The West Philadelphia Hospital for Women

            The founding of the West Philadelphia Hospital for Women was largely the work of Dr. Elizabeth Comly (1842-1912).  She was the daughter of Emmor Comly and Hannah Bowman of Byberry, Philadelphia Co.  He had a farm at what is now the intersection of Comly Rd. and Academy Rd.  In 1880, Elizabeth lived at 3720 Spring Garden St. with her sister and brother-in-law, Joshua R. and Deborah Howell.  She was 37 years old and on the medical staff of Woman's Medical College.  Her sister died at age 46 in 1882.  About 1886, Elizabeth and Joshua moved to 3404 Spring Garden St.  They married in 1888 and Elizabeth added his name to her’s.

            Dr. Comly Howell was very aware that women “had indeed awakened to the fact that she has more to do in this world than simply to see that her home is well ordered and attractive…”  In a lecture published in 1878 entitled “Women’s Work,” she outlined the professional advances made by women in many fields.  However, she noted that:   “In no field of labor have woman met with more opposition than in the practice of medicine. [Many] … feared the woman would be lost in the physician.   But… by indefatigable efforts, hospitals were founded, in a few years, in New York, Boston and Philadelphia, and scores of young women have had clinical practice in America and received diplomas. But the older and richly-endowed medical colleges have not generously opened their doors to women.” (Quarterly Report of the Pennsylvania Board of Agriculture, 1878: 92-7.)

            The origin of the West Philadelphia Hospital for Women was described in a report of its Board of Managers.  "In May, 1889, five women met in the parlor of Dr. Comly-Howell [3404 Spring Garden St.] to discuss the possibility of establishing in West Philadelphia a hospital and dispensary for women under the care of women….  Poor people in this locality were often unable to avail themselves of the much appreciated benefits of the Woman's Hospital… on account of the distance and limit of time they could afford from their homes. None of the various hospitals already established offered a place where women could be treated by women, and this desired end was freely discussed at the above meetings. All were in favor of this undertaking, but some were doubtful, afraid to take so great a responsibility without a penny for their treasury. Courage was soon gained, however, and this was largely due to the strong nature of Dr. Comly-Howell, who, in every objection urged or doubt expressed, maintained a serenity and confidence that was in itself an inspiration."

            The West Philadelphia Hospital for Women opened in 1889 at the northeast corner of N. 41^st and Ogden Streets in a private house converted for treating out-patients and with 10 beds for in-patients.  It later expanded through the block to Parrish St. and a training school for nursing began in 1890.  Dr. Comly Howell was responsible for deliveries east of 37^th St.  Dr. Elizabeth L. Peck, another doctor at the Hospital, also lived for a time at 3404 Spring Garden St.  Other Powelton residents who were founding members were Mary Sellers Bancroft (3417 Hamilton St.), her daughter, Elizabeth Parrish (3407 Spring Garden), Anna Williams Dreer (101 N. 33^rd St.), Emma B. Foulke (3403 Hamilton St.), Helen Marot (317 N. 33^rd St.), Sarah M. W. Sellers (3300 Arch St.) and Miss Mila F. Smith (218 N. 32^nd St.).

            Dr. Comly Howell continued serving women in the neighborhood until the late 1890s when she and her husband moved to Chester County where he was a farmer and she continued her work as a physician.

            The Hospital merged with the Women’s Hospital of Philadelphia in 1929.  It continued to handle maternity cases in the area.  In 1964, Women’s Hospital was absorbed by the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.  The records of the Hospital are now part of the Archives of Drexel University.

(A shorter version of this appeared in the Powelton Post, March, 2012.)

"I am in part the representative…of those whose rights are denied”

            When Anna Miller purchased 3405 Hamilton St. in 1921, she became one of Powelton’s first homeowners of color.  Anna and Thomas E. Miller moved here from South Carolina in 1921 when she was about 66 years old and he was about 71.  Their lives had been centered on their choice to live in the South as blacks after the Civil War.

Thomas E. Miller (1849-1938)

            Thomas Ezekiel Miller was born in South Carolina in 1849.  It is likely that three of his grandparents were white.  He was adopted at birth by Richard Miller, a freed slave.  He was light enough to have “passed as white” in the North, but he chose to live as a man of color in his native state.  When he died in 1938, his obituary in the Journal of Negro History described him as “one of the most useful men of his time.”

            When he was a child, the Millers moved to Sumter, S.C. and sent him to a school for free blacks.  His mother died when he was 9 years old and he had to go to work as a newspaper boy to support himself.  At the end of the Civil War he ended up in New York State.  The story about how that came about has been summarized in many confusing ways.  The clearest version appears in an interview with him during the 1930s.  He explained that

“[he] was placed in charge of delivering the paper to all stations between Charleston and Savannah, Ga. on the Savannah Railroad, and remained in service until 1864, when he was made Assistant Conductor of the railroad. He wore the Confederate uniform, for all public works were owned and operated by the federal [i.e., Confederate] government. In the early part of 1865, the train was captured by the Yankees to the South of Harleyville, and he was placed into prison in the stockade river swamp, at Savannah Georgia, and remained there for two weeks. The few persons [who] survived were moved to the Savannah Hospital, where he also went. When he was released from the hospital, he went to Hilton Head en route to Harts Island, N.Y. with the N. Y. 24^th Negro Regiment, and from there to Hudson, N. Y. and returned to Charleston in 1866.”

Before returning to Charleston, Miller studied for nine months at a school in Hudson.  He soon returned north to study at Lincoln University where he graduated in 1872.  After returning again to South Carolina, he was appointed School Commissioner in Beaufort County.  His first important political battle was to get black teachers into the city schools.  He was elected the state House of Representative in 1874, 1876, and 1878 and to the state Senate in 1880.  While in the legislature, he studied at the Law School of the State University.  He graduated with the last class graduated before blacks were barred from attending.  He also received law training under P. L. Wiggins, the state solicitor, and Franklin J. Moses, Sr., Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court.  He was admitted to the bar in 1879.

            In 1888, Miller ran for the U.S. House.  The election was disputed but he was finally seated by the Republican Congress in September, 1890.  He only served for a few weeks before he had to return home to campaign for re-election.  Another contested election followed, but this time a Democratic Congress refused to hear his case.  In 1895, he was elected to the South Carolina Constitutional Convention along with five other blacks.  It was at this convention that the poll tax and literacy tests were introduced which effectively barred blacks from voting.

            During the years following the end of Reconstruction, the black population of South Carolina needed leaders with Miller’s legal training and rhetorical skills who would fight for their rights.  Miller was constantly reminded of his light complexion.  The white press referred to him derisively as “Canary Bird” Miller and some black opponents accused him of merely taking advantage of the opportunities for blacks during Reconstruction.  Despite this, he chose to become a champion of the rights of blacks and an outspoken critic of those who used fear to secure white domination of South Carolina.  His education and speaking ability made him an especially important asset for the black community.  For example, he was the best educated of the black delegates at the Constitutional Convention of 1895.  However, the valiant defense of black rights made by Miller and others failed to stop the disenfranchisement of blacks.

            At the 1895 Constitutional Convention, Miller’s role was to eloquently challenge the notion that blacks were an alien group intent on dominating the state.  He reviewed the common history shared by blacks and whites, defended actions of black legislators during Reconstruction, and pointed out that many white legislators relied on black votes for their election. He did not, however, hesitate to speak harsh truths.  At one point he challenged the “Lost Cause” view of the Civil War stating:

 “The majority of you blame the poor Negro for the humility inflicted upon you during that conflict, but he had nothing to do with it. It was your love of power and your supreme arrogance that brought it upon yourselves. You are too feeble to settle up with the government for that grudge. This hatred has been centered on the Negro and he is the innocent sufferer of your spleen.”

Miller was a strong advocate of universal suffrage.  He noted the effects a poll tax would have on poor whites and he was one of a small minority at the convention to vote for woman’s suffrage.

            After the end of the Constitutional Convention, Miller turned his sights once again on education.  In exchange for promising to leave politics, Miller secured the separation of the Colored Normal, Industrial, Agricultural and Mechanical College of South Carolina (now the State College of South Carolina) from Methodist-owned Claflin College.  He demanded that “only Southern men or women of the Negro race be on the faculty.”  He was appointed the school’s president by the all-white Board of Trustees.  The college was poorly funded and for a decade lacked running water, sewers, electricity and central heat.  During its early decades, State College was not really a college; most of its students were in primary and second grades.  It provided teaching licenses and basic training in agriculture including how to care for cows and make a compost heap.  Many black leaders of the time, including Booker T. Washington, believed this kind of education was what was most needed for blacks.  However, the Board of Trustees maintained tight control over all aspects of the school including decisions about the curriculum.  The College did not grant a real bachelor’s degree until 1925.  Miller served as president until 1911 when he was forced to resign following his outspoken opposition to the election of Governor Coleman Blease.  Miller’s opposition to Blaise was not surprising given Blaise’s position on the education of blacks.  For example, Blaise once stated that the efforts to educate blacks were actually detrimental because “you are ruining a good plow hand and making a half-trained fool.”  After resigning, Miller resumed his law practice and looked after other business interests.

Dr. Charles W. Maxwell

             Thomas Miller and Anna Hume were married in Charleston, S.C. in 1874. They had nine children, two of whom died young.  They moved to Powelton about 1921 (a) with their daughter, Pansy, and her husband, Dr. Charles W. Maxwell.  Maxwell was a 1904 graduate of the Medical School at Howard University.  He ran his medical practice at 616 S.15th St. and out of his home.  At the time, there were few blacks living in Powelton. The first black homeowner in Powelton may have been Bessie G. Johnson, wife of Fields Johnson, who bought 320 N. 31^st St. in 1919.  In 1920, the numerous other black residents on 31^st and 32^nd streets were all renters.  By 1930, most residents east of 33^rd St. were black renters.  West of 33^rd St. virtually all Powelton residents were white with the exception of a few servants and this remained true throughout the 1930s.  (The exceptions were Summer and Winter streets where all of the residents were black in 1940.)

            Why did Anna and Thomas Miller choose to leave South Carolina for Philadelphia?  Why did they choose Powelton rather than an established black neighborhood as the Maxwells later did?  We may never know.  The move to Philadelphia may have been precipitated by Pansy and Charles Maxwell.  Also, Philadelphia – and particularly Powelton - may have offered a quiet retirement away from the harshness of life in South Carolina after WWI.  Thomas Miller wrote several manuscripts based on his experiences in South Carolina politics which he may have written during his years here.  (It appears these were never published.)

            In the early 1930s, the Millers returned to Charleston where Ann died in 1936.  The house in Powelton was inherited jointly by Pansy Maxwell (who had no children) and the five children of Pansy’s sister, Marguerite E. Edwards of Atlantic City, N.J.  Pansy and Charles Maxwell moved to S. 15^th St. in the late 1930s.  He remained a prominent physician in the black community until his death in 1959.

Thomas Miller died in Charleston in 1938.   The inscription on his tombstone reads “I served God and all the people, loving the white man not less, but the Negro needed me most.”  (Some sources differ on the exact quote.)

Notes:

(a)   Most sources state 1923.  However, they purchased the house in 1921.  An article in the Philadelphia Tribune on March 1, 1924 stated that: “Ex-Congressman Miller is a celebrated character in Philadelphia, where he has lived for a number of years….”

I generally do not devote so much space in this blog to the lives of individual before they lived in Powelton.  The case of Thomas E. Miller is unusual.  I have not found a real biography of him nor a full appreciation of his role in South Carolina’s history.  The numerous short biographical sketches include many inconsistencies and inaccuracies that are now easily corrected with readily available sources.  I hope this brief blog will serve to correct some of these inaccuracies and stimulate more interest in his life.  Here are a few of the resources I used for this piece:

 Anonymous (1938). "Thomas E. Miller." Journal of Negro History 23(3): 400-402.

Anonymous (1935). Recalls Stirring Incidents in Life of Thomas E. Miller, Veteran of Reconstruction Days. Philadelphia Tribune. Philadelphia Pennsylvania: 5.

Ladson, Augustus (1936-1937).Ex-Congressman Thomas Ezekiel Miller. WPA Federal Writers' Project on African American Life in South Carolina. WPA_K_1_1_065070. Charleston County, University of South Carolina.

Tindall, G. B. (1952). "The Question of Race in the South Carolina Constitutional Convention of 1895." Journal of Negro History 37(3): 277-303.

Fifth Generation Poweltonians

In an earlier post (Of Church and Family), I discussed the long ties between the Andrews and Alexander families and the Northminster Presbyterian Church.  At the end of that piece, I noted that Julian and Virginia Alexanders' two children (Julian, Jr. and Louisa) were the great-grandchildren of four Poweltonians: Alexander and Amelia Andrews and Horace and Mary Hill.  I have recently discovered that that is only half of the story.

Seven of Julian and Louisa Alexanders' eight great-grandparents lived in Powelton.  The eighth died in 1858 before people began to move into the neighborhood.  In addition, one of their great-great-grandmothers also lived here.

 Ancestors of Julian and Louisa Alexander
with Home Addresses in Powelton

(click to enlarge)

As I described previously, Julian and Louisa's great-grandparents, Alexander and Amelia Andrews, were among the earliest residents of Powelton.  They purchased 3507 Baring St. in December, 1859.  Alexander had recently begun trading grain and became quite successful.  However, they bought the house with money from a trust set up for Amelia and her siblings when their parents died quite young.  Amelia died in 1873 at age 50.  Alexander sold 3507 in 1882 and died five years later at the home of his daughter and son-in-law, E. P. Alexander.

Julian and Louisa's paternal grandparents, Euretta Andrews and Edward P. Alexander, married in 1874 and moved into a new home at 306 N. 35th St.  Edward and his siblings, Charles, Josephine, and Henry moved to Philadelphia from New Hampshire in the 1860s.  In 1867, they founded Alexander Brothers, manufacturers of industrial leather belts.  The brothers purchased a new home at 3626 Baring St. in 1869. Their father, Lemuel Alexander (another great-grandfather of Julian and Louisa), joined them sometime in the 1870s.  He died in 1883.  Euretta and Edward lived at 306 for 48 years before selling it in 1922.  Euretta died the next year and E. P. died in 1927.

Euretta and Edward's youngest child, Julian, married Virginia Hill in 1914.  Virginia (Julian, Jr. and Louisa's mother) was the granddaughter of Horace and Mary Wiggins Hill.  Like the Alexander family, Horace Hill's family was from New Hampshire and Maine.  He was born in Pennsylvania, but his parents and his older siblings were born in New England.  In 1860, Horace and Mary were living at 3504 Hamilton St. with their newborn son, Horace G. Hill.  About 1861, they moved to 3405 Hamilton St.  Mary's mother (Julian and Louisa great-great-grandmother), Elizabeth Wiggins, lived with them from before 1870 until her death in 1886.  In 1894, Horace Hill retired as assistant cashier for the Philadelphia National Bank where he had worked for 39 years.  The next month, the couple sailed for Europe where they were to spend the next two years traveling.  On their return, they moved out to Belmont Ave.

The Hill's son, Horace G. Hill, was a 1882 graduate of Jefferson Medical College.  In 1886, he married Maria L. Bennett.  Her parents, Joseph S. Bennett and Virginia Grier (or Greer) Bennett, moved their family to 3519 Hamilton St. in 1870.  Joseph was a wholesale druggist but his changing occupation suggests he might have suffered financial setbacks.  In 1880, they were living with Virginia's cousins at 3410 Race St.  When Horace and Maria were married in 1886, they moved to 3416 Baring St. and Joseph and Virginia Bennett moved in with them.  Joseph died in 1892.  Both Horace G. Hill and his mother-in-law, Virginia Bennett, died in 1901.  Maria Hill apparently had to make adjustments for the loss of her husband's income.  She first moved with her three children to the smaller 3419 Hamilton St. and about ten years later, she downsized again moving to 409 N. 36th St.

The Hill family was living on 36th St. in 1914 when Virginia Hill and Julian Alexander were married.  However, Virginia and Julian grew up just around the corner from each other.  Virginia Hill's father died just before her 14th birthday.  After their wedding, Virginia and Julian moved to 3417 Race St.  where Julian, Jr. and Louisa were born.  Virginia's mother, Louisa Hill, lived with them.  Julian worked in the family business.  Tragically Julian, Sr. died in the 1930s when he was only in his 40s.

Julian and Louisa Alexander lived on Race St. with their mother into the 1940s, eighty years after their ancestors first arrived here.  (Virginia lived there until her death in 1949.)  They grew up about two blocks from where their parents were raised.  When they walked up 35th St. on their way to church on Sundays, they walked past the home that their Alexander grandparents built.  The church was right across Baring St. from the house their Alexander great-grandparents built in 1859.  All of their great-grandparents were raised within four blocks of the house on Race St..  This geographic clustering of multiple generations was seen in farming communities in the early twentieth century and it might have happened in some other urban areas, but five generations in one small urban neighborhood could not have been common.  The clustering of generations in this family and a few other extended families (for example, the McIvain and Sellers families) helped define Powelton as a distinct neighborhood and played an important role in establishing the sense of community that continues to this day.

Sherman Hemsley (1938-2012)

 Sherman Hemsley, best known for his role as George Jefferson on “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons” died last week. After leaving the Army, Hemsley lived at 3301 Baring St. for about eight years while working the midnight shift at the 30th St. Post Office and pursuing his acting career.

Powelton has always been a mixture of long-term owners and  renters and short-term renters, lodgers, and boarders. Many come and go without engaging in the neighborhood while others become known parts of the community. Hemsley was apparently one of the latter. In January, 1965, the Powelton Post included the following:

“SHERMAN HEMSLEY HAS LEADING ROLE IN ‘THE BLACKS’”
“Sherman Hemsley, 3301 Baring St., plays Archibald in Jean Genet’s ‘The Blacks’ at the Society Hill Playhouse, 507 S. 8th St. Mr. Hemsley's previous acting experience has been in ‘Under the Yum Yum Tree’ and ‘Pearlie Victorious’ for Theatre 14, Philadelphia's all Negro theatre group.”

It was his role in “The Blacks” that got him noticed in New York and his role in “Pearlie” on Broadway landed him an audition for the role of George Jefferson. In September, 1967, the Philadelphia Tribune reported that Hemsley had been selected to join the prestigious Negro Ensemble, Co. in New York. He had put in for a transfer to the New York Post office, but apparently didn’t need that gig for long.

The Horse Trader’s Son and the Elocutionist’s Daughter: The Kendircks of Powelton

Minnie Murdoch Kendrick

            George and Minnie Kendrick moved to 3404 Hamilton St. in 1870 shortly after they purchased it from William List who lived next door at 3406 Hamilton St.  George, a 28 year-old pawnbroker, was the son of a Philadelphia horse trader.  He was at the start of a very successful career in finance.  Minnie was 21 and the mother of a 2 year-old son who died soon after.  She soon gave birth to sons George W., 3rd and Samuel Murdoch.  In 1882, they traded up and moved to 3507Baring St.

            In the 1887 city directory, George listed three separate partnerships, plus the humble “pawnbroker.”  Over the years, he developed close ties with many financial institutions including the Third National Bank, Fidelity Mutual life Insurance, and the Philadelphia Company for Guaranteeing Mortgages.  He was also active in civil affairs as a member of the Board of City Trusts and was elected to Common Councils three times and to Select Council (as a Democrat in a strongly Republican ward).

            Minnie’s parents lived with the Kendrick family.  Her father, Samuel K. Murdoch, was an actor who became an elocution coach.  Her uncle, James Edward Murdoch, was a nationally prominent Shakespearean actor.   Samuel's brother, Edward Murdoch, (Minnie’s uncle) was a bookbinder.  In 1880, he lived next door at 3406 Hamilton St. with his daughter, Ella List, her husband William, and seven (of an eventual ten) children.   Minnie and Ella may also have been cousins through their mothers, Mary and Ella Hanna.   The Kendrick and List families were very close.  In 1878, Minnie purchased 3406 Hamilton St. from William and Ella List and rented it to them until 1901 when it was deeded back to Ella.  Charles List inherited the family home and his widow was still living there in 1940.  Leonard List lived at several addresses including 3301 Hamilton St. (the cottage house).  In 1930, he lived at 3605 Hamilton St.

 

Minnie Murdoch Kendrick

            The Kendrick’s made their most significant contributions through the clubs and organizations they founded and fostered.   George’s obituary in 1916 began by stating “he was one of the best known and most honored masons in this country.”  In 1895, he was the principle force in founding University Lodge No. 610 (now #51).  The next year the members of the Lodge visited the Kendrick’s home to present George and (in a highly unusual action for a Masonic Lodge) Minnie with separate resolutions noting the many kindnesses they had shown the Lodge.  Both sons also played important roles in the Lodge.  Lodge 610 soon became the largest in Pennsylvania and one of the largest in the country.

Philadelphia Inquirer, June 3, 1896

             Minnie Kendrick was involved in founding and supporting a dizzying array of organizations most of which were in support of women’s education.  The first club she formed was for her two sons.  In the mid-1870s, she founded a local Agassiz Association, one of many named in honor of the great biologist.  There were 35 boys who met on Baring St.  A neighbor, Mrs. George Smith (3615 Hamilton St.), later reported that “[every] Saturday they went into the country, collected specimens, studied and did good work, every one of them.”  In 1884, a new chapter with 23 teenage members was founded by the Kendrick’s young neighbor, Robert Truitt (3505Baring St.), and Minnie’s young cousin, Charles List.  Mrs. Smith also noted Minnie’s involvement in fostering local parks and playgrounds.  George was a founding member of the Northminster Presbyterian Church (35th & Baring) and Minnie a leading member of the Mite Society, the church’s benevolent society.

Minnie Murdoch Kendrick School (from Free Library of Philadelphia)

            Minnie was best remembered for her support of education for girls.   She worked for decades with the Alumnae Association of the Girls' High and Normal Schools of Philadelphia and founded an annuity fund for women teachers (who had to remain single).  The Kendricks established a scholarship at the Philadelphia College of Music and George founded the High School Alumnae Scholarship at Bryn Mawr in memory of Minnie.  (The first recipient at Bryn Mawr was her niece, Minnie Kendrick List.)  Her contributions were also celebrated with the naming of the Minnie Murdoch Kendrick School next to the current site of the Drew School (38th St. south of Powelton Ave.).  She was also a major force in the D.A.R. and the Pennsylvania Daughters of 1812.  Through the Civic Club, she worked with Hannah Schoff (3418 Baring St.) on the establishment of juvenile courts.

            Theater was always important to her.  She founded and led the West Philadelphia Shakespeare Club for several decades and organized a week-long Shakespeare Festival at the Academy of Music for the benefit of the annuity fund for women teachers.  Both of her sons were active in Mask and Wig at the University of Pennsylvania.

George Kendrick, Jr. (Phila. Inquirer, 1916)

            Minnie died in 1903.  George remained on Baring St. until his death in 1916.  For more than 40 years, they were a dynamic, important part of Powelton.