BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ROTARY INTERNATIONAL
Our 1.2-million-member organization started with the vision of one man -
Paul P. Harris. The Chicago attorney formed one of the world’s first service
organizations, the Rotary Club of Chicago, on 23 February 1905 as a place
where professionals with diverse backgrounds could exchange ideas and
form meaningful, lifelong friendships. Rotary’s name came from the group’s
early practice of rotating meetings among the offices of each member.
On 23 February 1905, Harris, Gustavus Loehr, Silvester Schiele, and Hiram
Shorey gathered at Loehr’s office in Room 711 of the Unity Building in
downtown Chicago. This was the first Rotary club meeting. They decided to
call the new club “Rotary” after the practice of rotating meeting locations.
Within five years clubs had formed across the country, from San Francisco
to New York.
In August 1910, Rotarians held their first convention in Chicago. The
16 clubs that existed at that time united to form the National
Association of Rotary Clubs. In 1912, the name changed to
International Association of Rotary Clubs to reflect the addition of
clubs in other countries. The name Rotary International was adopted
in 1922. By July 1925, Rotary had grown to more than 2,000 clubs
and an estimated 108,000 members on six continents. The
organization adopted the Rotary International name a year later. As
Rotary grew, its mission expanded beyond serving club members’
professional and social interests. Rotarians began pooling their
resources and contributing their talents to help serve communities in
need. The organization’s dedication to this ideal is best expressed in
its motto: “Service Above Self”. During World War II, many clubs
were forced to disband, while others stepped up their service efforts
to provide emergency relief to victims of the war. In 1942, looking
ahead to the postwar era, Rotarians called for a conference to
promote international educational and cultural exchanges. This
event inspired the founding of UNESCO. In 1989, the organization voted to admit women into
clubs worldwide and now claims more
than 282,550 female members (as of 2nd July 2021) in its ranks.
Today there are around 11,67,000 Rotarians with over 37,000 Rotary
clubs in 534 Rotary districts in 220 countries and geographical areas
(as of 2nd July 2021)