Launch
George W. Clark, 10 October 1923. Clark was a charter member of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville, Florida, USA, and a longtime friend of Harris. Clark briefly employed Harris as a salesman in Florida after Harris graduated from law school and before he settled in Chicago. “This visit to my good old friend Paul and his dear wife is one of the happiest events of my life.”
A guest book signed by many visitors to Rotary founder Paul Harris’ home shares the words that some of Rotary’s early members used to express their friendship. The book is preserved in Rotary’s archives in Evanston, Illinois.
Harris and his wife, Jean, bought their home in Morgan Park, which was then a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, USA, in 1912. There they entertained friends from Chicago and around the world, hosting meetings and reunions of the Rotary Club of Chicago.
Guests signed the book over many years. It includes a 1915 calendar, along with entries dated from 1919 onward. Although some guests simply signed their names and perhaps noted the dates of their visits, others left longer messages. The pages offer reflections on friendship, lasting connections, and what members loved about Rotary.
The dates printed on the pages don’t match the actual dates of most of the visits. Instead, it appears that many visitors signed the page with their birthday. Harris himself, a lawyer, used the book to take notes on a few meetings with his clients.
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Sydney W. Pascall, 7 July 1932. Pascall belonged to the Rotary Club of London, England, and served as Rotary International president in 1931-32. “Fellowship in service through service in fellowship.”
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Maurice Duperrey, no date. Duperrey was a member of the Rotary Club of Paris, France, and served as Rotary International president in 1937-38. “As a token of admiration, to the founder of Rotary International, whose name shines on the world, as a beacon guiding humans toward a better future of peace, harmony, and fraternity.”
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Edgar F. Allen, no date. A member of the Rotary Club of Elyria, Ohio, USA. In 1919, Allen founded the National Society for Crippled Children, which is now called Easterseals. Harris chaired the society’s first board of directors. “I thank you for the two hours on your porch. It has been an inspiration.”
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Chesley R. Perry, 1934. A member of the Rotary Club of Chicago, Perry served as Rotary’s first general secretary from 1910 to 1942. “You haven’t asked [me] to write in your book but I am going to do so because I do not want to be missing from any record of your friends and admirers.”
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Federico A. Pezet, 30 April 1919. Pezet helped introduce Rotary to Peru and several years later joined the Rotary Club of Lima. “Born into this world on this day I have gone along my life feeling that there was something to be done that was worth the doing. And, now, that I have been born into Rotary I know that I have found that something which I was seeking — your creation, dear Paul, will be from now on my inspiration. And I hope that the work now before me will be accomplished as thoroughly as has been yours.”
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Estes Snedecor, no date. Known as Pete to his friends, Snedecor belonged to the Rotary Club of Portland, Oregon, USA, and was the Rotary president in 1920-21. “It is always a joy to visit the home of Harris — the oracle of Rotary.”
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Margaret Arnold of Bermuda, 11 July 1926; Yozo Namura, president of the Rotary Club of Yokohama, Japan, no date; and James Lindsay Gordon of the Rotary Club of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 16 March 1932.
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Arthur H. Sapp, 25 July 1927. Sapp was a member of the Rotary Club of Huntington, Indiana, USA, and served as Rotary International president in 1927-28. “With happy memories of the birds, the trees and the quiet talks over the tea cups.”
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Herbert Coates, 1931. Coates was a charter member of the Rotary Club of Montevideo, Uruguay. Harris described Coates as instrumental in spreading Rotary throughout South America, where Coates was known as Don Heriberto. “Service Above Self”
