Sylvia Whitlock was admitted to the Rotary Club of Duarte, California in 1986. Nine years earlier, Duarte club membership in Rotary International had been terminated because the club had admitted women in violation of the RI Constitution.  Three years earlier, some of the former club members filed a lawsuit regarding gender-based qualification for Rotary membership.  The suit made it to the California Supreme  Court which ruled in favor of Rotary International's  Constitution.  In September 1986 the club was reinstated by RI.

The US Supreme Court finally heard the case before the end of that year.  May 4, 1987, the Supreme Court ruled that U.S. Rotary Clubs can not exclude women from membership on the basis of gender.

 

Sylvia became the first female president of any Rotary Club in July 1987.  The doors were finally open.