USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > Fifteen years of civic history. Civic club of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. October, 1895-December, 1910 > Part 3
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A series of lectures has been arranged for the win- ter of 1910 and 1911 by Mr. Julian Kennedy, to be fol- lowed by Mr. Chas. F. Weller, Rabbi Coffee and others.
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SMOKE ABATEMENT 1899 In April, 1897, the first Com- mittee was appointed to take up actively the diffi- cult proposition of smoke abatement, which it did by accepting an invitation to inspect certain plants, and evi- dently was either so discouraged or encouraged that it ceased operations immediately thereafter. In January, 1899, the Chamber of Commerce appointed a committee of five and requested that a similar committee be ap- pointed from the Civic Club to co-operate with them in a united effort which would be directed toward the enactment of an ordinance regulating the smoke nui- sance in Pittsburgh. A Committee with Mr. A. M. Imbrie, Chairman, did everything in its power toward this much needed reform, and served in divisions under heads as follows: A-Committee on smoke arising from domestic fires and metallurgical manufacturing estab- lishments. B-Committee on smoke from office build- ings and all others not included in A. C-Committee on Legislation; of this latter a sub-committee was ap- pointed to meet with the city officials and secure the appointment of a smoke commission. The Civic Club stayed with this problem to the end and can justly claim a large share of the glory of this lengthy and trouble- some campaign. Through varying degrees of success and discouragement, these committees, supplemented by other members as time went on, labored until Decem- ber, 1906, when a most effective ordinance for the pre- vention of unnecessary smoke in the use of fuel was passed by both branches of Councils.
As this history goes to press, the Pittsburgh smoke ordinance has been declared unconstitutional. This necessitates the passage of a State law conferring the police power requisite for the enforcement of such ordi- nances.
1899
LEGAL AID In October, 1899, a committee with Mr. Edwin L. Mattern as Chairman was ap- pointed to investigate and report upon the advisability of establishing a Legal Aid Society un-
LIBRARY OF THE
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der the auspices of the Civic Club. After a presentation of the facts concerning similar work carried on in other cities, the Board of the Civic Club favorably considered the plan as outlined and enlarged the committee to carry out the details of the work.
An active campaign for funds was instituted and a large sum raised with which to employ counsel when necessary, for the purpose of giving legal advice and assistance (including prosecution or defense of suit in proper cases) to deserving persons in need of such aid and unable to pay for it.
In 1901 Mr. Wm. A. Jordon was engaged as regular Attorney. Cards were printed for applicants and distrib- uted to the various philanthropic agencies. Later on and up to 1908 the place of the regular Solicitor was taken by Attorneys who gave their services ; chief among these being Mr. William McNair, to whom the Club is indebted for most efficient and generous personal ser- vice. In May, 1907, a re-organization of the committee was decided upon and Mr. Richard H. Hawkins and Mr. Wm. K. Johnson were appointed to draw up a plan of working rules for enlarging and carrying on the work. Through this plan a better organization within the Legal Aid Committee had been made, but on the eve of its operation, the above committee, with the addition of eight members of the Allegheny County Bar, believing they could more effectively carry on the work by organ- izing and incorporating as an independent legal aid so- ciety, asked the committee to discontinue its efforts for six months in their favor.
They desired, however, to secure the co-operation of the Civic Club in the organization of this society,- their idea being to have some of the officers of the Club join with them in a petition for a charter. They pledged themelves to promote a society along the general lines suggested in the report submitted to the committee in July, 1907. They volunteered to assume the duties and take the place of the Legal Aid Committee of the Civic
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Club in establishing a properly organized society in Pittsburgh. The Board gave its consent and the Legal Aid Society of Pittsburgh was incorporated in April, 1908. Its charter provides that of its board of nine directors two shall be members of the Civic Club. Mr. Charles B. Fernald, who was Chairman of the committee at this time, and Mr. Arthur W. Bell were appointed to serve as the Club's representatives following the organ- ization.
The Legal Aid Society of Pittsburgh, of which Mar- cus W. Acheson, Jr., Esq., is at present the very active and efficient President, fills a most useful field and has been a conspicuous success from the start. Its permanency as an organization is guaranteed by a well selected Ad- visory Board, a generous list of subscribing members, and the unselfish enthusiasm of its directorate composed of representative younger members of the Bar. It has for three years maintained permanent offices, with Ben- jamin M. Price, Esq., as Attorney in charge, in the Bake- well Building, and its annual public reports make most interesting reading and demonstrate its efficiency and helpfulness, through a wide range of legal procedure, to the poor and oppressed. This is an off-shoot of the Civic Club of which the parent body may well be proud.
CIGARETTES TO MINORS 1899
Beginning with the year 1899, and at various times since throughout the succeeding years, the Civic Club has been interested in assisting move- ments for enforcing the anti-cigarette law for minors. Proof of violation on the part of merchants and threat- ened prosecutions formed a most effective method of minimizing the number of cases reported. State legis- lation on this matter has always been actively en- dorsed.
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SCHOOL INSPECTION The Educational Depart- 1900
ment during the year 1900 concentrated its efforts upon certain measures in which it had been asked to assist a special committee of the Central Board of Edu- cation formed for the purpose of increasing the effi- ciency and securing more uniformity in the public schools. The new course of study was a subject of special interest at this time and the Department of Education held a public meeting to which school direct- ors and others were invited, for the discussion of this course of study, in order that it might be understood and used in all the local schools. The Department also urged the inspection of the school buildings and that they should be made sanitary and healthful, with abun- dance of light and good ventilation. The Committee on School Legislation began a comparative schedule of school laws in all the representative States and the Com- mittee on School Visiting inspected a number of school buildings.
While not initiating any radical changes in the schools at this time, the Department was in constant touch with the progressive members of the Central Board of Education and members of local boards, and assisted in securing a number of improvements by co- operating with these.
MODEL TENEMENTS 1900 In 1900 a Committee on Better Hous- ing for the Poor was created with a view to effecting the organization of of a corporation for the building of model tenements. An open meeting was held February 2, 1900, when the matter was thoroughly discussed. Mr. Jacob Riis of New York upon this occasion greatly stimulated the movement by an address on "Improved Housing of the Poor". Circular letters were sent out
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soliciting subscriptions to the stock of the proposed concern, but the apathetic reception the proposition re- ceived when it came to a matter of dollars and cents caused this enthusiastic committee to abandon the plan.
ARSENAL PARK It will no doubt be surprising to 1901 many to learn that as far back as May, 1901, the Civic Club urged upon Councils "that steps must be taken immediately to secure for the benefit of the citizens of Pittsburgh the site now used as a United States Arsenal for use as a public park". In December, 1905, a petition was sent from the Civic Club to the Hon. Wm. H. Taft, then Sec- retary of War, asking him to recommend the presenta- tion of the Arsenal Grounds to the city for a recreation park and playground, in case the government decided to abandon the property. Letters to the same effect were sent to the Allegheny County Representatives and State Senators. The Committee received most discouraging replies and upon advice of the majority of the repre- sentatives from this district, abandoned the effort to ob- tain the grounds as a gift and set about trying to lease the property for a small rental. This also failed, but the seed sown in the mind of the Hon. James Francis Burke, grew and flourished, and largely through his efforts, what is now known as the Arsenal Park was dedicated to the use of the public July 4th, 1907. The city and es- pecially the neighborhood of Lawrenceville, where it is situated, have frequently acknowledged their deep sense of gratitude to Mr. Burke for this beautiful and useful acquisition to the Pittsburgh Park system.
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TEACHERS AND PARENTS ASSOCIATION 1901 The Teachers and Parents Asso- ciation Committee started by this Club in 1901, had its first and most flourishing organization in the Garfield School; the princi- pal, Miss Sarah Platt being responsible for the interest that kept these meetings alive for almost eight years. The Kindergarten and the Playground Associations have initiated similiar work and the Educational De- partment of the Civic Club during the period since 1901 has started these meetings in various schools, believing that this plan to bring the teacher and parent into closer touch and understanding is as pleasant as it is beneficial, and it is hoped that the system will be estab- lished in every school in the city.
CITY CHARTER The first report on record of any 1901 action of the Civic Club relative to a new city, charter for Pitts- burgh was made on May 2, 1896, when Mr. E. Z. Smith, Chairman of the Department of Government, reported a meeting at which a general discussion of the proposed new charter for Pittsburgh was held, and delegates were appointed to attend the annual meeting in Balti- more of the National Municipal League which was then engaged in formulating a model charter for cities. At the same time it recorded its unqualified condemnation of the existing Pittsburgh charter as unscientific, irrational and apparently designed to promote irresponsible government. The situation remained unchanged (except as aggravated by the lapse of time), up to 1901, when interest in the matter was stirred up through a number of meetings and animated discussions which were held, and exhaustive reports were prepared relative to the value of the various reme- dial measured suggested. Following the lead of the
,
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Chamber of Commerce, the Civic Club further co-oper- ated by sending the Chairman of the Committee to Har- risburg to speak in favor of the Bill which passed the Legislature in 1901. The Civic Club, however, regis- tered its opposition at that time to the so called "Ripper" clause in this Act.
JUVENILE COURT "There is no more well estab- 1901 lished fact than that civic wel- fare is increased or retarded in direct ratio to the decrease or increase of the pauper and criminal classes." It follows that the delinquent and dependent child affords the most serious problem of the community's future welfare.
At the end of the year 1901 a committee, consisting of Mrs. William Whitman, Mrs. E. L. Mattern, Dr. and Mrs. Henry Francis Wade, Miss Grace Henderson and the Rev. W. L. Mason, was appointed by the Civic Club with Mrs. George H. Wilson, Chairman, to formu- late plans for the organization of a Juvenile Court in Allegheny County. In the spring of 1902, conferences were held with Judges, District Attorneys, and County Commissioners, and money was raised to further the project; but it was not until November, 1902, that the work took definite form.
At this time the Permanent Civic Committee be- came a part of the movement with the result that the two forces combined and formed what was known as the Juvenile Court Committee with Mrs. Richard R. Quay, Chairman, Mrs. E. E. Crocker, Vice Chairman, Mrs. W. J. Young, Treasurer and Mrs. William T. Whitman, Secretary. The committee's first efforts were devoted to securing capable probation officers, a difficult and delicate task. Many applicants for the posi- tion, under the new Juvenile Court Law, which had
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been passed by the preceding Legislature, presented themselves.
Mrs. Alice Montgomery, whose peculiar fitness for the important work of probation officer was well known to the committee through her services in this work in the Philadelphia Juvenile Court, came to Pittsburgh to take up the work and was later sworn in às probation officer by Judge Evans on April 28th, 1903; her salary being guaranteed by the Civic Club. The printing and incidental expenses were paid by the Civic Club.
Not unexpectedly, the Juvenile Court Law was de- clared unconstitutional by Judge Porter of the Superior Court in Philadelphia in February, 1903. Fortunately the Legislature was then in session and the Juvenile Court Committees of both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh were successful in securing the passage of five unexcep- tionable Acts commonly known as the Juvenile Court Laws, which Governor Pennypacker signed in March, 1903.
It was early decided that efforts should be made to arouse interest in the work in the neighboring counties of Western Pennsylvania. To this end, Mrs. Montgom- ery addressed meetings in Oil City, Waynesburg, Titus- ville, and Washington, and 1,000 copies of the Juvenile Court Laws, furnished by the Civic Club, were sent out. This seed has born fruit in the establishment of a Juvenile Court in Washington County.
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The second year Miss Kate Mcknight was made Chairman, Mrs. E. E. Crocker, first Vice Chairman, Rev. C. L. Thurgood, second Vice Chairman, Mrs. Levi Bird Duff, third Vice Chairman, with Mrs. Quay and Mrs. Whitman continuing as Treasurer and Secretary respec- tively.
The next year the Civic Club sent a copy of the Juvenile Court report (with blanks attached soliciting subscription) to every member of the Club. The fund thus created was used to pay the salary of one probation
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officer, and this support was continued until January, 1910, after which it was no longer necessary.
In February, 1905, the Juvenile Court Committee desired to reorganize as an independent association and the Permanent Civic Committee and the Civic Club granted this request. The new organization became the Juvenile Court Association, with Miss McKnight con- tinuing as President. The Civic Club, however, re- tained (and still continues to retain) a Juvenile Court Committee, with Mrs. William T. Whitman, Chairman, which has raised funds for the maintenance of one pro- bation officer and interested itself in the children's cases.
Special mention must be made of the constant and devoted attention that Mrs. Whitman has given to every iminute detail of the work of the Juvenile Court move- ment in this County. Her faithful and loyal service not only in the Civic Club but in the Juvenile Court As- sociation through all these years cannot be too highly commended.
With the passage of an Act in 1909, the Civic Club and the several other societies which supported proba- tion officers, were relieved of the payment of these sal- aries by the County, but each continues to give a cer- tain sum toward making up the salary of the chief proba- tion officer, the law not providing more than $100 a month for each officer. The Civic Club Committee has fitted up, with games, a room kindly loaned by the Board in the Ralston School, where its probation officer of that district meets her boys once a week, and stands ready to give whatever service is needed to other phases of the work that will in any way tend to improve the Juvenile Court system in this State.
The Juvenile Court Association has an active Legis- lation Committee, composed of competent Attorneys, which has framed and caused to be introduced in the successive sessions of the Legislature a number of Bills dealing with delinquent children, adult contribution to
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delinquency, salaries of Juvenile Court officers, and Juvenile Court practice, a number of which form a most valuable and essential part of the present statute law on this broad subject. In conjunction with the Philadel- phia organization, with which this Committee collabor- ates, it is now engaged in the preparation of comprehen- sive and progressive Juvenile Court Code, which will ultimately become law and will amplify and systematize the Juvenile Court jurisdiction and practice throughout the State.
A Committee has been appointed by the Board of Directors to apply for a charter of incorporation for the Association, which is expected to be granted at about the time this volume goes to press. It has been decided thatthe body will gain the benefit of more authoritative standing under the State law, as well as permanency in form of organization, under corporate authority.
PERMANENT CIVIC During the year 1902, Miss COMMITTEE 1902 McKnight, who was one of the officers of the Pennsyl- vania State Federation of Women's Clubs, Mrs. F. P. Iams, Mrs. Levi Bird Duff and others, organized what was known as the "Perma- nent Civic Committee"-a committee composed of rep- resentatives of the various Women's Clubs in Western Pennsylvania. Later in the same year Miss McKnight became President of the Civic Club, and the officers of the Civic Club and the Permanent Civic Committee be- ing practically the same, during several ensuing years the two associations did much of their work in closest co-operation.
SOHO PUBLIC BATHS No other work of the Club 1902
has involved the raising of so much money as the building of these baths, and none of its committees de-
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serves greater commendation both from the Club and from the public than the Soho Baths Committee, to whose efforts, extending through a period of several years-which were rendered most arduous by the gen- eral apathy of the public on the subject of providing bathing facilities for its poor-the city of Pittsburgh is indebted for the beautiful and complete building at No. 2410 Fifth Avenue.
When, in the late fall of 1902, the Permanent Civic Committee of Womens Clubs, which also had a Public Baths Committee, with aims and purposes synonymous with those of a similar committee of the Civic Club, affiliated itself with this Club along certain analogous lines of work, and the two bath committees joined forces, under the efficient leadership of Mrs. Alfred Longmore as Chairman. Various attempts were made to induce the city to build bath houses, to provide safe places for river bathing, etc., to persuade school boards to install bathing facilities in their school houses, and large manufactories to equip their plants with showers, and numerous wealthy citizens were approached with the suggestion that they erect and donate bath houses. A sub-committee, of which Mrs. Samuel W. Miller was a most active member, secured permission from the city to fit up a part of the old South Side Market House for public baths, and Councils appropriated $7,000 therefor, but the Committee had succeeded in so interesting the late Mr. Henry W. Oliver in the subject that he proposed to the city that he should erect, equip and donate a large public bath; and as this proposed structure was to be in close proximity to the Market House location, the latter project was abandoned at the request of the Committee. Mr. Oliver died before his plans were con- summated.
On December 16th, 1903, the Committee wrote a letter to Councils asking for an appropriation of $25,000 toward the erection of a bath house, pledging itself to raise another $25,000. After some rather active educa-
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tional campaign work and an appearance before the Finance Committee of Councils to urge the merits of the undertaking, the requested appropriation was made in February, 1904.
The Soho district had been designated in the appro- priating ordinance as the location, and after a long and careful canvas, and acting under the advice of the City Controller and City Engineer, the present location was purchased at a cost of $15,500.
The lot first purchased had a frontage of 96 feet on Fifth Avenue with a depth of about 82 feet, and had erected thereon a large and substantial three-story frame building which it was later decided to retain for settlement house purposes. This necessitated the pur- chase of more ground for the bath building and Councils were therefore asked, in December, 1905, for an addi- tional appropriation of $10,000 to meet this, and in Feb- ruary 1906, this appropriation was made.
The purchase of this additional lot (24 feet on Fifth Avenue and running through to Forbes Street), caused considerable delay in starting building operations, as the sale was not finally consummated until midsummer of 1907. This lot cost $3,600, but involved the additional expense of buying out two parties who owned small houses, and a ground rent-making the total expenditure for this strip something over $4,200. The entire cost of the land bought, including the purchase of these ground rents and other expenses incident to transfers, etc., and also including the substantial building used for settle- ment purposes, thus approximates $21,000-a most rea- sonable sum for the amount of ground in that locality, and as the committee is advised and believes, a most judicious purchase and an excellent location.
On April 4th, 1904, Councils approved and adopted a resolution presented by the Civic Club, giving the Club control of the property-the title to which had been vested in the City in return for the appropriations made and to be made.
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On February 11, 1905, Councils passed an ordinance authorizing the Civic Club to build and perpetually use all buildings erected on the property "for bath and other philanthropic purposes".
The large joint committee, after the starting of the Soho project, deeming that one new bath at a time was all it could manage, suspended efforts to locate others throughout the city, and finding itself too large and un- wieldy a body to conduct, as a whole, the business inci- dent to building operations, organized the Soho Bath Board, which held its first meeting as such on April 28, 1905. This Board was composed of 23 members, five of whom were ex-officio, viz., President of the Civic Club, President of the Permanent Civic Committee, the Mayor and Presidents of Select and Common Councils, respec- tively. The other members of the joint committee then turned their energies to enlarging the small but growing settlement work already established in the house on the premises. The Bath Board was, under an agreement be- tween the Permanent Civic Committee and the Civic Club, to be jointly elected by the two associations, but the joint management and conduct of the business being found inconvenient (the Civic Club being a chartered organization, the other an unchartered, variable body with a membership extending into other counties), this agreement was annulled by mutual consent, in Febru- ary, 1908, and the entire ownership, management and control of the Baths is now in this Club. But the Civic Club gladly acknowledges its indebtedness to the women's clubs for the successful launching and completion of this undertaking, from the membership of which clubs some of the most active workers were drawn, and a number whereof have given financial assistance, among them being (named in the order of the sizes of their respec- tive contributions)-the New Era, Wimodausus, Soro- sis, Travelers, Colloquium, Twentieth Century, Colum- bian Council of Jewish Women, and the Civic Club of Wilkinsburg.
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At the inception of this undertaking, the Committee, never having built a bath house, and being composed of neither real estate agents nor plumbers, and guided somewhat by the cost of the People's Baths (built in 1897), started out with the somewhat indefinite hope that $50,000 might possibly finance it; which hope, how- ever, was quickly blasted. As soon as it began to look for a site and talk with architects and builders, it was found that it would require at least double that sum,- not only land values but building materials, and especially plumber's supplies, having increased enor- mously since the Club's first bath building was erected. The Committee also found that while Pittsburgh is full of generous people who give freely and even lavishly to projects that appeal to their sympathies, these were slow to realize the necessity for public baths and their value as one of the strongest factors in the making of good citizens, and the task of raising the money became a serious one; the more so because the idea largely pre- vailed that such institutions should be built entirely at the expense of the city, rather than by private subscrip- tion. Several architects submitted plans, one was select- ed, and the contract let, after competitive bidding, in the early part of 1907 for a building to cost upwards of $70,000. In December of that year Councils were again asked to appropriate $25,000 to the fund, which was done in February, 1908.
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