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

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1988] Lexington Civic League 353 Mrs. Cantrill during this period worked in a little lending library which had been established in Irishtown. She later became deeply involved in the Civic League's playground work and ultimately succeeded to the presidency of the League in 1920. She recorded in her autobiography concerning herself and close friend Margaret Preston Johnston : "I really believe we naively thought at one period that neither the city of Lexington nor Christ Church Episcopal could get along without us.'' As Blaine A. Brownell notes, Progressivism has "been defined and redefined, examined and reexamined" with fervor in the last thirty years, and yet "there will doubtless never be universal agreement on the precise meaning of 'progressivism' and whether or not it was a distinct 'movement' or a vague collection of impulses for political change. ''37 The Lexington Pro- gressives, however, were a fairly coherent group which sought justice by attempting to change the environment in order to prevent rather than simply cure social ills; thus, their emphasis on education, health, child labor, and other reforms which particularly affected children. Without a doubt the leading reformer among Lexington Progressives was Madeline McDowell Breckinridge. Referred to at the time of her death in 1920 as the founder of the Civic League, the Associated Charities, and the Fayette County Anti-Tuberculosis Society as well as leader of the successful fight for a federal woman suffrage amendment, she had long been the guiding force for change in the Bluegrass. Due in large part to her dominance, the Civic League never developed a close organization althought it maintained a number of standing committees. It functioned primarily when she had a new idea, and she reportedly orchestrated its activities in an adept and sometimes dictatorial manner. Through her relationship with her sister-in-law, Sophonisba Breckinridge, Lexington 36 Cantrill, "Among My Souvenirs," 51, 89. 37 Blaine A. Brownell, "Interpretations of Twentieth-Century Reform," in David R. Colbure and George E. Pozzetto, eds., Reform and Re]ormers in the Progressive Era (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1983), 3, 18.
354 The Filson Club History Quarterly [July was also greatly influenced by Chicago Progressives who were at the forefront of the reform movement. Many of the speakers the Civic League brought to Lexington reflected this connection)s Perhaps Mrs. Breckinridge and the other Lexington reformers are best described as proponents of the concept of noblesse oblige as defined by Kathleen McCarthy in her book Noblesse Oblige, Charity & Cultural Philanthrophy in Chicago, 1849-1929 in which she defines noblesse oblige as "the notion that successful citizens owe a dual obligation of time and money to the communities in which they have prospered." As John Burnham has written, they were people who could not stand idly by while they saw social wrongs.40 Certainly the Lexington Progressives did not seek revolutionary goals, but they did believe that the state should actively promote social justice. As Mrs. Cantrill wrote about her mentor, Mrs. Breckinridge: "Many of the things inaugurated by her in a small way later became tax-paid projects under municiple Is/c] administration or integral parts of the public school system. It was Madge's dream to have her plans develop that way ....-41 The Civic League in its second decade was not nearly so active as it had been during its first years of existence. It did, however, continue to support the Lincoln School which was dedicated on 30 November 1912. It helped provide funds for an Outdoor School which opened on the roof to provide an environment of fresh air and nourishing food to childern at risk for contracting tuberculosis and also provided money for a swimming pool. In 1915 the League undertook the task of buy- 38 Interview, Forence Cantrill with author, 25 March and 25 October 1976; interview, Clinton M. Harbison with author, 21 July 1976. For an interpretative analysis of Mrs. Breckinridge's reform activities, see Hay, "Madeline McDowell Breckinridge," 214-42. 39 Kathleen D. McCarthy, Noblesse Oblige, Charity & Cultural Philanthropy in Chicago, 1859-19 9 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982), ix. 40 John D. Buenker, John C. Burnham, Robert M. Crunden, Progressiv- /sin (Cambridge, Massauchetts: Schenkman Publishing Company, 1977), 23. 41 Cantrill, "Among My Souvenirs," 87.
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