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One of the less well known Rotary
Clubs and, indeed, one that was never chartered was the ALLIED
ROTARY CLUB OF FRANCE. Before he left the United States for Europe
in the later days of world war one, Ancil
Brown, the secretary of the Indianapolis RC and
auditor for the YMCA, was authorised by the Board
of the IARC to arrange
regular meetings for Rotarians stationed in Paris or its vicinity.
So it was that a few months before
the end of the First World War, on August 23, 1918, the club was
launched at an evening meal at the  Hotel
Continental in Paris. Subsequently, a lunch meeting was held every
Thursday at 12.15 at which all Rotarians were welcome. There were to be
no fees and the lunch cost was kept to 15 francs. The hotel management
had set aside a "capacious and handsomely furnished hall just off the
main rotunda" and had designated it 'The Rotary Room'. Dr W. H. Taylor,
a distinguished ophthalmologist working with the Red Cross, was the
secretary and Ancil Brown
the President. Dr Taylor
had been one of the organisers and founder secretary of the RC of
Mobile, Ala.
(Article at left from Wolfgang
Ziegler)
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A cable to Ches
Perry in
Chicago from Ancil Brown conveyed greetings from 'The Allied Rotary Club
in France' and gave news of the inaugural meeting. It also invited all
those "going overseas in the service of the Army or Navy, YMCA, Red
Cross, etc" to visit the club and attendance records which reached
Chicago in 1920 show that over a hundred Rotarians did so.
Among them were Rotarians General
Pershing, William Sharp, the American Ambassador and James Perkins,
the American Red Cross Commissioner in Europe.
The Rotary custom of using first names was maintained,
replacing military saluting and observance of rank, and the relaxed
atmosphere was much appreciated in a time of stress. Meetings continued
after the Armistice although Dr Taylor was sent to Poland before
returning to Washington D.C. in 1920. Exactly when the last meetings
were held is uncertain but by 1921 a properRotary Club of Paris had
come into existence.
There was one other oddity about this club. A report
about the Allied Rotary Club in the 'The New York Herald' for August 28,
1918 read: "There are more than 12.000 sons of Rotarians in service in
France, and it is hoped to reach these, and the daughters too, so as to
render any counsel or help that may be necessary. To this end all such
sons and daughters are requested to write to the secretary, Dr Taylor,
giving the name of their father and that of the Rotarian Club to which
he belongs in the US, Canada, or Great Britain." Wives of Rotarians do
not seem to have been included!
Basil Lewis |
