History: a study of the club archives

“1905-1922: Before the Auburn Rotary Club Existed”

Rotary in the World

	Rotary began on Feb. 23, 1905, when Paul Harris met, initially with three others, then added a fifth, to form the Rotary Club of Chicago. Its first roster showed a membership of 30 during 1905. Meetings were held in the workplaces of the members, rotating from one to the next on a weekly basis.
	The second club was formed in 1908 in San Francisco, and by 1910 there were 16 clubs dotted around the country with a total membership of around 1,500. The first international club was formed in Winnipeg in 1911. The first non-English speaking club was formed in Havana, Cuba in 1916 (the last president of this club was the father of Tony Madrigal, one of our past members).
	The first Rotary Convention was held in 1910, with Paul Harris being the first president of “The National Association of Rotary Clubs.” This was changed to ”Rotary International Convention” in 1922.
	At the first convention, Rotary’s first motto of “He profits most who serves his fellows best” was born. This was followed in 1911 with slogans “Service, not self,” which soon changed to “Service above self.”
	The name Rotary International was adopted at the 1922 convention in Los Angeles.

Rotary in Alabama: First Clubs in Alabama

	Harry Wheelock and T. Molton returned from western trips with the news of Rotary, which led to the foundation of the Rotary Club of Birmingham in February 1913. Wheelock was the president, and the club had 56 members.
	Birmingham followed New Orleans, Louisville and Jacksonville as the only Rotary clubs west of the Mississippi and south of the Ohio rivers.
	Montgomery formed a club in October 1913, and Mobile followed in 1914. That was all that was allowed in Alabama at the time, since it was thought that clubs should not be located in communities with less than 50,000 people.
	In 1915, the Pensacola Rotary Club was formed despite lacking the necessary 50,000 population.
	A similar attempt was made in Selma that year, but the Alabama clubs did not support the application to join. An outlaw club was formed in 1916. Governor Glass assisted in the granting of a charter later that year.
	Tuscaloosa Rotary Club was formed in 1916.
	Gadsden Rotary Club started in 1917.
	Dothan Rotary Club was chartered in 1918.
	Opelika was added to Rotary in 1919.
	Andalusia, Bessemer, Sheffield, Talladega and Troy chartered Rotary Clubs in 1920.
	Florence and Eufala established Rotary Clubs in 1921.
	Tuscumbia and Brewton formed Rotary Clubs in 1922.

Rotary in Alabama: District Formation and Leadership

	John Shelby of the Birmingham Club was made regional vice-president of the region consisting of the Southeast of the USA in 1914—Rotary districts had not yet been established.
	Frank Glass of Birmingham was made the first president of District 5 in 1915—it included Alabama, Georgia and Florida.
	In 1916, Cuba was added to District 5.
	At the Cincinnati Convention in 1916, Ralph Quisenberry of Montgomery was elected to be the next district governor.
	The San Juan, Puerto Rico Rotary Club started in 1918, so Puerto Rico was added to the district, which was renamed District 8. Puerto Rico was removed from District 8 in 1920, because it was so far away.
	Cuba was removed from District 8 in 1921 because of language difficulties.
	District 26 was formed in 1922, consisting of Alabama and the area of Florida west of the Appalachicola River.

Rotary in Alabama: District Conferences

	First: 1916, in Jacksonville, Fla. with Ralph Quisenberry of the Montgomery Rotary Club being the district governor. 125 Rotarians attended.
	Second: 1918, in Selma, with Malcolm Jones of Macon Rotary Club being the district governor. A Rotary director H. J. Brunier from San Francisco represented the Rotary Board.
	Third: 1919, in Albany, Ga. with district governor Gay presiding. International Secretary Perry represented the Rotary Board.
	Fourth: 1920, in Tampa, Fla. with Truman McGill of the Selma Rotary Club serving as district gGovernor. Vice-President Estes Snedecor was the Rotary Board representative. 659 people attended (202 of them were women).
	Fifth: 1921, in Birmingham with District Governor Smith in charge.
	Sixth: 1922, in Savannah, Ga. was the last of District 8. John Turner of Tampa Rotary Club was the district governor.

Local Effects on Rotary

	Between the 1913 Rotary Convention in Buffalo and the 1914 Convention in Houston, the Birmingham Rotary Club played a significant role in capturing the idea that Rotarians should be considered to be “representatives of Rotary to their profession or craft.”
	The 1917 International Association of Rotary Clubs held their convention in Atlanta—Alabama clubs secured the Mobile Mardi Gras floats and used them in a parade at the convention.
	At the 1919 Albany District Meeting, a resolution that all Rotary clubs in the district have “a regular program of work among boys” was adopted, a forerunner to the Rotary youth programs.

Report of the History Committee for October 2005. These notes were compiled by Chris Rodger, based on material stored by H. C. Morgan, much of which was written by Homer L. Jacobs.