Is your Club contributing to the Centennial History of Rotary 1921-2021 in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands?

“Mana Tangata: People of Action” is the working title of a coffee table publication being crafted by professional historian Dr Stephen Clarke. The achievements of your Club and Rotarians cannot be considered by Dr Clarke if he is not aware of them.  Many Clubs have already sent information to Dr Clarke. Research and writing is already under way.

The manuscript is due in July 2020 for publication in 2021, so Clubs need to get their information to the historian as soon as possible. More details and an outline of what the publication will cover are set out later in this article.

Here are the steps your Club should take, or may have already taken, to ensure your stories are considered:

  1. Send to research@rotaryoceania.zone (a) the name and contact number of your Club’s historian or liaison person; (b) details of the range of your Club’s historical records, photographs and special memorabilia; and (c) details of your Club’s previous history publications (e.g. 50th, 75th anniversary). Please copy your District Public Image Chair into the email so they are aware of which Clubs have replied.
  2. Upload information to the Rotary Oceania Wiki, which can store any media content you can turn into a digital form - text, pictures, videos, scanned pages of rare books. Information about the Wiki is at https://rotaryoceania.zone/sitepage/mana-tangata-centennial-project/the-tool---rotaryoceania-wiki  Every Rotarian has a login and instructions for logging on to the Wiki are at https://rotaryoceania.zone/sitepage/mana-tangata-centennial-project/getting-your-login-and-logging-in 
  3. If you have a history publication in electronic form (e.g. your first 25 years), you can upload this to the galleries in the Wiki. See https://rotaryoceania.zone/sitepage/mana-tangata-centennial-project/using-the-file-galleries
  4. Hard copy histories and printed matter may be sent for scanning to Making History Ltd, 16E Lincoln Road, Henderson, Auckland 0610, but please understand that these will be destroyed in the scanning process - see https://rotaryoceania.zone/sitepage/mana-tangata-centennial-project/guidelines-for-submitting-books   

Please read the outline below of the history project and consider how your Club’s achievements could fit into the Chapters and themes. A wide range of information about the centenary history project is available by following the links from https://rotaryoceania.zone/sitepage/mana-tangata-centennial-project

You will understand that with over 200 Clubs in New Zealand and the Pacific Island, not all information will make it to the coffee table printed book.  I suspect that the way you package your Club’s information will help in capturing the historian’s eye, for example capturing major themes, such as community, international, environmental service, women in Rotary, major personalities, organisations you helped set up, and so forth.

The Project

Begun in Chicago in 1905, Rotary was established in New Zealand in 1921 when clubs were set up in both Wellington and Auckland. The idea was that people from a range of vocations would meet together on a non-political and non-religious basis to enjoy fellowship and work for the betterment of their community. The abiding principle was ‘Service Above Self’.

Over the subsequent century Rotary in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands has expanded to over 265 clubs and 8000 members. It has made a huge contribution to the improvement of New Zealand and Pacific Islands society through grants and direct assistance in many fields of social enterprise – the welfare of children, education, public health, the environment, encouraging the local economy. Many voluntary institutions, furthermore, were kick-started by Rotary.

The history will tell this important story.

It will describe the development of Rotary as an institution – its changing composition, its geographical spread, its ways of working – against the wider context of New Zealand and Pacific Islands’ society and culture. Its flax roots story of clubs and members will feature large. It will explore and explain the different forms of service undertaken by Rotary over the years, the impact which Rotary initiatives have had on the communities of New Zealand and the Pacific. Case studies of notable projects will feature. It will also establish what was distinctive about the New Zealand and Pacific contribution to the international Rotary movement.

This book will not only tell the Rotary story, of its service in the community and place in New Zealand and Pacific Island society for 100 years, it will inform future actions for the next 100 years.

Themes

Although the book will obviously be of interest to clubs and members this is an important story for all New Zealanders as it touches on the social, economic and cultural history of New Zealand and the Pacific Islands over the past century. In telling this history three major themes will be explored.

What does the story of Rotary tell us about the changing importance of service in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands?

‘Service’ is at the core of Rotary principles, ethos and actions. Rotary was the first of the American service clubs to land in New Zealand and the Pacific. Service and its social function will be a major focus of this centennial history. 

What has been Rotary’s contribution to New Zealand and Pacific Islands society?

Rotary illuminates New Zealand’s welfare state through the significant niches it has filled and also provides an insight into the role of clubs as the foundation of civil society, especially in a settler society. This book will also contribute to our understanding of New Zealand and Pacific Island social history as it relates to men’s and later women’s voluntarism; the history of philanthropy/social enterprise, children’s, health and welfare organisations as well as youth internationalism; and the role of non-governmental organisations in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands place in the world.

What has been New Zealand and the Pacific Islands Rotary’s contribution to the international Rotary movement?

What distinguishes the New Zealand and Pacific Islands experience of Rotary at the edge of its international wheel? What has been the extent of its contribution and influence on Rotary International?

Structure

The story is told in a chronological chapter order (with working titles):

 

Forewords, Preface

 

Prologue

International Origins

1905–21

Chapter 1

Rotary and all that Jazz

1921–29

Chapter 2

Dark Days with Silver Linings

1930–45

Chapter 3

Building the New World

1946–59

Chapter 4

Golden Years

1960–80

Chapter 4

A Changing Society

1980–99

Chapter 6

Getting Stuck In

2000–21

Epilogue  

The Future

 

 

Appendices: Timeline, Membership Graph, Awardees, Officers

 

Further Reading, Endnotes, Index

While the story is told in a chronological order each chapter is structured into four parts to highlight significant areas of interest. The first part, In the Club, looks at organisational development and the changing social role of Rotary. The second part, For the Community, examines its significant areas of service in the community. Serving the Future concentrates on new generations service, vocational service and education. Finally, Across the World examines Rotary’s international service and contribution to Rotary International.

Tone / ‘Look & Feel’

The book will be about 80,000 words in length, accurate, scholarly and well researched, but written in a lively style and with an imaginative and abundant use of illustrations. The final design of the book will have a vibrancy that does justice to the compelling story it tells.

The Author

Dr Stephen Clarke is a History graduate of the University of Otago and the University of New South Wales and has worked at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and Massey University. He is a professional historian and director of Making History Ltd. His most recent publication After the War: The RSA in New Zealand (Penguin, 2016) was commissioned for the centennial of the Royal New Zealand RSA in 2016, and where formerly he was Chief Executive 2008–13.

A Landmark Publication

Rotary is rightly proud of its history. This landmark publication will enable clubs and members to celebrate 100 years of Rotary in New Zealand and the Pacific in 2021, and with it the ability to share their story with their community, with the nation, and with fellow Rotarians around the world.