This history was researched, written and copyrighted by Douglas Rudman of the Rotary Club of Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Texas, regarded worldwide as the foremost authority on Women in Rotary. Additions and corrections are always appreciated. 

Seattle-International District Pioneered Women in Rotary

People everywhere have heard of “Skid Row.” Pioneer Square in Seattle was the home of the original "Skid Road," the original term, born when timber was slid down Yesler Way to a steam-powered mill on the waterfront.   Seattle's oldest neighborhood, historic Pioneer Square gets its character from the sturdy red brick buildings that have endured boom, bust, renewal and renovation. Through it all, the area has maintained the grace that hints of upper class regency England.   Today, the area is home and neighborhood to many of Seattle's art galleries, eateries and web development companies. It is also the entertainment district of Seattle, and it comes alive when the sun sets across the peninsula in the Pacific Ocean. The historic district becomes entertainment district, with one of the city's liveliest collections of nightspots, from sports bars to hard rock taverns to romantic eateries. Just south of Pioneer Square is the International District, where many former immigrants from the Pacific Rim own thriving businesses that proudly proclaim their multi-cultural heritages.   In 1984, Carl E. Swenson, Governor of District 5030, wanted to start a club in the Pioneer Square-International District area. He asked Lloyd Hara, a member of Seattle4, to be his Special Representative to the new club.   Hara began immediately. He talked to people in the area, and quickly assembled a possible profile. He felt that the club could be highly diversified and multi-ethnic in membership, if it fairly represented the business people in the International District and Pioneer Square.   The chartering members agreed with most all of the provisions from Rotary International to charter a new club except a major one. They voted to change the club charter application, from the standard Rotary charter, by crossing out any reference to membership by males or men.   The Secretariat of Rotary International returned the application unapproved because of the deletion of the male gender clause, and a few other minor elements that were changed to comply with the interests and backgrounds of the proposed members. A debate ensued amongst the prospective members. They argued whether to accept the traditional charter language or fight. Universally, they loved the concept of Rotary, they just had some questions about the way it was being run. Finally, they reached consensus by approving the standard charter language. They decided that they would then submit a resolution to change the by-laws of Rotary International, by admitting women, at the 1986 Council on Legislation.   The prospective club continued to meet provisionally in regular meetings for six months. Finally, on September 18, 1984, the club was chartered. On its charter it was named the Rotary Club of Seattle - International District. The Governor’s Special Representative, Lloyd Hara, became the chartering president. subsequently, he recalled, "We ran the usual luncheon program, but had a higher degree of political and community-related issues. We also visited each other's businesses, somewhat like an open house, in order to get to know each other better." In other words, they took the early words of Paul Harris to heart, and believed in Harris’ model for Rotary.   The new club was very multicultural, and considerably younger than most clubs. The majority of the members were in their 30's and early 40's. Only Hara and one other member had been Rotarians previously. It was a new group of people that were challenged to get involved. It probably was a contributing factor to the effort to permit women members in Rotary.   The board soon formed a Women-in-Rotary committee. It investigated alternatives and studied procedures for amending the Rotary constitution to admit women as full members. When every one of the “Women-in-Rotary “proposed amendments were overwhelmingly defeated at the Council on Legislation in 1986, club members were insulted and irate. They decided not to wait until the next Constitutional convention, but take action on their own, if 100 percent of the membership agreed with their challenge to Rotary International.   The club’s web site reveals the next part of the story, “On July 31, 1986, the club unanimously voted to admit women. Members such as Bob Hashimoto spoke against discrimination. Because it was believed that admitting only one or two women would create pressure on those individuals, it was decided to admit several women. Ultimately 15 women were proposed and admitted.”   Admission of the original women members occurred on September 4, 1986. They included Kay Blackard, Director of Education at Harborview Medical Center, Cynthia Chirot, Senior Vice-President of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle; Harriet Cody, Attorney-at-law; Reidun Crowley, Customer Programs Administrator of Puget Power; Katherine Fletcher, the Chair of the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority, Patricia Frank, Executive Director of Puget Sound Big Sisters; Canadian Consulate General Executive Jane Hardeson; Carol James, President of Carol James Talent Agency; Ginny McCormac, the Executive Director & President of Goodwill Industries of Seattle; and Sonya Kim, who was Associate Director of the Washington State Dept. of Social Work.   Other initial women members were Assunta Ng, the Publisher of the Seattle Chinese Post; Seattle City Councilmember Dolores Sibonga; Barbara Vanderkolk, President of Barbara Vanderkolk & Associates, Inc.; Sister Charlotte Van Dyke, Director of Corporate Relations of the Sisters of Providence; and Karilyn Van Soest, who was President of Travel Bug, Inc., and who became President of the club on July 1, 1988.

President Jim Johnson had already made the membership aware of a California case being appealed to the United States Supreme Court, Board of Directors of Rotary International v. Duarte. The Rotary Club of Duarte, California, had admitted women in compliance with state law.   To prevent its charter from being revoked, the Rotary Club of Seattle-International District kept silent about its admission of women for about a week. On September 12, 1986, club president Jim Johnson sent a letter to the presidents of the other clubs in District 503 (now 5030). He explained his club’s position vis-à-vis the Council on Legislation and why they took the step they did, and asked for support.   Three days later, on the 15th, when it was ready to seek an injunction in federal court to prevent Rotary International from revoking its charter, the Seattle-International District club hired attorney Margaret McKeown, Perkins Coie, as counsel, filed its suit, sought and obtained and injunction against RI to prevent them from forcing thetermination of the women members, and publicized its admission of the women in Seattle, including a press release and subsequently, the club’s newsletter of September 25, 1987.   Also on the 15th, District Governor John Henry sent a letter to the district’s club presidents. In it, he instructed the other clubs, at the direction of the Secretariat of Rotary International, not to recognize the new women members as Rotary members, or to give them “make-ups.” Two days later, on September 17, DG Henry spoke to the members of Seattle4, and reaffirmed his message. That same day, Philip H. Lindsey, General Secretary of RI sent Jim Johnson a formal letter reiterating Rotary policy, and citing what would happen in they failed to do it.   These actions generated a letter on October 3, 1986, from Eugene Chellis of Perkins Coie, The Seattle-International District attorneys, to Bill Helsell of Helsell, Fetterman, Martin, Todd and Hokanson, Seattle attorneys for RI. Chellis protested the previous actions by Henry and Lindsey as he stated, “I specifically asked for an agreement that defendant (Rotary International) would not take any actions inconsistent with the relief requested in plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction.”   Chellis concluded the letter, "In addition, if there is to be any “standstill” agreement in lieu of a preliminary injunction, as you suggested might be possible, it would have to include an agreement that the International District Club’s women members, as well as the club itself, would be treated as full members of Rotary pending a resolution of the matter by the court.” The “standstill” agreement held.   In January, the club began writing an “Amicus” brief to file with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Duarte. Invitations were extended to the San Francisco club, #2, the Boston club (#7) and Sitka, Alaska. The brief was filed, and Seattle-International District officially joined Duarte's fight against Rotary International.   The U. S. Supreme Court handed down its decision on the Duarte case on May 4, 1987. The Court held that the Duarte club had to comply with the California civil rights statute and that Rotary International could not eject a club because of its compliance with state law. The Duarte club had won.   With the Duarte decision against them, and the Seattle-International District lawsuit in Washington State still staring them in the face, the Board of Directors of Rotary International, under the leadership of Charles Keller, met in the summer of 1987, and decided not to pursue the matter any further. A vote ensued to offer amendments to the Rotary Constitution and By-Laws at the 1989 Council on Legislation to officially eliminate the prohibition on women.   Subsequently, Karilyn Van Soest, became president of the club in 1988-1989. At the International Convention in Philadelphia in May 1988, prior to her taking office, she was the only woman President-Elect in attendance, although Sylvia Whitlock of Duarte was present. Whitlock was finishing out her term as the first woman president of a Rotary club.   History has shown that the two “Pioneering” Rotary clubs, Duarte and Seattle-International District, withstood the harsh words and criticism with grace and class, and proved to the rest of the Rotary world that the U. S. Supreme Court decision, and the ensuing action by Rotary International was one of the most important developments in the life of the organization.