A bit of Rotary history that surprises people is the fact that Rotary didn’t admit members until after the Supreme Court decision on the Board of Directors, Rotary International v. Rotary Club of Duarte case. What’s more interesting is the story behind the case. Many clubs in the United States wanted to admit women prior to the court decision, but were prohibited by the Rotary International Charter. This reflected the fact that Rotary was an international organization with wide membership long before the court decsion was made.
Attitudes in many other countries did not support women in Rotary…and that still holds true in other countries not bound by the court decision. As an example, I attended a meeting in Shizuoka, Japan in October of 2007. The only woman allowed in the room was the classically trained pianist that played music during the meeting. While Rotary International’s current charter does not limit membership by race or gender, old behaviors still live on in many countries.
What finally pushed the issue in the United States were the actions of a Rotary club from a small town in California: the Rotary Club of Duarte. On its 25th anniversary, the Duarte club admitted Mary Lou Elliott and Donna Bogart to membership on 1 June, 1977 and they were followed shortly afterwards by Rosemary Freitag. On 27 March 1978, Duarte’s charter was terminated by Rotary International. Duarte re-named itself the “Ex Rotary Club of Duarte” and in June, 1978 filed a suit in the California Superior Court against the RI Board decision. This was not heard by the court until 1983 when Judge Max Deutz ruled against Duarte, which in 1986 appealed that decision to the California Court of Appeal and the Deutz judgment was reversed. The RI Board appealed that decision to the California Supreme Court which refused to hear the case and the RI Board then appealed to the United States Supreme Court in 1986.
The Supreme Court heard the case in the 1986-1987 court session and handed down a unanimous 7-0 verdict affirming Duarte’s right to admit women.
Our club moved quickly after the decision. Dave Goldstein…our “Big Al” was president and on June 18th, 1987, Downtown Rotary inducted Margaret H. James and Lynda Slack as the first female members of the club. Ms. James was the director of the Heartland Chapter and Midwest Regional Blood Center of the American Red Cross and Ms. Slack was the Vice President of the Livestock Press, a commercial printing firm.
The article in the World Herald on that Wednesday said:
The club, Omaha’s oldest and largest Rotary Organization, has wanted women members for some time, said David Goldstein, club President. The club voted twice in the past to allow women members if Rotary International’s rules ever permitted it.
Goldstein said that he tried to play down the induction of the two women. “this whole business relates to equality,” he said. “I didn’t see any reason to treat them differently.”
He predicted that more women would become members of Rotary clubs. “We may not be able to undo the past, but we can certainly move forward.”
Next year will the 25th anniversary of the decision that made women part of Rotary…a part that has enriched Rotary worldwide.
