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| Attention
convention goers for the 2043 International Convention: a message from Founder Paul P. Harris. |
| It's not certain exactly when ROTARY/One
began. 23 Feb 1905? Or a few weeks later when Paul Harris
suggested
several names, "Rotary" being one of them. There is also a notation in
the proceedings of the 1910 convention, as follows:
"Whereas, on
February 25, 1904, there was founded Rotary Club of Chicago" What we
do know, from the writings of Paul Harris, is that he got an idea in
1900 after
having dinner with a fellow Chicago attorney. We know, again
from his writing, that his idea was for an organization and that he
already
had some friends in mind. However, it was five years before anything formal occurred! Did he discuss it with anyone. He says he talked to his good friend Silvester Schiele, who became the first president of the club and Harry Ruggles, whom you'll meet if you spend time here. Then, he writes, in "The Founder of Rotary" on page 95, just this brief description: "On the night of February 23, 1905, the first meeting took place at Gus office in the Unity Building. Silvester and Paul had dined together at an Italian restaurant on Chicago's near north side. Gus, by prearrangement, had invited a personal friend, Hiram Shorey, a merchant tailor, a native of the village of Litchfield, in the State of Maine, to whom he had previously introduced Paul. The meeting was enlivened by the relation of personal experiences, after which Paul unfolded the general purposes of his plan." The "Rest of the Story" as Chicago's Paul Harvey would say, "is history," and there's nowhere on earth to explore it like where you are right now. Jack M. B. Selway, Rotary Global History Founder Also see Rotary Global History Day: June 2009 award |
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