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The Strange case of Abraham Lincoln, Tony Blair and Rotary |
 In
a dusty warehouse in Stratford on Avon in England, there lies a portrait
of the noted American Shakespearean actor, Edwin Booth. Once upon a
time, this picture had an inscription on it reminding everyone that it
had been presented by American Rotarians. Indeed, when Paul Harris was
touring Britain in 1928, he made a special point of visiting
Stratford-on-Avon where, on Friday June 1, he was shown some of the many
places of interest in the town by the local Rotary President Fred
Ballance and the Secretary, Robert Lunn. In particular he asked to see
the full length portrait of the "celebrated tragedian Edwin Booth", the
brother of John Wilkes Booth, who shot Abraham Lincoln.The story of how this came to be in Stratford is complicated. It all started at the 1921 Convention in Edinburgh. There, Past President of Rotary, Arch Klumph, learned that the United States  was the only country in
which the plays of William Shakespeare were regularly performed, but
which had no item on display in the Memorial Theatre Gallery at
Stratford on Avon. He happened to mention this to a fellow member of the
Cleveland Club, E.F. Albee the well known impresario. On their return to
the United States, Albee immediately commissioned J.A. Mohlte, a well
respected New York artist, to paint a replica of the famous painting of
Edwin Booth by Sargent, the original of which hung in the Players Club
in New York. On August 24, 1922, at a meeting of the New York Rotary Club held at the Hotel Astor, Albee presented the Mohlte portrait to Rotary so that it could be donated by them to the Stratford gallery. The meeting at the Astor was attended by a distinguished group of more than 700 members and guests, among them such luminaries as Eugene O'Neil and Robert Mantell. A full record of the key speeches can be found in 'The Rotarian' for October 1922. For a few days the painting was exhibited at the Knoedler Gallery in New York and then on September 1, it was taken by a group of Rotarians, led by Arch Klumph, on board the S.S. Majestic and escorted to England. Later that month, on September 29, 1922, the little group, complete with the picture, arrived in Stratford on Avon for the presentation. A very distinguished party of Rotarians and celebrities processed through the streets of the town to the theatre, led by the civic mace bearers in full period costume, and by the Mayor of Stratford. Members of the Board of Governors of the Memorial Theatre and of British Rotary joined the procession, and in the auditorium the waiting audience included Count John McCormack the Irish singer, Mary Anderson, Marie Corelli and many senior Diplomats, Rotarians and local dignitaries.  Arch
C. Klumph, who had been commissioned to act on behalf of RI, made the
presentation to the Governors of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at a
ceremony arranged with the help of local Rotarians and of the Birmingham
Rotary Club in particular, and of the Rotary International Association
for Great Britain and Ireland in general. The portrait not only filled
the gap in the Gallery's array, but served as a memorial to Edwin Booth,
one of America's greatest Shakespearean actors; it was an inspiration to
future actors, and an expression of international appreciation. Both Klumph's speech and those of other speakers were also reported in full in 'The Rotarian' for December 1922. Madame de Navarro, better known as the actress Mary Anderson spoke eloquently about Booth and his superb interpretations of Shakespearean characters, at a celebratory dinner that evening. The three volumes were found later at the home of Arch Klumph's grandson and were brought to the 2009 Convention in Birmingham by members of the Cleveland Club. Afterwards, they were taken back to Ohio.  This
was not, however, the end of the story, because the Memorial Theatre was
destroyed in a disastrous fire in March 1926. Luckily the Library and
the Memorial Gallery escaped more or less intact and the picture was
still on show when Paul Harris visited there in 1928. The theatre itself
was rebuilt in 1932 and the portrait was for many years on show
alongside those of such other celebrated Shakespearean actors as David
Garrick, Sarah Siddons and Ellen Terry. According to a small plaque on
it, the painting was "Presented by Arch Klumph of Cleveland, on behalf
of Rotary International, to the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre." With
increasing pressure on space in recent years, some of the items in the
gallery have had to be put in store in the theatre's Costume and
Artifacts warehouse and the Mohlte picture is one of these. Perhaps, if
there was enough interest, the picture could be retrieved, restored and
either put on show in the nearby RIBI offices in Alcester or even
returned to American Rotary. So
what has this to do with the Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair?
For those who may be unaware, the wife of the present British Prime
Minister was formerly Cherie Booth. She shares with John Wilkes Booth
and Edwin, a common descent from one Richard Booth. John Wilkes Booth,
who was born in 1838, was the grandson of Richard Booth, a lawyer, and
his wife Jane Elizabeth Game. Another of Richard Booth's sons was Algernon Sidney Booth and it is this Booth who was the great, great, great, grandfather of Cherie. This is just the sort of connection which we in the Genealogy Fellowship like to make! This painting was also featured at the 100th convention of Rotary, in Birmingham UK in 2009.  Additional
research with our thanks to *RIBI and RGHF board member Tim Tucker
 *Liz Evans Operations Administrator & Presidential Secretarial Support Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland Kinwarton Road, Alcester, Warwickshire B49 6PB |
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