Courtney Shropshire (July 10, 1877 – 1965), a prominent doctor in Birmingham, Alabama, was the founder and first president of Civitan International.

Early life

Shropshire was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1877. While living in Jackson, Mississippi, he briefly attended Mississippi A&M, Millsaps College, and Ward's Business College. After moving to Franklin, Tennessee, to avoid an outbreak of yellow fever, he took a job as an assistant for a local doctor. This experience led him to enroll in the medical school of the University of Tennessee in Nashville.

After graduating in 1900, Shropshire began to practice in several small towns. He moved to Birmingham, Alabama in 1903. He completed post-graduate studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Mayo Clinic. Shropshire also served as the United States Public Health Service representative for Birmingham and the president of the Jefferson County Medical Society.

Founding of Civitan International

Shropshire was attending a newly organized Rotary club in 1917. He and several of the other Rotarians decided that the club was too focused on increasing the business of its members. They surrendered their Rotary charter and formed an independent service club focused on serving the community and meeting the needs of individuals that could be served person to person, rather than business for business. By serving and creating a healthy-whole community, the businesses would naturally thrive. They held their first meeting on March 17, 1917, with 37 charter members.

Shropshire (/ˈʃrɒpʃər/ or /ˈʃrɒpʃɪər/; alternatively Salop; abbreviated, in print only, Shrops; demonym Salopian /səˈloʊpjən/) is a county in the West Midlands of England. It borders Powys and Wrexham in Wales to the west and north-west, Cheshire to the north, Staffordshire to the east, Worcestershire to the south-east and Herefordshire to the south. Shropshire Council was created in 2009, a unitary authority taking over from the previous county council and five district councils. The borough of Telford and Wrekin has been a separate unitary authority since 1998 but continues to be included in the ceremonial county.

The county's population and economy is centred on five towns: the county town of Shrewsbury, which is culturally and historically important and is located close to the centre of the county;Telford, a new town in the east which was constructed around a number of older towns, most notably Wellington, Dawley and Madeley, which is today the most populous; and Oswestry in the north-west, Bridgnorth just to the south of Telford, and Ludlow in the south. The county has many market towns, including Whitchurch in the north, Newport north-east of Telford and Market Drayton in the north-east of the county.

The Shropshire breed of domestic sheep originated from the hills of Shropshire, and North Staffordshire, England, during the 1840s. The breeders in the area used the local horned black-faced sheep and crossed them with a few breeds of white-faced sheep (Southdown, Cotswold, and Leicester). This produced a medium-sized polled (hornless) sheep that produced good wool and meat. In 1855 the first Shropshires were imported into the United States (Virginia). This breed is raised primarily for meat.

1800s

In 1859 the breed was officially recognized by the Royal Agricultural Society as being a distinct breed. The popularity of the Shropshire breed grew rapidly in England, and in 1882 Shropshire breeders founded the Shropshire Sheep Breeders' Association and Flock Book Society, the world's first such society for sheep. The same year the Society published the first Flock Book, a record of sheep bred and their breeders. The Society still survives, and still publishes a Flock Book annually.

Shropshire usually refers to the English county of Shropshire. It may also refer to:

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