The Birth of Rotary
On 23 February 1905, attorney Paul P. Harris gathered with three friends — Gustavus Loehr, Silvester Schiele, and Hiram Shorey — in Room 711 of the Unity Building in Chicago. Their vision was simple yet profound: create a professional fellowship based on friendship and mutual support across different occupations.
They named the club "Rotary" because meetings would rotate among members' offices. Within a few years, clubs sprang up across the United States. In 1910, the National Association of Rotary Clubs was formed. By 1912, with clubs appearing in Canada, Ireland and the UK, it became the International Association of Rotary Clubs. The name Rotary International was adopted in 1922.
Today, Rotary unites more than 1.4 million members in over 46,000 clubs across more than 200 countries and geographical areas, working together to advance world understanding, goodwill and peace.