Column: Women have shaped Bloomington Rotary Club since 1987 Supreme Court ruling
With March as Women’s History Month, the Bloomington Rotary Club celebrates the vital role women members have played in the organization. We thank them for their leadership and service above self and know that the future is strong with their increasing involvement in our activities.
It’s striking to note that it was just 36 years ago, 1987, that the U.S. Supreme Court determined that women should be allowed to join a small Rotary Club in Duarte, California. Upon hearing the news and ready to jump into action, Bloomington Rotary (with leadership from President Bud Kohr) immediately recruited Vickie Thevenow from county government, Judy Talley from the IU Bloomington Hospital Foundation, and Margaret Joseph from WFIU.
In 1988, new members included four women still with the club: Kay Leach, Joyce Poling, Judy Schroeder, and Charlotte Zietlow. Ginnie Rose and Rebecca Wilson also joined that year. Jane Hitchcock, Tina Swanson, Viola Taliafero, and Judy Wittbecame members in 1989. Monica Kroener and Patricia Gross joined in 1990. From those small beginnings, we now have 47 women who are members, and that’s 35% of the club.
So far, we’ve had 11 women presidents of the club. Judy Talley of the hospital foundation, was our first, in 1993-94. Five years later Pat Gross, a former city council member, was president in 1998-99. Judy Witt, formerly of WTIU, led us in 2003-04. She also served as Assistant District Governor in 2005-07 and as District Governor in 2007-08, the first women from our club to serve in a district capacity.
Glenda Murray from the Poynter Center for the Study of Ethics was president in 2004-05, Rotary’s Centennial year. Yolanda Trevino, as assistant vice-president in the Office of the Vice-President for Diversity, Equity, Multicultural Affairs at IU, served in 2008-09. Susan Bookout, who was director of Meadowood for many years, was president the next year in 2009-10. Joy Harter, who has worked in long term care, led us and introduced “Is it Fun?” as our fifth part of the Rotary 4-Way Test motto in 2014-15, and Sara Laughlin, who had recently retired as director of the Monroe County Public Library, was president in 2015-16. Leslie Green from Stone Belt served in 2016-17. Ashley Wesley from the Boys and Girls Club was our president – all on Zoom – during the pandemic year of 2020-21 and Sally Gaskill, nonprofit and arts leader, led us in 2021-22, as we emerged from the pandemic.
Charlotte Zietlow has played a significant role in guiding and building the Bloomington Club and was appropriately celebrated in 2021 as the Bloomington Rotary Toast honoree. Judy Witt led the club in creating Teachers Warehouse as our centennial project.
Our Club continues to thrive with many new women members. Since January 2021, 20 women have joined the Club. We celebrate the diversity of thought, civic leadership, professionalism, and wisdom all these amazing members bring to our Club and are thankful for their commitment to service.
Two final pieces of history in the Club:
Joyce and John Poling may have been the first couple to join Rotary in the country.
In 1990, Monica Kroener traveled back to Germany as a new Rotarian. Upon appearing at a local club as a guest Rotarian, she was first told that she wasn’t allowed. In response, she explained she was already a Rotary member, which motivated the club to seriously consider women members in their club – proving that the power of Bloomington Rotary Club members resonates worldwide!
Alain Barker is president of the Rotary Club of Bloomington and Glenda Murray is the club historian.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Column: Bloomington Rotary Club recruited first female members in 1987
