Women in Rotary, 25 years now

Last Month marked the 25th anniversary of the US Supreme Court ruling that admitted women to membership in Rotary and other previously “all male” service organizations.

This event is of special interest to me and other Charter members of the Rotary Club of Scott Valley. In District 5110, there is a club, the name I don’t recall at the moment that claims to have the first female member in the District. That fact may be true but most don’t know that the then Provisional Rotary Club of Scott Valley actually "tried" first.  In the naturally rebellious spirit that was inherent in our locale at the time, we attempted to obtain a Charter with a female member on our roster in 1986. We had heard of the controversy originating in Duarte, CA (some say Poway had a similar challenge) and thought the prohibition of women was preposterous.

Our Charter president, Gary Mortenson, a polio survivor, was a controversial owner/editor/publisher of our local newspaper “The Pioneer Press”. He was not one to avoid issues and his paper was known to disclose and challenge the local “powers that be” weekly. I think I was the president of the local Chamber of Commerce at the time or at least active, and member Patricia “Pat” Graham, was interested in joining our Rotary Club which had a preponderance of chamber members involved already, obviously including yours truly. So we didn’t see anything on the membership application indicating gender and thought that perhaps this was perfect since “Pat” could be either sex. Somewhat like “don’t ask, don’t tell” if you get my drift.  I think we overlooked the constitution though..

A short note on history; in 1983 the Rotary Club of Duarte filed a lawsuit against RI for prohibiting women from membership and lost.  Subsequently on appeal, The CA Superior Court ruled in favor or RI.  That decision was appealed to the US {jcomments on}Supreme Court which overruled the previous decision(s) on May 4, 1987.  It wasn’t until the Council On Legislation (COL) meeting in Nov 1989 that RI passed the resolution to allow women members.  I’m not sure of the exact date that we applied for our charter but it was before the US Supreme Court decision in May, 1987 I think.   We were initially chartered on August 27th, 1987.  This was a busy summer with a lot of fires locally and most were busy earning a little extra income so details seem to be lost.  Meanwhile as I recall, someone “ratted” on us and disclosed to RI the fact that “Pat” was a nefarious female attempting to infect the ranks of this all male organization and that would not yet be tolerated.  I have a few suspicions on who that could have been but our sponsor the Rotary Club of Yreka is not among the suspects.  Anyway, I don’t recall the exact details but our Charter was withdrawn until such time that we would purge the offending member from our list.  (I wonder if we have the documentation stored somewhere… ed.)    Anyway, we opted for the challenge and had our planned Charter Night Party on September 19, 1987.  PDG Sam Hughes, who had signed our application and DG David Bussard were there with a bunch of other dignitaries the likes of which had never been seen in Scott Valley previously.   One person in town wearing a tie (other than the Bank president) generally caused a stir and here we had a whole Dinner House full!  So we had our Charter Night with our charter in limbo.

We re-applied and received our “official” Charter on Feb 22, 1988 making Pat Graham the second female Rotary member in the District but still probably the first female Charter member! The fact remains though that we embraced women in Rotary from our inception; a point of pride for our club and me since I was a strong supporter and not all of our members were in agreement.

Continue below for some other interesting details from that period of time.

Here is the NBC News broadcast on the evening of May 4, 1987.

Click Here to view broadcast

From PDG Steve Garrett’s website:
Bill Brooks was the president of the Rotary Club of Duarte on the momentous occasion. He is sitting in the middle of the three people shown in the photo in the video.

Bill served another term as President of the Rotary Club of Duarte when I was the District Governor from District 5300 seven years later. I wish I could tell you that the inclusion of women in Rotary allowed the Rotary Club of Duarte to double in size, but that wouldn’t be true. They are smaller today than they were when they admitted those first women as members in 1978. But they did make a big difference in the bigger world of Rotary International.

The woman to the left of Bill Brooks was the President-Elect of the Rotary Club of Duarte. Her name is Sylvia Whitlock and she soon became the first woman President of a Rotary Club. She will serve Rotary as District Governor for District 5300 starting July 1, 1012. Sylvia is a wonderful example of all that Rotary would have missed out on if the Supreme Court had not broken down the barrier that existed for 82 years.

Charles Keller was the RI President in 1987. I had the opportunity of getting to know Chuck when I represented R.I. President Beechai Rattakul to the District 7330 Conference in, Gettysburg, PA in 2003. He knew I was from the District that where Duarte was located and asked me how they were doing. He expressed regret over saying that the women would come to regret the Supreme Court decision. In fact, he has become a great supporter of the change that came from adding all of those new members. I suspect Chuck Keller was representative of almost all of those who had misgivings over the change that was inevitable.

How could anyone be opposed to doubling the number of members (customers) for our organization. With all of those additional heads, hearts and hands we have taken on new challenges and accomplished things no one thought possible on May 3, 1987

Some more trivia.  Read on..

"Woman's influence in Rotary will be like the scented flame of the alabaster lamp, filling the organization with the light of their benign influence, and warmth of their charming cordiality." Jean Harris Wife of Paul Harris courtesy of "Rotary Global History Fellowship" The Rotarian Magazine, May 1913."

A few other interesting facts from the “Women in Rotary Website”

Women in Rotary – A Potted History (Excerpts)
(Compiled and written by Norm Winterbottom, a Rotarian in New Zealand)
"Despite the rejection of women as members and the ratification of women only rotary clubs, the Minneapolis Women's Rotary was incorporated in 1912 as a stand-alone, women-only, rotary club that continues to this date." (Jan Jordet the president of this club when Winterbottom wrote this article and added this in)

in May 1921, Alwilda F Harvey the wife of the Chicago Club president convened a luncheon meeting of 59 women who formed “Women of Rotary.” The Board of RI rejected that name so it was changed to “The Women of the Rotary Club of Chicago.”

In England, on 15 May1923, the Manchester Club proposed “The Formation of a Ladies’ Rotary Club in Manchester.” The proposal was lost, but instead, the first Inner Wheel Club was formed with Mrs Margarette Golding as president.

In 1940, Edwina Yearian Nicholls attended many meetings of the Salmon, Idaho club after taking control of her late husband’s Ford dealership, although she did not become a member.
In 1950, at the Detroit Convention, the Ahmedabad Club of India proposed that the word “male” be dropped from Article III of the Standard Club Constitution.:

A Timeline from the RRI Website:

A watershed moment in Rotary history

The 1989 Council on Legislation vote to admit women into Rotary clubs worldwide remains a watershed moment in the history of Rotary.

"My fellow delegates, I would like to remind you that the world of 1989 is very different to the world of 1905. I sincerely believe that Rotary has to adapt itself to a changing world," said Frank J. Devlyn, who would go on to become RI president in 2000-01.
The vote followed the decades-long efforts of men and women from all over the Rotary world to allow for the admission of women into Rotary clubs, and several close votes at previous Council meetings.

The response to the decision was overwhelming: By 1990, the number of female Rotarians had skyrocketed to over 20,000.

Today, Rotary has more than 197,000 female Rotarians. Women have served in leadership positions as high as the RI Board of Directors and The Rotary Foundation Board of Trustees. On the 25th anniversary of the 4 May U.S. Supreme Court decision that set up the Council's action, watch avideo about women in Rotary, and see the timeline below.

Timeline of women in Rotary

1950

An enactment to delete the word male from the Standard Rotary Club Constitution is proposed by a Rotary club in India for the Council on Legislation meeting at the 1950 RI Convention.

1964

The Council on Legislation agenda contains an enactment proposed by a Rotary club in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to permit the admission of women into Rotary clubs. Delegates vote that it be withdrawn. Two other proposals to allow women to be eligible for honorary membership are also withdrawn.

1972

As more women begin reaching higher positions in their professions, more clubs begin lobbying for female members. A U.S. Rotary club proposes admitting women into Rotary at the 1972 Council on Legislation.

1977

Three separate proposals to admit women into membership are submitted to the Council on Legislation for consideration at the 1977 RI Convention. A Brazilian club makes a different proposal to admit women as honorary members.

The Rotary Club of Duarte, California, USA, admits women as members in violation of the RI Constitution and Standard Rotary Club Constitution. Because of this violation, the club's membership in Rotary International is terminated in March 1978, only to be reinstated in September 1986.

1980

The RI Board of Directors and Rotary clubs in India, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States propose an enactment to remove from the RI and club constitutions and bylaws all references to members as male persons .

1983-86

In a lawsuit filed by the Duarte club in 1983, the California Superior Court rules in favor of Rotary International, upholding gender-based qualification for membership in California Rotary clubs. In 1986, the California Court of Appeals reverses the lower court's decision, preventing the enforcement of the provision in California. The California Supreme Court refuses to hear the case, and it is appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

1987

On 4 May, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that Rotary clubs may not exclude women from membership on the basis of gender. Rotary issues a policy statement that any Rotary club in the United States can admit qualified women into membership. The Board "encourages all clubs in the U.S. to give fair and equal consideration to candidates for membership without regard to gender."

The Rotary Club of Marin Sunrise, California (formerly Larkspur Landing), is chartered on 28 May. It becomes the first club after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling to have women as charter members. Sylvia Whitlock, of the Rotary Club of Duarte, California, becomes the first female Rotary club president.

1988

In November, the RI Board of Directors issues a policy statement recognizing the right of Rotary clubs in Canada to admit female members based on a Canadian law similar to that upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

1989

At its first meeting after the 1987 U.S. Supreme Court decision, the Council on Legislation votes to eliminate the requirement in the RI Constitution that membership in Rotary clubs be limited to men. Women are welcomed into Rotary clubs around the world.

1990

As of June, there are about 20,200 female Rotarians worldwide. Read a feature on women in Rotary from the June 1990 issue of The Rotarian.

1995

In July, eight women become district governors, the first elected to this role.

2005

Carolyn E. Jones begins her term as the first woman appointed as trustee of The Rotary Foundation, serving from 2005 to 2009.

2007

In July, 63 women begin terms as district governors. Women are members of 25,227 clubs around the world. There are 177,859 female Rotarians.

2008

Catherine Noyer-Riveau begins her term as the first woman elected to the RI Board of Directors, serving from July 2008 to June 2010.

2011

In June 2011, there are 197,044 female Rotarians worldwide, and 91 women are district governors.

The End