History of Rotary Series

This series on the History of Rotary is a reproduced from a series of posts on Rotary Club of Bandar Sungai Petani's Facebook page from 9th to 23rd February 2014, which is the anniversary of Rotary.

How it all began...

14 days to Rotary's 109th birthday...

How it all began...

Paul P. Harris, an attorney, wanted to create a professional group with the same friendly spirit he felt in the small towns of his youth. On 23 February 1905, Harris, Gustavus Loehr, Silvester Schiele, and Hiram Shorey gathered at Loehr’s office in Room 711 of the Unity Building in downtown Chicago. This was the first Rotary club meeting. They decided to call the new club “Rotary” after the practice of rotating meeting locations.

Within five years clubs had formed across the country, from San Francisco to New York.

In August 1910, Rotarians held their first convention in Chicago. The 16 clubs that existed at that time united to form the National Association of Rotary Clubs.

In 1912, the name changed to International Association of Rotary Clubs to reflect the addition of clubs in other countries. The name Rotary International was adopted in 1922.

By July 1925, Rotary had grown to more than 2,000 clubs and an estimated 108,000 members on six continents.

Rotary’s reputation attracted presidents, prime ministers, and a host of other luminaries to its ranks — among them author Thomas Mann, diplomat Carlos P. Romulo, and composer Jean Sibelius.

As Rotary grew, members pooled their resources and used their talents to serve their communities. The organization's dedication to this ideal is best expressed in its motto: Service Above Self.

The Founder of Rotary...

PAUL P. HARRIS
(19 April 1868 - 27 January 1947)

One day in the fall of 1900, Paul P. Harris met attorney Bob Frank for dinner in a well-off neighbourhood on the North Side of Chicago. They took a walk around the area and stopped at shops along the way. Harris was impressed by how Frank had made friends with many of the shopkeepers.

Since moving to Chicago to set up his law practice, Harris had not encountered the kind of camaraderie that Frank enjoyed with his fellow businessmen. He wondered whether there was a way to channel and expand this type of fellowship, which reminded him of the New England town where he'd grown up.

Eventually, Harris persuaded other local businessmen to meet and discuss forming a club for commercial trade, community, and fellowship. On 23 February 1905, they held what would later become known as the first Rotary club meeting.

At the end of his second term, Harris resigned, citing ill health, “husbandly duties,” and the demands of his professional practice. He was elected president emeritus by convention action, a title he held until his death.

In the mid-1920s, Harris became actively involved in Rotary again, attending conventions and visiting clubs throughout the world.

Harris, Gustavus Loehr, Silvester Schiele, and Hiram Shorey gathered at Loehr’s office in Room 711 of the Unity Building in downtown Chicago to discuss the idea of forming the new organization. They later held a second meeting, to which they invited a fifth member, Harry Ruggles. By the third meeting, which had a greater turnout than the previous ones, the club members had elected Schiele as their first president.

Albert White succeeded Schiele to become the club's second president. Harris deferred any club leadership duties until February 1907, when he was elected the third president of the Rotary Club of Chicago, a position he held until the fall of 1908. During his presidency, he formed the Executive Committee, later called the Ways and Means Committee, which met during lunch and was open to any member of the club. The noon meeting was the foundation for Rotary's tradition of club luncheon meetings.

Toward the end of his club presidency, Harris covertly worked to extend Rotary beyond Chicago. Initially, some club members resisted extension, not wanting to shoulder the additional financial burden it would involve. Harris and other Rotarians persisted and by 1910 Rotary had expanded to several other major U.S. cities. Harris recognized the need to form an executive board of directors and a national association. In August 1910, largely because of Harris's work, Rotarians held their first national convention in Chicago. The 16 clubs then in existence unified as the National Association of Rotary Clubs. The new association unanimously elected Harris as its president.

How it all began in Malaysia…

The history of Rotary's spread to Malaysia is like most other regions, due to the influence and hard work of one of the early leaders and extensionists of Rotary. If it was not for the tireless work in discussing the ideals of Rotary and what it might mean to the local populations, the introduction to South East Asia may have taken much longer.

Jim Davidson of the Rotary Club of Calgary, Canada was appointed by Paul Harris to do just that - spread the word of Rotary as far afield as he desired, and that he did.

Having visited Burma (now Myanmar) in 1928, Davidson entered Malaysia via treacherous terrain and non-existent roads, with his first port of call being the British settlement of Penang. His meetings there resulted in the later formation of one of the first of seven clubs in what was then, the Federated States of Malaya. Continuing in a southerly direction towards Singapore, he then stopped in Ipoh, a large town developed around tin mining and timber industries, a day’s drive (in those days) north of Kuala Lumpur where more meetings met with similar success. Port Klang was a busy sea port servicing the inland and a new club was rapidly formed.

A few miles inland on roads used by transport to and from the busy sea port, he met with local residents of the capital, Kuala Lumpur which, as years went by, became the largest and most active club in the country.

South from Kuala Lumpur his next stop was Seremban. Despite its being many months since he visited Penang, Seremban became the first club in Malaysia to be chartered due to a lucky timing with infrequent shipping to America and some efficient paper-handling by the local British residents.

Some weeks later came Malacca (now Melaka) and lastly, Singapore which in those days, was a part of the Malayan federation.

In all cases, the British presence in Malaya was very strong. Many had knowledge or experience of Rotary in Britain and America and in most cases, formed the nucleus of these new clubs.

However, Davidson was aware of the dangers of large expatriate membership of itinerant foreigners and insisting on greater local representation, all original Certificates of Charter show a high proportion of local residents.

All these 7 clubs were formed within the period from September 1929 to September 1930. Davidson's travels were less than 1 year so we can assume that delays were caused more by infrequent shipping of documents than any other cause.

Malaysia is now divided into two districts, the northern part of the peninsula being allocated District 3300. The southern half of the peninsula together with the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak are classified as District 3310 which also includes the small nations of Singapore and Brunei.

History of the Rotary Wheel

In 1905, Paul Harris and his club agreed that a wheel should be the emblem of Rotary.

Harry Ruggles, a printer, chose a buggy wheel that was simple in design, a bold circle with a hub and spokes. It was enthusiastically accepted by the first Rotary Club, of which Ruggles was member number five. Ruggles is therefore credited for designing the first "print" or "name badge" version of the wheel.

By 1906, some thought the design was too plain. Montague M. Bear, an engraver, added a few clouds (that looked like dust) and little marks to the design to indicate a wheel in motion. The words "Rotary Club" were added above the wheel.

When someone pointed out that a "cloud of dust could not be raised fore and aft, even by Rotary," the design was changed again. The clouds of dust were subdued and a ribbon reading "Rotary Club" was added across the wheel. The words "Rotary Club", above the wheel, were replaced by "Chicago".

Other Rotary clubs had been forming their own emblem, using the wheel as a basic design. Many added features to identify their club with their city, such as a buffalo for Buffalo, N.Y., an oak tree for Oakland, California, etc.

In 1910, there were 16 Rotary Clubs and 16 designs. That was the year of the first Rotary convention, held in Chicago, the birthplace of Rotary. The National Association of Rotary Clubs was formed. The word "Chicago", above the wheel, was replaced by "National Association".

The direct forerunner of the official Rotary emblem came from the Rotary Club of Philadelphia, which was developing its first emblem around 1911. In 1912, a gear wheel in royal blue and gold was adopted as the official emblem. (By 1920, there were 57 different emblems nationwide.)

After they complained the wheel was mechanically unsound, Oscar B. Bjoge and Charles Henry Mackintosk redesigned it. Within a couple of years, it was noted that the wheel had no keyway (notched hole in the middle) and, without it, the gear was not capable of transmitting power to, or from, the shaft.

The re-engineered, mechanically-correct Rotary wheel was approved by the RI Board in 1924. The “new” emblem, in royal blue and gold, remained unchanged, and worked happily, for decades.

In 2011, one of the top agencies in the world, Siegel + Gale, were contracted to undertake a study and to revitalise Rotary.

Having made that decision, elevating the Rotary name was the first critical step in re-energising the logo. Not only did scaling up the word "Rotary" in proportion to the wheel symbol put the more proprietary identity component up front and centre, it also unified the two parts of the organization -- Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation -- under one powerful banner.

Likewise, the colour of the heritage gold, the standard through 2007, was revived because it is so visually effective against a wide range of backgrounds. The wheel is applied boldly as a mark of excellence – a pledge of commitment, a symbol of leadership, a sign of social and ethical responsibility.

However, the Rotary pin will not change. It remains the blue-and-gold metal logo that identifies Rotarians worldwide.

What does the Rotary Wheel Mean?

We start with the perimeter, with the 24 teeth. These could be seen as the clubs, each prepared and willing to engage with other clubs, or organisations, around the world. With the object of doing good. They could also be seen, as pointing outwards, to the many directional activities of Rotary, through its wide variety of international programmes.

The solid band in blue and gold, which supports the teeth, gives the strength which is needed to transmit the power, and hold the Rotary movement as one. It carries the inscription "Rotary International". It had four segments which could represent the four avenues of service. The six spokes bind together the hub and the rim. They may be seen as the Districts, moving the power, from its source, to the working elements, which are the teeth, representing the clubs. Why six spokes? Well this divides the twenty four teeth, to give us a reminder, of the four way test.

The hub is absolutely central, to ensure that the whole gear runs true to its purpose. It has that vital notch, which we call, the keyway, which locks the hub to the drive shaft. "Well", you will say, "there is no drive shaft". Maybe we overlook the fact, that not everything in this world is visible or tangible. There is that element, which the religions of the world, call "faith". In Rotary we can see it as a shared belief. The power and the energy which is created, when people of like mind, are committed to releasing this energy. In our case, it is through "Service Above Self".

All we need now, to power up the gear wheel, with all its potential, is to lock the drive shaft to the hub, by putting the key in the keyway. In all this, we have not mentioned, the Rotarian but we can now see, that he or she is, in fact, the key. Without the key the whole concept fails, there just has to be a commitment by the individual Rotarian.

Now all this has a strong mechanical, engineering connotation. One can almost feel the grease between thumb and finger, and smell the hot oil from the bearings. Like all things mechanical, we can get failure, or partial failure. A common failure could be caused by slippage. Slippage haunts us, still, in this computer age. Indeed it can be so severe that the whole exercise can fail and disappear.

With our Rotary wheel, this is most likely in two areas. One, a failure of the teeth, that is, the clubs, to engage with others to good purpose, Two, more importantly, failure to have the key in the keyway, or only partially so. This can slow down the whole movement, or cause it to chatter, to run unevenly, and reduce the effectiveness of the clubs. In the Rotary setup, slippage is quite easy to detect. As it develops, we can all become aware of it.

We can feel the slippage when we come to a poorly attended meeting, when the meeting is subdued, and lacks vitality. There is further, very obvious slippage, when a number of members leave the meeting, before the speaker starts. Then, of course, there is the fireside, or committee meeting, with an attendance of only a fraction of its members. Or the undermanned club project. All are evidence of slippage, and all affect performance.

When we accept that part of the symbolism, which puts the Rotarian in the keyway, then, no matter what interpretation we put on the rest of the wheel, the whole thing depends on you, the Rotarian. You may not always be able to be "in the slot" but you should know that you will be missed, because no one else can make your unique contribution.

The Rotary wheel emblem is a good one. It is designed for work and involvement. The Rotary movement is a worldwide one, of real significance, and tremendous potential. It has impressive statistics as to numbers of members, clubs, districts, and countries, international projects and contacts. It is possible, that with the warm fuzzies, which the big picture evokes, we may be losing sight of the importance of the individual.

Perhaps, in our fascination with the whole movement, and its emblem, we should refocus our attention, on the small slot, the keyway, in the middle, and the importance of those who fill it, and whom we invite to fill it.