After War was declared by honorary
Rotarian Woodrow Wilson
on April 6th 1917, the Chicago #1 Club
immediately set up a War Services Committee. Initially, the
chairman was no less than past president of the
International Association Allan D. Albert. Other members of
that committee included Paul Harris and Chesley Perry –
himself a war veteran from the Spanish-American war. Some
Club members volunteered to fight while others put their
talents into administration in Washington or joined the
Illinois Reserve.
The
first tangible effort of Chicago was to establish the “U.S
Boys Working Reserve” to cope with food shortages. This idea
led by Howard H Gross allowed the youngsters to do something
positive for their nation by working the land. Gross took
only a day to persuade the Chicago Board of Education while
at the same time raised over $2,000 from sympathetic
Rotarians.
Another Chicago Rotarian, A M Briggs helped set up the
American Protective League in order to combat German
propagandists and agents. Rotary’s Board of Directors
welcomed this proposal and after approval Briggs left for
the capitol. President Wilson listened to Briggs plan and
said: “Thank you for coming. Please do all you can to
expedite this. I deeply appreciate the interest shown by
your Rotary Club.
Secretly, Ches Perry spread the word to other Rotary Clubs
in the large cities and soon over 200 similar organisations
were founded. The aim of the AML, Perry outlined at its
first meeting: “The people at large are being misled and
endangered, all of it a part of a diabolical plan. We must
organize a counterattack to expose and stop these practices
wherever possible.”
Rotary One also contributed many millions of dollars towards
Liberty Bonds and openly helped the US Marines recruitment
drive by providing typewriters and stenographers for their
offices.
At
the end of hostilities, Rotary One held a Victory Ball but
complacency didn’t set in. Soldiers homecomings and
demobilization needed help as well as Victory parades.
