Born in Racine Wisconsin, USA on 19 April 1868,
Paul was
the second of six children to George N. Harris and Cornelia Bryan
Harris.
At age 3 he moved to Wallingford, Vermont where he grew up in the care
of his paternal grandparents. Married to Jean Thompson Harris (1881 -
1963),
they had no children. He received an L.L.B. from the University of Iowa
and received an honorary L.L.D. from the University of Vermont.
Paul Harris worked as a newspaper reporter, a business
teacher, stock
company actor, cowboy, and traveled extensively in the U.S.A. and
Europe
selling marble and granite. In 1896, he went to Chicago to practice
law.
One evening Paul visited the suburban home of a professional friend.
After
dinner, as they strolled through the neighborhood, Paul's friend
introduced
him to various tradesmen in their stores. It was here Paul conceived
the
idea of a club that could recapture some of the friendly spirit among
businessmen
in small communities.
On 23 February, 1905, Paul Harris formed the first club
with three
other businessmen: Silvester Schiele, a coal merchant; Gustavus Loehr,
a mining engineer; and Hiram Shorey, a merchant tailor. Paul Harris
named
the new club "Rotary" because members met in rotation at their various
places of business. Club membership grew rapidly. Soon Paul became
convinced
that the Rotary club could be developed into an important service
movement
and strove to extend Rotary to other cities.
Paul was also prominent in other civic and professional
work. He
served as the first chairman of the board of the national Easter Seal
Society
of Crippled Children and Adults in the U.S.A. and of the International
Society for Crippled Children. He was a member of the board of managers
of the Chicago Bar Association and its representative at the
International
Congress of Law at the Hague, and a committee member of the American
Bar
Association. He received the Silver Buffalo Award from the Boy Scouts
of
America for distinguished service to youth, and was decorated by the
governments
of Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France and Peru.
Paul maintained his law office for most of his life. He
spent much
time traveling and was invited to speak to Rotarians at annual
conventions,
district and regional meetings, and other functions. When President
emeritus
Paul Harris passed away on 27 January, 1947, his dream had grown from
an
informal meeting of four men to some 6,000 clubs. In the past five
decades,
the organization has grown to more than 27,500 clubs with 1.2 million
members
brought together through Paul Harris' vision of service and fellowship.
