I AM CIVITAN: as old as life, as young as the rainbow, as endless as time. • MY HANDS do the work of the world and reach out in service to others. • MY EARS hear the cry of children and the call throughout the world for peace, guidance, progress and unity. • MY EYES search for others to join in the fellowship and service of Civitan. • MY MOUTH utters the call to daily duty and speaks prayers in every tongue. • MY MIND teaches me respect for law and the flag of my country. • MY HEART beats for every friend, bleeds for every injury to humanity and throbs with joy at every triumph of truth. • MY SOUL knows no fear but its own unworthiness. • MY HOPE is for a better world through Civitan. • MY MOTTO: builders of good citizenship. • MY BELIEF: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. • MY PLEDGE: to practice the Golden Rule and to build upon it a better and nobler citizenship. I AM CIVITAN: as old as life, as young as the rainbow, as endless as time. • MY HANDS do the work of the world and reach out in service to others. • MY EARS hear the cry of children and the call throughout the world for peace, guidance, progress and unity. • MY EYES search for others to join in the fellowship and service of Civitan. • MY MOUTH utters the call to daily duty and speaks prayers in every tongue. • MY MIND teaches me respect for law and the flag of my country. • MY HEART beats for every friend, bleeds for every injury to humanity and throbs with joy at every triumph of truth. • MY SOUL knows no fear but its own unworthiness. • MY HOPE is for a better world through Civitan. • MY MOTTO: builders of good citizenship. • MY BELIEF: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. • MY PLEDGE: to practice the Golden Rule and to build upon it a better and nobler citizenship.

Civitan from 1917 to the present

On March 17, 1917, a small group of business and professional leaders in a civic club had been meeting at the Southern Club in Birmingham, Alabama, but began to feel the organization was slanted a little too much toward personal gain to suit their tastes. They gave up their charter and set out to build a new club reflecting their own ideals of service and fellowship, choosing the name Civitan, based on a Latin "civitas," which loosely translates as citizenship.     

Soon after Civitan's formation, the United States entered World War I. Growth for the first few years was meager, but they devoted themselves to local service and supporting the war effort. After Armistice, they expanded, chartering clubs across the country. In 1920, Dr. Courtney W. Shropshire, third president of the still-local Civitans, spearheaded a new vision of an international organization. Within two years, there were more than 3,300 Civitans in 115 clubs throughout the United States, their growth and service earning them the recognition of President Hoover at a White House reception.    

Civitan suffered another drop in membership during World War II, but the organization persevered, organizing scrap metal collections, war bond sales, and blood drives. One club in Birmingham held so many successful bond drives that the Army Air Forces named a B-25 and a P-47 in the club's honor. After World War II, as the economy bounced back, Civitan tripled in size between 1946 and 1956.

From the very beginning, Civitan encouraged its clubs to fulfill the needs of those less fortunate. In the late 70's, Civitan made the Special Olympics a major project. Civitans across America and Europe raised funds and provided volunteers to help with the yearly games, a special relationship that continues to this day. In 1990, the Civitan International Research Center was formed at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, the first institution of its kind solely dedicated to the research of developmental disabilities.     

Today, the Civitan movement is spreading across the globe, with over 40,000 members in 41 countries. As the Civitan Creed vows, our "hands do the work of the world and reach out in service to others".
(Condensed and adapted from "Civitan History"– Civitan International website)

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