The name "ROTARY" was suggested by Harris; prompted by the original plan of the club members meeting in rotation at their various places of business. As the membership increased, it became necessary to hold dinner meetings which later gave way to weekly noonday meetings. Contrary to general opinion, although Paul Harris was the originator of Rotary, he was not the first president. That distinction went to Silvester Schiele, one of the original four. Paul Harris became the president of Chicago Club No. 1 in 1907. Also in 1907 the first Rotary community project was undertaken - the establishment of public comfort stations in Chicago's City Hall.

Soon to follow was Club No. 2 in San Francisco, then Oakland, followed by Seattle, Los Angeles, New York and Boston. The first Rotary Convention was held in 1910 in Chicago with 29 members present, representing 14 of the 16 organized Rotary Clubs. Like wildfire the movement spread to Canada, England, Ireland, South America, the Phillipines and into Asia. The first club in District 7730 was the Wilmington Rotary Club, chartered in 1915. The Wilmington East Club, one of five clubs in Wilmington, was chartered in 1963. Today the idea of Paul Harris and his friends has spread to 184 countries and geographical regions with over 1,157,000 members in over 26,000 clubs.