Key Club International

Started in May 1925 in Sacramento, California, Key Club was formed when high school fraternities were banned by law. Educators were concerned of these fraternities and sought to replace them with more wholesome activity for youth. The school men responsible for the Sacramento Key Club talked of it with their colleagues and wrote of its activities in various articles. This resulted in many requests for information being sent to the Sacramento Kiwanis club concerning the Key Club. Such information was sent out and principals in various parts of the country were responsible for organizing similar groups in their own schools with the help of their local Kiwanis clubs.

Practically all Key Club expansion which took place during the next fifteen years was accomplished in this way. By that time fifty clubs were functioning in California, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington.

In 1939, Florida initiated the plans to form state associations and united its individual Key Clubs into federated groups. In 1946, the International Constitution and the Bylaws were accepted and Florida became the 1st district. Lewis served one year and was followed in office by Eddie Richardson of Ft. Lauderdale, and Roger Keller of New Orleans. Keller presided over the third annual convention in New Orleans on April 27, 1946, at which time delegates from all parts of the country approved the Constitution and Bylaws, officially launching Key Club International.

Today Key Club has 33 districts and over a quarter million members, performing about 12,000,000 service hours annually.