The Birthplace of Civitan

Birmingham Civitan is the oldest Civitan club in the world, affectionately called “The Mother Club” by members. Founded in 1917 by a group of local business leaders, led by Dr. Courtney Shropshire, Birmingham Civitan quickly expanded from that single club into a global organization dedicated to service and good citizenship.

Over the decades, Civitan is proud of its reputation as a world leader among service organizations.

• Civitan was the first major service organization to direct its focus on service to people with Intellectual and Developmental Disorders.
• In the 1940s, Civitan was the first major service organization to integrate.
• Civitan was the first major service organization to admit women to full membership.
• Civitan was the catalyst behind the creation of the Civitan International Research Center at UAB—one of the world’s leading facilities in the study of Rett Syndrome, Alzheimer’s, Down Syndrome, Autism and others.
• Civitan has been the home to US Presidents, Astronauts, Inventors, Supreme Court Justices, Hollywood innovators, and many civic-minded leaders for more than a century.
• Birmingham Club founder Courtney Shropshire is the only person elected to serve as president of Civitan International more than once.
  
  Based in Birmingham, The Birmingham Club really is where “that whole Civitan” thing began!