USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Pittsfield > The history of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, 1916-1955 > Part 27
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Meantime, a long-range study of community services, both public and private, had been undertaken. As one result, and the most important, the Community Chest and the Community Council decided to merge, a development discussed below.
The last presidents of the Community Chest as such were Franz X. Brugger (1943-44, and 1948-50), Frederick A. Pease (1944-48), Gardner F. Knight (1950-51), Harrison L. Amber (1951-53) and Benjamin M. England (1953-55).
Community Council, United Community Services
The Community Council was founded in 1933 as the Council of Social Agencies, with Rabbi Harry Kaplan as its first chair- man. Its members consisted of thirty-five local welfare agencies, public and private. Its purpose was cooperative planning, pro- motion of social legislation, and arousing public opinion to sup- port more systematic care of those reduced to need by the Depression.
The Council sought to establish better medical and dental facilities for those in distress. It sponsored health education programs and engaged professional nutritionists to help fam- ilies struggling along on very limited budgets. It emphasized the continuing and expanding need for playgrounds and other rec- reational facilities.
In 1937, it took the initiative in bringing the problem of venereal disease-"social disease"-into open discussion at a large public meeting held in the Pittsfield High School. The meeting was jointly sponsored by the Council, the Public Health Department, the Chamber of Commerce, and the District Med- ical Society. Public programs on Social Hygiene Day were held
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in 1938 and again in 1940. An active committee was organized to advance educational and clinical work in the field.
From the start, the Council interested itself in studies of and action on housing, medical care, nursing care, and recreation. It worked steadily to better the public playground system. Dur- ing World War II, it initiated many special projects. One of these was the establishment of day care centers for children of working mothers. Open six days a week from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., these centers were financed in part by a Federal grant. The School Department furnished supervision.
The Council sponsored a week-long Health Festival at the Museum and aroused public interest in the Spring Health Roundup for pre-school children. It aided the movement to establish a local cancer clinic.
After the war, a long strike at the GE plant posed new prob- lems. With many families needing aid, the Council established an information and counselling center to direct those in difficul- ties to the proper community agencies, all of which did their utmost to relieve distress.
With the divorce rate in Pittsfield rapidly rising-in 1946, the local divorce rate was 80 per cent above the previous year- the Council sponsored a well-attended series of lectures on "Family Living." It kept urging the need of a local clinic for alcoholism, which was finally established in 1951.
By 1950, now having 52 member organizations, the Council decided to reorganize for greater efficiency in meeting constantly changing community needs. Down the years, the chairmen of the Council had been Rabbi Harry Kaplan (1933-35), Carl E. Cozzio (1936-38), Mrs. Ruth E. Pease (1939-40), Cleon H. Brownell (1941), Francis H. Henshaw (1942-44), and Frank A. Woodhead (1944-50).
Under the new constitution adopted in May 1950, the or- ganization changed its name to the Pittsfield Community Coun- cil, with Mrs. Jay C. Rosenfeld as its first president. She was succeeded in 1953 by Arthur G. Sanford, who was followed the next year by Frederick M. Myers, Jr.
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The new organization, which soon had 71 members, under- took an expanded program. The Council sponsored the city's first Conference for Senior Citizens, and one for teenagers also. Out of the meeting of the latter came the "after-prom" parties now in fashion among the youth.
The Council had a strong hand in getting two important ordinances passed by the city-one for better minimum housing standards; the other for minimum standards for day care. It went on record against a state lottery and against building race tracks in Lanesborough and Hancock. A satisfactory plan for legal aid was worked out with the Bar Association.
An interagency referral system for follow-up of nursing care was instituted. The Medical Society was urged to formulate a plan to meet the need for emergency medical care. Services to handicapped children were coordinated.
It had become evident to the leaders of the Community Coun- cil and the Community Chest that a thorough, long-range study of community services, both public and private, was needed. To consider the problem, the two organizations appointed a joint committee of four, with Joseph Gross as chairman.
On the recommendation of this committee, professional ex- perts of the Community Chests and Councils of America were engaged to make an exhaustive survey and recommendations on their findings. The cost of the survey was largely met by $5,000 from the Community Chest reserves and by an equal sum con- tributed by the General Electric Charity Fund.
Begun early in 1954 and completed later that year, the survey resulted in a long and valuable report entitled The Pittsfield Community Survey of Health, Welfare, and Recreation Services. It minutely and thoughtfully covered every aspect of the field.
Among its major recommendations was a proposal that the Community Chest and the Community Council be merged to provide a better balance between community planning, budget- ing, and fund-raising activities.
After some discussion, and with little opposition, the two organizations adopted the proposal and early in 1955 joined to
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become the United Community Services of Pittsfield, with Hamilton M. Redman as president.
Association for Family Service
One of the oldest of the community services, the Association for Family Service, grew out of an older organization, the Asso- ciated Charities, which in 1937 celebrated its fiftieth birthday at a civic dinner, with Judge Charles L. Hibbard as master of ceremonies. Organized in 1887, the Associated Charities had offices in the Berkshire Life building, soon moving to the Union for Home Work at 96 Fenn Street. There it remained until 1917 when it established itself at 119 Fenn Street. In 1932, the agency bought the old telephone building, making that its head- quarters until 1955 when it occupied offices in the Red Feather house at 54 Wendell Avenue.
Through the years, reflecting the great economic and social changes that have occurred not only in the community but throughout the nation, the work of the agency shifted in char- acter and emphasis.
Down to World War I, the Associated Charities was largely concerned in giving financial assistance to needy families. Money was not given simply as a "dole." Each home situation was studied to see what could be done to help the family be- come eventually self-supporting.
During World War I, the agency was faced with problems arising out of war-time conditions. It assisted in the develop- ment of the Red Cross Home Service program. During the 1918 influenza epidemic, the Associated Charities met heavy demands for emergency assistance of many kinds.
For many years the work of the organization had been financed by drives and solicitation conducted by the agency itself. In 1924, this work was taken over by the Pittsfield Com- munity Fund. Another function of the Associated Charities, the coordination of community interest in helping needy families, developed into the programs of such separate organizations as the Council of Social Agencies and the Social Service Index.
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During the depression years in the early 1930s, the Associated Charities experienced a tremendous increase in applications for financial help. An Unemployment Advisory Committee was de- veloped to meet the needs of the unemployed. When the Fed- eral work relief programs were inaugurated, the organization's burden of providing relief was considerably reduced. After the passage of the Social Security Act of 1935, the relief function of the Associated Charities was gradually taken over by public authorities.
As a consequence, the organization devoted itself to increas- ing its skill in helping families and children with problems of adjustment at home, at school, and at work. The increasing availability of psychiatric knowledge greatly helped the agency's services to families and increased its effectiveness in preventing personality breakdown and disintegration of family life.
This change of emphasis in its work led to a change in the agency's name. In 1941, the Associated Charities became the Association for Family Service, with a staff of three profession- ally trained case workers. World War II and the post-war years brought new problems from families in need of help by Family Service.
Today, the agency offers a counseling service for people who are anxious about such matters as marital troubles, child devel- opment and behavior, household management, spending the family income, costs of illness, or anything affecting the stabil- ity of the home. In particularly difficult situations, staff members have the benefit of consultation with a psychiatrist at Riggs Center.
The year 1954 found Family Service at another turning point in its long history. A community survey of social services rec- ommended that Family Service dissolve its organization, that it unite with other organizations to form a new Social Service Center, which could deal with family and children's problems on a broader and more integrated basis.
In May 1955, representatives of Family Service, the New England Home for Little Wanderers, and the Day Care Center decided to merge as recommended.
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New England Home for Little Wanderers
The Berkshire Branch of the New England Home for Little Wanderers was established in Pittsfield in 1912, with Thomas F. Plunkett as first president of its board. Its parent association had been founded by a group of Methodist women in 1865 and had headquarters in Boston. Its chief aims included the main- tenance of one or more homes for the temporary care of home- less or destitute children, and the placement of such children in foster homes for adoption, or for permanent care under supervision.
The Berkshire Branch had its first office in the Berkshire Life building, sharing the office and two staff members with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. A temporary children's home was jointly subsidized by the two organizations until 1917 when it was discontinued as unnec- essary.
World War I years brought the local Home a number of "war babies." There was an increase in juvenile delinquency. Complaints multiplied that "many young girls were beginning to be restive, wanting to stay out nights, go to movies and dances, and to walk the streets." Parents, friends, the police, and other agencies appealed to the Home for advice. The prob- lems of a few juveniles were solved by placing them in respon- sible homes. In other cases, "Big Brothers" were successful in straightening out some of the boys.
The local offices of the New England Home and the SPCC were separated in 1921 because of the increased work of each, and to remove any confusion about their individual programs. The next year, the Home office was moved to 86 North Street, and in 1924 to 8 Bank Row. In that year, the agency was one of the founding members of the Pittsfield Community Fund Association. Though it joined the joint fund-raising campaign in the city, it continued to solicit funds on its own behalf in other parts of the county.
The establishment of the Child Guidance Clinic by the Riggs Foundation relieved the agency of many problems. Fewer chil-
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dren had to be sent to the Study Home in Boston. At the same time, many local doctors and dentists contributed valuable assistance to New England Home's medical program. During the Twenties, the average number of children cared for each month increased to 74, and the boarding rate to $5 a week.
The Thirties brought new problems. The number of children receiving care rose to a record high of 116 in April 1935. The boarding rate paid to foster mothers had to be reduced because of financial stringency, with the result that foster homes were more difficult to find. Some children, pending permanent place- ment, had to be cared for in the Williams Street Home in Springfield. Children's clothing was donated by the Clothes Cupboard and the Needlework Guild.
In 1936, the city's Public Welfare Department undertook to place children supported by it. But it soon turned the problem of placing back to New England Home. The agency also under- took to provide convalescent care for children referred to it by the Crippled Children's Clinic, and to provide vacations and holidays for children in the Berkshire County School for Crip- pled Children.
World War II brought increased demands upon the local office. With many mothers working in industry, the number of applications for care of children rose steeply, being almost 60 per cent higher in 1943 than in 1942. Simultaneously, there was a decrease in the number of available foster homes, with the result that many children could not be placed.
This temporary problem was solved through the generosity of the Agricultural Bank, which offered the agency the use of Stonewall Lodge in Lenox. Opened as "Children's House" in March 1944, it closed in November 1945. During that period, it sheltered almost 120 children, 85 of them from Pittsfield.
After the war and down to 1954, the housing shortage con- tinued to make the placing of children difficult. A drive was initiated to find more foster boarding homes in the county. From eighty to a hundred such homes are used each year. The agency pays from $8 to $10 a week for the care of each child. Group placements of children are arranged where such are
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needed. The public welfare departments in the county use the agency to place children in their charge and bear part of the cost of such service.
A small but important part of the Home's program is the placing of children for adoption. Developmental tests and thor- ough physical examinations are given to all children before adoption. Supervision continues until the adoption is legally completed.
The agency's offices were moved from Bank Row to North Street in 1947, and early in 1955 to the Red Feather House on Wendell Avenue. The agent-in-charge at the time the organiza- tion decided to merge with others to form the Social Service Center was Miss Esther M. Jaquith.
Day Care Center
The third organization in the Social Service Center merger was the Pittsfield Day Care Center. Founded in 1905 by Miss Florence Cowles, Miss Louise Weston and Mrs. William H. Eaton, the organization early the next year opened a double house on Columbus Avenue to provide day care for children of working mothers. Incorporated as the Pittsfield Day Nursery Association in 1908, having at the time about a hundred active and honorary members, the agency moved its nursery in 1911 to Fenn Street where a house had been offered rent free by the Union for Home Work.
During the early years, the Day Nursery had a difficult struggle for recognition and even survival. Having no endow- ment, it had to depend on subscriptions, donations, and funds raised by tag days, rummage sales, bridge parties, musicales, and similar activities. The members of the association had adopted the motto, "We must and shall succeed"-and succeed they did, often against discouraging odds. By 1915, the nursery was a member of the local Associated Charities and of the Federation of Nurseries.
In 1918-1919, the association bought and moved to a house on Francis Avenue, which still serves as its headquarters. The development entailed heavy expenditures to repair and remodel
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the building, to make payments on mortgages and other debts. The women of the nursery agency had the help of the men of the city in organizing a campaign to raise funds. By 1922, all of the mortgages had been paid off, the nursery occupied a 'sanitary and habitable building" and could meet current ex- penses.
But the history of the day center really lies in the work it has been doing for children for a half century now. Always, the best available matrons have been engaged to conduct the nur- sery, which is well furnished with children's furniture, toys, and other playthings for tots. For youngsters somewhat older, there are sewing classes for the girls, garden projects for the boys, and on occasion there are games, picnics, and visits to the Crane Museum and other suitable places. Every Christmas, there is a party for the children, with a tree and gifts for all, donated by the people not only of the city but of Lenox, Stockbridge, Dalton, and other neighboring towns. The day center has well served working mothers, and won their appreciation and grati- tude.
School for Crippled Children
Another institution serving the young is the Berkshire County School for Crippled Children, established in 1918 in its present quarters on West Street through the generosity of Mrs. Eliza- beth Sprague Coolidge.
The School had its origin in 1916 when some fifty county residents organized the Berkshire County Society for the Care of Crippled and Deformed Children, choosing Dr. Henry Colt of Pittsfield as president. A summer camp for crippled children was held in 1917, sponsored by Mrs. W. Murray Crane of Dalton.
Impressed with the results, Mrs. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge gave $50,000 to endow the camp permanently in memory of her husband, Dr. Frederick S. Coolidge, who had started ortho- paedic work in 1906 at the House of Mercy in Pittsfield. Shortly after her first gift, Mrs. Coolidge gave the Society her Upway
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Field estate on West Street. On its forty acres stood a large, well-designed house and an historic cottage.
Here the School was formally opened in August 1918, with fifteen boys enrolled for care and training under the direction of the first superintendent, Marion P. Hills. Dr. W. Russell MacAusland, of Boston, was the medical director.
Mrs. Coolidge soon added to her benefactions by giving $150,000 toward a larger endowment of the School. Upon his death in 1920, Senator W. Murray Crane of Dalton left a size- able trust fund for the support of the institution.
The purpose of the School has always been to provide a friendly atmosphere for handicapped children until, through medical treatment, nursing care, and the companionship of other crippled youngsters, they are ready to return to their homes and families.
The School is open to any crippled or deformed child meeting required mental standards and who is judged capable of being helped. Enrollments are made regardless of color, creed, or the ability of parents to pay for care, though families able to con- tribute are charged up to a maximum of $5 a day-the charge made for city and state welfare cases.
The School offers treatment for infantile paralysis, tubercular joints, and other diseases such as osteomyelitis, cerebral palsy, and rheumatic fever. Where possible, treatment is designed to restore full use of the affected muscles. Often, unfortunately, all that can be done is the strengthening and partial restoration of such muscles, and the provision of corrective mechanical de- vices to offset the disability.
Included in the medical staff are physical and occupational therapists. Planned exercise and recreation with the aid of cor- rective devices form a regular part of the program. For ad- vanced treatment and surgery, the School works closely with the Shriners' Hospital for Crippled Children in Springfield.
Facilities of the School consist of the Main House with gen- eral living quarters, the Superintendent's Cottage, and a build- ing housing the physio-and-occupational therapy departments, the workshop, the school room, a library-recreation room, and
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a greenhouse. Every child is encouraged to tend an individual garden both for pleasure and for beneficial exercise.
The children are given the usual elementary school educa- tion under a qualified teacher. Graduates of the course wishing to pursue their education are taken daily to the Pittsfield High School.
The School had only boys until 1947, when girls were ad- mitted. In 1953, it offered the use of its facilities to the United Cerebral Palsy Association-a cooperation that has been of decided advantage to both organizations. The Lions Club of Pittsfield has won the gratitude of the School and its patients by its generosity in providing much of the equipment in all de- partments.
Since its founding in 1918, the School has helped more than 300 children in need of kindly and expert care. Miss Catherine S. Dover was superintendent from 1944 to late 1955, when she resigned, being succeeded by Miss Florence H. McConahey, oc- cupational therapist at the institution since 1952.
Berkshire County Home for Aged Women
The Berkshire County Home for Aged Women occupies the brick and granite building on South Street erected in 1888 by the sons of Zenas Marshall Crane, of Dalton, to honor the memory of their father and in compliance with his last wishes. In 1925, through a legacy of Miss Annie B. Clapp, the third story of the structure was squared, and an infirmary, baths, and nurses' quarters were added.
The Home is interdenominational and open to all races. Through wars and shortages, it has been maintained at its full capacity of 28 residents. Members have been admitted from 23 of the county's communities.
The presidents of the Home since 1916 have been Mrs. Zenas Crane, Mrs. Samuel G. Colt, Mrs. Winthrop M. Crane, Mrs. Philip Weston, and Mrs. Benjamin M. Harris. After twenty years of service, Mrs. Nancy Tuxbury resigned as matron of the Home in 1940 and was succeeded by the present matron, Miss Lina R. Baldwin, an experienced trained nurse.
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The Home is attractively furnished and immaculately kept. An atmosphere of kindness and amiability prevails. Through the years, the Garden Clubs of Richmond and Northern Berk- shire have contributed to beautifying the grounds with garden paths and borders, a summer house, bird bath, and benches placed in the shrubbery.
In 1937, Mrs. Catherine Pingree Dawes, a former neighbor, left a legacy to provide residents with automobile drives so that they might enjoy the air and neighboring points of interest. In 1930, Miss Kate Carey of Lenox gave a charming old house, Meadow Place, on Main Street in Lenox, to become a unit of the Berkshire County Home for Aged Women. Meadow Place accommodates 18 residents.
Annual Donation Day at the Home is a gala occasion. The house is decorated with autumn leaves and flowers, and the public invited to visit and enjoy refreshments. The ladies are "at home" to their friends, and there are always generous dona- tions of all sorts of household goods. Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, and birthdays are also festive occasions.
During World War II, the women in the Home, aiding the cause of the United Nations, did a great deal of sewing, made surgical dressings, and patiently did "miles and miles" of knit- ting for the Red Cross, British War Relief, and similar causes.
The youthful spirit at the Home is often rather breath-taking. For years there was a gate three feet high at the top of the third- floor stairs to keep people from falling down, as had happened. One day, a third-floor resident, aged more than ninety, had her minister as a visitor and was showing him the way out.
"Oh, I see," he said, "you just go through this gate."
"You may go through if you wish," she said, "but I always step over it."
Visiting Nurse Association
The Pittsfield Visiting Nurse Association grew out of work begun in 1901 by Miss Anna G. Clement, superintendent of the House of Mercy Hospital. She organized a group of graduate nurses of the hospital's Henry W. Bishop Memorial School of
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Nursing, each of whom pledged two weeks of service a year for work among the poor. In 1908, inspired by DeWitt Bruce, the Visiting Nurse Association was formed and engaged Miss Annie Osborne as nurse. A second nurse was added in 1916.
Incorporated in 1917, the Visiting Nurse Association adopted by-laws suggested by the National Organization for Public Health Nursing. The purposes of the Association are to pro- mote health-individual, family, and community; to prevent disease by teaching the principles of health, hygiene, and sani- tation; to provide skilled care for the sick in their homes on a part-time basis.
The staff of the local organization gradually grew until it consisted in 1941 of an executive director, a supervisor, seven nurses, and an office staff of two. Since then, two nurses have been added-one part-time-for work in industry.
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