[PRCo] Re: Pittsburgh-Some Place Special

[Harold Geissenheimer]

Greetings

A comparison with wealthy churches in New York City.

The Brick Presbyterian Church at 5th Ave & 37 street funded two
neighborhood churches in Manhattan.  They funded Christ Presbyterian
Church and Settlement House on West 36th Street between 8th & 9th Ave, and
also the Covenant Presbyterian Church of East 42d Street at Tudon City.

They built Christ Church before the turn of the century and funded it into
the 1960's when there was no longer a nighborhood population.

Christ Church still stands...the entire facility iwas sold to a theatrical training
school.

My father belonged since birth in 1896, my mother left Bethany Lutheran
Church  on 10th Ave after marriage.  I belonged until I moved to Pgh in 1950.
My father was an elder and treasurer in my youth.

The Settlement House was an important part of the church and the community.
My Boy scout troop met there.  The first time I appeared on a stage was
in a play.  I was the tin soldier, age 10 or 11!  There was a bowling alley
for older youth.  There was a dentist office for a church sponsored dentist.
There was a large roof playground.  They had summer school.  There was a
library.  There were after school programs.  There were many teams.  The gym
and theatre were also rented out.  The money from the Brick Church made all
this possible.  During the war, because of our many older Scotch women, the
church provided weekend beds for visiting British sailors.  Much good from a
single place.  I would like to acknowledge the Brick Church contribution.
The facility was for both church members and the community.  Pres Bush would
be proud.

They did the same at the Church of the Covenant but on a smaller scale.  That
church is still there.  Brick moved uptown to Park Ave in the 90's.

Many other New York churches also had Church Houses.  Catholic Churches
had CYO.  I went there one afternoon a week with friends.

Some churches in Pittsburgh must have had similar programs.

I now attend the Middle Collegiate Church on the lower East Side.  This is
funded by the Marble Collegiate Church on 5th Ave.  They also fund a church
on West End Ave and uptown in Washington Heights.  Dr Norman Vincent
Peale was the Marble minister.  So the work still goes on.  Middle has a stage
but no bowling alley.!  The Church House is active all the time.

When I moved to Pgh, I joined the Dormont Presbyterian Church, and then
thanks to National Guard friends, I joined the Bethel First Methodist Church
on Library Road at King School.  This is on the Library trolley (connection to
this site).  When I joined they were meeting in an old one room school.  Now its
a big church.

I did join the masonic lodge of Morris Glick, Treasurer of the Harmony Short Line.
But my father was a life long mason in New York.  He came to my ceremony.
I joined my boss Glick's Lodge after the Harmony was out of business.

In the military, I joined the York Rite and Shrine with many other officers in
our unit.  I am still a mason.  But the first National Guard unit I joined in
New York (on West 14th Street) was 99% Italian.  Generoso Pope Jr,
later publisher of the National Enquirer (and his father was publisher of
IlProgresso, the Italian NY daily.) was my First Sgt.  The Battery Commander
was Gondolfo Monfilleto and my best friend was Bruno Bechelli  I made SGT
in this all Italian unit.  So much for preference in the Guard.

Perhaps New Yorker's are more open minded.

Many people have joined their country club to meet people.  I joined Rotary
and found this group contributed much to the community.  Joining Rotary was
an interesting thing.  George Stuart was Editor of the Valley Daily News in
Tarentum.  He spent 20 years fighting with David I McCahill, President of
the Harmony Short Line.  They hated each other.  When Community replaced
Harmony, I went to see Mr Stuart.  He did not want to talk, was uneacy being
with me.  We had an interesting meeting and the next day he called me up and
invited me to join the Tarentum Rotary.  Meeting people halfway makes the
world go round.  I later belonged to Rotary in Pittsburgh, Chicago and S.F.

Later, in the 1970's, I was walking along the tracks on 4th Ave downtown
to inspect the switches on a Saturday morning.  Along came Mayor Flaherty.
He was at odds with my old boss John Mauro (a very good man, good for
Pgh, and later good for San Mateo).  They also hated each other.  The Mayor
and I talked at the corner and all of a sudden he invited me to stop in on
Saturday mornings for coffee.  Unheard of?  No, just being willing to meet
the other side made the difference.

So I believe that people can  use the Old Boy Network if needed.  Much good
for the world can result.

Harold Geissenheimer




At the Port Authority, I was active in the PATMAS club and spoke at
several meetings.  Many railroad and utility people had masonic affiliations.
But Bill Marm, PRC Supt of Road Operations had similar Knights of Columbus
ties.  Today people seem to have lost many of their roots.
Fred Schneider wrote:

> I've heard of Mellon's Fire Escape too.  Says a lot for what people thought of
> the incredibly rich.  Remember that the gothic East Liberty Church was built on
> the site of the old one in the Depression.  East Liberty Presbyterian contained,
> in addition to the usual church facilities, a bowling alley and a theater.
> There was considerable resentment among the middle and lower ecomonic classes at
> that time aimed at President Herbert Hoover and big business, and justifiably
> so.  Most surveys showed that the public overwhelmingly hated those people.  The
> same surveys showed that the super rich continued to believe that money belonged
> to them and the lower ranks could go to hell.   No surprise that Roosevelt won
-- Trailing quotes stripped by Listar --