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Paul P. Harris, a lawyer, was
the founder of Rotary, the
world's first and most
international service club.
Born in Racine Wisconsin, USA on
19 April 1968, 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 L.L.B. from the
University of Iowa and received
an honorary L.L.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 visited the
suburban home of a professional
friend. After dinner, as they
strolled through the
neighborhood, Paul's friend
introduced him to various
tradesmen in their stores. It
was here Paul conceived the idea
of a club that could recapture
some of the friendly spirit
among businessmen in small
communities.
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. Soon Paul became
convinced that the Rotary club
could be developed into an
important service movement and
strove to extend Rotary to other
cities.
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.
Paul maintained his law office
for most of his life. He spent
much time traveling and was
invited to speak to Rotarians at
annual conventions, district and
regional meetings, and other
functions. When President
emeritus Paul Harris passed away
on 27 January, 1947, his dream
had grown from an informal
meeting of four men to some
6,000 clubs. In the past five
decades, the organization has
grown to more than 27,500 clubs
with 1.2 million members brought
together through Paul Harris'
vision of service and
fellowship.
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