Wilmington Rotary Club

What is Rotary?
Rotary is an international service organization, founded
in 1905. Rotary brings together a global network of volunteer
leaders who dedicate their time and talent to tackle the
world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges. Rotary’s
33,000 local clubs connect 1.2 million members from more
than 200 countries and geographical areas. The Rotary Foundation
provides financial support for projects worldwide.
‘Service Above Self’
During Rotary’s second convention in
1911, Ben Collins of Minneapolis talked with
Seattle Rotarian J.E. Pinkham about how to
organize a Rotary club. He offered the principle
his club had adopted: ‘Service, Not
Self.’ Rotary founder Paul P. Harris joined
the conversation and asked Collins to address
the convention. ‘Service, Not Self,’
quickly became an unofficial Rotary motto.
The 1950 convention officially adopted the
variation ‘Service Above Self.’
‘Whatever Rotary may
mean to us, to the world
it will be known by the
results it achieves.’
Paul P. Harris
The Four-Way Test
Rotary’s ethical foundation is this guide to “the
things we think, say or do.” It began as a guideline for
business, created in 1932 by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor
to help his manufacturing company out of threatened
bankruptcy during the Great Depression. In the 1940s,
Taylor offered Rotary International the rights to The
Four-Way Test. Rotary has used it ever since as its standard
for how Rotarians, and Rotary clubs, should act.
Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and
BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all
concerned?
Founder Paul Harris in 1905.
1905: How it all Started
On February 23, 1905, a 36-year-old Chicago
lawyer named Paul P. Harris met with a small group of
business associates. He wanted to try to recreate in the
big city the close social relationships
typical of his small
Vermont home town. Because
the founders planned
to rotate their meetings to
each other’s places of business,
they called their new
group the “Rotary Club.”
To ensure that the club
had a cross-section of Chicago’s
business community,
Harris set up the system of
professional classifications for members that remains a
part of Rotary 110 years later.
Soon the idea spread, with a second Rotary club
being formed in San Francisco. Within five years, 16
clubs from coast to coast held Rotary’s first national
convention. The movement became international in
1912 with the chartering of clubs in Canada, Ireland
and England. By 1921, Rotary clubs had been formed
on six continents. The parent organization took the
name “Rotary International” the following year.
By July 1925, Rotary had grown to more than 2,000
clubs and an estimated 108,000 members.The Rotary
Foundation was soon created as the financial basis for
world-wide charitable work. After Paul Harris died in
1947, major contributors to the Foundation—$1,000 or
more—have been honored as Paul Harris Fellows.
Why a Gear Wheel?
From the beginning,
a wheel has
been Rotary’s symbol.
The first design
was a simple wagon
wheel, with a few
lines to show dust
and motion. It was
said to illustrate the
idea of “Civilization
and Movement.” Most early clubs used some
form of wagon wheel on their publications and
letterheads. Finally, in 1923, to achive consistency
world-wide, Rotary International adopted
the present gear wheel, with 24 cogs and
six spokes, for use by all clubs.
2 Wilmington Rotary Club: 100 Years of Service Above Self