From "The Crippled Child" Magazine of The Society for Crippled Children
May, June 1927
The Hopes and Aims of "Daddy" Allen
An Interview by Harry S. Calvert
Mr. Allen's home is situated on one of the stately avenues of our city. It is
always a pleasure for him and Mrs. Allen to have the neighbors drop in when he is
at home, which, as far as possible, he aims to be at each week end. Though he has
many matters of interest in his own city and elsewhere one soon discovers that
he has one absorbing topic on which he is ready to discourse at any time, and
before one is aware of it, one finds oneself listening to some new development of
the problem of the crippled child.
'How,' I ventured to ask him, 'did you become interested in the crippled child?'
At once he leaned back, and his mind began to traverse events of former days.
'Before my real interest in crippled children could be brought forward,' he said,
'I must sketch in a little of the background. The shocking Memorial Day accident
in 1907 resulted in an appalling loss of life. This was due in large measure to
the lack of proper hospital facilities, and the crushing sense of our inadequacy
in this respect led to the movement for a hospital in the city. The task was laid
upon me to undertake the raising of the requisite funds. Up to this time I had
been engrossed in business affairs. I had been traveling in one direction; I
turned and went in the other. The hospital was soon an accomplished fact. On
October 30, 1908, it was dedicated and opened. For the next ten years I devoted
my entire time to the new institution as its treasurer and manager.
'Soon after, a little boy, affectionately known as "Jimmy," was admitted. He was
brought in by Dr. H. D. Baldwin, one of the members of the staff. Through
"Jimmy," I might say, was aroused my first real interest in crippled children.'
'Was it "Jimmy" that led to the building of the Gates Hospital for Crippled
Children in this city?' I queried. I had often heard that this was so, hence my
question to "Daddy" Allen. Very quickly came the answer,
'It was "Jimmy," for his condition set some of us thinking seriously. Dr. Baldwin
said to me one day, "Why don't you do something for crippled children?" I was not
aware that there was any great need. I commenced, however, to make inquiries, and
found that most people were as ignorant as I was of the existence of crippled
children. Even the city school superintendent knew of only two or three, but he
promised to institute an inquiry in the schools, and over twenty were found. A
survey of Lorain County was then made, disclosing at least two hundred crippled
children. Others followed in nearby counties with similar results. This convinced
me that we sadly needed a special hospital to care for these children. I
suggested the need to the Hospital Board, and was told to go ahead-if I could
raise the money. This was not difficult to do because my appeal touched a
responsive chord in the hearts of many. School children sold paper bricks, a
handsome subscription for $25,000 was given by Mrs. W. N. Gates, (now Mrs. Ada
Gates Stevens) as a memorial to her husband. From all sides money flowed in
freely, and on April 5, 1915 Gates Hospital for Crippled Children was opened, and
we felt that we had added something unique to our hospital facilities.'
'What did you expect when the Gates Hospital for Crippled Children was opened?'
'We expected that crippled children would pour in from all over the state, but
much our surprise this neither happened the first year nor the second.'
'What was the reason for this condition of things, may I ask?'
'We had expected our institution to be a Mecca for all crippled children in Ohio,
but a study of the situation led us to believe that we were tackling the problem
at the wrong end. We had to reckon with the fact that children, owing to
parental diffidence and other causes, could not be brought a great distance from
their homes. It became imperative, therefore, to devise some plan whereby the
proper medical attention might be made more nearly available for the child We had
thought, and quite naturally, that our task was to bring the child to the
facilities; we found that we had to consider how to bring the facilities to the
child. We also discovered that hospital care in itself was not enough; it became
of all things most desirable to institute a systematic plan of follow-up work, so
that these children, after the period of acute hospital care was over, might be
safeguarded against relapse and furthered in their course toward complete
betterment. So the idea of one central institution in the state, to which all
children might be brought, was not so much discarded as found to be
impracticable. The inevitable result was the elimination of the centralized plan
in Ohio for the care of crippled children. With this fundamental principal in
mind, I began to seek some way of working it out, and succeeded in interesting
the Rotary Clubs. With their support, a real step forward was made. And on May 8,
1919 the "Ohio Society for Crippled Children" was formed. According to our best
wisdom at that time, and it has proved essentially sound since, it was thought
that the most satisfactory results could be secured by dividing the state into
eight districts, each with its own center. Thus the facilities, which of
necessity were of a highly specialized kind, were placed at an average of one
hundred miles from the child rather than three hundred miles -and farther; and it
has been our experience that by this method we have been able to render service
to a greater number of children than would otherwise have been possible."
'This, of course, could not have been possible without adequate legislation,' I
took occasion to interpolate, 'so how was this secured ?
'To put it mildly, it was not the easiest thing I ever attempted to do, largely
because there was then pending in the legislature a bill for the appropriation of
$90,000 to purchase a site for the building of a great hospital to care for
crippled children, It was difficult for a while to persuade the Governor and
others that this expenditure would not at all solve the problem. Finally we
gained our point. The hospital was not built; and the first bill affecting
crippled children- was signed in 1919 by Governor Cox. Two years later when
Governor Davis signed a further bill providing legislation according to our
ideas, the state of Ohio ushered in a new era for crippled children on this
continent. Thus was formed what is known as the "Ohio Plan," which had for its
aim the care, cure, and education of all crippled children in Ohio.'
'What made possible the "International Society for Crippled Children," and where
was is formed?'
'It was the manifest success of the "Ohio Plan" that led to the creation of the
"International Society." The work in Ohio began to attract the attention of men
and women outside the state, and led to inquiries as to what was being done and
how, and whether the same thing might not be initiated in other states. I spent
more and more time speaking to groups of Rotarians about the success of the
"Plan" in my state. Many were profoundly interested, and even Paul Harris came
down from Chicago to see me. A meeting of representatives from Michigan,
Illinois, New York, the Province of Ontario, as well as a large number of Ohio
people, was held in Toledo, October 13, 1921 to discuss what was being done in
Ohio, and to consider the possibilities of extending the "Plan" into other
states. There and then was born the "International Society for Crippled
Children".'
'How do you set about introducing the work in a new state?' I then asked.
'As the saying runs, "This thing was not done in a corner." It would be difficult
to find a state in the Union, less so now, of course, than formerly, where some
people could not be found with considerable interest in the welfare of crippled
children. It is this kind of people, often orthopaedic surgeons, teachers in
schools, representatives of state departments, social workers, Rotarians and
members of other service clubs, whom we call together, and discuss with them the
possibilities of the work in their own state. I could tell many an interesting
story concerning these initial gatherings, of the enthusiasm generated, the plans
laid down, and the fine sacrificial work projected and accomplished.'
'What do you mean by taking the crippled child early and seeing him through?'
'It is a scientific fact, emphasized by all medical experts, that the best
results are obtainable if the child is taken immediately after the onslaught of
any crippling disease, or as soon after as possible. The earlier the child is
taken and cared for, the greater the chance for recovery. We are assured by those
competent to speak that fifty per cent of the crippled children need never have
been so handicapped, but for an ignorance of the knowledge of what early medical
attention means. Ninety per cent of the children affected by those diseases
become crippled before school age. How necessary, it therefore becomes, to get
the child in those tender years when the possibilities are great. I remember once
attending a clinic in Chicago, at which Dr. Charles A. Parker was examining a
child about eleven or twelve years of age, who had a withered arm. I asked the
parents how long it had been that way, and they told me several years. Nothing
had been done for the child, because they did not know that anything could be
done. I asked Dr. Parker what the chances were for obtaining satisfactory
results, and he said eighty per cent, and the time necessary, about a year. When
I inquired what attention would have meant to this child if given when two weeks
old, he replied, only two weeks work, with one hundred per cent results. By
"'seeing a child through" we simply mean giving him the best physical care
possible, the best education which he can assimilate, and the fitting of him for
the best place in life, for which he is suited. The phrase, "take the crippled
child early and see him through" sums up our whole philosophy on its practical
side.'
If I may inquire, what is the goal toward which you are working?'
'Nothing less,' he promptly replied, 'the gradual elimination of the crippled
child from the picture of life, or as we say, the complete eradication of
crippledom.'
'What constitute the real values in this movement?'
'I should be inclined to say economic and spiritual. When I say economic, I mean
that we definitely save cripples from being a burden to themselves and their
families, and make of them happy, self-supporting citizens who take great
pleasure in making the utmost use of their limited faculties, if a complete cure
has not been possible. While this is a strong side to this work of reclamation,
and I can appraise it fully, yet to me the problem is a spiritual one because it
means the development of all the capacities of a child, until recently largely
left aside in the race of life. There is another aspect to this matter which
pertains to the many throughout the country who have become interested in the
work, I know many men who never tasted the real joy of living till they became
interested in some child, and determined, as a real god-father, to see that it
had every advantage which science, education, and sympathy could secure for it.'
In conclusion I asked him, 'What has the movement meant to you personally?'
'Like the others to whom I have refered I am deeply sensible of the joy and
happiness it has brought me to be interested, in this humane undertaking. My aims
and objects have become so much a part of myself that it is difficult for me to
stand aside, so to speak, and estimate their value. I can wish for nothing better
than to spend and be spent in this great work, and continue to labor for an
increase in the number of those all over this land who are striving with devotion
and success to do something worth while for crippled children.'