Rotary International
Rotary was founded by Paul Harris in 1905. A lawyer in Chicago, Illinois, USA, Harris was raised in a rural village in Vermont. He envisaged a new kind of club for professionals that would rekindle the fellowship he had known in his youth. After meeting with three friends, a coal dealer, a merchant tailor and a mining engineer, it was decided that business leaders should meet periodically to enjoy camaraderie and to enlarge their circle of business and professional acquaintances. Meetings were rotated among their places of business and so the name “Rotary” emerged and so too did the commitment to improve the lives of the less fortunate.
When this first Rotary Club of Chicago donated a horse to a preacher in 1907, the Rotary commitment to service was born and Rotary became the world’s first Service Club organisation. By 1910, the International Association of Rotary Clubs was established (later renamed Rotary International).
In 1916, witnessing the growing popularity of the Clubs in various regions worldwide, Rotary set up a District system. The organisation became truly global — transcending national boundaries, race, language, and religion — as Clubs mushroomed throughout Europe, South and Central America, Australia, Africa, and Asia. Rotary was represented on six continents by 1921. To reflect this worldwide presence, the name Rotary International was adopted one year later.
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