Rotary Club of Galesburg, Illinois, USA History
The Galesburg Rotary Club was started locally on April 29, 1914
by twenty of the young aggressive leaders of the city. Reports
of the success of the nearby Rotary Club established in Peoria
encouraged these young men to form a hobby club.
On May 13, 1914, a formal application was made for
affiliation with Rotary International. The Rotary International
rules at that time did not permit clubs in cities as small as
Galesburg. It was believed then that such a small city could not
properly implement the Classification Principle of Rotary. Not
satisfied with the initial failure the charter members began
several months of convincing negotiations. This included
buttonholing the members of the Board of Directors of Rotary
International at the annual convention.
The young men continued to meet as a club even though not
officially recognized. As a result of that
persistence the club Charter was received on December 1, 1914
naming Galesburg as Club No. 133. Galesburg became the first
Rotary Club ever established in a city having a population under
25,000 people.
The same enthusiastic attitude brought immediate success and
rapid growth to the Galesburg Club, whose members have provided
leadership in the Galesburg community since that time.
Chuck Farrar, D6460 Communications Officer
"...many
of the photos of events of that era were lost in a community
library fire in 1957." Chuck Farrar |
