1903-1913 the formative years: the new Detroit Board of Commerce makes its mark in a growing city.The year was 1903. The city of Detroit was known around the world for its pharmaceutical products, stoves and furnaces, railroad cars, shipyards, cigar factories, machine shops and foundries. As befitting be·fit·ting adj. Appropriate; suitable; proper. be·fit  ting·ly adv.Adj. 1. a city where commerce was king, Detroit was home to a number of commercial and business organizations, many of them dating back to an earlier, stodgier era. They had served the community well, but now many of them had overlapping functions, ill-defined missions and stagnant memberships, in the opinion of at least one prominent Detroit businessman. On Feb. 3, 1903, Harry L. Pierson, president of Pierson, Hough n. 1. Same as Hock, a joint. v. t. 1. Same as Hock, to hamstring. [ imp. & p. p. os> r>; p. pr. & vb. n. os> n. 1. An adz; a hoe. v. t. 1. To cut with a hoe. & Co., invited his fellow directors of the Merchants and Manufacturers Exchange (founded in 1878) to his Victorian home on tree-lined Adelaide Street, just off Woodward Avenue, to discuss a visionary plan. He wanted to consolidate several existing organizations into an aggressive new organization with a clearly defined mission. A committee was formed, and a month later two key organizations, the Chamber of Commerce and the Convention League, agreed to merge with the Merchants and Manufacturers Exchange. The stage was now set for an historic meeting. On June 30, in the Turkish Room of the Cadillac Hotel, a new organization called the Detroit Board of Commerce was formally organized and incorporated under state law with 253 charter members paying $100 each to join. Its slogan was "For the General Good of Detroit," and membership was open to "men of good standing who are interested in the commercial, industrial and municipal advancement of the city of Detroit." Michael J. Murphy, president and treasurer of the Murphy Chair Co., was elected president of a 15-member board of directors that included merchant prince Joseph L. Hudson. The new organization was launched on a solid financial footing with income of $22,800 vs. expenditures of $912.45. Virtually overnight, the new Detroit Board of Commerce became the pre-eminent business organization in Detroit with a rapidly growing membership roster that read like a who's who Who’s Who biographical dictionary of notable living people. [Am. Hist.: Hart, 922] See : Fame . Top priorities during the formative years included attracting big manufacturing plants to Detroit, assisting Detroit businesses in world markets, promoting a "Made In Detroit" campaign, addressing labor shortages and helping Detroit in such critical quality-of-life areas as transportation, fire protection, schools, hospitals, parks, water supply, street paving and housing. The Board chalked up a number of victories in its first decade. It spearheaded the successful "Good Roads For Michigan" campaign of 1910-1911, which culminated in voter approval of a $2-million bond proposal to fix Wayne County's deplorable roads and highways List of articles related to roads and highways around the world. International/World
In 1913, the Board celebrated its 10th anniversary in grand style when it moved into its own brand-new, three-story building complete with an auditorium large enough to host operas and symphonic performances, an Arts and Crafts-style lounge with chairs made of the finest Spanish leather See Cordwain. See also: Spanish , a full-service cafeteria and a cigar stand in addition to offices for the Board's staff. This building at the corner of West Lafayette West Lafayette, city (1990 pop. 25,907), Tippecanoe co., W Ind., a suburb of Lafayette, on the Wabash River; inc. 1924. A primarily residential city, it is the seat of Purdue Univ. Boulevard and Wayne Street (now Washington Boulevard The following roads are named Washington Boulevard:
The original bylaws The rules and regulations enacted by an association or a corporation to provide a framework for its operation and management. Bylaws may specify the qualifications, rights, and liabilities of membership, and the powers, duties, and grounds for the dissolution of an of the Detroit Board of Commerce, dated June 30, 1903. In 1922 Section 1 was amended to read: "Persons of good standing ..." thus officially opening the door to women members. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The idea for what would become the new Detroit Board of Commerce was born during a meeting on Feb. 3, 1903 at the home of Harry L. Pierson at the corner of Woodward Avenue and Adelaide Street, then one of Detroit's finest residential areas. Forty years, later, Pierson's son, Harry Lynn Pierson, would serve as the Board's president. In 1906, the Board moved its headquarters to the homestead of Dr. William Brodie William Brodie (1741–1788), more commonly known by his prestigious title of Deacon Brodie, was a Scottish cabinet-maker, deacon of the trades guild and Edinburgh city councillor, who maintained a secret life as a burglar, partly for the thrill, and partly to fund his at the northwest corner of Lafayette and Wayne (now Washington Boulevard). This building was razed raze also rase tr.v. razed also rased, raz·ing also ras·ing, raz·es also ras·es 1. To level to the ground; demolish. See Synonyms at ruin. 2. To scrape or shave off. 3. in 1911 to make room for the Board's new home. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] J.L. Hudson, president of the J.L. Hudson Co. department store, wrote this letter in 1907 to a Detroit businessman who apparently was hesitant to join the four-year-old Board of Commerce. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Detroit Board of Commerce entertained President William Howard Taft on June 3, 1910, at the Light Guard Armory. Gov. Fred Warner Fred Warner may refer to:
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The emblem used on the menu card at the banquet given by the Board of in honor of President Taft. On the March Preceded by a marching band Noun 1. marching band - a band that marches (as in a parade) and plays music at the same time band - instrumentalists not including string players . Board members marched from the old Hotel Pontchartrain Hotel Pontchartrain may refer to:
A poem written by Edgar A. Guest for the formal dedication of the building included this stanza: Is it only a building you dedicate here With its spendors of marble and stone? Is it only with brick and with plaster you rear Or something of flesh and bone? Oh, vain were this building, though splendid its dress. And vain were its desk and its shelves That you dedicate now to man's service, unless You dedicate also yourselves. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This handwritten hand·write tr.v. hand·wrote , hand·writ·ten , hand·writ·ing, hand·writes To write by hand. [Back-formation from handwritten.] Adj. 1. ledger sheet ledger sheet, n an accounting form for keeping track of debits, expenditures, credits, and charges. , dated July 30, 1903, is the oldest surviving Detroit Board of Commerce document in the archives of the Detroit Regional Chamber. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] With the February 1911 issue, the Bulletin of the Detroit Board of Commerce became the Detroiter, the name it still has today. Over the years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time Detroiter was both a monthly and a weekly publication. The Bulletin of the Detroit Board of Commerce made its first appearance in September 1910, promising to keep members up to date on "our hopes ... our plans ... our accomplishments." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Annual Cruise To celebrate its first anniversary in 1904 the Board hosted a Great Lakes cruise for its members, the first in a series of popular cruises that would be held each year--with only a couple of exceptions--until 1980. This photo, from the 10th anniversary cruise in 1913, shows the luxurious City of Detroit III, the largest sidewheel passenger steamer in the world. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Fine Dining The annual Board cruises offered members the ultimate in fine dining and spacious accommodations. This photo shows the dining room on the main deck of the vessel City of Detroit III. The dining area was large enough to feed the entire party in two sittings. (See page 90 for a history of the cruises.) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Three views of the interior of the luxurious new Board building. Total construction cost, including furnishings, was $260,000. See page 26 for an exterior photo of this building. The June 1913 cover of the Detroiter depicted downtown in pastel tones. The Soldiers and Sailors Monument (still standing) and old City Hall are in the background. "Spokesman of Optimism" was the Board's official slogan in this era. Past and present officers of the Detroit Board of Commerce on the scaffold at the laying of the cornerstone for the new building in 1912. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Lap of Luxury Noun 1. lap of luxury - in conditions of wealth and comfort; "he was raised in the lap of luxury" ease, comfort - a freedom from financial difficulty that promotes a comfortable state; "a life of luxury and ease"; "he had all the material comforts of this world" The elegant Arts-and-Crafts lounge of the Board building was billed as a good place "to chat with friends or business associates, enjoy a smoke, read or write." The chairs were upholstered in the finest-grade Spanish leather. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] RELATED ARTICLE: Voices from the past "Business and professional life is now so absorbing that men who are actively engaged therein find little time for personal attention to municipal concern. An organization that is qualified to investigate and act upon any question of public interest and to represent and speak for its members, cannot fail to be of great advantage to its members as well as to the community." - From the minutes of the Feb. 3, 1903, meeting where the Detroit Board of Commerce was born RELATED ARTICLE: Time Line: 1903-1913 1903: Wright brothers' first flight 1904: St. Louis World's Fair opens 1905: Einstein's theory of relativity theory of relativity Einstein’s contribution to the space-time relationship. [Science: NCE, 843–844] See : Turning Point 1906: San Francisco earthquake San Francisco earthquake disaster claiming many lives and most of city (1906). [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 443–444] See : Disaster 1907: Oklahoma becomes 46th state 1908: Taft elected 27th president 1909: NAACP NAACP in full National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Oldest and largest U.S. civil rights organization. It was founded in 1909 to secure political, educational, social, and economic equality for African Americans; W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. founded 1910: Britain's King Edward VII dies 1911: Panama Canal opens 1912: Titanic sinks 1913: Woodrow Wilson's inauguration |
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