by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
First female president welcomes second
Frances Bartlett Kinne, the Rotary Club of Jacksonville’s first female president, serving 1990-91, greeted the club’s new president, Cindy Stover, at Monday’s meeting at the Omni.
A few minutes later, Stover, the second female president since the club was founded in 1912, rang the bell to call the first meeting of her term to order.
Her first order of business was to survey the membership and seek suggestions about the club’s traditions and what, if anything, the members want changed.
Before the discussions and feedback began at each table, club past President Hank Coxe briefly presented the history of Rotary International and the local club, which was the first chartered in Florida.
He related the story of how, in 1977, a Rotary Club in California decided to celebrate its 25th anniversary by inducting three women into the organization. Coxe said Rotary International immediately revoked the club’s charter, but years later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Rotary International could not prohibit clubs from having female members.
“It goes to show how far we’ve come,” said Coxe.
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