W. Freeland Kendrick

W. Freeland Kendrick (1873[1] – March 20, 1953[2]) was the Republican Mayor of Philadelphia from 1924–28. He served as a delegate from Pennsylvania to the Republican National Convention in 1920,[3] and served as the President of the Sesquicentennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1926.[4]

W. Freeland Kendrick in 1924

One of Kendrick's first actions after being elected as mayor in 1923 was to recruit Marine Corps Brigadier General Smedley Butler to serve as Philadelphia's Director of Public Safety, to enforce Prohibition and vice laws. After a contentious two years, Kendrick dismissed Butler on December 22, 1925.[5][6]

Shriner

Kendrick was also an active Shriner, serving as Potentate of Lulu Shrine from 1906–18, and again from 1920–23. He was elected Imperial Potentate from 1919–20 and served as the second chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Shriners from 1934–49.[7] While he was serving as Imperial Potentate, he put forth the resolution that created the Shriners Hospitals for Children.[8] From 1949 until his death, he served on the board of trustees for the Philadelphia Shriners Hospital.[2]

References

1. Potts, Florence J. "The Shriners' Hospitals: A General Outline of the history of the Founding of the Shriners' Hospitals for Crippled Children." The American Journal of Nursing, Vol. 26, No. 10 (Oct., 1926), pp. 746.
2. "History of the Shriners". Accessed March 24, 2008.
3. W. Freeland Kendrick at PoliticalGraveyard.com. Accessed March 24, 2008.
4. "Foreword" in Austin, Erastus Long. The Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition. Arno Press, 1976. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-405-07670-1
5. Smedley D. Butler, Smashing Crime and Vice, Bell Syndicate, April-May 1926. A thirty-part syndicated news story in which Butler described his two years as Director of Public Safety.
6. Lowell Thomas, Old Gimlet Eye: The Adventures of Smedley D. Butler (New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1933), Chapter XXI.
7. Shriners of North America. A Short History: Shriners of North America and Shriners Hospitals for Children. September 2004 edition. p. 26.
8. Potts, Florence J. "The Shriners' Hospitals: A General Outline of the History of the Founding of the Shriners' Hospitals for Crippled Children." The American Journal of Nursing, Vol. 26, No. 10 (Oct., 1926), pp. 745-46.