The Lexington Civic League: Agent of Reform, 1900 - The Filson ...

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1988] Lexington Civic League 349 land Park at the Fourth of July celebration, while school children sold garden seeds. On 24 May the League helped sponsor a banquet at the Lexington Country Club to discuss the equipment needed for manual training and social work in the school. A public meeting at the Opera House followed the dinner with Mrs. Breckinridge, Elizabeth Cloud, principal of the West End School, and Mary McDowell, a Chicago social settlement worker, as the speakers.26 In June 1909 the League sponsored another lawn fete at "Ashland," charging a twenty-five-cent admission for adults and fifteen cents for children. Both pony and automobile rides were available at a small fee as were games of basketball and tennis. Other entertainment included acrobatic performances and wild animal shows. Additional profits came from the sale of ice cream, candy, lemonade, popcorn balls, and ballons. The entire affair netted $500.00 for the school fund.27 In May of 1910 the Civic League reported to the school board that it had collected $9,159.60, with $830.00 more pledged. Minor fund-raising efforts continued throughout the summer, but the League had only $10,900 in money and pledges when Clinton M. Harbison took over as its new president in October. Harbison, the son of wealthy horseman Shelby T. Harbison, had just started his career as an attorney in Lexington after graduating from Harvard Law School the previous year. He appointed the more experienced Mrs. Breckinridge as the head of the campaign committee which was to raise the $25,000 still needed for the model school. 28 Mrs. Breckinridge decided to launch a nine-day drive beginning on 14 November in an effort to obtain the remainder of the money. On the preceding Sunday several ministers agreed 26 Lexington Herald, 9 April, 8, 17, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26 May, 1 July, 14 November 1909, 5 October 1910; Lexington Leader, 10 April 1909. 27 Lexington Leader, 30 May 1909; Lexington Herald, 17, 19 June 1909. 28 Lexington Herald, 8, 13, 18 May, 4, 15 July 1910. Clinton M. Harbison's obituary is in the Lexington Leader, 10 June 1980.
350 The Filson Club History Quarterly [July to preach their morning sermon on some aspect of the West End School. Mrs. Breckinridge also wrote an article on the subject for the Sunday edition of the Herald. In it she again explained what the term "Model School" meant. It would be a school better than any the community possessed and standards would grow higher each year. Because ninety percent of the children in public school would some day earn their living with their hands, it was folly, she argued, to teach them Latin and higher mathematics without first teaching them sanitation, nutrition, and vocational skills. In addition, the school should serve social uses. By providing young people with a gathering place, they could be better protected from the saloons and other evils which often filled recreation time.za The campaign opened with a parade of 2,500 school children, followed that evening by a banquet with Charles W. Dabney, president of the University of Cincinnati, as the guest speaker. On each of the nine succeeding days, one hundred and fifty solicitors scoured the city door-to-door. The first day brought $3,798.50 in pledges with $2,000 of that amount coming from prominent Bluegrass horseman, James B. Haggin. Subscriptions did not flow in quickly or easily. By the time of the ball which was held on the last evening of the drive, the League was still $3,500 short of its goal. A number of people attending the ball pledged to make up that amount. As both the Lexington Leader and the Herald pointed out, those who guaranteed the final amount were the same ones who had already given the most in time and money. The Leader then suggested and the Herald endorsed a plan to ask those people to contribute who had not done so before because they felt their contribution was too in- significant to matter. This produced a good result but not enough to make up the $3,500. Collecting the pledges was not easy either. Because the money came in so slowly, plans for the school had to be modified by postponing the swimming pool 29 Lexington Herald, 11, 12, 13 November 1910.
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The Lexington Civic League: Agent of Reform, 1900 - The Filson ...

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