Ladies in Rotary

On Thursday 8th February our club meeting was held on Zoom when the speaker was Past District Governor Graham Jackson. Graham presented a well received talk on "The history of ladies in Rotary". In 1905 when Paul Harris began the Rotary movement, there was a male dominated workforce and women were generally confined to home duties. The Rotary movement grew with clubs being formed in USA and Canada, gradually spreading to other countries. Graham said an all women club was formed in 1911 in Mineapolis. In 1912 Belfast Rotary discussed electing women but decided against. In 1921 the Rotary International Convention agreed that a Rotary Club would comprise a male only membership. All of this against a background when in USA in 1920 women had been granted the right to vote and in 1928 in UK when women over 21 were allowed to vote. Graham described the events in 1977-78 when the Rotary Club of Duarte in USA admitted 3 ladies to their club.When Duarte refused to remove the 3 ladies Rotary International revoked Duarte's club charter. Cases brought over a span of 10 years to restore the charter went eventually to the US Supreme Court which resulted in the restoration of the charter. In summing up Graham pointed out the progress lady Rotarians had made since then. Across the world many women have embraced Rotary ideals and become Club Presidents, District Governors, Rotary International Directors and Rotary Presidents. For all Rotary members this is a real success story bringing great benefits to the Rotary movement across the world.

Ken McGrath.