Smedley Jr. High Class of 1968 (plus or minus a few years)

In 1924, Dr. Ralph C. Smedley assembled a group of men in the basement of the YMCA to “afford practice and training in the art of public speaking and in presiding over meetings and to promote sociability and good fellowship among its members.”  The idea took off, and other clubs formed in British Columbia, and the organization became known as Toastmasters International.

 

At the time that Toastmasters began, Smedley was director of the Santa Ana YMCA.  He served in this role, as well as Executive Secretary of the Toastmasters and editor of the Toastmasters Magazine until 1941.  By then, he realized that he could no longer do both jobs, and resigned the YMCA to devote himself full time to Toastmasters.  He continued his involvement until just shortly before his death in 1967 at the age of 87.

 

For many years, the organization’s “home office” were rented offices in various Santa Ana buildings.  In 1962, Toastmasters moved into its first World Headquarters building, located at 2200 North Grand Ave, Santa Ana, California.  In 1990 they moved to a larger facility in Rancho Santa Margarita.

 

Toastmasters began accepting women in 1973 and today there are more than 170,000 members in 8,300 clubs in the U.S., Canada, and 67 other countries.  The Santa Ana Toastmasters Club was renamed Smedley Number One in Ralph Smedley’s honor, and in1955 a Santa Ana junior high school was named after him.  Smedley Junior High School was renamed Carr Middle School in 1975.