USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > Fifteen years of civic history. Civic club of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. October, 1895-December, 1910 > Part 5
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8
The grade crossing was a matter for serious atten- tion not only in Pittsburgh proper but in Allegheny, and it was only after great pressure was brought to bear upon the railroad companies and Councils that they have been practically abolished.
COURT HOUSE ALTERATIONS 1904 The Art Department was not only keenly alive to the possi- bilities of beautifying the city by the care and planting of trees, but as far back as 1904 at an open meeting urged upon the County Commissioners, who had proposed to en- large the County Court House, that any exterior altera- tions would likely destroy or at least detract from the artistic beauty and simplicity of this building. Each suggestion that has been made by various architects or
61
CIVIC CLUB OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
by the Commissioners to enlarge the Court House by adding anywhere from three to forty stories has been met with a storm of opposition not only from the Civic Club but the architects' associations and numerous other clubs and individuals. Be it said to the great credit of the Commissioners of 1910 that they have solved the problem in a most satisfactory manner from an artistic and economic standpoint by deciding to purchase an additional adjacent square for the proposed improve- ment.
COMMITTEE ON TUBERCULOSIS 1905 In the past five years the fight against tuberculosis has made wonderful progress in Pitts- burgh. At the time the Civic Club took up the matter, there was no other organiza- tion in the city doing any special work directed toward the prevention and elimination of this dread disease. The Anti-Tuberculosis Committee of the Civic Club was appointed in 1905, with Dr. T. W. Grayson, Chair- man, and found immediate work in appearing before the appropriations committee of council and urging that $5,000 be given for the establishment of a tuberculosis camp in connection with the City Poor Farm at Mar- shalsea. The number of cases then was found to be alarming, and the immediate necessity for some remedial measure imperative. The Committee's activity was re- warded by the passage of the ordinance. Through the courtesy of Dr. J. P. Shaw, then Director of Charities, this committee visited Marshalsea in May, 1905, and assisted in the selection of the site for the "Hill Camp" at the City Farm. One well equipped wooden building was completed as soon as possible. This pavillion is only for males, and has a capacity of some eighteen or twenty. Following this successful effort, the Committee endorsed the request of Dr. Shaw for an additional
62.
CIVIC CLUB OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
$5,000, which was granted for similar work among the female patients at Marshalsea.
This committee has also been more or less active in other tuberculosis work in Pittsburgh. Its members took an active part in the formation of "the Pittsburgh Society for the Prevention and Treatment of Tuberculo- sis," and through the efforts of the chairman, a tuber- culosis clinic was opened for patients at the Pittsburgh Free Dispensary, and conducted for four months.
At the instance of one of the resident workers at the Columbian Settlement House, a tuberculosis exhibit was brought to Pittsburgh in May, 1907, under the aus- pices of the Pittsburgh Society for the Prevention and Treatment of Tuberculosis assisted by the Columbian Council and the Civic Club. The Civic Club was the headquarters with an executive secretary, employed to arrange this exhibit. It was the first large educational measure that was undertaken in this work in our com- munity, and many thousands visited Old City Hall in the ten days it was there. Later the Columbian Settle- ment, Woods Run, South Side, West End, and Wilkins- burg in turn housed the exhibit.
In its desire not to everlap or duplicate the work of the new Tuberculosis League which started at about this time, the committee during the next year was not so ac- tive. Plans, however, were being made that developed a new field for action. (See Open-Air Schools, 1909.)
MEDICAL INSPECTION 1905 Among the "significant facts" noted by Gulick and Ayres in their "Medi- cal Inspection of Schools" is an extract from the Memo- randum of the British Board of Education which states Medical Inspection "seeks to secure ultimately for every child, normal or defective, conditions of life compatible with that full and effective development of its organic functions, its special senses, and its mental powers, which constitute a true education".
63
CIVIC CLUB OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
In the earlier period of the Civic Club, as far back as 1898, the Educational Department advised the neces- sity for medical inspection in the schools, but it was not until seven years later that any active steps were taken to give the school children necessary medical attention in many cases not received through the home, to insure the physical development of the child commensurate with the education it is expected to receive.
In November, 1905, the Department of Education of the Civic Club initiated the campaign for medical inspec- tion in the schools through its newly elected chairman, Mrs. William Macrum, to whose active, faithful and effi- cient services the ultimate success of this movement was largely due.
A committee was at once appointed to interview school directors, who in most cases heartily agreed that medical inspection would be of great benefit to the schools; that a large percentage of the children in the public schools had some definite physical defect; that a considerable portion of these children were one, two or even three years behind in their grades because of these defects ; that a large proportion of epidemics and the spread of communicable diseases emanated from the schools; but who added that they had no funds provided for the purpose.
The committee then decided to enlist the sympathy of the medical profession in their plan, and were grati- fied beyond their hopes by the generous offer of several physicians to give their services without remuneration until the system should be fairly established. In the mean time the Chairman of the Department had in- quired of the City Physician as to the advisability of be- ginning the work at once as an experiment, and he had expressed his satisfaction with the plan, and promised his co-operation at some future time.
The first inspection took place in December, 1905, at the Bellefield School, Dr. Wholey, who later served as Chairman of the Committee, being the physician in
64
CIVIC CLUB OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
charge; Mrs. J. L. Francis, a member of the committee from the Civic Club, acting as his aid.
The report of this first inspection, read at the next meeting of the committee, deely impressed all who heard it and convinced them that the introduction of medical inspection would involve no serious difficulty. The Allegheny County Medical Association then offered to appoint physicians to inspect all the schools, provided the consent of the respective school boards could be ob- tained by the members of the Civic Club committee. Let- ters were accordingly sent by Mrs. Macrum to fifty-one schools boards, including schools in Pittsburgh, Alle- gheny and the adjoining suburbs. Favorable answers were received from about half of the school boards, and Dr. Matheny, as chairman of the committee appointed by the Allegheny County Medical Association to co- operate with the Club, had the work begun at once in several schools. Twenty-four schools were inspected by the following physicians. Dr. W. F. Donaldson-Grant School; Dr. Alice R. Evans-North School; Dr. J. P. Hegarty-Hancock School; Dr. R. V. Swanton-Ral- ston School; Dr. P. W. Bushong-Moorhead School ; Dr. J. M. Russell-Springfield School; Dr. M. Chess- O'Hara School; Dr. J. G. Burke-Minersville School ; Dr. F. A. Rhodes-Minersville No. 2; Dr. F. A. Holt -- Minersville No. 3; Dr. W. H. Glynn-Minersville No. 4; Dr. W. H. Ewing-Minersville No. 5; Dr. C. C. Wholey-Bellefield School; Dr. B. B. Wood-Soho School; Dr. J. J. Schill-Lawrence School; Dr. A. Mc- Kibben-Andrews School; Dr. F. Kenworthy-Wool- slair School; Dr. G. W. Rall-Lincoln School; Dr. W. H. Rodgers-Lemington School; Dr. Ralph Duffey- Larimer School; Dr. H. M. Hall, Shakespeare School, of East Liberty District; Dr. A. F. B. Morris-Home- wood School; Dr. C. B. McAboy-Belmar; Dr. E. J. Thompson-Fifth Ward, Allegheny.
In order that the doctors might work with system, and that parents and teachers might be enabled to aid
65
CIVIC CLUB OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
them, in the endeavor to safeguard the children against epidemic and other diseases, several thousand copies of "Instructions to Teachers", "Letters to Parents", and inspection cards to be filled so as to designate the par- ticular disease or defect of each patient and and also test cards to detect deficient eyesight, were printed at the expense of the Civic Club. These were kept in the office of the Club, within convenient reach of the doc- tors interested; and were used by them for their visits of inspection to the schools.
The Civic Club committee, after two years' pioneer educative work of systematized inspection in 24 schools, the introduction of a Bill in the 1907 Legislature, that failed to pass, and an additional year of constructive work in preparation for the presentation of another bill it expected to introduce in 1909, prepared a petition and appeared before the Educational Commission appointed by Governor Stuart at its first meeting held in Pitts- burgh in May, 1908, and urged that it embody in its School Code a provision for medical inspection in schools. Conferences were held and correspondence conducted on the subject, which resulted in the Com- mission embodying in its Code the committee's provi- sions, with the exception that medical inspection was made mandatory in large cities and permissive in smaller school districts.
In December, 1908, the Civic Club committee called and held a conference of representatives from the Allegheny County Medical Society, the Bureau of Health, the Central Board of Education and the Princi- pals and Teachers Associations, at which time a draft of the committee's medical inspection provision was pre- sented and a joint letter sent to the Commission urging it to make medical inspection mandatory in large cities and in large communities adjacent, instead of permis- sive as the Commission intended. The commission ac- ceded only so far as large cities were concerned.
The School Code was so badly mutilated by the
66
CIVIC CLUB OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
Legislature of 1909, however, that Governor Stuart re- fused to sign it, and this second attempt to secure a medical inspection law failed. In the mean time our city was so fortunate as to have Dr. J. F. Edwards appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Health, and he, fully recognizing the importance of such inspection, suggested that the supervision of this volunteer inspection, and the expenses etc. connected therewith be turned over to his Bureau, with the hope and expectation that the city would shortly authorize it to be properly installed in all the schools at the City's expense. The committee ac- ceeded to this request, and shared Dr. Edwards' disap- pointment when it was finally decided that it would not be feasible at that time (Winter 1907-08).
After the failure to secure through the Legislature a mandatory law, the Civic Club committee, being favor- able to medical inspection either under the direction of the school authorities or the Bureau of Health, exerted its influence in both directions, and therefore early in the fall of 1909 waited upon Mayor Magee to ascertain his views and urge his co-operation, and also communi- cated with Dr. E. R. Walters of the Department of Health in relation to this matter. About the same time a sub-committee went before the Central Board of Edu- cation, realizing that while that body had the power to appoint medical inspectors only for the High Schools, each school board being absolutely a power unto itself, the example of its adoption by the Central Board would give more encouragement to the individual boards. The matter at this meeting was referred to the finance com- mittee.
Beginning with November, 1909, a more active cam- paign was started to bring the matter before the in- dividual boards of directors of public schools. Letters were written to the presidents of the school boards re- questing an audience for a representative of the Civic Club to present a practical working scheme for medical inspection. (Of this number, nine already had regularly
67
CIVIC CLUB OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
appointed physicians and one other immediately in- stalled the work-in almost all cases a direct result of the volunteer inspection). Answers granting the re- quests were received from 22 schoolboards, and repre- sentatives of the Club were sent. Audiences listened to their arguments with interest. Opinions favorable to medical inspection were expressed by a large number of the individual members of the boards. In every case it was either promised or implied that further considera- tion would be given the subject. At the end of Decem- ber, 1909, it was learned that the Department of Health was considering the adoption of a system of inspection in all the public schools. In pursuance of this policy the several school boards were advised by the Depart- ment of Health of its proposed institution of medical inspection and were given assurance that the adminis-" tration was prepared to proceed with the matter as rapidly as possible, and the Civic Club was requested to desist from its efforts in this behalf. The committee therefore notified the school boards of the assurance given that medical inspection would be instituted by the city, which system if efficiently installed would accom- plish the purpose of the committee, and that, deeming it inexpedient and inadvisable to further urge its adoption upon the school boards severally, the Club would dis- continue its efforts until such time as the Department of Health had a reasonable opportunity to install the system.
In the spring of 1910 an appropriation of $30,000.00 was included in the budget of the Department of Health for 27 medical inspectors. Following a civil service ex- amination these appointments and assignments were made and under the direction of the chief medical in- spector, Dr. H. B. Burns, class-room inspection has been included in the regular routine of the public school work.
68
CIVIC CLUB OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
CHILD LABOR Legislation prescribing how long a 1905 child shall work, when and where and under what circumstances, is of comparatively very recent date in any of the States, and Pennsylvania has probably been slower to respond to the call for reform than most of her sisters.
Among the first attempts to pass reformative or restrictive legislation was that of 1905. At this session of the Legislature a bill was presented providing, among other things, that in certain specified occupa- tions, a child should not be employed until he was four- teen (an earlier enactment having fixed the age at 12), that working certificates should not, as heretofore, be issued by magistrates and notaries, but should be issued by factory inspectors and school authorities only, and that an educational test should be required of each child.
A vigorous campaign was waged in both ends of the State-in this end by the Civic Club; Mrs. F. P. Iams, as the Legislative Chairman of the Club, by her well-directed, systematic energy carried on the work not only in this but in every successive campaign in a most effective and vigorous man- ner, and her office became the headquarters for many interesting meetings between legislators, fac- tory inspectors and representatives of different associa- tions familiar with conditions, such as Kingsley House and the Columbian Settlement, etc. Members of the Legislature from this district were thus interested in the cause; letters were written to all who could not be seen personally ; Miss Kate C. McKnight, President of the Club, went to Harrisburg to watch the progress of the Bill there. The Civic 'Club committee, decidedly active by this time, arranged a mass meeting which was held March 11, 1905, chief among the speakers being Mr. Owen Lovejoy, Secretary of the National Child Labor Association, and Mrs. Florence Kelly of the Con- sumers League. The meeting was very large and en- thusiastic, many manufacturers or their representatives
69
CIVIC CLUB OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
were present and took part in the discussion, rendering the proceedings somewhat lively by their criticisms of the project and engaging in personal tilts with the legis- lative Chairman.
The result of this campaign was the final passage of the Bill. Later, however, the Courts decided that some of the provisions of the measure were unconstitu- tional, but a very distinct gain was left in the advanced age limit from 12 to 14 years.
SCHOLARSHIPS 1905
In the fall of 1905 after this provi- sion become a law Miss Torrens, one of the deputy factory inspect- ors, reported among others several children working under the regular age limit, upon whose small earnings a fam- ily was largely dependent. Through Mrs. Herbert Du Puy, one of the interested members of the Civic Club, a scholarship fund of good proportion was started, to which the John Hart Chapter of the Children of the Revolution and the American Federation of Labor con- tributed. Two boys and one girl were kept in school, and given their regular vacation as well, for a period covering nearly two years, the equivalent of their weekly salary being paid to their mothers.
CHILD LABOR In 1907 two Bills were presented 1907 embodying the same general princi- ples for which the advocates of child labor regulations were contending, known as the Dempsey and Townsend Bills. In their essentials these Bills were the same (and very similar to that later passed in 1909), and the Pennsylvania Child Labor Com- mittee of Philadelphia, the State Federation, and the Civic Club of Allegheny County decided to support the
70
CIVIC CLUB OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
Townsend Bill. Thereupon followed a campaign which has gone down in legislative history as one of the most remarkable in its annals. There was more general ac- tivity in this section of the State than in the eastern, though Mr. Nearing, for the Philadelphia committee, and his assistants did yeoman service. Mrs. Iams, who in the interim had been busily engaged in assisting the eastern part of the State in drafting more advanced legis- lation, again directed the committee of the Civic Club which in turn invited the associations likely to be inter- ested to co-operate. The Teachers' Association, the Principals' Association, the Pittsburgh Playgrounds As- sociation, the Consumers' League, several labor organ- izations, two or three Boards of Trade, Catholic and Hebrew Associations, Twentieth Century Club, Daugh- ters of the American Revolution and many in- dividuals joined, and a veritable whirlwind cam- paign followed. 3 Thousands of letters and tele- grams were sent advocating the passage of the Townsend Bill and protesting against the Hapgood or Delaney "Administration" Bill (which had been pre- sented as an amendment to the Factory Laws) ; minis- ters were asked to preach upon the subject and a con- stant lobbying force was kept at Harrisburg; Prof. Anthony, Miss McKnight, Mr. Fernald, Miss Kennard, Miss Grimes, Mrs. Ammon and others going from Pitts- burgh. To awaken an intelligent interest in this matter throughout this vicinity another public meeting was held by the Club on March 9, 1907, when Mr. Lovejoy of N. Y., Mr. Nearing and Miss Sanville of Philadel- phia and many others spoke. Previous to this the ex- penses involved had been met entirely by the Civic Club, but following this meeting twenty-eight organizations joined in the work and the majority of this number con- tributed toward the expenses incurred for printing, post- age, and traveling expenses.
The fight waxed fast and furious up to the very last day of the Legislature, and, while the Townsend Bill
71
CIVIC CLUB OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
failed to pass, so many amendments were engrafted upon Delaney's Factory Bill that it was withdrawn and no Bill passed at this session. An important forward step was taken, however, in the passage of a Bill rais- ing the compulsory education limit at which a child may stop school to go to work, from 13 to 14 years.
ALLEGHENY COUNTY The team-work of the CHILD LABOR ASSOCIATION 1907
Pittsburgh workers had proved so satisfactory in this campaign, that the Civic Club decided to effect a permanent association for this section. In July of 1907 the Allegheny County Child Labor Association was organized and Prof. John W. Anthony chosen as its first President. Thereafter the principal work was carried on through this Association, the Civic Club, however, being an affiliated working member, again assisted in the campaign of 1909. The history would not be complete without noting that this campaign, which was also re- markable for its vigor and able management, resulted in the passage of an Act which in the main is a very satisfactory one, its essentials being :
1. No child under 14 shall work in factories, stores, mines, etc.
2. Documentory proof of age must be furnished.
3. Working certificates can be issued only by the school authorities.
4. Age limit in bituminous coal mines raised from 12 to 14 years.
5. Maximum hours per day reduced from 12 to 10, and per week from 60 to 58.
6. That no boy under sixteen or girl under 18 shall work before 6 A. M. or after 9 P. M., with glass house and messenger boy exceptions.
The friends of the measures were disappointed that
72
CIVIC CLUB OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
in order to secure the foregoing provisions it was again necessary to compromise with the glass men and make an exception, whereby boys between the ages of 14 and 16 may work all night in any business that is continuous in its processes. This exception, unfortunately, while not intended to include any save glass-house boys, was so worded that it was later found to permit all-night work by boys of similiar age in messenger service. It is the intention to continue the campaign in the 1911 Legisla- ture to secure prohibition of such night work.
DOWN-TOWN LIBRARIES The Educational De- 1905
partment was a most active section during the year of 1905, and, in addition to the work already accomplished, was studying the question and advocating the institution of sectional night schools. Through the press and conferences with merchants, the attention of the public was called to the need of a down-town branch of the Carnegie Library. Later on this was ac- complished through a call station located on the first floor of Kaufmanns' store. This later had to be aban- doned, however, because the transportation of the books to and from the library became a stupendous task, the library having no vehicle of its own for this purpose. It was the intention of the library authorities to establish another down-town branch with proper delivering fa- cilities, but the reduction of the appropriation from Councils made this impossible.
CONVENTIONS In December of 1905, Hon. Wil- 1905 liam M. Kennedy and Mr. Charles B. Price, representing the Civic Club, attended the National Convention on Immigration
WASITY
73
CIVIC CLUB OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
held in New York, upon appointment by Governor Pennypacker.
SUBWAY 1905 Improved transportation facilities have for a number of years demanded and received the attention of the Club, and a deep inter- est has naturally been taken in all proposed plans for a subway as a possible means of relieving congestion. Governor Pennypacker recognized the interest of the Club by inviting it to send representatives to a meeting held in Harrisburg; at the annual meeting of 1906 an address was made upon the subject, and at various times members of the committee appointed have participated in discussions before Councils and elsewhere.
STATE LEGISLATION In addition to the Child 1905
Labor Bills introduced in the Legislature of 1905, the Civic Club endorsed, by letter and interview, the Mc- Elroy Bill amending the Juvenile Court Laws; Mause Bill providing for establishment of Parental Schools for Habitual Truants; two Bills for the establishment of sanitariums for consumptives; the Riley Bill abolishing capital punishment; and a Bill for the registration of trained nurses.
GROUPING OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS 1906 As the Civic Club has always been in sympathy with the proposals looking toward the grouping of public buildings on some commanding site, it was resolved to indorse the plans which the Pittsburgh Chapter of the American Institute of Architects had prepared for such a group
74
CIVIC CLUB OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
around a plaza to be laid out on the "hump," extending from the Court House to Sixth Avenue. Accordingly a committee was appointed to second the efforts to have these plans considered, and, if possible, adopted by Councils.
In May, 1906, the Civic Club united with the Pitts- burgh Chapter, American League of Architects, in hav- ing a lecture given in Carnegie Hall by Mr. Albert Kel- sey, of Philadelphia, on "A Pittsburgh Possible", show- ing what a magnificent city might be built here, instead of the haphazard conglomeration which now appears within the embrace of our three great rivers.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.