Biodata

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Paul Percy Harris was born at Racine, Wisconsin, USA on April 19, 1868. He was the second of six children of George N. and Cornelia Bryan Harris.

At age three, he moved to Wallingford, Vermont, where he grew up in the care of his paternal grandparents, Howard and Pamela Harris. As he would later write, any purposefulness, integrity, or sincerity in his nature was inherited from his grand father; and love of humankind, especially of children, came from his grandmother.

While he was in school, both of Harris's grandparents died, and he spent the five years after graduation traveling around the country and working odd jobs. After arriving penniless in San Francisco in 1891, he worked as a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle and then as a ranch hand, grape picker, actor, and cowboy. He was also a hotel night clerk in Jacksonville, Florida, and a traveling marble and granite salesman.

A man with varied experiences, he received the Bachelor of Physical Culture and LLD degrees from the University of Vermont and the LLB degree from the University of Iowa. He was later awarded a honorary PhD in 1933 by the University of Vermont.

In 1896, he settled in Chicago and opened a law practice. Paul's friendly nature won him acquaintances at all levels of society. But on Sundays and holidays the 'country boy' delighted in getting out of the city. As he explored the suburbs, he longed for the simple friendship he had enjoyed at his childhood Vermont home.

One summer evening in 1900, he dined with a friend in a suburban neighbourhood, and later they went strolling around, stopping in at various places of business. At each place his friend introduced him to the proprietor.

Paul began to think what a good idea it would be to get together such a group of business friends in a social setting. There would be particular advantage if each represented a different trade or profession. He thought of his own clients: Silvester Schiele, a coal dealer; Gustavus Loehr, a mining engineer; Harry Ruggles, a printer.

On the night of 23 February 1905, Paul, Silvester and Gus met, along with Hiram Shorey, a merchant tailor, at Gus's office in the Unity Building in downtown Chicago.

They began to meet regularly, bringing other acquaintances into their 'club'. Paul suggested a few club names, but they finally chose 'Rotary' as they met by rotation at different places hosted by the members. And thus the Rotary club of Chicago came into being.

Truly, one might say that Rotary was born out of a lonely young man's search for friendship. Membership grew rapidly, attracting men who had achieved business success unaided, but Paul always stressed to take in only 'quality' member.

Along with Gustavus Loehr, Silvester Schiele, and Hiram Shorey, he founded the Rotary Club of Chicago in 1905 and was elected its president in 1907.

He worked as a newspaper reporter, a business college teacher, a cowboy and a salesman for a marble and granite concern, before finally settling down in Chicago as a lawyer in 1896. On 2 July 1910 he married Jean Thompson, a Scottish girl and a co-member of the Chicago prairie club.

The first Rotary Club was formed on February 23, 1905 by:

1. Paul Harris with

2. Sylvester Schiele - a coal merchant,

3. Gustavus Loehr - a mining engineer and

4. Hiram Shorey - a merchant tailor,

to bring together business and professional men in friendship and fellowship. This first club meeting formed the nucleus for the thousands of Rotary clubs that were later organised throughout the world. These new clubs were called "Rotary" because members met in rotation in their various places of business.

Club membership grew rapidly. Many members were originally from small towns and found an opportunity for fellowship in the Chicago club. Harris was convinced that the club could be expanded into a service movement and strove to extend Rotary to other communities.

In 1910, he met Jean Thompson during an outing with the Prairie Club, a Chicago-based organization for wilderness enthusiasts. Harris and Thompson married three months later and settled on Chicago's South Side.

In the same year, the National Association of Rotary Clubs was formed, and Harris was elected its first president. He held the office for two years and afterward became president emeritus, serving as the public face of the organization and promoting membership extension and service around the world.

He wrote several books about Rotary and his life and travels, including The Founder of Rotary and This Rotarian Age.

In addition to his work with Rotary, Harris was involved in other civic organizations, including the Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry, City Club of Chicago, Chicago Bar Association, Prairie Club, and Easter Seals. He was also recognized by the Boy Scouts of America and honored by the governments of Brazil, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Peru.

Harris died on 27 January 1947, leaving a rich legacy of fellowship, professionalism, service, and friendship. His passing also sparked an outpouring of donations to The Rotary Foundation from all over the world, allowing the Foundation to greatly expand its programs and services.

For more information about Rotary history, visit Rotary History and Archives or the Rotary Global History Fellowship .

Paul Harris was elected President in the First Rotary Convention for the year 1910-11. He was then re-elected President for 1911-12 of the National association of Rotary Clubs. Their bulletin came to be known as "The National Rotarian."

Elected President Emeritus of Rotary International in 1912, he was active in Rotary until his death on 27-Jan-1947.

The founder of Rotary Paul Harris was not the first president of the Rotary Club of Chicago. It was only in 1907 that he took over the club's presidency. But Paul did assume the presidentship of 'the National Association of Rotary Clubs' when it was formed in 1910, the precursor of today's Rotary International.

It has been popularly supposed that the spread of Rotary was unplanned, even accidental. In his writings, Paul made it clear that nothing could be farther from truth. "The plan", he wrote in THE ROTARIAN, ''was painstakingly wrought out and earnestly put into execution". Even the world concept was an early idea.

Paul Harris was a true visionary. A prolific writer, he wrote extensively of Rotary's formation and its philosophy, about his Rotary travels, and - in his autobiography My Road to Rotary - of his own life. I will cite here only two examples of Paul's foresight and vision.

(1) Did Paul Harris ever imagine Rotary would grow from an oasis of friendship and service in one city to become a global force for improving people's live?
''No, I did not in 1905 foresee a worldwide movement", Paul remarked shortly before his death in 1947. "When a man plants an unpromising sapling in the early springtime, can he be sure that some day here will grow a mighty tree? Does he not have to reckon with the rain and sun - and the smile of Providence ? Once he sees the first bud - ah, then he can begin to dream of shade ".

(2) As for the second instance, let me recall something from our own club's history. Although Paul Harris had traveled widely around the world, he had never visited India. In April 1932, he however wrote a letter to the President of Rotary Club of Calcutta (I think it was Raibahadur D.C. Ghosh), as follows.

"I wonder if you would be surprised to learn that my thoughts are more frequently centered on the Rotary Club of Calcutta than on any other club in the Orient. There is a fascination to me in the thought that European and Indian residents of Calcutta break bread together. Time and again I have made mention of that fact". He continued, "I know of no more striking exemplification of the possibilities of the movement than has been shown in Calcutta. It seems to me that it quite convincingly proves the fact that our dream of international understanding is one which is destined to be fully realized. The formula seems to- be very simple - it is, as I understand it, to center our thoughts on on our common interests, rather than upon the superficial difficulties which exist"
He concluded with the message: Will you kindly give my best regards to all the members of the Rotary Club of Calcutta".

Paul Harris did not expend all his energy on Rotary. Still an active lawyer, he was also a member of the Chicago Association of Commerce, the Bar association as also several social and sports clubs.

In 1910, Paul married a young Scottish bride. Jean Thomson, and Paul in his later life retired to his home out in the country aptly named, Comely Bank, after her home street in Scotland.
When the RI 'District' numbers were started it began with Scotland (#1) in a tribute to Jean Harris. Having no children of their own, Paul admitted "Jean and I have adopted Rotary International".

Paul was a firm believer in peace - based on international goodwill and human understanding. In a message to the 1927 RI Convention in Ostend, Belgium, he said, "The greatest resource which a nation can have is the resource of peace; it counts more than arable lands, more than mines of
untold riches". Again for the 1940 RI Convention in Havana, Cuba, he had the message: "I have no hesitation in saying that world peace would be achieved and made permanent if reared on Rotary's fIrm foundation of friendliness, tolerance and usefulness". He maintained: "Rotary is a miniature model of a world at peace, one which might advantageously be studied by nations".

In paying tribute to Paul Harris just after his death in 1947, 'The Rotarian' wrote: "Paul Harris never claimed to have founded a new philosophy; he refered to the spirit of Rotary as an ancient pr~iple of ethics. What he did was to teach men of all nations and of all races to join together in practicing and applying it".

Paul Harris died in his 78th year on 27 January 1947. Rotary today, in its centennial year, some 32,000 clubs strong and 1.2 million individuals strong, is his monument and his legacy to the world. Fellow Rotarians, let us today on his 137th birth anniversary, pay our humble homage to this great savant of peace, the founder of Rotary, the world's greatest volunteer service organization, Paul Percival Harris.

Source: RI Website with additional inputs from
PDG Prabhat K Rohatigi, RC Calcutta
 

Signature of Paul Harris

Voice of Paul Harris

Click icon to listen to a radio speech Paul Harris gave in the Boston Convention in 1933. This is an abridged version for the Web. The full version in a CD is kept at the Rotary Archives of the Rotary Club of Calcutta. More >>

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