Each week, Rick Kowey, ST Rotary Foundation Chairperson, provides a tidbit of information about the early years of Rotary. Paul Percy Harris was a Chicago, Illinois, attorney. He founded the club that became the humanitarian organization Rotary International in 1905.
According to Fred A. Carvin in Paul Harris and the Birth of Rotary, Paul Harris’ engagements were extremely limited in 1927, as he spent most of his time editing the articles he wrote for The Rotarian Magazine in 1926 to put into his intended book, The Founder of Rotary.
Also contributing to his lack of travel was the declining health of his wife, Jean. It was ironic that Paul’s past failing health in the 1920’s began to improve while Jean’s worsened with stomach and nervous conditions. Paul hoped that a return to Jean’s native land of Scotland might ameliorate the marital tensions that were building as a result of Harris’ travel alone in support of Rotary International. The intention was that Paul would carry on with international Rotary duties while Jean could reconnect with her recently married sister Joey, brother John, and aged parents. They sailed from Montreal, Canada in May 1928, and Jean remained in Greencock, Scotland while Paul visited more than fifty clubs in England, Ireland, Wales, France, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, and Scotland. Paul’s approach was to slip into the clubs unexpectedly and avoid the fanfare of formal meetings and canned speeches. His mission was to engage club members in an informal manner to elicit honest and candid opinions of Rotary International’s direction. To Paul, this was a replay of his nomadic youth, roaming the world, exploring cultures, becoming the center of attention, and giving speeches that were modest, direct, and simple. His message was simply centered around friendship, fellowship, and the desire for Rotary International to be aimed at the betterment of humanity.