© 2003, Rotary Club of Charleston

P.O. Box 21029
Charleston, SC 29413-1029

Club secretary:
Carroll Schweers
chasrot@comcast.net

Rotary Club of Charleston got its start in 1920
Grew to 80 members by end of decade

From "Service Above Self: A History of the Rotary Club of Charleston -- 1920 - 2004," published Feb. 2005.

Read more. You can learn all about the Club's activities in the 1920s by downloading the full chapter.

The first meeting of the Rotary Club of Charleston was held on Feb. 3, 1920, following a dinner at the St. John's Hotel. The Club received its charter a few weeks later on March 1. Charter members were T. Wilbur (Buddy) Thornhill, Louis C. Fischer and 20 others as highlighted in Appendix 1.
The club's luncheon meetings were from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of the month. Later they were scheduled weekly. Meetings in the early days were held at the South Carolina Hall, the Charleston Hotel, the Timrod Inn, and the YWCA.

Membership

By the end of 1920, there were 30 members, 49 within a year, and membership increased steadily through the decade. By the beginning of the 1929 Club year, membership numbered 82.

Projects and community service

The Club immediately began with ambitious plans for service projects and support of programs to improve the quality of life in the community. This set a precedent for the club for its future.
Included among the projects, members:

• Sold $50,000 of stock in the new Francis Marion Hotel.
  
• Pledged to improve streets and roads in the area.
  
• Strongly advocated bridges across the Cooper, Ashley and Santee rivers.
  
• Organized the Boy Scout Council in Charleston.
  
• Helped establish recreational playing fields in Hampton Park.
  
• Supported formation of the Community Chest (now United Way).
  
• Led planting of palm trees at Union Station and along Vendue Range.
  
• Spoke out for repeal of blue laws.
  
• Provided support for hurricane victims in Florida.
  
• Endorsed the state's first workers' compensation laws.

Notable speakers

Among many notable speakers during this decade were evangelist Billy Sunday; Rotary International presidents Guy Gundaker and M. Eugene Newson; Dr. Leon Banov of Charleston; Dr. George Fisher, deputy chief executive for Boy Scouts of America; Citadel President O.J. Bond; and the Imperial Potentate of the Shrine in North America, Frank C. Jones.

-- John Milkereit, contributing editor