Chapter IV The Twentieth Anniversary — Million Dollar Endowment Fund, 1919
During the war the Seven Year Endowment Fund continued to be paid in showing that Philadelphians were learning to prize what they had. But the Board of Directors was now faced with another problem, the fact that the increased cost of everything in life made it evident that even the Seven Year Fund was going to be insufficient to meet the yearly deficit. Mr. Edward W. Bok then suggested that the Association should conduct a campaign to raise $1,000,000 during the month of October, 1919, in honor of the twentieth season of the Philadelphia Orchestra. This was in January, 1919, and after the Board of Directors had decided to take this bold step, a Campaign Committee was appointed by Mr. Van Rensselaer, of which Mr. Bok was made chairman; in such fashion do one’s sins return to one.
This Committee met at intervals during the winter, and Mr. Bok, fertile in ideas, formulated his plan of action. This was to have a Committee of Fifty Campaign Chairmen, men and women, each of whom should raise $20,000. Luncheons were to be held twice each week during the month at which reports were to be made. Chairmen having less than $2000 were obliged to announce “No report.”
A circular was widely distributed in order to inform the public of the plans of the Association.
“THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA
ENDOWMENT CAMPAIGN
“The next season of the Philadelphia Orchestra marks the Twentieth Anniversary. To mark this event, the people of Philadelphia will be asked to complete the Endowment Fund begun in 1915, which was interrupted by the war. For nineteen years, a group of Philadelphia men and women have sustained the annual deficit of the Orchestra. This group has maintained the Orchestra until it reached its present unquestioned position as the leading symphony orchestra in the United States. The Association now feels that the Philadelphia public should place the Orchestra, once for all, on a permanent financial basis. This can be done by completing the Endowment Fund.”
“The Endowment Fund as it Stands
“The present Endowment Fund consists of $500,000. In addition to this, there are pledges not yet matured which will bring the amount, within two years, to $800,000. Carefully invested, this total fund will insure the Orchestra a net income of approximately $36,000 a year. This is not sufficient to carry the annual deficit.
“The Orchestra’s Annual Deficit
| The cost of the Orchestra per season is | $304,000 |
| The income per season is | 238,000 |
| Last year’s deficit was, therefore | 66,000 |
| “With increasing costs, the estimated deficit for | |
| future years will be | $80,000. |
“What the Complete Endowment Fund Will Mean
“To the present Endowment Fund, therefore, must be added One Million Dollars. This would mean an estimated income of $81,000, on a total fund of $1,800,000.
“It is this additional
One Million Dollars
that it is now proposed to ask the Philadelphia public to subscribe.
“It should be borne in mind that not a penny of this amount is spent; all is permanently invested, and only the interest therefrom is used to maintain the Orchestra.
“Where the Money Goes
“93 cents out of every dollar of income is spent on the Orchestra; put back into the Orchestra, in other words, in order to increase its efficiency:
| Salaries of Orchestra members | 55.61% |
| Expense of rentals, etc., of concerts at | |
| Philadelphia and out-of-town | 34.61% |
| Miscellaneous expenses | |
| (Orchestra music, insurance, etc.) | 2.78% |
| Administration expenses | 7.00% |
“The Smallness of the Orchestra Deficit
“The annual deficit of the Philadelphia Orchestra of $66,000 is one of the smallest of any of the large symphony orchestras of the United States. These deficits average from $85,000 to $125,000 per year. And yet, with one exception, the Philadelphia Orchestra is the largest symphony orchestra in number of musicians, in the United States, and plays a longer season.
“The Details of the Campaign to Raise
One Million Dollars
“It will begin October 1st, 1919, and continue throughout the month.
“The amount to be raised is One Million Dollars.
“There will be 50 Committees, each Committee to raise a minimum of $20,000.
“These 50 Committees will be under the general chairmanship of Dr. Charles D. Hart.
“The headquarters will be, during October, at the Hotel Ritz-Carlton, Broad and Walnut Streets.
“The territory for the campaign will include the counties of Philadelphia, Montgomery, Delaware, Chester and Bucks.
“Pledges will be payable in cash (much preferred) or 50% payable January 1, 1920, and 50% payable May 1st, 1920.
“The Depository for the Fund will be Messrs. Drexel & Company, to whom all checks should be drawn.
“All pledges should be delivered to Dr. Charles D. Hart, or Miss Frances A. Wister, at the Ritz-Carlton Headquarters.
| “The Endowment Campaign Committee | ||
| Edward W. Bok, Chairman | ||
| John F. Braun | Dr. Charles D. Hart | Miss Frances A. Wister |
| Samuel S. Fels | Effingham B. Morris | Charlton Yarnall |
| Alexander Van Rensselaer | ||
| General Chairman of Committees | ||
| Dr. Charles D. Hart” | ||
Mr. Joseph E. Widener provided the Campaign Headquarters in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel where an office force was installed and the bi-weekly luncheons held.
Dr. Hart worked hard to procure the fifty Chairmen and fifty-three people consented to serve, but some dropped by the wayside. At the opening campaign luncheon, on September 29th, 1919, there were in actual service only forty-two. As was to be expected, some collected more than their quotas and some less. Women chairmen predominated, there being twenty-eight of these to fourteen men. Their names should be recorded.
Chairmen
Messrs. Edward W. Bok, John F. Braun, Charles D. Hart, Henry McKean Ingersoll, Alexander Van Rensselaer and Andrew Wheeler of the Board of Directors; and from outside, Messrs. Henry G. Brengle, W. W. Fry, J. B. Henkels, Jr., George I. Bodine, G. H. Lang, Maurice Speiser, Herbert J. Tily and Wm. Jay Turner.
Women Chairmen
Mrs. Alfred Reginald Allen, Mrs. Wm. W. Arnett, Mrs. Thomas G. Ashton, Mrs. Charles Carver, Mrs. Herbert L. Clark, Mrs. Matthew H. Cryer, Mrs. Joseph M. Gazzam, Mrs. Charles W. Henry, Mrs. Henry S. Jeanes, Miss Lea, Mrs. Joseph Leidy, Mrs. Wm. S. Newcomet, Mrs. Thomas Robins, Countess of Santa Eulalia, Mrs. Wm. A. Slaughter, Mrs. John B. Thayer, 3rd., Mrs. L. Howard Weatherly, Miss F. A. Wister, Mrs. Harold E. Yarnall and Mrs. Camille Zeckwer, all members of the Women’s Committees.
In addition to these women, able assistance was given by Mrs A. J. Dallas Dixon, Mrs. L. Chandler Williams, and six women who had not up to this time been connected with the Philadelphia Orchestra, except as enthusiastic patrons. These were Mrs. Frederic W. Abbott, in charge of the Matinee Musicale Club Committee, Mrs. Frank T. Griswold, Mrs. Joseph N. Snellenburg, Mrs. John B. Thayer, Mrs. J. William White, and the Motor Messenger Service under Mrs. Thomas L. Elwyn.
The Germantown and Chestnut Hill and the Media, Chester and West Chester Committees acted under their own presidents. The work of this committee under Mrs. Cryer and that of Mrs. Wm. A. Slaughter in West Jersey deserve special mention on account of the distances covered.
Synopsis of the Results
| Twenty members of the four Women’s Committees, | |
| as individual chairmen | $396,292.36 |
| Women Chairmen outside of Women’s Committees | 191,832.55 |
| Total for 28 Women Chairmen | $588,124.91 |
This was 53% of the Fund, but the women Chairmen were two to one against the men.
Besides the collections made by the Committee of Fifty, amounts came in from other sources, such as, members of the Philadelphia Orchestra Chorus, the Van Rensselaer Tribute, the two Wister Tributes, the Van Rensselaer-Bok Telegram to business firms, the Telephone Circular, the Main Line Bonds, other Liberty Bonds, contributions received at the office, etc.
A unique feature of the campaign was the memorials and tributes which gave people an opportunity to place the names of family or friends on special tablets to be placed in the Academy of Music. No less than $1000 was accepted for each memorial.
| MEMORIALS AND TRIBUTES | |
| in The Philadelphia Orchestra Endowment Fund 1919 | |
| Memorials to the Fallen in the World War | |
| Major Alfred Reginald Allen, U. S. A. | |
| The American Heroes in the Great War, | |
| Unknown and Unsung | |
| Lieutenant Mortimer P. Crane, B. A. | |
| Lieutenant William Boulton Dixon, U. S. A. | |
| Ensign George B. Evans, Jr., U. S. N. Air Service | |
| Lieutenant Robert H. Gamble, U. S. A. | |
| Lieutenant William B. Kuehn, U. S. A. | |
| Lieutenant Paul Borda Kurtz, U. S. A. | |
| Ralph Leslie Melville, B. A. | |
| Major Talbot Mercer Papineau, M. C. | |
| Corporal Abram K. Street, U. S. A. | |
| Lieutenant Arthur Richmond Taber, U. S. A. | |
| Members of Strawbridge & Clothier Chorus | |
| Arthur Howell Wilson, U. S. A. | |
| Twelve Philadelphia Boy Scout Heroes | |
| Tributes of Thanksgiving for the safe return of | |
| Lieutenant William Curtis Bok, U. S. N. | |
| Hamilton Disston Carpenter, U. S. A. | |
| Lieutenant Leonard E. Powell | |
| Lieutenant Sydney Thayer, Jr., U. S. M. C. | |
| Lieutenant George Bowen, U. S. M. C. | |
| John Frederick Sieberling, U. S. A. | |
| Harold Francis Weston, B. A. | |
| Personal Memorials and Appreciations | |
| In Memory of | |
| Josephine L. S. Adams | G. Martin Brill |
| Blanche Baldwin | Richard Vaux Buckley |
| Beulah Hecker Bancroft | William Burnham |
| George Barrie | Lois Buchanan Cassatt |
| Maude Eckert Benson | William T. Carter |
| Rudolph Blankenburg | Frederick Taylor Chandler |
| Joseph B. Bloodgood | Mrs. Anna L. Comegys |
| Mary Frances Bloodgood | Richard Y. Cook |
| Sieke Gertrude Bok | Hugh Craig, Jr. |
| Elizabeth S. Braun | Michael H. Cross |
| Louis Brégy | Charles Howe Cummings |
| Arthur Brock | Harry K. Cummings |
| Charles Hall Brock | Louise Knapp Curtis |
| Edward Tonkin Dobbins | Richard Rossmässler |
| Franklin Duane | Edward Collin Rossmässler |
| George W. Elkins | John C. Schaefer |
| Adam H. Fetterolf, LL. D. | Fritz Scheel |
| Simon B. Fleisher | Mrs. Francis Schroeder |
| Robert H. Foerderer | Mrs. William Simpson, Jr. |
| Rev. Frederic Gardiner | Henry M. Steel |
| Dr. W. W. Gilchrist | John M. Steffan |
| Anne Starr Griscom | John B. Stetson |
| Harry B. Hall | Dr. Reuel Stewart |
| John William Hallahan, 3rd | William Stoll, Jr. |
| George W. Harrah | Roland Leslie Taylor, Jr. |
| Thomazinha E. Harrah | Archibald Graham Thomson |
| Maria Ames Harte | Frank Thomson |
| Sarah Kent How | James Tily |
| Max Livingston | S. Letitia Tily |
| Harriet Anne Lucas | Edward K. Tryon, Jr. |
| Mabel Eleanor McCahan | Alice Douglas Turner |
| John R. McDowell | Isabel G. Walker |
| Henry J. Maris | Frederick Weber |
| Dr. Charles Mohr | J. William White, M. D. |
| John Paul Morris | Eleanor Mercer Vanderbilt |
| John Thompson Morris | William F. Vache |
| Harlan Page | Mary Channing Wister |
| Riehlé Memorial Fund | William Brewster Wood |
| Helen Hamilton Robins | Harold Ellis Yarnall |
| Theodore Roosevelt | |
| In Appreciation of | |
| Edward W. Bok | Alexander Van Rensselaer |
| Leopold Stokowski | Frances Anne Wister |
| Olga Stokowski | |