History of our Club
History of Corsicana Rotary Club
On April 28, 1921 a group of twenty-five men prominent in the City’s social and business circles met at the Y.M.C.A. to work on the preliminary stages of organizing a Rotary Club in Corsicana. Mr. C.C. Roberts spoke to those in attendance about the benefits of being a member of Rotary, which included:
- Making the acquaintance of men you ought to know.
- Genuine, wholesome good-fellowship.
- Developing true and helpful friends.
- Enlightenment as to other men’s work, problems, and successes.
- Education in methods that increase efficiency.
- Stimulation of your desire to be of service to your fellowmen and society in general.
It was also explained that a Rotary Club could be organized with a minimum of fifteen and a maximum of twenty-five members. There had been a committee formed to secure members and a full quota of twenty-five had been reached. It was at this meeting that the future members of the Corsicana Rotary Club met together for the first time.
The Corsicana Rotary Club was awarded its Charter on May 1, 1921. The clubs name appeared as “Corsicana Rotary Club, No. 937”. While the charter was awarded in May it was not received until September 21, 1921. At the time Texas was comprised of only one district, so it took a while before the District Governor could make it to the club.
The following is a list of the first officers of the Corsicana Rotary Club:
- C.C. Roberts – President
- W.N. Johnson – Vice president
- Jim B. Robinson – Secretary.
- Ben Blackmon – Treasurer
- H. Gentry – Sergeant at Arms