Rotary Global History Fellowship
Rotary Global History Fellowship is an association of Rotarians and friends who have spent more than two decades gathering, verifying, and publishing the story of Rotary — so it survives past the people who lived it.
On 23 February 1905, Chicago attorney Paul Harris met with Silvester Schiele, Hiram Shorey, and Gustavus Loehr in Room 711 of the Unity Building. No one called it "Rotary" that night — but the fellowship RGHF exists to document had just begun.
A small group of volunteer historians — James Gates, Louis Basil, Jack Selway, and Wolfgang Ziegler — began gathering Rotary's scattered records, opening RGHF's History Learning Center on 11 October 2000.
RGHF starts recognizing Rotary leaders and volunteer historians who champion preserving Rotary's past, using 1905 Liberty "V" nickels — the year Rotary's first club met — as its award.
What began as a handful of gathered pages is now an approved Rotary Fellowship recognized by the Board of Directors of Rotary International — built, written, and maintained entirely by volunteers.
"This Fellowship is an association of Rotarians and friends dedicated to accumulating and preserving the history, values and philosophy of the Rotary movement, and encouraging others to do the same by publishing these histories, values, and philosophies on the internet."RGHF Mission Statement
We collect the stories, documents, and photographs of Rotary's clubs, districts, and members before they're lost to broken links, closed archives, and fading memory.
Our History Learning Center, opened in 2000, helps Rotarians, Rotaractors, and researchers study Rotary's founders, philosophy, and past through thousands of essays and primary sources.
We link researchers to a worldwide network of volunteer historians, and recognize the Rotary leaders and members who champion the fellowship's work through the 1905 Society.
RGHF has no paid staff. Every essay, photograph, and corrected date on this site is the work of Rotarian volunteers who give their evenings, and often their retirements, to a fellowship that isn't theirs alone to keep. These are the officers and directors keeping it running for 2025–2026.
Dozens more historians keep this archive current — Calum Thomson, Ramon MacFarlane, Ted Gifford, John Örtengren, Kari Tallberg, Fred Otto, Helen Reisler, Garth Stevens, and Edward Lollis among them.
RGHF is still gathering district and club histories. If you have records, photographs, or a historian in your own club, the archive team wants to hear from you.
RGHF receives no funding from Rotary International. Every membership — Curator, Archivist, or Conservator — funds the volunteers and infrastructure that keep this history online.