History of Philadelphia - Early 20th Century

Early 20th Century

In the beginning of the 20th century Philadelphia had taken on a poor reputation. People both inside and outside of the city commented that Philadelphia and its citizens were dull and contented with its lack of change. Harper's Magazine commented that "The one thing unforgivable in Philadelphia is to be new, to be different from what has been." Along with an image of "dullness," Philadelphia was known for its political corruption. The Republican-controlled political machine, run by Israel Durham, permeated all parts of city government. One official estimated that US$5 million was wasted each year from graft in the city's infrastructure programs. The majority of residents were Republican, but voter fraud and bribery were still common. In 1905 the city enacted election reforms, such as personal voter registration and the establishing primaries for all city offices. But, residents became complacent, and the city's political bosses continued in control. After 1907 Boss Durham retired and his successor, James McNichol, never controlled much outside North Philadelphia. The Vare brothers" George, Edwin, and William, had created their own organization in South Philadelphia. With no central authority, Senator Boies Penrose took charge. In 1910 infighting between McNichol and the Vares contributed to the reform candidate, Rudolph Blankenburg, to be elected mayor. During his administration, he made numerous cost-cutting measures and improvements to city services, but he served only one term. The machine again gained control.

The policies of Woodrow Wilson's administration reunited reformers with the city's Republican Party and World War I temporarily halted the reform movement. In 1917 the murder of George Eppley, a police officer defending City Council primary candidate James Carey, ignited the reformers again. They passed legislation to reduce the City Council from two houses to one, and provided council members an annual salary. With the deaths of McNichol in 1917 and Penrose in 1921, William Vare became the city's political boss. In the 1920s the public flaunting of Prohibition laws, mob violence, and police involvement in illegal activities led Mayor W. Freeland Kendrick to appoint Brigadier General Smedley Butler of the U.S. Marine Corps as director of public safety. Butler cracked down on bars and speakeasies and tried to stop corruption within the police force, but demand for liquor and political pressure made the job difficult, and he had little success. After two years, Butler left in January 1926 and most of his police reforms were repealed. On August 1, 1928, Boss Vare suffered a stroke, and two weeks later a grand jury investigation into the city's mob violence and other crimes began. Numerous police officers were dismissed or arrested as a result of the investigation, but no permanent change resulted. Strong support among some residents for the Democratic presidential candidate Al Smith, who was Catholic, marked the city's turning away in the 20th century from the Republican Party.

Philadelphia continued to grow with immigrants coming from Eastern Europe and Italy, as well as African American migrants from the South. Foreign immigration was briefly interrupted by World War I. The demand for labor for the city's factories, including the new U.S. Naval Yard at Hog Island, which constructed ships, trains, and other items needed in the war effort, helped attract blacks in the Great Migration (African American). In September 1918, cases of the influenza pandemic were reported at the Naval Yard and began to spread. Mortality on some days was several hundred people and, by the time the pandemic began to subside in October, more than 12,000 people had died.

The rising popularity of automobiles led to widening of roads and creation of Northeast (Roosevelt) Boulevard in 1914, the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in 1918, the changing of many existing streets to one-way streets in the early 1920s, and construction of the Delaware River (Benjamin Franklin) Bridge to New Jersey in 1926. Philadelphia began to modernize, steel and concrete skyscrapers were constructed, old buildings were wired for electricity, and the city's first commercial radio station was founded. In 1907 the city constructed the first subway. It hosted the Sesqui-Centennial Exposition in South Philadelphia, and in 1928 opened the Philadelphia Museum of Art.