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Edgar "Daddy" Allen Edgar "Daddy" Allen was the founder of the Society for Crippled Children, the organization known today as Easter Seals. He was a wealthy businessman based in Elyria, Ohio whose son's death in a street car accident prompted him to take an interest in local medical facilities. He raised money to build a hospital which in turn brought the needs of children with orthopedic problems to his attention. Medicine--especially orthopedic surgery-- made tremendous strides in the years just after WWI, and organizations like the ones Allen was involved in were important fundraisers and advocates for new hospitals around the country. Many national social welfare organizations have their roots in the Cleveland, Ohio area during this period-- including the United Way-- and grew out of local service clubs like the Rotary Club and Community Chest. FROM AN INTERVIEW WITH Peter Hall, 1997: LAURIE BLOCK: What is a person like Edgar "Daddy" Allen doing? PETER HALL: The Midwest gives rise to the idea of the community foundation, the idea of a kind of collective, charitable vehicle, to which people can leave money for giving, for whatever purpose, in perpetuity. The emphasis here is private initiative in the public interest, as defined not by government, but defined by the communities. Ah ha ha! There's an important exception though -- there is not client representation. The disabled, the dependent, the people being helped, are not included in that federation of helping and benevolence and cooperation. The assumption is that they will be grateful for what they receive. These alliances are based on cooperation among the able and the enabled for the benefit of the disabled. The social Darwinian division of the haves and the have-nots, the abled and the disabled, the enabled and the non-abled has become a kind of embedded assumption. Nobody needs to even talk about it. Representation of the disabled or the needy in community life by the time you get to the 1920s isn't even a consideration. The fundamental assumption is that there are people, who are community leaders not in any aristocratic sense, but because they've done well financially, professionally, politically, and they can represent the interests of the community as a whole, and should be empowered to act for it in a cooperative fashion. |
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