History: a study of the club archives

“An Interesting Glimpse of Paul Harris”

Club minutes for 1936 as preserved in our archives provide an intriguing glimpse into the early life of our founder, Paul Harris. A clipping in those minutes sent us to the Internet to learn more. Paul Harris was much more than the earnest, upright businessman I had envisioned.

“Go to a small town and make a fool of your self for five years, then move to a big city,” urged the commencement speaker at Paul's graduation from the University of Iowa's law school in 1891.

Instead, Paul took five years to see the world and get to know his fellow man. He worked as a reporter in San Francisco and Denver. He tried his hand at acting. He picked oranges near Los Angles. He rode the range in cattle country. He sold marble and granite. As a seaman he crossed the Atlantic twice in a cattle ship.

Venturesome was not new to Paul Harris. Although his mother could trace her ancestry back to the Mayflower, he knew hard times. Paul started life in Racine, Wis. When he was three, however, his parents became so “financially unstable” that they turned him and his brother over to their grandparents in Wallingford, Vt. to be raised.

Paul's early schooling was rocky. He was expelled from the Black River Academy, but graduated from the Vermont Academy. He started the University of Vermont only to be expelled once again. He landed at Princeton to complete his undergraduate work. While he was there Paul's grandfather died. Paul had been greatly influenced by his grandfather and his teachings of tolerance.

After his travels, Paul did go to a “big city” — Chicago. There he became a successful lawyer and with kindred spirits founded Rotary in 1905. While on a club hike in the woods, Paul met a Scotswoman, Jean Thompson, who noticed a tear in his coat and offered to patch it. Not long afterwards they were married.

The ideals of Rotary spread and by 1910 a National Association of Rotary Clubs was established with Paul Harris as the first president. Two years later the movement went international. Despite continuing bad health Paul Harris continued to play a major role in Rotary International until his death in 1947.

Report of the History Committee of the Auburn Rotary Club for November 2004