The World's First Service Club
The Rotary Club of Chicago, Illinois, USA, was formed on 23 February 1905 by Paul P. Harris, an attorney who wished to recapture in a professional club the same friendly spirit he had felt in the small towns of his youth. The name "Rotary" derived from the early practice of rotating meetings among members' offices.
Rotary's popularity spread throughout the United States and in the decade that followed clubs were chartered from San Francisco to New York.
By 1921, Rotary clubs had been formed on six continents, and the organization adopted the name Rotary International a year later.
As Rotary grew, its mission expanded beyond serving the professional and social interests of club members. Rotarians began pooling their resources and contributing their talents to help serve communities in need.
The organization's dedication to this ideal is best expressed in its principal motto: Service Above Self.
Rotary also later embraced a code of ethics, called The 4-Way Test, that has since been translated into hundreds of languages.
World War II
During and after World War II, Rotarians became increasingly involved in promoting international understanding. In 1945, 49 Rotary members served in 29 delegations to the United Nations Charter Conference.
Polio Plus
In 1985, Rotary made a historic commitment to immunize all of the world's children against polio. Working in partnership with nongovernmental organizations and national governments through its Polio Plus program, Rotary is the largest private-sector contributor to the global polio eradication campaign. Rotarians have mobilized hundreds of thousands of Polio Plus volunteers and have immunized more than one billion children worldwide.
By the 2005 target date for certification of a polio-free world, Rotary had contributed half a billion dollars to the cause.
The New Millennium
As it approached the dawn of the 21st century, Rotary worked to meet the changing needs of society, expanding its service effort to address such pressing issues as environmental degradation, illiteracy, world hunger, and children at risk.
The organization admitted women for the first time (worldwide) in 1989 and claims more than 145,000 women in its ranks today.
Following the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Rotary clubs were formed or re-established throughout Central and Eastern Europe.
Today, 1.2 million Rotarians belong to some 32,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas.
The Rotary Centenary
Rotary International celebrated it's Centenary on February 23rd 2005.
Various projects were undertaken to mark this momentous occasion and, after our first "Century of Service", we look forward to our next "Century of Success."
