Historic moments -- A tradition of song is born

Rotary International News -- 8 October 2008

Jenkins at the 1942 RI Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA Rotary Images

The tradition of singing at Rotary club meetings began in 1905 with Rotarian Harry L. Ruggles, of the Rotary Club of Chicago.

New Rotary clubs formed, and the practice of singing at club meetings caught on. Ruggles's company published an unofficial Book of Songs -- a collection of patriotic tunes, familiar standards, and Rotary songs (many penned by Rotarians) -- to help clubs make singing a regular part of their meetings.

The first official edition of Ruggles's songbook, Songs for the Rotary Club , was published in 1920 and provided lyrics only. Editions with musical notation appeared in 1925.

Later editions offered advice on incorporating music into Rotary club meetings. The 1933 book of songs encouraged Rotarians to add singing to their weekly meeting agendas. The 1935 edition advised clubs to sing prior to lunch and to select a song leader on the basis of personality, not musical talent. Walter R. Jenkins, of the Rotary Club of Houston, served as the official song leader at RI Conventions from 1931 to 1966.

For more Rotary history, visit Rotary History and Archives .

Purchase a copy of Songs for the Rotary Club: Lyrics Book (031) and Songs for the Rotary Club: Words and Music (033) at shop.rotary.org.

6 Comments:

At 2:50PM on 12 November 2008, Jack Bogle wrote: I really like to sing and wish that our club would sing again like we did many years ago. Maybe I will start it again. What we need is a little music with it. We use to pay a woman to play the piano.

At 8:42AM on 31 October 2008, Charles Jordan wrote: Coincidence -- last night I was starting to put together a list of songs that our club could use, and today I find Don Lewis' thoughts on the same! Don, let's do it! Please contact me through the Arroyo Grande, CA club www.agrotary.org and let's use the other comments to help make this a reality.

At 9:31AM on 24 October 2008, Don Lewis wrote: Singing together is a great way to start any event Rotary or otherwise. It lets everyone have a voice. I do believe that adding some more recent new songs would be helpful for the newer Rotarian generation to share with the older Rotarians. I would be happy to serve with others and RI to organize a new Song Book and Karaoke Discs.

At 8:58AM on 14 October 2008, greg chick wrote: At the time that was GRAND!, now I feel the "new-gen" feels its grandfathers club not thiers that sings. Today is today lets not forget the past nor live in it.

At 10:20AM on 13 October 2008, manju gupta wrote: It shows Rotary works in rhythm and on beats. Kindly create some audio- visual forms of these songs and music for Rotary meets and events.

At 9:21AM on 13 October 2008, Pichet Ruchirat wrote: Most thankful for Rotary Songs. Please create a VCD or Karaoke (Songs and Historic Photos and a Handbook of Words and Music for training too. It will be best for all Rotary events.

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