Paul Harris, the founder of Rotary, was born in Racine, Wisconsin, USA, on April 19, 1868, but moved at the age of 3 to Wallingford, Vermont, to be raised by his grandparents. In the forward to his autobiography My Road to Rotary, he credits the friendliness and tolerance he found in Vermont as his inspiration for the creation of Rotary.

Trained as a lawyer, Paul gave himself five years after his graduation from law school in 1891 to see as much of the world as possible before settling down and hanging out his shingle. During that time, he traveled widely, supporting himself with a great variety of jobs. He worked as a reporter in San Francisco, a teacher at a business college in Los Angeles, a cowboy in Colorado, a desk clerk in Jacksonville, Florida, a tender of cattle on a freighter to England, and as a traveling salesman for a granite company, covering both the U.S. and Europe.

Remaining true to his five-year plan, he settled in Chicago in 1896, and it was there on the evening of February 23, 1905, that he met with three friends to discuss his idea for a businessmen's club. This is commonly regarded as the first Rotary club meeting. Over the next five years, the movement spread as Rotary clubs were formed in other U.S. cities. When the National Association of Rotary Clubs held its first convention in 1910, Paul was elected president.

After his term, and as the organization's only president-emeritus, Paul continued to travel extensively, promoting the spread of Rotary both in the USA and abroad. A prolific writer, Paul wrote several books about the early days of the organization and the role he was privileged to play in it. These include The Founder of Rotary, This Rotarian Age and the autobiographical My Road to Rotary. He also wrote several volumes of Perigrinations detailing his many travels. He died in Chicago on January 27, 1947.

Room 711

Room 711 of the Unity Building at

Around 1980, the Rotary Club of Chicago, the club that originated from that gathering, set about to preserve the site. It rented the room and undertook an extensive effort to recreate the office as it existed in 1905. For several years, the club maintained the room as a shrine for visiting Rotarians. That responsibility was eventually assumed by the Paul Harris 711 Club, a nonprofit organization comprising Rotarians from around the world. In 1989, when the Unity Building was scheduled to be demolished, the 711 Club carefully dismantled the office, salvaging the original interior from doors to radiators. Everything was placed in storage until a permanent place to reconstruct the room could be found. In 1993, the Board of Directors of Rotary International set aside space for it on the 16th floor of the RI World Headquarters in Evanston, Illinois.

First Rotary Club

On the evening of February 23, 1905, Paul Harris and three friends, Sylvester Schiele, Gustavus Loehr, and Hiram Shorey, met in Loehr's business office in Room 711 of the Unity Building in downtown Chicago to discuss Paul's idea that businessmen should get together periodically for camaraderie and to enlarge their circle of business and professional acquaintances.

From their discussion came the idea for a men's club which would meet weekly and whose membership would be limited to one representative from each business and profession. After enlisting a fifth member, Harry Ruggles, the group was formally organized as the Rotary Club of Chicago. By the end of 1905, the club's roster showed a membership of 30 with Sylvester Schiele as president and Ruggles as treasurer. Paul Harris declined office in the new club and didn't become its president until two years later.

Rotary International Milestones

Rotary International and Other Organizations

Throughout its history, Rotary International has collaborated with many civic and humanitarian organizations as well as government agencies in its efforts to improve the human condition.

Cooperative efforts continue to be a key element of Rotary service today. Rotary clubs in Switzerland and Germany, for example, have helped victims of anti-personnel mines in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross limb-fitting center in Battambang, Cambodia, and the component factory in Phnom Penh. Rotary clubs raised more than US $1.5 million dollars to support the effort.

Currently, 33,000 Rotary clubs in more than 160 countries cooperate with civic and humanitarian organizations to promote goodwill and service.

Promoting Rotary's Cooperative Relationships

Rotary International's Public and External Relations Department was developed to help maintain and improve the collaboration that has fueled world-changing programs like PolioPlus. External Relations focuses on extending Rotary's outreach to the international community by:

Throughout its history, Rotary International has collaborated with many civic and humanitarian organizations as well as government agencies in its efforts to improve the human condition.

Cooperative efforts continue to be a key element of Rotary service today. Rotary clubs in Switzerland and Germany, for example, have helped victims of anti-personnel mines in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross limb-fitting center in Battambang, Cambodia, and the component factory in Phnom Penh. Rotary clubs raised more than US $1.5 million dollars to support the effort.

Currently, 33,000 Rotary clubs in more than 160 countries cooperate with civic and humanitarian organizations to promote goodwill and service.

Rotary's History with the United Nations and Intergovernmental Organizations

Rotary has had a special relationship with the United Nations for more than a half century. At the 1945 UN Charter Conference in San Francisco, California, USA, nearly 50 Rotarians served as delegates, advisors, and consultants. And the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), established one year later, can trace its roots to a Rotary conference promoting international cultural and educational exchanges that was held in London in 1943. In 1946, the same year UNESCO came into existence, RI was granted non-governmental organization (NGO) consultative status with the UN and UNESCO. Today, there are a growing number of projects implemented in collaboration with UN agencies around the world. Working with UNAIDS, Rotary clubs promote AIDS awareness and prevention. Venezuelan Rotary clubs are working with FAO field staff to increase vegetable and poultry production. Nigerian Rotary clubs are working with the UN Population Fund to expand a maternal education and child spacing program. In Poland, the UN Development Program helped the Rotary clubs of Warsaw and Duluth, Minnesota, USA, create a joint business internship program.

Increasing levels of participation and inter-organizational collaboration inspired the creation of Rotary's Representative System in 1984, when Rotary International Representatives were appointed by Rotary's president to the UN offices in New York, Geneva, and Vienna. In 1995, RI made its first overture to an organization outside the UN system when it obtained consultative status with the Council of Europe in Strasbourg and broke new ground when, in 1997, Rotary became the first non-African NGO to establish official liaison with the Organization of African Unity (OAU).

Rotary’s Representative Network

Rotary International appoints representatives each year to increase awareness and recognition of Rotary's programs, policies, and activities within the international community. Representatives meet regularly with officers and staff from international organizations to:

In addition, Rotary representatives and headquarters staff arrange for panel presentations, exhibits, and keynote speeches at major meetings and events hosted by the United Nations and other international organizations in order to promote Rotary. Contact the External Relations Section staff for more information.