Paul Harris, Founder of Rotary International
Paul
P. Harris (1868-1947), a lawyer, was the founder of Rotary, the
world's first and most international service club. Rotary is an
organization of business and professional leaders united worldwide
who provide humanitarian service, promote high ethical standards in
all vocations, and help build good will and peace in the world.
Born in Racine, Wisconsin, U.S.A. on 19 April 1868, Paul was the
second of six children to George N. Harris and Cornelia Bryan
Harris. At age 3 he moved to Wallingford, Vermont where he grew up
in the care of his paternal grandparents. Married to Jean Thompson
Harris (1881-1963), they had no children. He received an LL.B. from
the University of Iowa and received an honorary LL.D. from the
university of Vermont.
Paul Harris worked as a newspaper reporter, a business teacher,
stock company actor, cowboy, and traveled extensively in the U.S.A.
and Europe selling marble and granite. In 1896, he went to Chicago
to practice law. One evening Paul went with a professional friend to
his suburban home. After dinner, as they strolled through
neighborhood, Paul's friend introduced him to various tradesmen in
their stores. This reminded Paul of his New England village and it
occurred to him "Why not have a fellowship composed of businessmen
from different occupations, without restrictions of politics or
religion?"
On 23 February, 1905, Paul Harris formed the first club with three
other businessmen: Silvester Schiele, a coal merchant; Gustavus
Loehr, a mining engineer; and Hiram Shorey, a merchant tailor. Paul
Harris named the new club "Rotary because members met in rotation at
their various places of business. Club membership grew rapidly. Many
members were from small towns and in the Rotary club they found an
opportunity for camaraderie. When Paul Harris became president of
the club in its third year, he was convinced that the Rotary club
could be developed into an important service movement and strove to
extend Rotary to other cities.
The second Rotary club was founded in San Francisco in 1908. In
August, 1910, when there were 16 clubs, the National Association of
Rotary Clubs was organized. When clubs were formed in Canada and
Great Britain, the name was changed to the International Association
of Rotary Clubs in 1912, and was later shortened to Rotary
International in 1922. Paul Harris was the first president of both
the National Association and the International Association. As
Rotary spanned the globe, branch offices were in Europe and Asia. In
1932 the Four Way Test was created. Two world wars changed the face
of Rotary -Eastern Europe was closed to Rotary until 1989 when clubs
were reestablished in Poland and Hungary. In 1990 the first club was
opened in the Soviet Union.
When President emeritus Paul Harris passed away on 27 January 1947,
his dream had grown from an informal meeting of four to some 6,000
clubs brought together through the service and fellowship of Rotary.
Worldwide, Rotarians lend their time, expertise and resources to a
number of vocational programs, and community and international
service projects. The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International
carries out some US $60 million annually in international education
and humanitarian programs, providing grants which save lives and
improve conditions throughout the world; and sponsors international
ambassadors of good will through educational awards to university
students and teachers, and through international exchange of
business and professional people. Today, the Rotary Foundation
scholarships program a the world's largest privately-funded
international scholarships program, approximately 1,000 scholarships
are awarded annually. Through its PolioPlus Program, Rotarians
raised some US $230 million to purchase polio vaccine and to support
"social mobilization," the motivation of public and private sectors
and thousands of volunteers to perform immunization campaigns.
Paul was also prominent in other civic and professional work. He
served as the first chairman of the board of the National Easter
Seal Society of Crippled Children and Adults in the U.S.A. and of
the International Society for Crippled Children. He was a member of
the board of managers of the Chicago Bar Association and its
representative at the International Congress of Law at the Hague,
and a committee member of the American Bar Association. He received
the Silver Buffalo Award from the Boy Scouts of America for
distinguished service to youth, and was decorated by the governments
of Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France and Peru.
(This biography of Paul Harris is from the Rotary Clubs of Contra Costa County)