USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Pittsfield > The history of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, 1916-1955 > Part 40
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the Athenaeum in 1939. Growing rapidly in size and community interest, the Record Lending Library soon became self-sustain- ing and the Athenaeum assumed complete control of it.
During World War II, the members of the League per- formed many services in the air alert system, in promoting war bond drives, and in meeting community needs in various ways. The League's annual ball in 1945 was the largest since the beginning of the war, netting $1,300 for the Welfare Fund. The Children's Dental Health Clinic, the League's major proj- ect for many years, was transferred in 1947 to the city Health Department. In the later 1940s, the League financed a project sponsored by the Council of Social Agencies-a survey of the recreational activities for the girls and young women of Pitts- field.
Backed by the Berkshire County Radio Education Council and with the cooperation of the School Department and the Athe- naeum, an in-school radio program entitled "Books Bring Ad- venture" was sponsored for some 10,000 children through the facilities of Station WBRK in Pittsfield and WKOB in North Adams. Radio became a major project with the presentation of three programs-"Books Bring Adventure," for the elementary and junior high schools; "Story Time," for the primary grades; and "History in the Making," for junior and senior high school students. In cooperation with the Berkshire Museum, a month- ly Art Hour was presented over radio.
As an innovation, the League brought to the Berkshires a puppet show for ten performances-six in Pittsfield, sponsored with the Teachers Association, and four in neighboring com- munities, sponsored by local organizations. At the request of the Parks Department, the organization financed a demonstra- tion to prove the need of playground supervision during the spring and fall seasons.
In 1950, the League established a Thrift Shop, with the pur- pose not only of raising money but of being of service to the community. The profits from the Thrift Shop during the first year amounted to $2,300, which enabled the League to meet its pledge of $2,500 for support of the Riggs Clinic.
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The art classes at the Berkshire Museum long sponsored by the League were taken over by the Museum Auxiliary in 1951, though the League continued to pay the instructor's salary. Art classes were established at the Girls' Club, with League mem- bers volunteering their services.
During the early 1950s, money was contributed to the Mu- seum for art books, to the Day Nursery for cots and toys, to the Riggs Clinic for painting and decorating, and to the Girls' Club for kitchen equipment. On the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the Junior League, the organization took the lead in a drive to erect a new building for the Girls' Club by pledging $5,000 for the purpose. In June 1954, in one of its big- gest projects, it sponsored a five-day performance of "The Four- poster" at the Berkshire Playhouse in Stockbridge, which brought in more than $5,000 for the building fund of the Girls' Club. Proceeds from a young people's concert by the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra were donated to the scholarship fund of the Community Music School. Pre-concert study was arranged with the music department of the city schools.
Since its founding, Junior League members have performed regular volunteer service for many agencies in the community -among others, the Day Nursery, Girl Scouts, Pittsfield Gen- eral Hospital, Social Service Index, New England Home, Boys' Club, Girls' Club, Visiting Nurse Association, Community Chest, School for Crippled Children, and the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Mrs. Edward H. Cumpston, Jr., was president in 1955.
Rotary
The oldest of the business and professional men's service clubs in the city is Rotary, organized in 1920 with H. Calvin Ford as president. The club has increased from 25 charter members to its present enrollment of 130. The organization's first "clam bake" was held in Bryce Grove on Onota Lake in 1920. In 1922, local Rotary sponsored the formation of a club in North Adams. In the same year, to relieve distress during the depression following World War I, the club purchased 40 tons
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of coal for $640 and distributed it in half-ton lots to 80 needy families in the community as a Christmas gift.
In the next years, to raise funds for civic purposes, Rotary staged two minstrel shows, with almost all members participat- ing. There were parades before the shows, and every member not in the parade and without a reasonable excuse for absence was fined $10. The shows, held in the Colonial Theatre, were very successful.
Among speakers at Rotary meetings at this time was Sir Harry Lauder, the famed Scottish comedian and a fellow Ro- tarian. In 1927, Rabbi Stephen Wise addressed the club on "The Best and Worst in American Life." It was, according to club records, "one of the best and ablest talks any Pittsfield audience had ever been privileged to hear."
At the spring conference at Springfield in 1927, a local Ro- tarian, Allen H. Bagg, soon to be mayor for the second time, was nominated as district governor. The following year, two sons of Pittsfield Rotarians were chosen by lot to be sent on a trip to Norway and Sweden. The lucky ones were John Curtis and Roger Nicholls. In 1930, the club financed a European trip for Frank R. Magner, son of another local Rotarian.
In 1928, at the invitation of the local club, the founder of Rotary, Paul Harris, addressed a joint meeting of the Berkshire County clubs in Pittsfield. Previously, in 1922, a Boys' Band had been organized, helped by a $1,500 contribution from local Rotary. This project was carried on to the fall of 1927 when the band was taken over by the Pittsfield School Department, be- coming the forerunner of the Pittsfield High School Band. Rotary presented the High School Band in 1939 with $500 for the purchase of new uniforms.
Since its founding, local Rotary has operated a Students' Loan Fund, has sent many to the summer camp of the Boys' Club, given Christmas parties, supported the Boy Scouts, con- tributed to 4-H programs, helped the School for Crippled Children, aided activities for girls, and donated sizeable sums to local hospitals. It has established a revolving fund of $1,000 at both the Bishop Memorial Training School for Nurses and
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at St. Luke's nursing training school. In 1955, it contributed $5,000 to the building fund of the Girls' Club.
Rotary meets weekly for business and pleasure. "One of the most enjoyable meetings of Rotary that I ever attended," writes Earl J. Bemiss, one of its historians, "was our first May trout breakfast in 1937.
"It was high-lighted by a discussion between Fred Retallick and Bill Butler, regarding the relative merits of worm dragging and fly fishing. I assure you they both stretched the truth, and did not stick to the facts.
"The trout, however, were excellent, supposedly caught by the speakers-but, in reality, purchased from the Berkshire Fish Company."
Kiwanis
The local Kiwanis Club, one of many clubs affiliated with Kiwanis International under the motto "We Build," has been an active civic organization since its founding in 1921. It had some 25 charter members; its membership has grown to almost 120.
From the first, the club has had as its main project the aiding of underprivileged children. A small health camp on the south shore of Pontoosuc Lake was built entirely by club members. The project was later removed to larger and more modern quar- ters on East New Lenox Road. After many years of successful operation, the property was sold and the project abandoned.
Feeling that boys got a better break than girls from the organizations in the city, the Kiwanis Club in 1949 undertook to rehabilitate Camp Witawentin for girls at Onota Lake. The camp was badly run down because it had not been used for some years since the city had been forced to use Onota Lake as a source of water supply, causing the lake to be closed to the public.
Club members raised more than $5,000 among themselves to start the project. Proceeds from a charity ball and donations by other organizations and by individuals brought the amount
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to more than $14,000. Additional money raised in various ways enabled the club to repair and improve the camp and provide new facilities, including a dock for boats and canoes. In 1954, to raise funds, Kiwanis sponsored a local horse show and a flower tag day, and sold metal automobile plates inscribed "Berkshire Hills" to promote the region. Proceeds from these activities went to construct new bunk houses to take the place of tents at Camp Witawentin and to continue sponsoring a number of camperships.
Other Service Clubs
In 1955 three other national organizations of service clubs for business and professional men were represented in the city -Lions, Exchange, and Optimists.
Stanley Club
In the fall of 1923, a small group of employees from the Engineering and Allied Departments at the GE plant met in the company auditorium to discuss plans for organizing a club. Most active in this were Edward V. Dillon, John R. McClel- land, John L. Mclaughlin, Jr., Howard O. Stephens, Willard A. Delavan, and John S. Lennox. At a meeting on January 5, 1924, attended by 57, it was voted to form such a club "to pro- mote the social and intellectual welfare of its members and thus increase the spirit of friendliness and cooperation which already exists." It was named the Stanley Club in honor of William Stanley, inventor of the transformer and builder of the first electrical works in Pittsfield, later taken over by General Electric.
Edward V. Dillon was elected the first president of the Stan- ley Club. Cummings C. Chesney, manager of the local GE plant, was named honorary president. In recognition of the latter's many services in the formation and growth of the club, an oil portrait of Chesney has been hung in the club house.
As the newly formed club had no quarters, the first year's activities consisted largely of dance programs held in the GE auditorium. The first annual dinner and meeting was held at
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the Tally-Ho Inn in December 1924. Ivanhoe H. Sclater was elected as second president at this meeting, and mainly through his efforts the club obtained part-time use of the Shire City Club rooms on Fenn Street. Under this arrangement, activities such as bridge, dances, smokers and picnics were possible, and club membership increased at a rapid rate.
The club next leased rooms on the top floor of the City Sav- ings Bank Building, formerly occupied by the Knights of Pythias. These more ample quarters were opened early in 1926, with more than 200 attending. This event marked the first per- formance of the Stanley Club Orchestra of 25 pieces, organized and directed by Howard O. Stephens.
In the new club rooms, activities expanded. Stag and mixed bridge parties, supper meetings with speakers, dances, smokers, and just plain lounging soon made the club one of the busiest and most popular gathering spots in town.
An active sports program was developed. The club entered baseball, basketball, and bowling teams in various city leagues. Inter-club sports activities were carried on with the Edison Club of Schenectady, and later expanded to include the Thomson and Patterson clubs of Lynn and Bridgeport.
From this emerged the Stanley Club Field Day, at which rep- resentatives of all four clubs participated in field and water sports. The water and field events were held at Camp Merrill on Pontoosuc Lake. Golf matches were played on courses in the area. The day closed with a supper and dance. The Field Day became a largely attended and eagerly awaited annual affair.
Winter sports, including ski and snowshoe hikes and sleigh rides, became popular at this time. A skating rink was acquired, and a hockey team organized. This rounded out a program of indoor and outdoor activities for all seasons of the year.
A glee club was formed. Under the training and direction of Howard O. Stephens, it was heard in many public concerts and presented over radio station WGY in Schenectady. Stephens also continued his work with the symphony orchestra.
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Ever increasing membership and the expanding program greatly taxed the facilities of the club rooms. A lease was ob- tained on rooms on the top floor of the Central Block on North Street. Architect George E. Haynes was commissioned to design and lay out suitable club rooms. The new quarters were opened in April 1931.
More activities were added to the club's program-a canoe racing club, photo club, riding club, golf, tennis teams, a sum- mer hiking club, an active and successful hockey team, and a billiard team. A program of formal dances was also established to include the Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year and Easter holidays. A winter sports carnival also became an annual affair with participation by local and out-of-town contestants, the forerunner of the Winter Carnival now carried on annually by the Parks Department. An astronomical group was organized under Guglielmo C. Camilli, an authority on this subject and still a club member, who built the most powerful telescope in the area and gave instruction in its use.
One of the greatest civic ventures of the club, the Junior Symphony Orchestra, was sponsored in the 1930s. Alphonse J. Pelletier, an outstanding musician, was engaged to organize and direct this orchestra which was composed of children of school age who were interested in music. The club provided the mu- sical scores and some of the larger instruments that would have entailed a large expenditure for a youngster to own. The Junior Symphony Orchestra was later heard in many concerts in town and in neighboring communities, as well as over radio station WGY in Schenectady.
In 1936, through the efforts of John O. Roser and a special committee, the club bought the Hinsdale house on Wendell Avenue just as a wrecking company was about to tear it down. The house was converted into club rooms, largely through the work of members organized in painting, wiring, carpentry, and laboring groups. The horse stalls in the large coach barn at the rear of the house were removed, providing a large auditorium there.
The Junior Symphony Orchestra continued to be the club's
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outstanding activity, with the Senior Orchestra a very popular second. The latter group was expanded to include players out- side the club and was directed and advised by well known musicians in the city. Among them were Ulysse A. Buhler, Jay C. Rosenfeld, and Thomas P. King. The Glee Club was en- larged to include many voices from choirs and other musical groups. Six bowling alleys were installed in the basement of the barn. A rathskellar was established in the basement of the house, with suitable bar and furniture.
With the outbreak of World War II, many club members left for the armed services. But with travel restricted by gaso- line rationing, the club became a most popular spot for relaxa- tion and relief from the pressure of the times. Its expanded facilities made the barn a desirable place to hold sizeable gath- erings, including political rallies at which candidates for public office could be seen and heard.
With the end of the war, many of the men in service resumed membership, apparently content to travel at a slower pace as sports activities declined. There was greater emphasis on social events, with dances and visiting the rathskellar the most pop- ular. The bowling alleys-the only alleys in the area offering ten-pin bowling-continued to be very popular, with many leagues filling bowling time to capacity.
Early in 1948, a fire badly damaged the barn. Reconstruction was immediately started, with Alphonse J. Marchand doing the architectural work. The barn was rebuilt with a knotty pine interior, a stage, and a kitchen. The massive beam construction of the old barn was retained.
While membership in the club continued to increase, partici- pation in its activities started to decline. It was decided to con- solidate all of its functions in one building. The house on Wen- dell Avenue was sold, to become the headquarters of the Red Feather agencies.
The barn behind it was enlarged and remodeled as headquar- ters for the Stanley Club under the direction of Marchand, who in 1954 was presented a plaque and made the only life mem- ber of the club in appreciation of his services. At the end of
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1954, the club had some 850 regular and about 75 honorary (retired) members. Among the latter were many who had been members of the Stanley Club almost since the day of its founding.
Berkshire District Medical Society
The Berkshire District Medical Society grew out of a petition of eight doctors of the county who in 1808 asked "leave to establish a district society in that county, to comprehend all the towns in that county." The local society began to meet regularly in 1819, as it has since continued to do.
The society was well established by January 1821, at which time the officers were Timothy Childs, president; Hugo Burg- hardt, vice president; Alfred Perry, secretary; Charles Worth- ington, treasurer and librarian. Timothy Childs, father of Henry Halsey Childs, was the leading physician in Pittsfield at the time. He had been a surgeon in Colonel Patterson's regiment during the War of Independence, a leader in introducing the practice of inoculation in Pittsfield, a member of the Com- monwealth's General Court and later of its Executive Council.
The purposes of the society are to meet regularly to discuss methods of improving medical practice in the area, to present and discuss scientific papers, to keep abreast of new develop- ments in medicine, to aid the community in controlling com- municable diseases, and to represent Berkshire County at State and American Medical Society meetings.
At the present time, the main policy of the society is to co- operate with various governmental agencies-local, state, and national-to assure the best medical care to the largest number of people, while at the same time retaining the personal doctor- patient relationship, with free choice of doctor. In 1955, the Berkshire District Medical Society had almost 200 members.
Berkshire Bar Association
Founded in 1870, the Berkshire Bar Association, composed of all lawyers in Berkshire County, has about 120 members. More than half of them live in Pittsfield.
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For a long time, the Association's activities were mainly social or commemorative. In recent years, however, recognizing the need of keeping abreast of changes in the profession, the Association has inaugurated a program of legal education. At- torneys within and outside the Association, and other pro- fessional men, have been invited to give lectures on various phases of the law and allied topics.
One of the main problems nationally confronting the bench and the bar is congestion in the jury trial court. In this field, the Berkshire Bar Association has made an innovation that has proved helpful in the settlement of cases. Panels of concilia- tors named from the membership of the bar have consulted with counsel in motor vehicle tort cases, during which sessions the facts, injuries, damages, and other questions are clearly set forth. As a result, the conciliator has been able to make rec- ommendations for the settlement of many cases without going to trial.
In 1930, the Bar Association participated in a ceremony of the Supreme Judicial Court commemorating the 100th anniver- sary of the appointment of Lemuel Shaw as chief justice. It welcomed Stanley E. Qua upon first sitting with the full bench in this county after his appointment as chief justice in 1947. Likewise, in September 1952, at a sitting of the full bench, it congratulated Henry T. Lummus on the twentieth anniversary of his becoming associate justice.
Several of the Association's members have been honored by appointment as judges of the various courts of the Common- wealth. John Crawford Crosby served as an associate justice of the Supreme Judicial Court from 1913 to 1937. Serving on the Superior Court as associate justices were William Adams Burns (1921-1949), and J. Arthur Baker (1937-1951). The retire- ment of Judge Burns in 1949 left the Association without a resident judge on the Superior or Supreme Judicial Courts for the first time since 1859.
The Probate Court was capably administered by Edward T. Slocum (1894-1924), Arthur M. Robinson (1924-1942), and F. Anthony Hanlon (1942-). The District Court of Cen-
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tral Berkshire has had two Association members serving as pre- siding justices-Charles L. Hibbard (1913-1947), and Charles R. Alberti (1947-).
In 1955, the Berkshire Bar Association was host for the mid- winter meeting of the Massachusetts Bar Association-the first meeting of the State Association to be held in the county in almost forty years.
Western District Dental Society
Dentists of Berkshire County established the Western Dis- trict Dental Society in 1895 with an initial membership of 23. Dr. William D. Hill of Great Barrington, secretary, and Dr. George M. Wentworth of Pittsfield, treasurer, were the first officers.
In 1955 the organization numbered 84 members. A com- ponent of the Massachusetts Dental Society and the American Dental Association, the society's purpose is to encourage the improvement of the health of the public and to promote the art and science of dentistry.
American Institute of Electrical Engineers
The Pittsfield Section of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers was formed in 1904 with a membership of 26. Most of the members were employed by the Stanley-General Incan- descent Electric Manufacturing Company, later the local works of the General Electric Company. The purpose of the AIEE is to advance the theory and practice of electrical engineering and allied arts-a purpose which has been followed in the Pitts- field Section by presenting programs of general technical in- terest and by sponsoring contests for the writing of papers.
A special series of public lectures, begun in 1924, provided programs of popular interest at a nominal admission charge. These lectures, particularly well patronized when travel and entertainment were restricted during World War II, continued until 1949. Technical programs are presently held each month, with paper competitions for local members and inter-section contests with Schenectady and Lynn.
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Among celebrated speakers brought to Pittsfield on AIEE programs have been Charles P. Steinmetz, Robert A. Millikan, Gerard Swope, Irving Langmuir, Commander Edward Ellsberg, Floyd Bennett, Clarence S. Darrow, Raymond L. Ditmars, Sen- ator Robert M. La Follette, and Amelia Earhart. In 1955, mem- bership in the local group numbered 362.
Business Men's Association, Park Club
Filling a need for a convenient social meeting place, a club known as the Business Men's Association was founded in 1881, occupying rooms in the newly built Central Block on North Street. Membership grew rapidly from the original enrollment of 99 after the early plan of the founders for a strictly social club with "no games, no gambling, and no dogs" was gradually given a more liberal interpretation.
The name of Park Club was adopted in 1896, at which time the organization moved across the street, occupying the entire third floor of the Berkshire County Savings Bank building. In 1911, the club moved again to very ample quarters, the fifth floor of the Berkshire Life Insurance building, which was ar- ranged especially for the club's needs. There was a restaurant and bar, reception room, reading room, a kitchen, and facilities for playing cards and billiards.
Among the more active founders were Ensign H. Kellogg, James M. Barker, and John R. Warriner, the first president. From a high of 600 in the 1920s, membership gradually dwin- dled as the automobile, the radio, motion pictures, and the multiplying demands of new civic activities left small time for the leisurely enjoyments of club life.
Held together for many years by the efforts of Ivanhoe H. Sclater and Walfrid T. Victoreen, the last two presidents, the Park Club officially disbanded in 1949. The club is still con- tinued informally by a small group of long-time members who meet occasionally for social gatherings and reminiscences about the old days when the Park Club was, in the words of its founders, " a common meeting place for the members and their
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friends, giving opportunity to the stranger to get a glimpse of, and welcome from, the citizens of the community."
Shire City Club
In 1910 a group of the city's younger men, sparked by Harold C. Leonard, organized the Shire City Club for social, charitable and civic activities. First occupying several rooms over Blatch- ford's store, they moved in 1912 to the Berkshire Life building, then for a short period over Taylor's clothing store, in 1918 to rooms over the City Savings Bank and finally to the entire sec- ond floor of the Renne building on Fenn Street.
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