Rotary International history

The second Rotary club was formed in 1908 half a continent away from Chicago in San Francisco, California.

1910: First national Rotary convention is held.

On 22 February 1911, the first meeting of the Rotary Club Dublin was held in Dublin, Ireland.

In April 1912, Rotary chartered the Winnipeg club marking the first establishment of an American-style service club outside the United States.

The year was 1914 when San Francisco Rotarians boarded a special train to attend the Rotary convention being held in Houston.

The first official Rotary flag reportedly was flown in Kansas City Missouri, in January 1915.

A year later the "Rotary Endowment Fund," as it was first labeled, received its first contribution of $26.50 from the Rotary Club of Kansas City, which was the balance of the Kansas City Convention account following the 1918 annual meeting.

Asia’s first club was established in Manila, Philippines in 1919.

By 1921, Rotary clubs had been formed on six continents, and the organization adopted the name Rotary International a year later.

1922: The name Rotary International is adopted among the organizations more than 1,000 chapters worldwide.

The Cradle, a nonsectarian adoption home, was founded in Evanston in 1923.

By 1925, Rotary had grown to 200 clubs with more than 20,000 members.

Four years later they had again grown to six and were revised again in 1927.

A decade later, The Rotary Foundation was formally established at the 1928 Minneapolis Convention.

By 1929, there were more than 3,000 chartered Rotary Clubs, with membership amounting to more than 100,000.

The Foundation awarded its first humanitarian grant (US$500) in 1930 to the International Society for Crippled Children.

6 - THE 4-WAY TEST One of the most widely printed and quoted statements of business ethics in the world is the Rotary "4-Way Test." It was created by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor in 1932 when he was asked to take charge of the Chicago based Club Aluminum Company, which was facing bankruptcy.

In 1939 an extensive Youth Exchange was created between California and Latin America.

During this same time, the monthly magazine The Rotarian was published mere floors below by Atwell Printing and Binding Company. It was only after his passing in 1940 that Japanese militants were able to push Japan into joining the Axis Powers in WWII.

The 4-Way Test was adopted by Rotary in 1943 and has been translated into more than 100 languages and published in thousands of ways.

Schiele died on 17 December 1945 and is buried near Harris at Mount Hope Cemetery.

Attended by ministers of education and observers from around the world, and chaired by a past president of RI, the conference was an impetus to the establishment of UNESCO in 1946.

The first Rotary Foundation Fellowships, created in memory of founder Paul Harris, who died in 1947, were granted to 18 students for the 1947--48 school year.

The organization held its first international conference in 1948 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with members from all over the world in attendance.

1953: Rotary headquarters moves to Evanston, Illinois.

46 - PAUL HARRIS FELLOWS Undoubtedly the most important step to promote voluntary giving to The Rotary Foundation occurred in 1957, when the idea of Paul Harris Fellow recognition was first proposed.

He died on 23 October 1959, an honorary member of seven clubs in addition to his home club, the Rotary Club of Chicago.

Since the first exchange between districts in California and Japan in 1965, the program has provided educational experiences for about 25,000 business and professional men and women who have served on about 5,500 teams.

42 - HEALTH, HUNGER AND HUMANITY GRANTS In 1978, Rotary launched its most comprehensive humanitarian service activity with the Health, Hunger and Humanity Program.

In 1979, Rotary began a project to immunize six million children against polio in the Philippines.

In 1984 it was further explored by a New Programs Committee of The Rotary Foundation.

In 1985, Rotary launched its PolioPlus program to immunize all of the world's children against polio.

First admitted in 1987, women are today the fastest-growing segment of Rotary membership, and increasingly hold leadership positions within the organisation.

By 1988, Rotarians of the world had raised more than $219 million in cash and pledges.

After the relaxation of government control of community groups in Russia and former Soviet satellite nations, Rotarians were welcomed as club organizers, and clubs were formed in those countries, beginning with the Moscow club in 1990.

In 1994 there were more than 149,000 members in more than 6,500 Rotaract clubs in 107 countries.

In 1996 Rotary International reported that the number of clubs with women presidents grew 50 percent during that year, amounting to more than 1,700 female presidents of local clubs within the organization.

Rotary International had approximately 1.2 million members worldwide, and donations amounted to slightly more than $170 million by the end of fiscal 1998.

By the year 2005 – the target date for certification of a polio-free world – Rotarian contributions to the global polio eradication effort will reach a half billion US dollars.

As of 2006, Rotary had more than 1.2 million members in over 32,000 clubs among 200 countries and geographical areas, making it the most widespread by branches and second largest service club by membership, behind Lions Clubs International.