What We're About

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In 1917, a group of business and professional leaders were meeting in Birmingham, Alabama, as a part of a national civic club. They were dissatisfied, feeling that the club focused too much on personal gain. They were concerned about their community, but also about world events. They were dreamers, too, wanting to make a difference. They believed that their actions could help build a better world.

Giving up the charter they had purchased, they set out to make a more suitable club. On March 17, 1917, these men formed an independent service organization. Eventually they settled on the name Civitan, coined from the Latin word civitas, meaning citizenship. "Builders of Good Citizenship" was a natural motto for the civic-minded group.

World War I began just over a month after the club formed. Civitan continued on a purely local basis during the frantic war years. Many of the club’s early efforts were in support of soldiers. Returning veterans were warmly welcomed back into the club, and the club's service activities broadened.

The dream of an international organization began with Dr. Courtney Shropshire, a local surgeon and the club’s third president. He shared his dream with a few close friends in the Birmingham Club, and the proposal was given unanimous approval by a small but enthusiastic group present at the Shropshire home. In that group were Jelks Cabaniss, Arthur Crowder, Reid Lawson, Percy W. Brower, H. E. Shropshire (Courtney's father), C. E. Woodrow, Kenneth C. Charlton, and John V. Mix.

The process to incorporate was begun. When the group met at the Southern Club on April 15, 1920, Civitan International was born. Officers elected included Dr. Courtney Shropshire, president; Rev. J. A. MacSporran, vice president; John Fry, treasurer; and John Mix, secretary. Charter Number One went to the Birmingham Civitan Club, later designated as "The Mother Club of Civitan International."

In the following months clubs chartered across the country. By June of 1921, when the first international convention was held in Birmingham, there were 30 clubs and more than 300 delegates in attendance. At the second convention in Chattanooga, Tennessee, delegates from 115 clubs attended. There were more than 3,300 Civitans throughout the United States. Delegates to the 1925 convention bestowed the title "Founder of Civitan International" on Shropshire, the only person to ever serve two terms as president. By then Civitan had 180 clubs.