In 1924, Sacramento High School in Sacramento, California was suffering from destructive clubs and fraternities. The fraternities were outlawed and moved underground, meanwhile continuing to exercise a negative influence on the student population. Teachers and community leaders of Sacramento High feared the detrimental influence of the destructive clubs and fraternities. These leaders sought a means of replacing the negative groups’ influence with wholesome youth activities. Mr. John Dale, the principal of Sacramento High, and Mr. Frank Vincent, a faculty member, thought their school needed an organization of students who discouraged delinquency by leading through good examples.

 

Key Club went through a period of expansion by word-of-mouth in following years. The youth service organization convinced communities throughout the United States to start Key Clubs patterned after the first Key Club established at Sacramento High School.  In 1946, the official Key Club International Constitution and Bylaws were approved, and the association became Key Club international (KCI).Key Club grew beyond the place of its birth, and a few clubs already existed in Nevada. In 1947, it was decided that a district should be formed.

 

The California-Nevada District converted to the California-Nevada-Hawaii (Cali-Nev-Ha, CNH) District when McKinley High School Key Club was established in Hawaii in 1952. The first edition of the Cali-Nev-Ha Key appeared on May 1, 1954. Presently Cali-Nev-Ha has over 45,000 Key Club Members from 736 clubs in eighteen regions, and 74 divisions!