History

History of Rotary International and The Florence Rotary Club* The world’s first service club, Rotary, was founded by Paul P. Harris, a Chicago, Illinois attorney. He sought to establish a professional club, possessing a family spirit similar to the small towns of his youth. The first Rotary meeting was held February 23, 1905 in Chicago, Illinois. The Rotary Club of Chicago consisted of members from different professions. Since the early club members began rotating their meeting locations to their various places of business, the club adopted the name “Rotary.” Over the next decade, the popularity of Rotary spread throughout the United States. Clubs were chartered from New York City on the east coast to San Francisco, California on the west coast. In 1910, the National Association of Rotary Clubs held their first convention electing Paul Harris as their president. This same year, a club was formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. By 1912, the first European Rotary club was formed in the British Isles. Due to its widespread growth, Rotary implemented a district system in 1916 for better organization. Rotary clubs were formed on six continents by 1921. The following year, Rotary adopted the new name of Rotary International. The concept of Rotary reached Florence, Alabama in 1921. January 12, 1921 marks the date of the first Florence meeting. The charter meeting of the Florence Rotary Club was held March 22, 1921. Dr. Henry J. Willingham, President of the Florence Normal School (currently the University of North Alabama) was elected the first president of the Florence club. For almost the next decade, the Florence Rotary Club experienced an explosion in growth. Unfortunately, the years of the Great Depression had a catastrophic effect on the Florence Rotary Club resulting in a sharp decline in the membership from 1928 to 1933. One of the few bright spots of the Depression era for the Florence club was the election of E.L. (Square) Deal as District Governor for 1928-29. As the confines of the Great Depression lifted, the Florence Rotary Club began to recover and a long sustained period of membership growth began. Due to the club’s growth, the meeting locations of the Florence club have varied. Past meeting locations include the Negley Hotel, the Reeder Hotel, Starkey’s Restaurant, Holiday Inn, First Presbyterian Church of Florence and currently the Shoals Conference Center. When Rotary International first began, its primary mission was serving the professional and social interests of its club members. While this was the initial purpose of Rotary, it was not their exclusive function. The Rotary Club of Chicago constructed the city’s first public lavatory in 1907. This project would serve as the genesis for Rotary clubs to expand their mission by pooling their resources and giving their talents to help serve communities in need. This spirit has ultimately led Rotary to adopt the motto “Service Above Self.” Rotary would later adopt a code of ethics consistent with their motto. It is called “The Four Way Test.” It is one of the most widely printed and quoted statements of business ethics ever. It has been translated into more than 100 languages and published in thousands of ways. The test consisted of four questions. (1) Is it true? (2) Is it fair to all concerned? (3) Will it build good will and better friendships? (4) Will it be beneficial to all concerned? Rotary International established an endowment fund “for doing good in the world” in 1917. One year later, this fund became the not for profit corporation, the Rotary Foundation. With the death of Paul Harris in 1947, Rotarians honored him by donating over $2,000,000 to the foundation. Their contributions launched the Rotary Foundation’s first program called Ambassadorial Scholarships. More than 35,000 scholars from 110 countries have received Ambassadorial Scholarships since 1947. The scholarship program makes the Rotary Foundation one of the largest private sponsors of international scholarships in the world. The advent of World War II forced many clubs to disband. Rotarians served in various capacities during the war. The concern about a post war world led to a 1942 London Rotary conference. This conference is credited as the origin for the development of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In addition, Rotary is credited with playing an instrumental role in the founding of the United Nations. At least 50 Rotarians served as delegates, advisors, and consultants at the 1945 United Nations Charter Conference. Over the years, many Rotarians have been consultants to the United Nations. Rotary International through the Rotary Foundation funds several other projects in addition to the Ambassadorial Scholarships. The mission of the Rotary Foundation is to support the efforts of Rotary International in the fulfillment of the Object of Rotary, Rotary’s mission, and the achievement of world understanding and peace through local, national, and international humanitarian and educational grants since 1947. These grants are initiated and administered by local Rotary clubs and districts. One program funded by the Foundation is Matching Grants for International Humanitarian Projects. It provides matching funds for international service projects of Rotary clubs and districts. Projects include providing free surgeries for adults and children with congenital deformities or accident related injuries, training poor farmers to improve agricultural output to help feed the hungry and poor villages, and providing literacy programs for children and adults. Over 16,000 matching grants have been approved providing over $165,000,000 to be used in over 190 countries since 1965. Another foundation program is the Health, Hunger, and Humanity (3-H) Grants Program. Originating in 1978, it funds large-scale, on to three year projects that enhance health, help relieve hunger, or improve human development. The 3-H program has funded over 274 projects in 74 countries totaling over $73,000,000. Realizing that children are our future, Rotary has worked since the 1920’s to design programs to reach out to children across all boundaries. Rotary began youth exchanges in 1929. They later became an official program of Rotary International in 1974. Through this program, over 7,000 high school students throughout the world have traveled abroad to live with volunteer Rotary host families. In addition, Rotary has developed other youth programs such as Interact and Rotaract. Of all the important programs sponsored by Rotarians, the most significant is the group’s effort to eradicate polio. In 1985, Rotary International made eradication of polio their highest priority. Since this time, nearly 2,000,000,000 children have been vaccinated against this crippling and deadly disease through the efforts of Rotarians worldwide. Rotary International has plans to raise an additional $80,000,000 to fulfill its goal to eradicate polio by 2005. On the local level, the Florence Rotary Club has achieved 100 percent contributions to the Rotary Foundation by its members in numerous years. It has sponsored numerous individuals for foundation fellowships to engage in graduate studies in various countries throughout the world. The Florence club became the first rotary club in District 6860 to start an International Youth Exchange Program. This exchange program occurred from 1974 through 1977 with Auckland, New Zealand of District 992. Moreover, the Florence club raised $10,000 in 1987-1988 for the eradication of polio. The mission of Rotary International is to support its member clubs in fulfilling the object of Rotary by fostering unity among member clubs; strengthening and expanding Rotary around the world; communicating worldwide the work of Rotary; and providing a system of international administration. Currently there are more than 1,200,000 Rotarians worldwide in over 30,000 Rotary clubs in more than 160 countries. The Florence Rotary Club has worked diligently to promote, fulfill and perpetuate the ideals expressed in the mission statement of Rotary International. The Florence Rotary Club has played a major part in the organization of the Decatur Rotary Club in 1927 and the Russellville Rotary Club in 1960 and more recently the Rogersville Club. Florence Rotarians have served their club and community by playing critical leadership roles in the fields of government, business, law, education, religion, and cultural affairs. As we enter the new millennium, the Florence Rotary Club continues to try and make the world a better place to live by striving to fulfill the Rotary motto of service above self. William Smith December 2003 *From various sources