USA > Illinois > Biographical and memorial edition of the Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 89
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Dr. Dickinson is a member of the American Medical Association, Chicago Medical Society, Chicago Ophthalmological Society, the Ameri- can Association of Political Sciences, National Educational Association, American Forestry Association and National Geographical Asso- ciation ; is a trustee of the Chicago Academy of Sciences and of the Mary Thompson Hospital for Women and Children. As a member of the Illinois Woman's Alliance, Woman's Federal Labor Union No. 2703, the Chicago Woman's Club, Illinois Suffrage Association, Social Economics Club and Woman's Socialist League, she has been prominent in the industrial and civic reforms of the city. The Illinois Woman's Alliance was the first body of women to be
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made up of women delegates from other wom- en's clubs in Illinois. Dr. Dickinson was one of its organizers in 18 9. The present Cook County League of Women is its successor. She is a remarkable organizer with a keen insight into the future. She promoted the first coming together of the different schools of medicine in Chicago through the organization of women physicians, with the aid of Dr. Lucy Waite, into a union for civic work, and, owing to this movement. Dr. Rachel Hickey was appointed by the City Health Department, the first woman Health Inspector of Chicago. At the time of the Johnstown disaster, Dr. Dickinson was the first to suggest that the Illinois Medical Woman's Sanitary Association should send women physicians to relieve the suffering. The Association delegated Dr. Kate Bushnell and Dr. Alice Ewing to do the work, and they were the first women physicians to reach the scene of the terrible disaster. For seven weeks these physicians remained on the ground, going from door to door to relieve suffering. During this time their expenses were paid by the Association in Chicago. The first, largest Illi- nois statewide meeting of clubwomen to be spent over one topic. and in speeches limited to three minutes each, Dr. Dickinson initiated and planned. It was held in the Business Woman's Club House, and was an all-day ses- sion over the subject. "Three Essentials To a Home." Over fifty women spoke before any repetitions began of essentials enumerated. Women spoke at that meeting who said they had never before spoken from a public plat- form, so full of the subject were they. Husband was mentioned but nine times in the one hun- dred and fifty responses, and three of these nine times were Miss Catherine Goggin's three essentials. For a week following, the daily papers cartooned what the ladies left out. This time limit of three minutes for speeches by women became very popular in women's clubs and a precedent was established,
At the suggestion of Mrs. Catherine V. Waite. Dr. Dickinson, Dr. Lucy Waite and Mrs. Corinne Stubbs Brown became the organizers of the Queen Isabella Association, which was organ- ized to do justice to the great Queen, whose patronage of the Columbian discoveries en- titled her to be known as the Mother of America. The noble statue, executed by Harriet G. Hos- mer, and afterward exhibited in California, was the result of the work of this Association. The organization of women according to their occu-
pation was emphasized and promoted by Dr. Dickinson during the promotion of the World's Fair. The doctors, artists, nurses, stenogra- phers, pharmacists, and other occupations organ- ized at that time were active during the Fair, and some for many years afterwards, the Cook County Association of nurses remaining still in existence. During the Columbian Exposition, Dr. Dickinson was a member of the Board of Lady Managers, and it was due to her motions at the first session of that body (which the National Commission had made equal in num- ber to its own body with the addition of nine extra members from Chicago) that the Board of Lady Managers received the same pay, $6.00 per diem, as that given to the members of the Commission, and that the president and secre- tary be paid the same salaries as those hold ing similar offices in the Board of Commission- ers. The Board of Lady Managers unanimously carried both motions, and Congress appro- priated the money from time to time. This was a landmark in woman's progress. Equal pay from the Treasury of the United States. and equal representation from every state for an international undertaking. were such force- ful facts that every state also had its own World's Fair Board of Women, and many for- eign countries sent women among their repre- sentatives.
It was Dr. Dickinson who first suggested the International Congresses which developed into the World's Fair Auxiliary Congresses, held on the Lake Front, and the Isabella Congresses held in the Isabella Hotel. In the Isabella Journal was the first plan for these congresses and was sent out to World's Fair officials. It was her idea, and was quickly adopted and promoted by the Queen Isabella Association, that the Columbian Exposition should give the opportunity for the coming together of ideas as well as materials from all countries of the world. Previous to this, no World's Fair had promoted anything but the industrial exhibit. Since the World's Congresses of 1893, con- gresses have been a feature of all world's fairs, and intercommunication the world over has taken great strides and become permanently established. "Thus," says Dr. Dickinson, "in the name of occupations or industries, in the name of ideas, and in the name of countries or political residence, were women, as well as men. brought together from all parts of the globe for the first time in the history of the
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world and for constructive work only ; and Chicago did it."
The life of Dr. Dickinson has been one of constant effort for the equal advancement of both men and women in all educational and
progressive activities. To this work she has given freely of all that she has gained through a constant study of fundamental principles and their application to the everyday life of the people.
CHARLES DICKINSON.
Dealing with the careers of men who have contributed to the upbuilding and prominence of the great city of Chicago is a task evers writer enjoys, for it leads through many am diverse avenues of usefulness and gives truth and expression to the fact that those who have done most for their fellowmen and the progress of the city, are the ones who have lived un- selfish and honest lives themselves. In this country, where the valuable prizes of life de- pend upon merit, rather than upon the accidents of birth and fortune, the men of character, courage, pluck and ambition are the successful. The highest places in the learned professions are filled with, and the greatest commercial en- terprises are conducted by such men. The mar- velous growth and prosperity of Chicago is the result of the activity and public spirit of that class of men: men who, at the outset of life placed a just valuation upon honor. integrity and determination. In this class few men have been more active than has Charles Dickinson, who for many years has been prominently iden- tified with the commercial and financial inter- ests of Chicago and elsewhere.
Mr. Dickinson is one of the many native sons of Chicago who, by character and achievement has attained notable distinction through his own efforts and reflected credit upon the city. Ilis birth occurred at the family residence on Wabash aveune. next to the south corner of Madison street. May 28. 1858, his parents being Albert F. and Ann Eliza (Anthony ) Dickinson. His educational advantages were those afforded by the public schools of Chicago, in which he availed himself to the utmost until thirteen years of age. when, after the fire of 1871. he was compelled to divide his time attending high school in the morning. while in the afternoon he worked for Charles Gossage & Company. early dry-goods merchants of this city. receiv- ing a dollar and a half per week for his serv- ices.
After his father's retirement in 1872. the sons took up the business, Charles Dickinson, then fourteen years of age, joining his brothers, Albert and Nathan and his sister Melissa, who
had previously been associated with their father. They were located originally before the fire of 187! on Kinzie street, between State street and Dearborn avenue The well revised and carefiiliy executed plans of the brothers, and co-operation of the entire family, consti- tuted the basis of continued growth in the busi- Dess. They gradually discontinued the general commission business after they took charge, centering their efforts entirely upon grass and field seeds, The harmonious cooperation of the brothers, their thorough understanding of the business. their study of trade conditions, their foreign travel, and their ability to so coordinate forvez as to produce a unified whole, have been salient features in a success which has devel- oped the enterprise from a small undertaking to the most extensive of the kind in the world. After using the property of the Chicago Dock Company for storage purposes for some years, in 1889 they obtained control of the company mentioned and in 1896 removed their offices to that location. The property utilized for the conduct of the business covered six hundred and ninety feet on Taylor street, four hundred feet on the river, also Sixteenth and Clark streets, with frontage on the latter, of two hun- dred and sixty-six feet. Every facility was secured to promote the trade and handle the product, including storage and wharfage accom- modations, with the most modern machinery, for handling the goods. To save time and transportation, branch houses have been estab- lished in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Lansing. Michigan, Boston, Massachusetts, Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey. With all these facilities, the business outgrew its surroundings and it was found that a larger and more com- modions quarter would have to be secured. Accordingly, Charles Dickinson purchased fifty acres of land at Thirty-fifth street, California avenne and the old Michigan canal, where an extensive and still more modern plant, the largest and best equipped of its kind in the world, has been established. He also leased the land between this property and the Drainage C'anal, thus giving the plant a water frontage
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on the canal, and furnishing unlimited shipping facilities by both water and rail to the entire work.
Mr. Dickinson has figured prominently in the trade circles of Chicago for more than four decades and throughout this entire period, he has maintained a high standard of business ethics. His interests are constantly broadening and through his varied relations he has become well known in many of the leading cities of the East and Middle West, as well as in foreign lands. Ilis forty-three years' connec- tion in trade circles has been chiefly with The Albert Dickinson Company of Chicago, of which he is vice-president, though he has also found time to devote a part of his energies to other enterprises. For many years he was vice-presi- dent of the Chicago Dock Company, and one of its directors. He is also one of the directors of the Twin City Trading Company of Minneapo- lis, and of the American Warehouse and Trad- ing Company of New Jersey. In 1910 he took up the position of treasurer and general man- ager of the Hoboken Manufacturers' Railway Company, commonly known as the Hoboken Shore Railroad of Hoboken, New Jersey, and New York Harbor, connecting with various ocean steamship lines, When only seventeen years of age he became an active and success- ful dealer on the Board of Trade, and it has been many times said that he and his brother Albert have not their equal as traders in the entire country.
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Mr. Dickinson has traveled in every state east of the Rocky Mountains, and has gone abroad many times in the interest of the busi- ness, spending several months in Europe in 1880, while in 1883 he not only visited insular and continental Europe but also Africa. 1 sojourn of ten months, covering portions of 1894 and 1895, enabled him to visit France. Germany, Russia, Denmark, Turkey and other European countries, and when he again went abroad in 1900 he remained for an entire year, traveling over Europe in the interest of the house, spending five months in Russia, and going into the interior places where seeds are grown, as well as the cities where they are bought and imported. Six hundred tons of canary seed coming across the ocean in April, 1895, shows the immensity of the company's dealings with other nations.
A great reader and a deep thinker, Mr. Dick- inson has always been in the front rank in advancement. His sensitiveness to the growth
of Chicago gave him keen foresight and marked confidence in the future of the city's real-estate. This is shown by the early purchases of prop- erty which the business grew to occupy later. He was one of the first to own aml introduce an automobile in Chicago; one of the first to recognize a useful future of the aeroplane, and became its enthusiastie promoter, often riding in the air with Rogers, Lillie, Beachey and others. The boys of the Chicago High School who make model aeroplanes and hydroplanes are always entertained and given opportunities to try out their models at Calumet Lake, where Mr. Dickinson's ambition is to furnish a per- manent trial and exhibition ground for the Middle West to both aeroplanes and hydro- planes, With this project in view, he is having a hundred and sixty acre tract of swamp land at that place filled in and put in condition for that purpose. He was president of the Chicago Polyphone Company, which manufactured an improved phonograph or talking machine, and assisted the early struggles and promotion of that enterprise with both counsel and finance. He takes an active interest in all inventions. and projects which promise development and advancement that is far-reaching, and progress might well be termed the keynote of his char- acter. He holds membership in the Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago Stock Exchange, New York Produce Exchange, Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, Duluth Board of Trade and the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce. He also holds membership with the Central Meeting of the Society of Friends, and is well represented in club and social relations. He is a member of the Union League. Illinois, Germania, Chicago Athletic, Chicago Automobile, Menoken and South Shore Country clubs. He also belongs to the Lotus, New York, New York Athletic, Railway and Transportation clubs of New York City. Mr. Dickinson was married in Chicago, September 29, 1897, to Mrs. Marie Isabelle Boyd, who died at their home, 1331 Dearborn avenue, September 17, 1910. They had no chil- dren.
Not unmindful of the duties and obligations of man to his fellowmen. Mr. Dickinson's hu- manitarian spirit often finds tangible and sub- stantial expression. Since the organization of the Iroquois Emergency Hospital, to which he and other members of the family greatly con- tributed financially, he has been one of its trustees and vice presidents, Throughout his entire career he has maintained a kindly spirit
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and a generous disposition that is still manifest toward all with whom he comes in contact. Hle does not feel that he must constantly be on the defensive against his fellowmen, but rather that he is traveling the same road with them, with opportunities for each to help the other. In every walk of life he measures up to the stand- ards which mark the individual a serviceable
factor in the world's work for progress and ad- vancement. His humane sympathy and chari- ties have brought men to bim in the ties of strong friendship, and no citizen of Chicago has in larger measure the esteem of his fellows, nor exerts a strenger influence for the promotion of good citizenship.
SAMUEL PHILLIPSON.
In preparing a review of the prominent men of Chicago, whose lives have been devoted to persistent effort, and who, by sheer pluck and ability of a high order, have battered down the obstacles which ever stand in the path of the ambitious and risen to a position of distinction, the record of Samuel Phillipson, wholesale dealer in general merchandise, is found to be one that compels more than passing attention. Mr. Phillipson is one of the men who essentially belong to the men of action in Chicago, and that he did not overlook his opportunity is clearly shown in what he has done. Ile has spent his entire business career in the mercan- tile trade, and few men, if any, have had such a thorough schooling in this field of activity. His success has been the logical sequence of the natural unfolding and development of his native powers, and close application, indefatig- able energy, integrity and determination have constituted the foundation of his achievements. In this country, where the valuable prizes of life depend upon merit, rather than upon the accidents of birth and fortune, the men of char- acter, courage, pluck and ambition are the suc- cessful. The highest places in the learned pro- fessions are filled with and the greatest com- mercial enterprises are conducted by such men. The marvelous growth and prosperity of Chi- cago is the result of the activity and public spirit of that class of men; men who, at the outset of life placed just valuation upon honor. integrity and determination.
Mr. Phillipson is one of the many sons of Europe, who, by character and achievement, has attained prominence through his own efforts and reflects credit upon the country of his adoption. He was born in Russian Poland, June 1, 1865, and is a son of Phillip and Sarah R. Phillipson. His educational advantages were those afforded by public schools and the Bryant & Stratton Business College of Chicago. Like many young men of ambitions temperament, he began the battle of life for himself early in
boyhood. and in 1882, while yet a lad of only seventeen, he became a silent partuer in the firm of Joseph Phillipem, nid continued in this capacity until that company dissolved twenty- four years later. In 1906 he founded the whole- sale general merchandise firm of Samuel Phil- lipson & Company, and also the department store of Samuel Phillipson & Brother, and was sole owner of both establishments until June, 1011, when he discontinued the retail business, selling his department store to bis brother, Louis Phillipson, and since that time has devoted his time and energies exclusively to the wholesale trade.
Mr. Phillipson's career is typical of modern progress, and as a business man he ranks with the ablest. He is one of the alert and enter- prising men who during the last quarter of a century have utilized the opportunities of- fered in this city for business preferment and attained thereby notable success. To set the standard in any field of activity by establish- ing a business that becomes foremost in its line, exciting the admiration and stimulating the efforts of others, is to give proof of the pos- session of superior business qualifications. This Samuel Phillipson has done, being today the executive head of one of the largest and best known wholesale general mercantile establish- ments of its kind in America. The position which Samvel Phillipson & Company occupy in relation to the trade interests of America is well known, and under the progressive policy of the corporation rapid growth has been one of the dominant features of the business. Resulting from a spirit of enterprise that is evidenced through new ideas and modern methods. the house has flourished and is today classed with the most substantial and reliable in Chicago. The name of Samuel Phillipson & Company stands for purity of product and excellence of quality throughout the country. Their brand upon any goods is a guarantee of its super- iority, and their methods are of so progressive
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a type that dealers prefer to do business with this house rather than to risk connection with others less trustworthy.
The wholesale business was established at Twelfth and Johnson streets, and on January 22, 1913, the firm moved to their own modern six-story and basement building, at Nos. 828 to 838 West Twelfth street, corner of Newberry avenue, occupying the entire premises. The suc- cess of the venture nearly doubled the volume of business the first year of their occupancy of the new building. The house is now promi- nently represented through all the central and western states, and is extending its trade through the eastern territory. One of the main features of the concern is their wholesale mail-order system, which is one of the fore- most in the country. To the gentleman whose name heads this review is due the major part of the credit for the present commercial stand- ing of this enterprise. He has steadily ad- vanced. keeping a little ahead in his changes and improvements, and always maintaining the same standards he raised at the start. He has been closely identified with the business interests of Chicago for thirty-two years, and during this entire period has adhered closely to business ethics. In all of his transactions, far-reaching and effective as they have been, it cannot be said of him that he ever sought to benefit by the misfortune of others. In business life he has always followed constructive measures ; to build up rather than to destroy, being his broad policy and the simple weight of his character and abil- ity has carried him into important relations. He has also figured prominently in the social life of Chicago, and under all circumstances he measures up to the highest standards which
make of the individual a serviceable factor in the world's work for progress.
Mr. Phillipson was married in Elgin, Ill., February 2, 1891, to Miss Rachael Burton, of that place, and to this union were born four children, namely : Emanuel, Sidney, Libbie and Silvian. His home is a hospitable one where good cheer has always abounded, and where all members of the family share alike in the en- tertainment of their many friends. Public- spirited and charitable, Mr. Phillipson has al- ways studied and fostered . movements which aim to improve the public weal, and though his time is largely taken up with the business cares of life, he has always stood ready to do his part in charitable work. He is vice-president and director of the Orthodox Jewish Home for the Aged, treasurer and director of the Chicago Hebrew Institute, chairman of the managing committee of the recently organized Federated Orthodox Jewish Charities of Chicago, and a director of the Immigration Aid Society of New York. He is a member of the Chicago Associa- tion of Commerce and the Credit Men's Associ- ation, and a director in the Schiff & Company State Bank of Chicago. Fraternally, he is a member of the B'nai B'rith and Bichur Cholim, and is prominent in social circles of the city. Though quiet and unostentatious in manner. he has many warm friends, and those who know him well recognize in him a man of earnest pur- pose and progressive principles. Ile is a man of substantial worth whose judgment is sound and sagacity keen, and few are better informed on important issues of the day. He is interested in all that pertains to modern advancement and improvements along material, intellectual and moral lines, and his charities extend to many worthy enterprises.
GEORGE LAMOTT RHODES.
It is a well-established fact that the men who make their influence felt in the world, whose deeds live after them, and whose capable force- fulness adds to the prestige of the communities in which they see fit to locate, are those who have had to depend entirely or in a large part upon their own resources. The fact that they must stand alone seems to supply the needed stimulus for continued and persistent effort. The lad born with the proverbial golden spoon in his mouth begins his career with a heavy bandi- cap. No matter how ambitious he may be, the very fact that there is no actual necessity for
his exertions hampers him, and in the end oftentimes takes from him the desire to prove his mettle. On the other hand, the one who knows that if he wants to rise above his sur- roundings and take his place among the worth while men of his generation, must bend every energy to his task. and let no possible opportu- nity slip by, is the one who develops his abilities and rises from one position of confidence to an- other. Chicago has given a home and afforded a wide field of endeavor to the energies of some of the ablest men of this age. One whose efforts were directed to a large degree to the bust-
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ness of transportation, was George Lamott Rhodes. Mr. Rhodes was born at Hamilton, Madison County, N. Y .. September 24, 1844, a son of George M. and Clara A. ( Dibble) Rhodes. George M. Rhodes was born at the same place as his son, and there became a heavy land- owner. Later in life he went to Grand Rapids, Mich., where he lived in retirement until his death, some years Inter.
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