took the step they did, and asked for support.

 

Three days later, on the 15^th, when it was ready to seek an injunction in federal court to prevent Rotary International from revoking its charter, the Seattle-International District club hired attorney Margaret McKeown, Perkins Coie, as counsel, filed its suit, sought and obtained and injunction against RI to prevent them from forcing thetermination of the women members, and publicized its admission of the women in Seattle, including a press release and subsequently, the club’s newsletter of September 25, 1987.

 

Also on the 15^th, District Governor John Henry sent a letter to the district’s club presidents. In it, he instructed the other clubs, at the direction of the Secretariat of Rotary International, not to recognize the new women members as Rotary members, or to give them “make-ups.” Two days later, on September 17, DG Henry spoke to the members of Seattle4, and reaffirmed his message. That same day, Philip H. Lindsey, General Secretary of RI sent Jim Johnson a formal letter reiterating Rotary policy, and citing what would happen in they failed to do it.

 

These actions generated a letter on October 3, 1986, from Eugene Chellis of Perkins Coie, The Seattle-International District attorneys, to Bill Helsell of Helsell, Fetterman, Martin, Todd and Hokanson, Seattle attorneys for RI. Chellis protested the previous actions by Henry and Lindsey as he stated, “I specifically asked for an agreement that defendant (Rotary International) would not take any actions inconsistent with the relief requested in plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction.”

 

Chellis concluded the letter, "In addition, if there is to be any “standstill” agreement in lieu of a preliminary injunction, as you suggested might be possible, it would have to include an agreement that the International District Club’s women members, as well as the club itself, would be treated as full members of Rotary pending a resolution of the matter by the court.” The “standstill” agreement held.

 

In January, the club began writing an “Amicus” brief to file with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Duarte. Invitations were extended to the San Francisco club, #2, the Boston club (#7) and Sitka, Alaska. The brief was filed, and Seattle-International District officially joined Duarte's fight against Rotary International.

 

The U. S. Supreme Court handed down its decision on the Duarte case on May 4, 1987. The Court held that the Duarte club had to comply with the California civil rights statute and that Rotary International could not eject a club because of its compliance with state law. The Duarte club had won.

 

With the Duarte decision against them, and the Seattle-International District lawsuit in Washington State still staring them in the face, the Board of Directors of Rotary International, under the leadership of Charles Keller, met in the summer of 1987, and decided not to pursue the matter any further. A vote ensued to offer amendments to the Rotary Constitution and By-Laws at the 1989 Council on Legislation to officially eliminate the prohibition on women.

 

Subsequently, Karilyn Van Soest, became president of the club in 1988-1989. At the International Convention in Philadelphia in May 1988, prior to her taking office, she was the only woman President-Elect in attendance, although Sylvia Whitlock of Duarte was present. Whitlock was finishing out her term as the first woman president of a Rotary club.

 

History has shown that the two “Pioneering” Rotary clubs, Duarte and Seattle-International District, withstood the harsh words and criticism with grace and class, and proved to the rest of the Rotary world that the U. S. Supreme Court decision, and the ensuing action by Rotary International was one of the most important developments in the life of the organization.

Doug Rudman

The Duarte, California, club admitted women because the club had only eight members and was dying in 1977, and California law would not let them discriminate against either sex. It was a reaction to existing circumstances.

 

The Seattle-International District club admitted women in a proactive move, which had its roots in the formation of the club in 1984. Governor’s Special Representative Lloyd Hara, in his survey of the Pioneer Square-International District area, talked to people in the area, and quickly assembled a possible profile. The profile and the comments he received, led Hara to feel that the club would be highly diversified and multi-ethnic in membership, if it fairly represented the business people in Pioneer Square and the International District to the south.

 

The organizing members agreed with most all of the charter provisions from Rotary International except one. To make the point, they changed the club charter application by crossing out any reference to membership by males or men. Their application was returned by Rotary International, unapproved due to the deletion of the male gender clause, and some other minor changes that were made to mesh with the interests and backgrounds of the chartering members.

 

The rejection sparked a lively debate among the prospective members arguing whether to accept the traditional charter language or fight. Universally, they loved the concept of Rotary, they just had some questions about the way it was being run. Finally, they approved the standard charter language, but decided to submit a resolution to change the by-laws of Rotary International, by admitting women, at the 1986 Council on Legislation.

 

On September 18, 1984, the club was chartered. The membership took the early words of Paul Harris to heart, and believed in Harris’ model for Rotary. The club was very multicultural, and considerably younger than most clubs, as most  members were in their 30's and early 40's. They were a new group of people that were challenged to get involved in Rotary, and probably was a contributing factor to the effort to permit women members in Rotary.

 

The board soon formed a Women-in-Rotary committee. It investigated alternatives and studied procedures for amending the Rotary constitution to admit women as full members. When every one of the “Women-in-Rotary “proposed amendments were overwhelmingly defeated at the Council on Legislation in 1986, club members were insulted and irate. They decided not to wait until the next Constitutional convention, but take action on their own, if 100 percent of the membership agreed with their challenge to Rotary International.

 

The club’s web site reveals the next part of the story, “On July 31, 1986, the club unanimously voted to admit women. Members such as Bob Hashimoto spoke against discrimination. Because it was believed that admitting only one or two women would create pressure on those individuals, it was decided to admit several women. Ultimately 15 women were proposed and admitted.”

 

During September of 1986, when it was ready to seek an injunction in federal court to prevent Rotary International from revoking its charter, the Seattle-International District club hired attorney Margaret McKeown, Perkins Coie, as counsel, filed its suit, sought and obtained and injunction against RI to prevent them from forcing the termination of the women members, and publicized its admission of the women.

 

The classifications of the original women members included Education, Banking, Law, Utility Management, Diplomat, Talent Agency, Travel Agency, Clergy, Charitable Agency Management and State Government Agency Management.

The women became a hit, or at least a curiosity, within District 5030. The club’s second president, Robert Beardemphl, 1985-1986, recalled that when a female member was asked to speak to the Tacoma Rotary club, one of the older members said after her presentation, "Well, now I've seen everything, a woman Rotarian! What is next, a pregnant Rotarian?" At which point our member stepped around the podium, obviously pregnant, and said, "Now you have seen everything!" Bob has publicly reflected that his involvement with the admittance of women into Rotary was one of the proudest achievements of his professional career.

 

Jim Johnson was the club president during 1986-1987. He had the spotlight on him as the club filed its injunction against Rotary International. While many negative responses were received, Jim also recalls receive many more supportive letters from members of Rotary worldwide. In August of 2002, he reminisced, “I did save all kinds of articles from various sources during my presidency and admission of women into our club. The key point to me was that the women did not force themselves to be included on any agenda of theirs, we selected them as leaders in the community and as potential great Rotarians for our club, which came to fruition! It felt great doing it because we knew it was the right thing to do, ‘and fair to all concerned.’”

 

Johnson continued, “In recruiting new members back in 1984, I visited my business neighbor, Goodwill Industries, and their president. Ginny McCormick was interested in joining Rotary but because of her sex she was not allowed and we admitted her VP because he was male! Very wrong. I also had personal feelings on the issue because we adopted our daughter Jenifer the same year, and did not want her to potentially be excluded from anything as good as Rotary could be.”

 

From early member Julie Hungar comes this August 2002 memory, “I also have a funny story about Women and Rotary, one that I told to a woman who worked in Rotary headquarters and was a Rotarian herself. We shared a taxi to the International Convention in Melbourne, and when I told her this story she said I should send it to someone, which I never did.”

 

“Anyway, it's just that when I joined -- after the original 14 but not too long after, and before the court case was decided -- Rotary was accepting our dues, because they did not want to take any action while the Duarte case was pending. So they cashed our dues checks -- but they didn't send us the magazine! It was a great time -- really a major theme for the early years of the club, and of course Karilyn (van Soest, first woman president of the club, and second in the world) had great stories to tell when she went to PETS and other breakthroughs.

 

Karilyn Van Soest, 1988-1989 President, remembered her year as the second female president of a Rotary Club in the world, on the club’s web site, as "unbelievable and unforgettable." “Karilyn found herself breaking ground at several conferences, including the International Convention in Philadelphia in May, 1988. Visiting other clubs, the questions that came up seem amusing over 20 years later -- "What will you wear to meetings, dresses or pants?" While she faced rudeness and occasional inadvertent sexism, overall, Karilyn was thrilled with the experience.”

 

In August of 2002, the club’s membership had grown to 43, a gain of eleven over the previous year. The increase comes in spite of a fierce attempt by Seattle4 to become the largest Rotary club in the world. The president is Stan Miner, who followed Mardie Rhodes, and women are still a major factor in the life of the club, as well as the surrounding clubs; as the Seattle4 president in 2001-2002 was a woman. And, in 2002-2003, District 5030 has its first woman Governor, Rosemary Barker Aragon, a member and Past President of the Rotary Club of the University District of Seattle.