Tuesday, August 06, 2002

Wilmington, NC -- The University of North Carolina at Wilmington and the Wilmington Rotary Club today dedicated the Herman Blizzard Rotary Archives to be housed at the William Madison Randall Library on the campus of UNCW. The archives will be housed in Special Collections and will be the centerpiece of a Virtual Rotary Museum that will make the collection accessible to the world.

Mr. Blizzard, a resident of Wrightsville Beach and member of the Wilmington Rotary Club since 1956, has meticulously acquired and preserved the club’s archives, which date back to 1915 when the club was chartered. The Wilmington Rotary Club was the second club to be chartered in North Carolina and the 150th club to be chartered in the United States. This makes the Wilmington Rotary Club the mother club to the more than 2,100 Rotarians and 45 clubs across District 7730, including Fairmont and Fayetteville on the west, Kinston on the north, Morehead City on the east, and as far south as South Brunswick Islands.

The archives were turned over to UNCW for display, conservation, and use by Rotarians, the public and scholars in the Special Collections Room of Randall Library. Under sponsorship of the Wilmington Rotary Club, a “virtual museum” Web site will catalogue the contents of the collection and feature significant items to make the contents available to Rotarians and other interested parties worldwide.

Some of the most significant items in the collection include the original minutes of the first meeting signed by the charter members and an extensive collection of yearbooks of members, many with photos. The second club president was Roger Moore (1916-1918), the great Wilmington promoter and photographer, and his gavel is part of the collection! Other items of interest include the following:

– Club banners collected from member visits to Rotary Clubs all over the world

– Rotary International convention proceedings from 1919

– Loving cups, trophies, plaques, awards given to the club over many years

– Club membership rosters of Wilmington's "movers and shakers"

– Unique Rotary mementos gathered at RI and district conventions

– Club annual reports of service during World War II years

– Hundreds of items from other American clubs, including files, reports, rosters, mementos from clubs all over Southeastern N.C.

– Tributes to Herman Blizzard, and his personal Rotary artifacts

A brief biographical sketch of Mr. Blizzard written by Rotarian Sue Cause is included below.

Past District Governor Herman Blizzard’s life-long passion for Rotary International began when he joined the Wilmington Rotary Club on June 6, 1956. What’s known fondly as “Herman’s Archives” resulted from Herman’s meticulous collecting of local, national and international Rotary memorabilia.

Herman has lived Rotary’s motto of “Service Above Self,” so his numerous Rotary activities made collecting Rotary information and memorabilia second nature to his membership. Herman served as Wilmington Rotary Club president in 1975-76 and as district governor in 1982-83. Other Rotary responsibilities included three terms as club vice-president and numerous years on the board of directors. Herman was honored as the club’s “Rotarian of the Year 1979-80,” specifically for his efforts on behalf of the club’s orthopedic project and bylaws revision. He represented the district at numerous RI events including the 1986 Council on Legislation and served on countless local and district committees. Herman provided leadership in the formation of the Southport and South Brunswick Islands Rotary Clubs.

Herman held the classification Lighting Fixtures Distributing. He was chairman of the board of Coastal Lighting Supply Co. at the time of his retirement. Herman continues to serve as club historian, and his archives, until June 2002, were housed in Herman’s “office” at 108 N. Front St. in Wilmington. Thankfully, his wonderful collection is now archived in the Special Collections section of Randall Library at UNCW.

For information about the Wilmington Rotary Club, please go to http://www.wilmingtonrotaryclub.org. For information about the Club’s contribution to the city and region, click on the history icon. Once posted, the virtual museum can be accessed at http://library.uncwil.edu/special/home.