USA > Illinois > McLean County > History of McLean County, Illinois, Volume I > Part 25
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Mrs. Clara Simpson and her helpers have worked out a system of housekeeping lubrication whereby the maximum efficiency is produced with minimum friction in all details of the Home life. The contentment and happiness which broods over the place are due in great measure to these competent workers.
Victory Hall .- In the spring of 1919 there were thirty homeless Mc- Lean County boys living in the Girls' Industrial Home, an institution for girls, as its name indicates. What should be done for these boys needing care and protection ? Mrs. E. R. Morgan, president of the board of di- rectors, called together a group of interested women to organize a home for boys. This group included Mrs. Davis Ewing, Mrs. Charles Burr, Mrs. Frank Chase, Mrs. Oscar Mandel and Miss Bertha Cowles. A board of directors was formed, for a boys' home, of which Mrs. Fred B. Capen was the first chairman. The project was at first financed by memberships at $5 each per year. A drive was undertaken and a house and grounds on West Hovey Avenue in Normal were purchased and named Victory Hall. It was the former Brooks home, a large house with ample grounds. Later a gift of $3,000 permitted the purchase of six lots of additional ground. On the west is a playground, and on the north a garden and fruit trees. A small frame house on the new lots serves as a hospital when needed. Every activity that makes the boys mingle with other children is encour- aged. They not only go to the public schools, but also to Sunday school. There are swimming classes at the Y. M. C. A. The boys have their own scout troop. It is a good one. Holidays are well provided for at Victory Hall. They have circus and movie treats, dear to the hearts of all boys.
For the last two years, Victory Hall has participated in the general welfare drive and receives an apportionment of about $5,000 per year for the maintenance of the institution. The board of management for the year 1923 was made up as follows: Mrs. Davis Ewing, president; Mrs. Holmes, vice-president; Mrs. Louis Eddy, treasurer ; Mrs. Fitch Harwood, secretary ; Miss Jeanette Johnston, corresponding secretary. Board: Mrs. Fred Capin, Miss Bertha Cowles, Mrs. Mercer Davis, Mrs. Harold Gard- ner, Mrs. Harris Hoblit, Mrs. Louie Kuhn, Mrs. Oscar Mandel, Mrs. James Melluish, Mrs. Eugene Funk, Mrs. Manchester, Mrs. L. Probasco, Mrs. Ebon Jones, Miss Julia Hodge, Mrs. Herman Ochs.
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Day Nursery-In January of 1907, at the call of Mrs. Albert Schwarz- man, a group of women met at the Illinois hotel to organize and establish a day nursery where mothers might leave their children when they went out to earn a livelihood. Mrs. A. E. Stevenson presided. The organiza- tion was completed, and soon afterward a small frame house on West Mul- berry Street west of the Alton road was rented, the first year's rent being paid by Col. D. C. Smith and Howard Humphreys. Mrs. R. O. Graham was first president, and continued in office till she left the city some years later. After a few years the Day Nursery expanded when funds were secured from the public for purchasing a twelve-room house farther to the west on Mulberry. It was secured free of debt and remodeled to suit its uses. In the present quarters, the expenses of maintenance is about $300 per month. Miss Jennie Thompson served as resident superintendent until her death in the winter of 1923. Mrs. Glines, her former assistant, succeeded Miss Thompson. Some of the women who have been prominent in the management of the Day Nursery are Mrs. C. M. Harlan, Miss Nel- lie Parham, Mrs. R. C. Baldwin, Mrs. Frank Aldrich, Miss Laurastine Mar- quis, Mesdames Harry Eckart, Harris K. Hoblit, A. Schwarzman, Fred B. Capen, Clinton P. Soper, Kern Beath, H. M. Rollins, Alfred Sample, Louise Robinson, Miss Margaret Robinson and Miss Lulu Peters. At the present house, a branch library is maintained, a kindergarten conducted, sewing and cooking classes, and night school for Americanization kept up.
The McLean County Home for Colored Children is one of the newer and smaller philanthropic institutions, but it is one which is serving a real need of the city and county. It is located in a house at 1203 West Moulton Street. There are from five to ten children in the Home at all times, and a colored matron is in charge. The boy children get good care and are sent to school during the usual term time. This Home par- ticipates in the general welfare drive which is annually put on in Bloom- ington for the combined charitable causes and institutions.
The Babyfold, located in Normal, is one of the most unique and inter- esting charitable institutions in McLean County, or indeed anywhere in Illinois. It has grown from a small beginning to a large house full of babies, all of its expansion and increase in usefulness having been accom- plished without incurring at any time any debt which could not be promptly discharged. Some twenty years ago, Mrs. Mason, of Normal,
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donated her home on North Street for the purpose of founding a Deacon- ess Home, but after the Deaconess (now Brokaw) Hospital had provided a home for its nurses, the Mason property was converted into a home for homeless babies. Mrs. Asher, the present superintendent, took charge of it in 1903, and with the increase in the number of babies which came into her charge, it was found that the Mason property was inadequate. In 1910 this house was traded for a piece of property on Willow Street in Normal, just east of the Illinois Central and extending back to Cypress. The house had 11 rooms, and the grounds were large. A gift of $3,000 afterward allowed the property to be improved and enlarged. Then Dr. Quine, of Chicago, a son-in-law of Mrs. Mason, gave the Babyfold a gift of $5,000, with the provision that he should be allowed interest on it till his death, then it was to be an outright gift. With this money a small farm on Main Street was secured, on which the cows are kept for fur- nishing milk to the Babyfold. Several years later another and larger brick addition was built to the Babyfold. As many as 65 babies have been cared for in this institution at one time, ranging from new-born infants to children five or six years of age. Many of the babies are secured per- manent homes in good families, so that the Babyfold serves a double purpose. The Babyfold formerly was supported by private donations. Now it participates in the general welfare drive, and secures an appor- tionment from the proceeds of that campaign.
The Girls' Industrial Home, a well-known and established McLean County institution, has been in existence for twenty-five years. It has a large brick building located on South State Street, where there are con- stantly a number of girls in good care who have been deprived of their natural family protection, either by death or separation of their parents. The first entry in the records of the institution was made in 1899, in the handwriting of Miss Mattie Marble. The records further show that when some thirty women formed a board for the establishment of the Girls' Industrial Home, Mrs. Ellen Light was chosen its first president. The names of the other persons interested at the founding of the Home were Gertrude Willever, Fannie Fell, Louise Maxwell, Sallie Kerrick, Ellen Phil- lips, Clara Waite, M. Louise Crothers, Frances C. Funk, Anna C. Read, Mary O'Connell, Sarah H. Aldrich, Mattie Newton, Carrie Brownell, Hat- tie Allin, Sue R. Cooper, Letta Livingston, Amelia Griesheim, Joseph
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Thompson, Thomas Tipton, Edmund O'Connell, Louise J. Woods, Lydia McCoy, Mary C. White, Mattie Marble, Eliza Davis, Henry Augustine, Malinda Anderson, Anna L. Randolph, Orpha Hiett, Lydia Morehouse, Lydia Aldrich, Sarah E. Samms, Elizabeth Coale, Louise Wilson, Mary Jordan. For many years the Home occupied a wooden building, which had formerly been a residence. Then about 1916 a campaign was put on for securing funds to build a brick fire-proof building, three stories in height, which was successfully accomplished and the new structure was occupied in the fall of 1917. The girls at the Industrial Home attend the public schools and the Sunday schools and churches of that vicinity. The county of McLean, by action of the board of supervisors, each year appro- priates a sum at a certain rate per capita for all the girls who are resi- dent there. Some of the girls are placed in homes, and others on reach- ing the age limit are sent out into the world with good training for their future lives, either as wives or fitted to undertake a career. Miss Carrie Smith is the efficient superintendent, a position she has held for several years. The present board of management is as follows: President, Mrs. E. R. Morgan; vice-presidents, Mrs. Howard Humphreys and Mrs. George L. Parker; secretary, Mrs. Clara D. Munce; treasurer, Mrs. Gordon Cole. Mrs. Munce succeeds to the secretaryship after the death of her mother, Mrs. H. C. DeMotte, who held the position for many years.
One of the notable helps to the permanency of this home was the bequest left in her will by Miss Mattie Marble, one of the charter mem- bers of the board. This was a very substantial sum, and after some liti- gation concerning final approval of the will has been disposed of, the sum will become a permanent endowment for the home. Mrs. Aldrich, an- other charter member who died in 1923, left $500 in her will for the home, which the board placed to a separate use under the title of the "Mrs. Ald- rich Fund." Mrs. E. R. Morgan, long time president of the board in her last annual report, says: "Many have gone from this Home to useful corners, many wives and mothers in happy homes. We feel there is a growing knowledge on the part of the public that this home is a satisfac- tory harbor for girls who have been deprived of the shelter and protec- tion of their natural homes and we hope to justify and maintain this position, not only at home, but abroad.
Fairview Sanatorium for the treatment of tuberculosis persons is a McLean County institution which had its inception in a privately organ-
HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY
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38.888
FAIRVIEW SANATORIUM.
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ized body of citizens who gave their time and money to promoting the fight against the disease which had a record at that time of being the most destructive single ailment to the human family. At a meeting held in the office of Capt. J. H. Rowell in January, 1908, the subject of the organ- ization of such a society was first discussed. Col. D. C. Smith was chosen chairman, and J. L. Hasbrouck secretary. In addition, those present were Edmund O'Connell, Clinton P. Soper, Dr. F. O. Jackman, Dr. E. Mammen and Dr. J. H. Fenelon. At that first meeting, Edmund O'Connell was asked to go to Springfield to attempt to secure a law for permitting coun- ties in Illinois to levy a tax to establish and maintain an institution for the care and cure of tuberculosis patients. At a meeting on Sept. 26, 1911, it was voted that the society be called the McLean County Anti- tuberculosis Society. On Oct. 17 following, the following officers were elected: Colonel Smith, honorary president; E. W. Cole, active presi- dent; Henry Behr, treasurer and corresponding secretary; J. L. Has- brouck, recording secretary.
The law for the authority of counties to levy a tax for establishing sanatoriums for tuberculosis people was passed and became effective July 1, 1909. Agitation was at once begun to secure action of the board of supervisors for submitting this question to the people. This was with- out effect for several years, and it was not until Nov. 7, 1916, that the question was voted upon, with the result that 9,661 votes were cast in favor of it, and 7,714 against it, the favorable majority being 1,947. The county tuberculosis society had meanwhile carried on extensive educa- tional work, having hired a visiting nurse and furnished information to families free where there were members suffering from the disease. The board of supervisors, following the referendum vote, levied and collected the prescribed tax of one mill on the $100 valuation. Three trustees were named to administer this fund, they being Dr. C. M. Noble, Mrs. J. A. Bohrer and Jacobs Martens. The first of the county agencies established to combat tuberculosis was the public dispensary, opened in January, 1918, in a room at 103 East Market Street, where it continues to this day. Here free examinations and diagnosis were furnished to the public, Dr. Bernice Curry acting as medical director. The first year there were 333 cases handled by Dr. Curry and Mrs. Brett. In 1918 a site consisting of forty acres just north of Normal situated along Main Street on a commanding rise of ground, was bought for the location of the proposed
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sanatorium. The name of "Fairview" was chosen upon public sugges- tions, after many other names had been offered. The building was erected in the spring and summer of 1919, and on August 17 was formally dedi- cated with imposing ceremonies. The McLean County Sanatorium was the second one of its kind in Illinois, only one other county having pre- ceded this in erecting such a building. The original capacity of the sana- torium was 34 patients, and a later addition provided six other rooms, accommodating a total of 49. One section was set apart for soldiers of the World War, of whom there were several at the start and have been ever since. In the lobby of the sanatorium, over the fire place, was un- veiled a bronze tablet in honor of Mrs. Florence Fifer Bohrer, who had from the start been a moving spirit in the work of the McLean County Anti-tuberculosis Society and of the sanatorium project. Miss Catherine Smith was the first superintendent of the sanatorium, and she was suc- ceeded by Dr. A. Bernice Curry, the present head. Mrs. Brett, after serv- ing several years as visiting nurse, resigned and was succeeded by Mrs. Earl Cooper, the present incumbent. The Tuberculosis Society still car- ries on its educational work, its funds being furnished by sales of Red Cross seals. The sanatorium is constantly filled with patients, and usually there is a waiting list. Since beginning her work here Dr. Curry has examined 1,473 patients. It is the second sanatorium built and operated under the Glacken law.
Fairview Sanatorium is for the treatment of all stages of tubercu- losis, children admitted and negroes are admitted in a separate building. The capacity of the Sanatorium is 49 beds, and it is free to residents of McLean County. The original cost of building which is fire-proof was $100,000; ground, $15,000; equipment, $10,000. Since original cost three new rooms, six beds and a cottage for colored people have been added. It is located three miles north of the C. H. at Bloomington and can be reached by street car from Bloomington to Normal; transfer to Normal loop; leave car at Lincoln and School Streets, and walk six blocks.
Salvation Army .- By purchasing and improving a three-story build- ing at Madison and Washington Streets, Bloomington, in 1923, the Sal- vation Army took its place among the permanent establishments of Mc- Lean County which are devoted to religious and humanitarian work. It had been operating in Bloomington for several years previously, having
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first been located here as a post in the year 1891 by Col. Jack C. Addie. The organization had a precarious existence for many years, consisting of a small band of devoted followers who held religious meetings on the streets, and then in a small hall, and supported by the meager voluntary contributions secured by "drum-head" collections on the streets. Later a small room was rented from James Shaw on South Center Street, and under various officers of the world-wide organization assigned to this sta- tion, the work was carried forward. In the year 1918 under World War conditions, the Salvation Army was put on a more substantial basis by creating a council of administration, composed of citizens of all parts of the county, who formed an annual fund for its sustenance and thereby relieved it from the former hand-to-mouth way of getting on. In 1923, from a balance left over from war drives and some funds made up in other ways, the Army, then under charge of Captain Ainsworth, made a first payment on the three-story business building at Madison, for which $20,000 was the price. The balance is to be made up in future payments. The building was remodeled and occupied in January, 1924.
The Bureau of Social Service, the central charitable organization in Bloomington was first broached at a mass meeting held in the Second Presbyterian Church on April 10, 1900. There were eight charitable or- ganizations of the city represented, and it was voted to form an Associ- ated Charities, modeled after the one in Chicago. Col. D. C. Smith was chairman, Mrs. Sue A. Sanders, secretary. Miss Charlotte Capen ex- plained the object of the meeting, and a committee on constitution was named, consisting of Mrs. B. P. Marsh, M. Levy and H. R. Evans. One week later, Colonel Smith called a meeting to hear the report of the com- mittee on constitution, and also announced a large committee headed by Mayor L. B. Thomas and ex-Mayor C. F. Koch to canvass the city and create interest in the project.
At the meeting on April 19, a constitution was adopted and the fol- lowing officers elected: President, Howard D. Humphreys; first vice- president, R. D. Levy ; second vice-president, C. P. Soper; third vice-presi- dent, J. J. Thompson; secretary, J. L. Loar. On the following Sunday night, a union mass meeting of the churches of the city was held at the Second Presbyterian, when Charles F. Weller of the Chicago Associated Charities delivered an address.
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Miss Ida Lange was appointed the first office secretary and general overseer of the work. The idea of a clinic was incorporated with the or- ganization, and work of that kind was carried on with the co-operation of the physicians of the city. Mrs. Nannie Dunkin was named general sec- retary about a year after the organization, and she continued in the posi- tion for a number of years. In the list of officers and directors during the earlier stages were several changes, and the list for the year 1905 were as follows: President, R. F. Evans; vice-presidents, Oscar Mandel, Henry Capen, Mrs. Lucy Lucas; treasurer, W. L. Moore. Mrs. Dunkin in her report for the year 1904-5 showed that 762 cases had been taken care of. The treasurer showed $2,875 received, with a balance at the end of the year of $643.
Mrs. Dunkin remained as general secretary and superintendent from the time of her appointment in 1902 until 1915, when she resigned and was succeded by Mrs. Mabel H. Seymour, who had been assistant in the office. Mrs. Seymour acted as superintendent for about nine years, re- signing in May, 1920. Her services covered the period of the World War, when the Associated Charities was called upon to do more and greater work than at any previous period. The co-operation with the Red Cross and other relief agencies for the care of the families of soldiers called into the service, and to the adjustment of their compensation and other work of that sort, created additional functions for the organization. In the year 1918, at the annual meeting in May, the name of the society was changed from Associated Charities to that of the Bureau of Social Serv- ice, that being more in line with its work and better suited to its co-opera- tion with similar societies elsewhere. At about the same time, through co-operation with the board of supervisors, the city and county relief work were combined in the same office, and Mrs. Seymour was made county overseer of the poor for the city of Bloomington, as well as gen- eral secretary of the Bureau of Social Service. Her salary was partly paid by the county and partly by the Bureau. This was a great advan- tage all around, for it prevented duplication of relief and simplified the procedure in many ways.
Upon the resignation of Mrs. Seymour in May, 1920, the position of general secretary and overseer of the poor was filled by Mrs. Naoma M. Fry, who had been assistant. Mrs. Fry is still in charge, and she has as her present assistant Mrs. Florence Strohmeier. The office of the
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Bureau has been located for more than twenty years in offices over No. 320 North Main Street. The Bureau is supported by private contribu- tions, for which an annual campaign is put on. Of recent years the organi- zation has received several bequests of large sums which are to be used as an endowment fund. These bequests came from the estates of George S. Hanna, Judge Myers, William T. Shorthose, Lyman M. Graham, Luman Burr and Mrs. Margaret Packard.
It is interesting to recall the names of the persons who have served as presidents and secretaries of the board of directors of the Bureau of Social Service since its formation.
James A. Wilcox was first president, serving in 1902-3. Col. D. C. Smith served for a short period in 1903. R. F. Evans then was president in 1904 and 1905. The next president was Henry Behr, in 1906 and 1907. Charles Northrup served in 1908 and 1909. Then began the long term of E. W. Cole, who was elected in 1910 and served until 1917, when he removed to California. John W. Harber served as president the next two years, 1918 and 1919. James G. Melluish was chosen president in 1920 and served for three years. At the annual meeting of 1923, Ralph M. Green was elected president, and he still holds the position.
Miss Ida D. Lange was chosen first secretary, and was succeeded in 1903 by Mrs. Lucy Lucas, who served until 1916. In the latter year, Mrs. Alonzo Dolan was chosen secretary and served until 1920. Mrs. Julius Griesheim succeeded her, and acted as secretary until the annual meet- ing of 1923, when Mrs. Louis FitzHenry was elected.
BLOOMINGTON CONSISTORY BUILDING.
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CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE ASSOCIATION OF COMMERCE.
FIRST ORGANIZATION-BUSINESS MEN'S ASSOCIATION-EARLY OFFICERS-SECRE- TARY HUDSON-ACTIVITIES OF ASSOCIATION-VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS- INFLUENCE-MEMBERSHIP 824-COMMITTEES-DIRECTORS.
The period of the great fire saw a transformation in the history of Bloomington in one regard. It created a spirit of co-operation among the people of the city which had never before been in existence, or at least had never found expression. One of the means of this expression which came into being was the organization first formed under the name of the Business Men's Association, and now known as the Association of Com- merce. This association has had a continuous and active existence from the year of the great fire. When the city lay prostrate in ashes after the conflagration had swept out its heart, the business men saw that if it was ever to rise from the ashes in better shape than before, it would be only by the united efforts of all classes of citizens. In that feeling was born the Business Men's Association.
On the evening of Nov. 22, 1900, a mass meeting was held in old Washingtonian Hall, in the upper story of the building then known as the Leader Building. There were present 200 of the leading business men of the city, and after some preliminary discussion it was decided to form a permanent organization for mutual advantage. Eighty-nine men signed the roll as charter members of the new association, and the following were the first officers elected by the association: President, Benjamin F. Har- ber; first vice-president, C. P. Soper ; second vice-president, C. W. Klemm; treasurer, John.J. Cowden; directors, S. R. White, A. B. Hoblit, Robert Johnson, Maurice Levy, Frank Oberkoetter, Milton R. Livingston, John
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Eddy, H. B. Harwood, Oscar Mandel and Louis FitzHenry. The first of- fice secretary chosen for the association was R. F. Berry, and offices were fitted up in the Eddy Building, where activities were begun which were destined to accomplish much for the good of the city for the coming twenty years.
For the first few years of its existence the Business Men's Association operated in a rather informal way and with but meager funds and re- sources. It first had rooms in the second story of the Stephen Smith Building at the corner of Jefferson and Center Streets. Shortly after- ward its office was moved to a single room in the Unity Building; in fact, its secretary simply had a desk in a lawyer's office. The next move was to a room on the first floor of the Illinois Hotel Building, where the work was carried on for a couple of years. A suite of rooms in the front part of the Griesheim Building were next remodeled to suit the needs of the Association, and here its working force and field of activities was much expanded.
The Griesheim suite having become outgrown, the quarters of the Commercial Club, as its name had become by this time, was taken to the Durley Building, where a series of rooms stretching along the Main Street front of the second story, were occupied. The Farm Bureau, the Traffic Bureau, the credit rating bureau, and other minor activities had been added by this time.
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