On 18th January, 1921 Edward C Fisher, a member of the Rotary Club of Pittsburgh, had lunch with five other men at the Johannesburg YMCA and the subject was Rotary. A week later they each brought a friend to lunch and enthusiastically decided to start a Rotary Club.
On the 25th of April a third lunch was held resulting in an Application for Membership carrying 45 signatures being sent to what was then known as the International Association of Rotary Clubs. On the 1st July 1921 the Rotary Club of Johannesburg was chartered.
Club Board, Venue, and Meeting Time
Current Board
President: Mrs. Grace van Zyl
Secretary: John Bintcliffe
Treasurer: Michael Chen
Foundation: Arnold Sommer
Membership: Jean Mboule
Venue
During COVID Lock-Down:
Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86421787906
Normal: Johannesburg Country Club
1 Napier Road, Auckland Park
Johannesburg
Time
Zoom: 19:00 SAST (CAT)
Normal: Tuesdays: 18:30 for 19:00
Rotary in Africa - The beginning - Johannesburg
Rotary International was founded in 1905 by Paul Harris, a Chicago lawyer, who wanted like-minded businessmen to become more involved in their communities. Since its early beginnings, the organisation has spread to thousands of communities in hundreds of countries globally.
The Rotary Club of Johannesburg was chartered in 1921 and was the first Rotary Club on the African continent thanks to Edward C. Fisher. Fisher had a mandate from the board of directors of the Association (to be known from 1922 onwards as Rotary International) to go ahead and charter a club if he thought it is possible. Needless to say, from this action, Rotary grew on the African continent to a formidable organization with 1,485 clubs and 33,644 members!
The Rotary Club of Johannesburg got involved in many projects and community initiatives in and around Johannesburg. Joining hands with clubs from Europe and America, funds were raised to build schools, clinics, and generally uplift communities in need.
The first service project of the Rotary Club of Johannesburg started with the organising of small Sunday night concerts at the Johannesburg General Hospital, a different ward being serenaded each week. Later, gramophone record recitals were provided as well under the aegis of the Service Committee. This activity was supplemented in December 1921 with a collection from members for the Christmas Fund. In 1922 the fund distributed GBP35 to the Johannesburg Children’s Home, Salvation Army Boys Home, and the Boys Hostel. In subsequent years parcels of groceries were distributed by Rotarians themselves on December 24th. Over time these concerts were extended to other charitable and convalescent institutions, such as the Rand Aid Association.
During the 1922 Miner’s Strike and civil war that followed a number of Rotarians from the Johannesburg Rotary Club were called upon to act as special constables or offered their vocational skills to assist with ameliorating problems in the Johannesburg area.
The Club was instrumental in forming the Publicity Association: In 1925 the Town Council of Johannesburg and other bodies attended a meeting convened by the Rotary Club of Johannesburg. Out of this grew the Johannesburg Publicity Association, with members drawn from the Town Council and many businesses and professions.
In 1931 the Club purchased a projector for the silent films now becoming very popular. Rotarian Tom Griffin led the Service Committee for a number of years, his exemplary service resulting in the committee being renamed Griff’s Service Committee. In 1952 the Club purchased two Bell and Howell 16mm sound projectors with the aid of the Rotary Club of Chicago. Demand for this much-appreciated Rotary service grew and so two more were purchased with sound. Eventually, the number of film shows exceeded 500 a year! This service finally folded in the early ’90s with the advent of easily accessible films on videotape.
Below are the charter members and their classifications
| Name | Classification |
| Amm R. | Retail Grocer |
| Boustred W. F. | Hardware |
| Brayshaw E. L. | Conveyancing |
| Buchannan J. | Electric Supplies |
| Campbell M. | Nursery Man |
| Campbell J. D. | Motorcar Distributor |
| Denhard J. E. Dr. | Dentist |
| Dockrall B. | Life insurance |
| Evans H. D. | Paints |
| Fearnhead W. | |
| Fern G. | Efficiency Institute |
| Fisher E. C. | |
| Frazer L. S. | Oils |
| Forsyth G. A. Dr. | Dentistry |
| Green F. V. | Baldwin Locomotives |
| Hosken H. | Lloyd's Agents |
| Hoskings E. O. | Wholesale Soft Goods |
| Hay R. G. | Tyres |
| Hungerford J. | Explosives |
| Harris H. | Rock Drills |
| Jones J. D. | Lecturer |
| Leon P. A. | Shipping |
| Leyds G. A. | Fire Insurance |
| Name | Classification |
| Leon C. H. | Wholesale Soft Goods |
| Lyons H. P. | Rep. Bowater Coal Co. |
| Macdonald W. M. Dr. | Editor |
| Mackay D. | Piano Retailer |
| Macmillan W. M. Prof | Professor of History |
| Merkin J. | Notary |
| Nichols L. H. | Pipe Fitting Tools |
| Quinton H. | Accident Insurance |
| Raphael R. | Building Society |
| Reid C. W. | Architect |
| Roberts D. P. | Costumier |
| Rusterholtz R. W. | Air Compressors |
| Silcock B. | Company Secretary |
| Smith A. | Typewriters |
| Smith Y. | Wire Fencing Manufacturer |
| Stevenson P. J. | American Trade Commissioner |
| Store P. V. | Draper |
| Stokes F. A. | Accountant |
| Webster D. | Coal Broker |
| Wood H. G. | Secretary |
| Honorary Charter Members | |
| Derham C. E. | Y.M.C.A. |
| Harris F. | Y.M.C.A. |
Presidents of the Club
(including the RI President of the year)
1921 - 1970
| YEAR | PRESIDENT | RI PRESIDENT |
| 1921 - 22 | Hubert Hosken | Estes Snedecor | USA (1920/21) |
| Crawford McCullough | Canada | ||
| 1922 - 23 | Perry J Stevenson | Raymond M Havens | USA |
| 1923 - 24 | R W Rusterholtz | Guy Gundaker |USA |
| 1924 - 25 | W Fernhead | Everret W Hill |USA |
| 1925 - 26 | TWH McEwan | Donald A Adams |USA |
| 1926 - 27 | James Gray | Harry H Rodgers |USA |
| 1927 - 28 | W Sealwood | Arthur H Sapp | USA |
| 1928 - 29 | A C Thiselton | I B Tom Sutton | Mexico |
| 1929 - 30 | Perry Welsh | M Eugene Newsom |USA |
| Georg W Nelson | ||
| 1930 - 31 | Harold Meyer | Almon E Roth |USA |
| 1931 - 32 | Richard R Currie | Sydney W Pascall | England |
| Dr L Erasmus Ellis | ||
| 1932 - 33 | Hubert Hosken | Clinton P Anderson |USA |
| 1933 - 34 | A H L Burmeister | John Nelson | Canada |
| 1934 - 35 | A H l Burmeister | Robert E Lee Hill |USA |
| 1935 - 36 | Capr H L Seligson | Ed R Johnson |USA |
| 1936 - 37 | Horace E Babb | Will R Manier Jr. |USA |
| 1937 - 38 | T Nimmo Dewar | Maurice Duperrey | France |
| 1938 - 39 | J J Walker | George G Hager |USA |
| 1939 - 40 | Arthur Boyden | Walter D Head |USA |
| 1940 - 41 | Arthur Boyden | Armano de Arruda Pereira | Brazil |
| 1941 - 42 | Dr E J Hamlin | Tom J Davis | USA |
| 1942 - 43 | H S Read | Fernando Carbajal | Peru |
| 1943 - 44 | F G Paxton | Charles L Wheeler |USA |
| 1944 - 45 | R Hamilton | Richard H Wells |USA |
| 1945 - 46 | F W Cooper | T A Warren | England |
| 1946 - 47 | F S Nicholds | Richard C Hedke |USA |
| 1947 - 48 | Rev J B Webb | S Kendrick Guernsev |USA |
| 1948 - 49 | N F McMurray | Angus S Mitchell | Australia |
| 1949 - 50 | Dr T D Hall | Rpercy Hodgson | USA |
| 1950 - 51 | G M Brown | Arthur Lagueux | Canada |
| 1951 - 52 | I V Hurd | Frank E Spain | USA |
| 1952 - 53 | A Gray | H J Brunnier | USA |
| 1953 - 54 | A D Mc Phail | Joaquin Serratosa Cibils | Uruguay |
| 1954 - 55 | H W Anderson | Herbert j Taylor USA |
| 1955 - 56 | C Pike | A Z Baker | USA |
| 1956 - 57 | I Barkhysen | Gian Paolo Lang | Italy |
| 1957 - 58 | E D Orr | Charles G Tennent | USA |
| 1958 - 59 | H Falconer | Cliffort A Randall | USA |
| 1959 - 60 | F F Binswanger | Harold T Thomas | New Zealand |
| 1960 - 61 | S F Dench | J Edd McLaughlin | USA |
| 1961 - 62 | D G Paxton | Joseph A Abey | USA |
| 1962 - 63 | M H Eddy | Nitish C Laharry | India |
| 1963 - 64 | D P Driver | Carl P Miller | USA |
| 1964 - 65 | C L Coles | Charles W Pettengill | USA |
| 1965 - 66 | H G Bosch | C P H Teenstra | Netherlands |
| 1966 - 67 | F N Haslett | Richarl L Evans | USA |
| 1967 - 68 | G A MacWhirter | Luther H Hodges | USA |
| 1968 - 69 | WG Midgley | Kiyoshi Togasaki | Japan |
| 1969 - 70 | J H N Brebner | James F Conway | USA |
1970 - 2021
| YEAR | PRESIDENT | RI PRESIDENT |
| 1970 - 71 | D L Jones | William E Walk | USA |
| 1971 - 72 | N C Jackson | Ernst G Breitholtz | Sweden |
| 1972 - 73 | W K F Fowler | Roy D Hickman | USA |
| 1973 - 74 | H W Holsteyn | William C Carter | England |
| 1974 - 75 | T C Eales | William R Robbins | USA |
| 1975 - 76 | Dr H S Hurwitz | Ernesto Imbassahy de Mello | Brazil |
| 1976 - 77 | Rev S G Pitts | Robert Manchester II | USA |
| 1977 - 78 | C J Slade | W Jack Davis | Bermuda |
| 1978 - 79 | W G Jordaan | Clem Renouf | Australia |
| 1979 - 80 | J Foster | James L Bomar Jr. | USA |
| 1980 - 81 | L A LucasBull | Rolf Klärich | Finland |
| 1981 - 82 | C G Corbett | Stanley E McCaffrey | USA |
| 1982 - 83 | A Van Der Bijl | Hiroji Mukasa | Japan |
| 1983 - 84 | J Penny | William E Skelton | USA |
| 1984 - 85 | I L Allan | Carlos Canseco González| Mexico |
| 1985 - 86 | A D Tew | Edward F Cadman | USA |
| 1986 - 87 | F D R Belford | M A T Caparas | Phillippines |
| 1987 - 88 | H R Higgens | Charles C Keller | USA |
| 1988 - 89 | R M Belinsky | Royce Abbey | Australia |
| 1989 - 90 | R James | Hugh M Archer | USA |
| 1990 - 91 | V L Veale | Paulo V C Costa | Brazil |
| 1991 - 92 | M C Munsie | Rajendra K Saboo | India |
| 1992 - 93 | A V Pienaar | Clifford L Dochterman | USA |
| 1993 - 94 | G Miller | Robert R Barth | Switzerland |
| 1994 - 95 | D A Gordon | William H Huntley | England |
| 1995 - 96 | I C Anderson | Herbert G Brown | USA |
| 1996 - 97 | W McGraw | Luis Vicente Giav | Argentina |
| 1997 - 98 | D Meisel | Glen W Kinross | Australia |
| 1998 - 99 | H Volkinsveld | James L Lacy | USA |
| 1999 - 00 | M Coetzee | Carlo Ravizza | Italy |
| 2000 - 01 | Mrs J Hodges | Frank J Devlyn | Mexico |
| 2001 - 02 | A Barclay | Richard D King | USA |
| 2002 - 03 | P D Alexander | Bhichai Rattakul | Thailand |
| 2003 - 04 | R Nastri | Jonathan B Majivagbe | Nigeria |
| 2004 - 05 | Mrs A Mostert | Glenn E Estress Sr. | USA |
| 2005 - 06 | C Strydom | Carl-Willhelm Stenhammar | Sweden |
| 2006 - 07 | P van Schaardenburgh | William Boyd | New Zealand |
| 2007 - 08 | T Hime | Wilfred J Wilkinson | Canada |
| 2008 - 09 | D Crossley | Dong Kurn Lee | Korea |
| 2009 - 10 | Mrs J Hodges | John Kenny | Scotland |
| N van Santen | ||
| 2010 - 11 | R Stone | Ray Klinginsmith | USA |
| 2011 - 12 | M Moriarty | Kaylan Bannerjee | India |
| 2012 - 13 | L Vercueil | Sakuji Tanaka | Japan |
| 2013 - 14 | R Stone | Ron D Burton | USA |
| 2014 - 15 | Ms L Vilakazi | Gary C K Huang | Taiwan |
| 2015 - 16 | Mrs C C Haak | K R (Ravi) Ravindran | Sri Lanka |
| 2016 - 17 | C Alexander | John F Germ | USA |
| 2017 - 18 | Mrs C C Haak | Ian H S Riseley | Australia |
| 2018 - 19 | A Billing | Barry Rassin | Bahamas |
| 2019 - 20 | Mrs G van Zyl | Mark Daniel Maloney | USA |
| 2020 - 21 | Mrs G van Zyl | Holger Knaack | Germany |
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