Rotary History
The first service club in the world was formed on 23rd February 1905. It was founded when Paul Harris, Hiram Shorey, Silvester Schiele, and Gustavus Loehr met is an office in Chicago. The four men intended to rekindle the friendliness spirit they always knew from their origin towns. When the club was formed its word spread, and many more people were invited to join. The reason as to why they named the club Rotary was to describe the practice of rotational meetings at the various business places of the members (Nicholl 449). The club, however, became large such that it was essential to adopt a common practice of having a regular place of meeting.
Despite the first club being formed for fellowship, it evolved quickly using the resources and talents of the members in service for the community. The Chicago Rotary club had 30 members by the end of the year 1905. After three years another club was formed in San Francisco. In five years, many clubs formed in the U.S, from New York to San Francisco. The first Rotarians convention was held in 1910 in Chicago with the 16 existing clubs forming the National Association of Rotary Clubs (Nicholl 449). The first president elected for the association was the founder Paul Harris.
The club’s name changed in 1912 to the International Association of Rotary Clubs as a reflection of the different clubs formed in other countries. A change of name happened again to Rotary International in 1922. Rotary had an estimate of 108,000 members in six continents and more than 2000 clubs in 1925. It had attracted dignitaries like the prime ministers, presidents, among others(Nicholl 449). The motto of the organization is ‘Serve Above Self, ‘ which is an indication of the service to communities. As the organization grew, so did its activities to the extent of offering assistant during World War I.