by Paul R. Spitzzeri
A presentation last night for 75 guests and sponsored by the Chino Hills Historical Society looked at some early history of Boys Republic, an institution that has worked with troubled youth for nearly 120 years, starting in 1907 at San Fernando and relocating two years later to Chino Hills. The talk was constructed around several dozen photographs from an album assembled by Lydia Youmans Doyle, whose husband, Clyde, was assistant superintendent of the facility, and which are in the Homestead’s historic artifact collection, with it covering some of its history during most of the 1910s, while Executive Director Chris Burns followed with an excellent overview of the Republic, including its programs, initiatives and more history.
The evening opened with the observation that the late 19th century was a period of tremendous transformation, as well as turmoil, as America’s surging population, burgeoning industrial economy, rapid urbanization and other factors presented growing challenges for boys whose “juvenile delinquency” raised alarms among many. One concerned figure was William Reuben George (1866-1936), a New York City business owner who was determined to help troubled youth in the Big Apple and sponsored vacations to the country, but quickly decided that they needed to work part-time for their clothing, food and housing.
This led to the establishment in 1895 of the George Junior Republic at Freeville, located in the picturesque Finger Lakes section of New York, and the precept of “Nothing Without Labor” embraced that concept of work, while the “Republic” involved self-government with elected office and the management of the institution, tied to individual responsibility, geared to make for good citizenship. The facility, established by the founder widely known as “Daddy,” still exists as a school district at Freeville, some 130 years later.
Across the country in Los Angeles, which was experiencing dramatic growth as well as a rise in boys who were in trouble with the law, Judge Curtis Wilbur of the county’s juvenile court, led an effort to work with George on establishing a branch of the Republic in this region. Among supporters were a cadre of Pasadena residents, including Margaret Fowler, whose financial assistance was essential to the development of the project, while another figure of note, Valentine Peyton, was chair of the committee that led to the opening of the facility at San Fernando.
Fowler was essential in the acquisition of 200 acres from the Chino Land and Water Company, which owned most of the old Rancho Santa Ana del Chino, for the new Republic site, which happened to be on the former ranch headquarters, established by the Lugo family. Peyton’s ranch was just to the north and his namesake street runs to the west of the facility now. As with most new organizations, the local George Junior Republic began modestly and went through the expected growth pains as it began offering its programs and services.
An important step was the hiring of Gerald Condit Waterhouse (1885-1933) as superintendent in fall 1910, amid a typhoid outbreak affecting several of the institution’s charges and its head, who then resigned. Waterhouse’s great-grandfather was an early Christian missionary in Tasmania, known as Van Diemen’s Land, off the coast of Australia and his grandfather conducted evangelical work in the Hawaiian Islands from the 1840s onward and it was on the island of O’ahu where Waterhouse’s father, Thomas, was born. On another of the chain, Kaua’i, his mother Merlica Smith was part of another missionary family (her brother Thomas was a very influential figure in the late years of the kingdom and then was part of the overthrow of the monarchy in 1893).
Shortly after Thomas and Melicent married in 1876, they moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Thomas supposedly flipped a coin to decide whether to go there or to Chicago) and he became a prominent developer and businessperson in the growing city some 250 miles west of the Windy City. Gerald was born there and was about ten years old when another relocation was effected, this time to Pasadena. Thomas Waterhouse became a major figure in the Crown City, serving as mayor from 1905 to 1907.
After Gerald assumed the role of George Junior Republic superintendent, a noted period of growth and development at the institution was undertaken, including new buildings, improvement of farming, the creation of a brick factory and more. This was highlighted in a 21 March 1912 overview in the San Bernardino County Sun, which noted that “Daddy” George was visiting for the first time “lecturing and studying conditions in connection with the work of his republics” and it was added that “the George Junior Republic at Chino is reported in excellent condition.”
The piece added that Waterhouse reported that, when he took the job 15 months earlier, “conditions there were in a formative state and were far from satisfactory” while the superintendent did everything “from judge to cook, a condition of affairs which seriously handicapped his efforts.” Referring to the environment during the typhus outbreak, the superintendent added that “sanitary conditions were bad and the water supply was by no means adequate,” though this did not prevent the institution from having as many boys as it could handle with many on a waiting list.
The account continued,
In contrast to this situation everything now is in smooth-running order and Mr. Waterhouse, who has taken the keenest interest in the upbuilding of the republic, has 75 helpers, including teachers in the school, cottage mothers, cooks and a bookkeeper. The administration building, or courthouse, has been completed at a cost of $8000 and a sufficient number of cottages have been erected to take the place of the dormitory so that this system has been almost wholly done away with.
Moreover, there were six departments instead of one overall operation, with “a competent man at the head of each.” The water system, which may have drawn from the adjacent Chino Creek by means of old ditches (perhaps an original zanja from the earliest days of the ranch) was replaced by an artesian well from which a new pump delivered fresh water by means of concrete and steep pipes, “all made by the boys of the institution.” Also vital was the completion of a sewer system, while there were plans in develop for a telephone system.
The article went on that,
Farming is one of the chief industries of the little colony and is growing in favor all the time. Forty acres have been planted to potatoes, in addition to the grain and vegetables, and this, it is estimated by Mr. Waterhouse, will not only meet the needs of the citizens themselves, but will permit of a surplus for the market. The Junior Republic, a monthly publication the boys are getting out, is proving not only a means for pleasant and profitable employment for those engaged in the work, but a fine advertising medium for the various interests of the republic as well.
A notable commentary was offered in the 2 May edition of the Ontario Record that “of the first two houses not a trace remains,” presumably those from the ranch period, were gone, “the springs have disappeared,” and “land once tilled by Indian servants,” the village of Pasinog-na formerly occupied the site, “is now farmed by Junior Republic boys and in the place of the tranquil repose of early Spanish days is the bustling activity of live American youths.” This last phrase was typical in demeaning those of the Mexican era and boosting denizens of the American period.
In mid-May, the Ontario Report noted, “the poultry houses are being enlarged” with more chickens and ducks brought in, while “the young citizens are doing much in the truck-gardening line under scientific direction.” A greenhouse featured thousands of tomato plants along with artichokes, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower, while in the fields were horseradish, sweet potato and other new plants.
At the end of the month, the Chino Champion of the 29th reported on a schoolhouse to cost $3,000 was a necessity as the law required educating the boys at the Republic and that, when the structure was complete, the state would provide teacher funding. Almost certainly alluding to lingering concerns, after three years, about having the facility near town (a state prison to the south was three decades away), the paper remarked,
Chino is getting a vast amount of good advertising all over the state and throughout the United States wherever the literature of the institution is sent. As it grows, and grow it must, thousands will come each year to see and inspect it, where hundreds are coming now for the same purpose, and it is cultured and wealthy people at that. The fact that a Chino public school is a part of their fine equipment will be a source of pride to Chino and a source of profit to us as an advertisement of our enterprise.
The 16 October number of the Champion reported that more support from Margaret Fowler means that a gymnasium was soon to be finished as lumber was delivered to the site, while “a new portable tent house” arrived and comprised “a large central cooking plant” with an oil-fueled large range. From this facility, “the food is sent out to the different cottages in heat retaining vessels,” while the residential units had hot plates to keep the meals warm.
Two weeks later, the Report covered the annual trustee election meeting, with eight of the nine members from Pasadena or adjoining La Cañada, with the exception being Dr. George Sumner of Pomona College (whose father Charles was its first president and son, also George, was the founding head of Claremont McKenna College). The advisory committee members were more widespread including Sherman D. Thacher, whose namesake school is in Ojai, and others in Los Angeles, Redlands, San Diego and Santa Barbara. The article continued that a new lighting and power system, swimming pool and two residential cottages, as well as the schoolhouse, were completed.
By August 1913, as recounted by the Report there were 70 charges and 20 staff at the Republic, with up to eight boys working in the print shop, three in the electric facility, the same number assisting with poultry raising, five tending to the vegetables and double that with general farming including a dairy farm and creamery. It was added that the baseball squad was “in the championship class this season” while “a new brass brand is practicing diligently.”
About a month later, the Ontario paper cited the summary of visit of a San Francisco woman, Delia Hart Stone, published in that city’s Star and it was remarked,
The Republic boys are not criminals; they are vagrant, uncared-for, and, consequently, often wayward—boys who need only attention, the right kind of training and environment to make of them good, industrious, honest citizens.
Stone continued that there were 75 charges on the 240-acre site and that they attended school and worked for four-and-a-half hours each daily. As for self-government, she noted that “the citizens elect [a] president, vice-president and all other officers of a republic, and in addition, police [officers], health officers and court judges and the necessary subordinates,” while “they keep accounts and present reports in a regular business way.” Moreover, “the work is supported entirely by voluntary subscription and donations.”
The account went on that “there may be larger republics, but I doubt if there is one other so delightfully situated” and the unnamed assistant superintendent, Clyde Doyle, whom we’ll later feature in this post, guided Stone and remarked,
We need funds for expansion; there are so many ways to help and so many more to help than we can possibly reach without more means. Where are the Carnegies [U. S. Steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie, who was known for endowing libraries throughout the country] who are building for themselves carven stone monuments?
Speaking of libraries, the account remarked that “the boys have a pleasant assembly room and reading room with numerous papers and magazines sent them regularly,” while Stone sent the San Francisco newspaper a copy of The Junior Republic publication that was described as “well edited, handsomely printed and very interesting, especially the honest letters from the boys telling where and how the school and home work has helped them.” One quote of “I never knew how to work before I came here; I never liked to work” led to the rejoinder to “parents of restless boys” that they should “give them something to do, something to be proud of when it is done, something to think about.” It was added tat, “industry is amighty [sic] good habit and will keep out a lot of bad habits.”
Another of the residents talked about how going to the Republic led to his stopping drinking and smoking, which led to his expulsion from high school, but that his stay at the institution was such that he planned to return to his school and his father promised that if the young man’s grades were up to snuff he would pay for his college expenses. This led to the insistence, “you watch me; I’m going to college.” For Stone, this prompted her conclusion:
This is the heartache; that at every step before a lad, snares are set to catch and trip him and pull him down from his high resolve. It is the confession of ninety-nine out of a hundred prisoners. Those released on parole say: “If I can only cut out the booze.” There’s a fearful responsibility somewhere. Bad boys and criminal men become good and industrious when they are shut away from the “booze.” Why not free the boys and men and banish booze?
In this Progressive era of reform in many areas of American life, the temperance movement to “banish booze” was gaining such momentum that, within a half-dozen years, an amendment to the Constitution was passed and national Prohibition enacted, though its ambitions went unrealized and unanticipated problems with bootlegging and organized crime, among others, ensued. How many Republic charges had alcohol problems would be interesting to know.
We’ll return with part two and more about what transpired at George Junior Republic during these early years of the 1910s, so check back for that.