Closing Day

Closing the 1912 Convention

by Rachael E. Martin, Club #25 Historian

Several additional items of business were concluded at the final meeting of the International Rotary convention held at the Commercial Club in Duluth on Friday, August 9, 1912.
 

By 1912 it had already become a custom for Rotarians to make suggestions about civic improvements in every city in which they met. Therefore, a number of the delegates expressed their opinions about Duluth.
 

Some suggested that the city buy a plot of ground on the lakefront for a lakeshore park. Others noticed that the anti-spitting law, for chewing tobacco, was not enforced to any extent in Duluth. Others thought that a city of this size should have better streets. Some suggested that the approaches to the main part of the city from the boat landings and railroad depots could be more pleasing.
 

Other final business included adopting the design for stationery, pins, and pennants of a royal blue and gold wheel with spokes to indicate strength and cogs on the outside to indicate power. A committee was established to have pins made, which Rotarians would be expected to wear whenever they traveled.
 

According to the custom set at other conventions, the president of the club in the city in which the convention meets was allowed to preside at the last meeting. E. J. Filiatrault presided at this last session. At the conclusion of the meeting, President Paul P. Harris turned over the chair to the newly elected president, Glenn C. Mead. With this gesture, the convention adjourned and the 1912 gathering passed into history as the most successful convention ever held by the organization.
 

The Duluth convention was reported to be three times larger than the previous convention in Portland, Oregon. More than 1,000 people were drawn to Duluth by this convention. The Duluth Herald reported that the visitors said this was "the biggest as well as the best convention ever held. Three hearty cheers were given for Duluth just before the convention adjourned."