Soroptimist was started by a man. Soroptimist tradition says Stuart Morrow was in the process of organizing a men’s club when he walked into the Goddard‐Parker Secretarial School in Oakland, expecting to find potential male members. A conversation with one of the co‐owners, Adelaide Goddard, led to the idea for a women’s club similar to Rotary.

Morrow began working to form the one which became the Soroptimists. The Soroptimist clubs were organized with the same principles as Rotary and the Optimist Clubs of the time—white women, each representing a different profession or business.

Membership was made up of people in various major business or professional classifications, and there could only be one for each minor classification. Example of classifications: Ruth Dawley—Hardware/general hardware, Helen Nelson—Chemical Industry/drugs, Marjorie Olts—Healing arts and sciences/dentistry. The first president was Ethel Clark and she was Fine Arts general/aesthetic dancing.

Before a member could be proposed, you had to be established in your business at least six months. In order to join you had to fit an open classification and then pass a thorough investigation of your business standing and desirability. If you moved into another club’s area and your classification was full, you couldn’t join that club.

Classifications and businesses continued to be important for many years. At the “Birthday Party” for the club in May of 1948, each member wore a hat they had decorated to match their classification. The hats were judged and at the dinner party they sold the winning hats and the tulip centerpieces as a fundraiser. Members also sold tickets for a May Day dance and pledged to decorate their establishments for Memorial Day.