HISTORY OF ROTARY

In the early 1900’s, Paul Harris, a young attorney from Vermont, had resettled himself in Chicago to begin his practice. He was without friends but had several acquaintances in the building in which his office was located. During the evening, after dinner, a group of these young businessmen gathered in one of their offices for idle conversation before going home. It was at this time that Paul Harris first discussed his idea of a businessman’s club and suggested that they might meet periodically for the purpose of becoming better known to each other.

In attendance were Gus Loehr, a mining engineer; Hiram Shorey, a tailor; Silvester Schiele, a coal dealer; and Paul Harris, an attorney. Their first official meeting occurred February 23, 1905 and Rotary was born. They discussed their reasons for meeting and agreed that their hope would be to help the members get new business. To assist with this, they decided to meet, in rotation, at each members place of business. This gave them their name of “Rotary”.

Although business was their primary objective, the germ of an idea of service was being carried with them. Silvester Schiele remarked that “Each of us should be having some thought for the welfare of the other fellow." It was only a step from this to the social welfare of the community which created the first Rotary community project. In 1907 these Rotarians led a campaign to install public toilets in Chicago’s city hall.

The power of the idea of service originated by these first Rotarians was demonstrated by the establishment in 1908 of the second Rotary Club in San Francisco. In those days travel from Chicago to the west coast was done by train and generally took up to 5 days. The following year club #3 was organized in Oakland quickly followed by Los Angeles #5.

The first national convention was held in Chicago during August 1910. By this time there were 16 clubs dotted across the United States. The “National Association of Rotary Clubs” was organized with Paul Harris the President and Chesley Perry the Secretary, a job he held until his retirement in 1942. Two years later the next convention was held in Duluth, Minnesota, with 50 clubs attending. Delegates were there from Winnipeg and Manitoba, Canada, with clubs also having been formed in Ireland and England. The organization had become international.

A significant step was taken during the Houston convention held in 1914. The first “Code of Trade Ethics” was written which defined the club’s official turning from business reciprocity to the principle of service to and thoughtfulness of others.

By 1921 the International Association installed its 1,000th club in York, England. They were joined by clubs in Hawaii, the Philippines, China, Japan, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Also, on May 1, 1921, Club #921 was chartered in Anaheim, California, by the Santa Ana Club, the first in Orange County. This also marked the first year that an international convention was held. Edinburgh, Scotland, was the site.

The 1922 convention was held in Los Angeles and it marked significant progress in the organization of Rotary. A standard constitution was adopted which made provision for continued growth without inhibiting club and country individuality. The Rotary wheel emblem was also adopted that year. There is no official meaning attached to the shape of the pin but each part may be related to a part of Rotary. It consists of a wheel with a rim, 24 cogs, 6 spokes and a keyway. The keyway could represent the individual member that drives the Rotary wheel; the hub the local club which holds the wheel together; the rim, Rotary International which provides the continuity necessary for action and the cogs, the power to transmit Rotary action throughout the world.

January 27, 1947 Paul Harris died. He was a man who will be long remembered for an idea of such power that it has changed the face of the earth and will continue to impact the affairs of all mankind for centuries to come. This was reflected in the 1950 adoption of the official slogan of the Rotary Club: “Service above self- he profits most who serves best”. Rotary continues today as a vibrant, changing service club dedicated to caring concern for all mankind. In December, 1999 it counted 667,413 Paul Harris Fellows, each of whom contributed at least $1,000 to the Rotary Foundation. It had 29,268 clubs in 161 countries around the world to which 1,170,904 Rotarians belonged.

Paul Harris wrote as he reviewed his long association with Rotary: “When one looks back over a long period of years, much which once seemed important fades into insignificance, while other things grow into such commanding importance that one may in truth say, nothing else matters and these include sacrifice, devotion, honor, truth, sincerity and love'.”

THE 4-WAY TEST

From the earliest days of the organization, Rotarians were concerned with promoting high ethical standards in their professional lives. One of the world's most widely printed and quoted statements of business ethics is The 4-Way Test, which was created in 1932 by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor when he was asked to take charge of a company that was facing bankruptcy. This 24-word code of ethics for employees to follow in their business and professional lives became the guide for sales, production, advertising, and all relations with dealers and customers, and the survival of the company is credited to this simple philosophy. Adopted by Rotary in 1943, The 4-Way Test has been translated into more than a hundred languages and published in thousands of ways. It asks the following four questions :

Lack of respect and understanding for one another has long been the bane of elder statesmen and negotiators the world over. This places a primary responsibility on the individual to see that his attitude, in the course of his daily affairs, will indeed contribute to, rather than hinder, the building of mutual respect and understanding. Said the late Sir Angus Mitchell, President of Rotary International (1948-1949), “If each of us were to use the 4-Way Test, we would begin to make progress toward the solution of world problems.”

The method for applying the 4-Way Test is indicated by the Chicago Rotarian who developed it. He suggests that after committing the test to memory, you inwardly enforce it as the standard by which your thoughts, words, and deeds are measured.

The 4-Way Test is currently in use successfully around the world in business, government and schools as an effective measure of conduct. It is a guide to right thinking, and right action. Constantly and consistently applied to relations with others, more effective and mutually beneficial relationships will be realized. Experience has shown that daily application of the Four-Way Test in all our affairs will help one become happier and more successful.