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The first Kiwanis club was organized
in Detroit, Michigan. The group received
a charter from the state of Michigan on
January 21, 1915, and this is regarded
as the birth date of Kiwanis.
The first clubs were organized to
promote the exchange of business among
the members. However, even before the
Detroit club received its state charter,
the members were distributing Christmas
baskets to the poor. A lively debate
ensued between those who supported
community service as the Kiwanis mission
and those who supported the exchange of
business. By 1919, the service advocates
won the debate.
Kiwanis became international with the
organization of the Kiwanis club of
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, in 1916.
Kiwanis limited its membership to the
United States and Canada until 1962,
when worldwide expansion was approved.
Since then, Kiwanis has spread to all
inhabited continents of the globe.
Kiwanis was defined as “an
organization for men” in the
constitution and adopted in 1924. In
1987, after several years of debate and
growing support, women’s membership
received overwhelming approval.
Six Canadians have served as Kiwanis
International President. The first
International President elected from
outside the two founding nations of the
US and Canada was Ian Perdriau AM from
Australia, who served in 1994-95.
Eyjólfur Sigurđsson of Iceland was the
1995-96 International President, and
Juan F. Torres Jr., MD, of the
Philippines, was president in 2002-03. |
