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Donation of
Painting by Arch Klumph.
When the Host Organising
committee started out to make a promotion DVD for the 100th
Rotary International Convention they were unaware what direction
into a piece of Rotary History it would take them.
They had established
that Paul Harris had given his first speech to a British Rotary
Club at Birmingham
in 1928 and that during his visit to the area had made visits to Warwick Castle,
Kenilworth and Stratford-on-Avon. The HOC
therefore took President D.K. to visit those places plus many
others and called their DVD ‘Walking in the Footsteps of
Paul Harris’.
When they looked further
into why Paul Harris had visited these towns they found he went
to Stratford-on-Avon to see a picture in the Royal Shakespeare
Theatre that his friend
Arch Klumph had presented on behalf of the American Rotary
Clubs.
 We
looked into the story behind this and found that Arch Klumph had
visited the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and saw the paintings on
display of Shakespearean actors from around the world but no one
from the
United States. He returned to
the states and set about putting that right.
Hence on August 24th 1922 at a meeting of the
New York Rotary Club a painting of the famous
Shakespearian actor Edwin Booth was presented to Arch
Klumph by Club President Robert L. Hatch on behalf of American
Rotary. The painting commissioned by Mr E.F. Albee as a gift to
American Rotary was painted by J.A. Mohlte.
Edwin Booth started on
stage at the age of 16 and became one of
America’s most famous actors;
known especially for his renditions of Hamlet, Iago and Shylock.
The brother of the unsuccessful actor who shot President
Lincoln, he built a splendid Theatre in New
York something that made him penniless, but he
bounced back the next year earning £120000.00 acting in
California. He died in 1893 at the age
of 59.
Following the
presentation at New York, which was
attended by many, celebrities, politicians, and actors. Arch
Klumph let a delegation of his committee and Director’s of
Rotary to Stratford-on-Avon and on
September 29th 1922 the presentation was
made.
It was a grand affair
with a precession of those attending marching through the street
of lead by the Mayor of Stratford, Arch Klumph and his party of
Rotarians from America, the President of Rotary Clubs in Great
Britain and Ireland G.J.P. Arnold and Rotarians from all over
Great Britain and Ireland They were joined by local dignitaries
and many Shakespearian actors.
In his speech
Arch Klumph said
the painting was a gift from the Rotary Clubs of America
to the Shakespeare Gallery at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. He
said it was a gift of friendship for British Rotary and the
British People in the belief that such gifts helped to bring
peoples together and create a bond between English speaking
peoples.
The HOC have been in
touch with the Royal Shakespeare Theatre who have been more than
helpful, I have now been to see the picture which is in store,
and in the museum in Stratford there are cutting from the press
reports at that time including Spokes, the weekly magazine of
the New York Rotary Club, the Christian Science Monitor and the
local press in the Stratford-on-Avon area. These cuttings are
too frail to photocopy however the curator of the Theatre has
photographed them for me so we have a record.
The painting and
its wonderful frame needs some restoration and we are
hoping that the Rotary Foundation or someone else can find the
money to restore this piece of Rotary History. It is estimated
the cost will be between £2000 and £2500.
We have been offered the
painting for display in the 2009 Convention House of Friendship
and the Theatre would consider a five year loan if we could find
a suitable place to hang it such as the
Birmingham Town Hall or a museum,
Peter L. Offer
Vice Chairman HOEC,
Rotary International Convention Birmingham 2009
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