The first rotary club meeting was held on February 23, 1905. On that date Paul Harris, a Chicago lawyer, met with three friends, of different professions, and discussed with them their mutual need of fellowship and better business. During that meeting the men agreed to form a club representing different business and professional classifications, with Paul Harris as president. It met in rotation in the offices of its members and so called itself the Rotary Club. Within a few years the idea would spread nationally and internationally.
(L-R Gustavus Loehr, Silvester Schiele, Hiram Shorey and Paul P. Harris)
Rotary Club of Albany's 100th Anniversary 