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Telephones and electronic communications are even more essential in these days of sheltering than ever before. How did this love affair with the phone get started here? Richard Loomis, a historian specializing in the history of the telephone, unpacks the beginning of phone installation and service in D.C. in “The Telephone Comes to Washington: George C. Maynard, 1839-1919,” vol. 12, no. 2 (fall/winter, 2000/2001), © Historical Society of Washington, D.C.

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May 4, 2020 Two years after the 1877 introduction of telephone service in Washington, Bell Telephone Company agent George C. Maynard published this list of 190 subscribers to the National Telephonic Exchange. At first telephone service was restricted to private lines connecting two points, but in December 1878 Maynard established a central exchange, allowing all subscribers to talk to each other and greatly increasing the telephone's appeal. In the process, Maynard struggled with supply shortages and a new technology and industry that were continually reinventing themselves. Courtesy, the author.

22 The Telephone Comes to Washington George C. Maynard, 1839-1919

By Richard T. Loomis

George Colton Maynard revolution. Shortly thereafter, while still a opened his electrical supply store teenager, he was hired as "operator, manag- in Washington, D.C., in 1873, he er, messenger, batteryman, and lineman" of found himself on the frontier of a revolution the Ann Arbor office of the Lake Erie and in electricity. The development of improved Michigan Telegraph Company. Later, in the batteries, which provided a reliable source fall of 1864, he was ordered to Washington of electricity, and the discovery of the prin- as a wartime telegraph operator for the U.S. ciples of induction and electromagnetism Military Telegraph Corps serving President opened the way for unprecedented progress Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of War in the application of electricity for useful Edwin M. Stanton. Following the Civil War, purposes. The telegraph, telephone, electric Western Union hired Maynard in its light, electric motor, and electric power Washington office, where he rose to the plants would become society-changing position of assistant manager.2 forces, revolutionizing the way people Maynard left Western Union in 1870 to would go about living.1 accept an offer from General Albert J. Myer, Maynard was born in Ann Arbor, the Army's chief signal officer, to serve as Michigan, in 1839, the eldest son of farmers chief electrician and telegrapher during the Charles Mosely Maynard and Sophronia construction of the first nationwide federal Cotton Maynard. Upon his father's death in weather service. Joseph Henry, secretary of 1852, Maynard was responsible for support- the Smithsonian Institution, had earlier ing his mother and three siblings. The experimented with gathering weather data young man left school after eighth grade to from remote locations in order to observe work in his uncle's general store and by age developing weather patterns. Once Henry 15 had managed to learn telegraphy, taking had demonstrated the utility of the idea for his first tentative steps toward the electrical weather prediction, and with the Civil War forcing a reduction in federal funding, he

Notes begin on page 90. handed the method over to the federal gov- ernment for implementation. Maynard

23 Washington History, Fall/Winter 2000-2001

spent more than two years traveling the business (1873-74) was a call from the country, setting up reporting stations, and Executive Mansion to install a set of electric arranging with telegraph companies to bells, probably for use as a doorbell.5 transmit weather data back to Washington. The year 1875 began much as the previ- With the new weather service up and run- ous one, with demand for Maynard's electri- ning by the fall of 1872, an exhausted cal services steadily growing. However, Maynard left the Signal Corps to pursue his before the year passed, Maynard experi- entrepreneurial ambitions, opening the enced a watershed experience that would Washington Telegraph Agency in February reshape his future. The key figure in this 1873. Although the announcement of the personal drama was Alexander Graham new store, located at 1711 G Street, N.W., Bell. emphasized the telegraph, Maynard made Bell came to Washington in 1875 to it clear that he welcomed "all business per- demonstrate to his patent attorneys a "mul- taining to telegraph and electrical matters."3 tiple telegraph," an instrument capable of sending several messages at one time. electrical age during the 1870s Needing supplies, he went to Maynard, depended primarily on batteries for whom Bell described in a letter to his par- its source of power. Central power ents as the "only electrician in town." There stations would not be available until the he purchased two batteries that he found 1880s, beginning in 1882 with Thomas did A.not work. Upon returning to Maynard's Edison's Pearl Street Station in New York store to discuss the matter, Bell was met City, which provided power for the withnew "a face I did not like. I felt sure there Edison incandescent lamps then lighting was the some underhand work about the batter- city. That same year, Stilson Hutchins incor- ies - especially as I could see the man was porated the United States Electric Lighting evidently trying to humbug me."6 Bell at Company of the District of Columbia this to time was under intense pressure to light Washington's streets. (Electric lighting keep his work on the telegraph confidential, in homes began to appear ten years later.)4 since the competition, particularly from Thus Maynard began his new career inventor in Elisha Gray, and potential financial Washington by installing some of the sim-rewards were great. Thus he began to sus- pler applications of the new electrical age,pect anyone, such as Maynard, with knowl- including low-voltage, battery-powered edge of electricity. The immediate problem, burglar alarms, electric bells and gongs, however, was quickly resolved and the two master clocks connected to slave dials for men went on to develop a warm profession- telling time, watchman's clocks and stations al and social relationship that would last for regulating the rounds of watchmen, welland into the next century. private telegraph systems. Returning to Boston, Bell continued his His first customers were federal govern- research and experimentation on the tele- ment offices. The Smithsonian Institution graph and on another idea - how to trans- urgently needed to find better ways of pro-mit the human voice over a wire. This latter tecting its growing collection of rare artifacts work led in 1876 to Bell's discovery and suc- from theft and from fire, which ravaged thecessful demonstration of the telephone. By original Smithsonian Castle in 1865. Thethe end of that year, Bell was back in federal government and District of Washington, this time with Gardiner Columbia contracted with Maynard toGreene Hubbard, a well-known Washing- install private telegraph systems to speed ton lobbyist and Bell's future father-in-law communications and modernize operations. and business manager. Turning to Maynard Perhaps the highlight of his early months forin supplies and technical assistance,

24 The Telephone Comes to Washington

nications miracle for themselves.7 To reach the influential scientific com- munity in Washington, Bell gave another of his live telephone demonstrations, this time before a meeting of the Philosophical Society of Washington. At the meeting, Smithsonian Secretary Henry spoke of the "value and astonishing character of Mr. Bell's discovery and invention." By spring 1877, optimism filled the air as Bell returned to Boston where he and Thomas Watson, his technical assistant, continued work on an instrument with improved loudness and clarity. This goal accomplished, Hubbard announced on May 1, 1877, the commercial availability of the telephone. "The speaking telephone of Prof. Alex. Graham Bell," wrote Hubbard, "has now attained such simplicity and cheapness as to render it uni- versally available for public, private, social, or business communication."8 Events now began to move swiftly. From his office on Capitol Hill, Hubbard ordered more telephones from Williams's George Colton Maynard, seen here in a ca. Boston shop, which Maynard tested, adjust- 1882 portrait, was an experienced electrician ed, and installed at Hubbard's directions. At and telegraphist when he became Washing- ton's first Bell Telephone Company agent in the same time, Hubbard was committed to a 1877. Courtesy, George Colton Maynard heavy work schedule on Capitol Hill push- Family. ing his postal telegraph legislation and serv- ing on the President's Special Commission on Railway Mail Transportation, both of Hubbard proposed a series of test circuits to which required extensive travel. On July 7, convince federal officials and his patent 1877, Hubbard organized the Bell Tele- attorneys of the utility and importance of phone Company, serving as trustee. Under the telephone. this arrangement, Hubbard assumed full Using Maynard's office on 1423 G Street control and responsibility for the Bell near the White House as an operational cen- patents and for moving the business for- ter, and securing instruments from Charles ward at the national level. Other officers of Williams's electric shop in Boston, Bell, the company appearing on the company's Hubbard, and Maynard criss-crossed letterhead were Alexander Graham Bell, Washington installing experimental lines at electrician; Thomas Sanders, treasurer; and the War and State departments and in pri- Thomas Watson, superintendent. Realizing vate residences, including Hubbard's. now that it was no longer feasible for him to Hubbard then invited dignitaries including maintain a day-to-day role in the Washing- General Thomas E. Eckert, president of the ton telephone market, on September 22, Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company, 1877, Hubbard reached an oral agreement and members of Congress to Maynard's G with Maynard, giving Maynard the Bell Street office to experience this new commu- agency for the city.9

25 Washington History, Fall/Winter 2000-2001

telephone was an astonishing dis- covery. This voice-over-a-wire con- cept took communications to a new and exciting level. However, when it came to persuading people to sign up and pay for the service, skepticism abounded. As Maynard moved door to door, potential customers frequently asked what had been invented, who invented it, or what practical purpose it might serve. Grocers, Maynard later recalled, could see that the telephone "might serve the needs of a coal dealer linked to his livery stable," but it would never receive orders for groceries. Bankers thought it might be useful for grocers, but it would be "utterly impossible" for arranging financial transactions. Most adamant of all were government workers who "could never have any use for telephones" since they were required to keep written records.10 Frustrated by the sense of confusion and doubt on the public's part, Maynard took temporary leave of his solicitation efforts and turned for inspiration to Smithsonian Secretary Henry. Maynard had met Henry in 1866 when Henry lectured on General Albert J. Myer, the Army's chief signal electromagnetism, a talk that had left a last- officer, hired Maynard as head electrician and ing impression on Maynard regarding the telegrapher for the first federal weather service future of electricity. Now, 11 years later, in 1871. Maynard spent two years setting up a Henry was an established champion of national network of weather reporting stations. Bell's research on the "speaking telephone." The reports were telegraphed to the "fact room" at the U.S. Signal Office in Washington, right, For half an hour, on a circuit set up by where data were used to predict the weather. Maynard in the original Smithsonian Castle, Courtesy, Library of Congress. the two men carried on a conversation that left Henry, according to Maynard, "ex- ceedingly interested and pleased. . . . He fre- quently used the word 'marvelous' to sion, where he was asked by W. K. Rogers, express his astonishment at the way it President Rutherford Hayes's secretary, to worked."11 install a line from the White House to the Buoyed by Henry's enthusiasm, May- Treasury Department in October 1877. Next nard returned to the street with renewed came installations for the State, War, and hope. The breakthrough finally came in Navythe departments connecting the resi- fall of 1877, when his former employer, dences of department secretaries to their Chief Signal Officer Myer, gave Maynard offices. an By the summer of 1878, with resis- order to connect the downtown Signal tance fading, orders began arriving from Corps office with Fort Whipple (now Myer) new sources, including newspapers, attor- across the river in Arlington, Virginia. Soonneys, merchants, physicians, and private after, Maynard visited the Executive Man- residences.12

26 The Telephone Comes to Washington

was one thing to sign up customers for nected together. One party could call the telephone service; it was quite another other but no one else. Soon the idea arose of to provide a working system. Maynard getting one telephone to talk to every other focused on immediate needs: stringing lines, telephone in the local system. This was providing for a reliable supply of instru- accomplished by bringing all lines to a sin- ments, fixing faulty equipment, establishing gle point, called a central exchange, and a pricing policy, and organizing a company* using switching equipment, or switch- to deal with an entirely new technology. boards, to put a caller in contact with any The first commercial telephone in 1877 other member of the local exchange. was the box telephone, about the size and It is unimaginable today to separate a shape of a breadbox. This instrument served telephone's distinctive ring from the experi- as a receiver, transmitter, and calling device ence of receiving a call. But in fact early tele- all in one. The telephone was usually placed phones did not come with a ring or any on a shelf or table, and its single opening other signal to alert the party being called. was used for both talking and listening. The Watson, Bell's technical assistant, offered awkwardness of this arrangement led to the one solution: a "thumper" telephone that development, later in 1877, of the hand tele- contained a push button and hammer for phone. Each station could now be equipped striking the diaphragm that could be heard with two instruments, one for talking, the at the receiving end. The resulting thump other for listening. The initial networks, if was not loud enough, however, so Watson one can refer to them as such, were private kept working. He developed an electromag- lines in which two telephones were con- netic call bell, which, by a turn of a crank,

27 Washington History, Fall/Winter 2000-2001

much of its time in 1874-75 installing light- ning rods.14 Maynard won permission from a sufficient number of property owners. This rather haphazard approach to installing telephone lines, however, quickly proved costly, inefficient, and filled with legal uncertainties, so a new overhead wiring scheme using telephone poles soon became the norm in Washington. As the telephone grew more popular, Maynard was plagued with faulty equip- ment and inadequate supplies. Throughout 1877 and well into 1878, all Bell telephones and call bells were made one at a time by Watson in Charles Williams's Boston shop. By October 1877, demand greatly exceeded supply, leading Maynard and agents in other cities to flood Bell's office with requests for more instruments. "I am at a standstill for want of Magneto Call-Bells," wrote Maynard, noting that he had just fin- ished a line between the offices of the presi- Smithsonian Secretary Joseph Henry thought dent and the secretary of the treasury, but the telephone was a "marvelous" invention because of the lack of call bells the line could when Maynard demonstrated it with a private not be used. He made similar pleas regard- line set up in the Castle building. Courtesy, Smithsonian Institution Archives. ing telephones. "If you cannot fill the entire order," he implored, "send what you can at once." By December 1877, after some 25 let- ters and telegrams, he invoked the name of would ring a bell at the receiving end. By his largest and most urgent customer, the 1881, Watson's magneto call bell was federal government. Maynard's pleas, often becoming the standard for the industry.13 supported by a note from Hubbard, suc- Since there were few Western Union or ceeded in at least in keeping his Washington local police telegraph poles in Washington agency moving forward.15 to support telephone lines, Maynard strung From 1877 to 1879 Maynard also wrote iron or steel wires overhead, attaching the dozens of letters complaining, often bitterly, lines to brackets mounted on public and pri- about shoddy workmanship, faulty design, vate office buildings, churches, and resi- and instrument failure due to loss of magne- dences. Before attaching a line, Maynard tization, corrosion, and the absence of quali- would contact owners for permission, reas- ty control. In response, Superintendent suring them in writing that the company Watson frequently vowed to "remedy that would repair any damages and "prevent [problem] at once." The repeated failure of any annoyance from the singing wires." the call bells, warned Maynard, had become Somewhat surprisingly, neither Maynard "a serious obstacle to the success of the nor property owners apparently raised the Telephone business."16 While the Bell office issue of lightning strikes, although the sub- struggled to find a system-wide solution for ject was so much on the public mind that technical support, the local Bell agents and Maynard' s electric supply company spent their work force of electricians served as the

28 The Telephone Comes to Washington headquarters' de facto engineering support arm during the very early years. In their drive to build up a customer base, Hubbard and Maynard viewed federal offices as rich prizes. Success with the gov- ernment would open up almost unlimited growth not only in Washington, but also across the nation in cities where federal facilities were located. Maynard's early tele- phone installations at the White House and at the department secretary level were an impressive and influential beginning, giving him reason for optimism concerning the entire government market. But the moment he moved down in the federal hierarchy, the bureaucracy factor kicked in, presenting several challenges. At the heart of the issue, Maynard wrote, were "the eccentricities of govern- ment officers" who he felt took advantage of a federal statute prohibiting the commit- ment of government funds beyond the cur- rent fiscal year. Using this statute more or less as a shield, some officers insisted that Maynard install telephones free of charge Alexander Graham Bell bought electrical sup- until the agency could pay for them, if at plies all. from Maynard in 1875. The following year he enlisted Maynard's assistance in This demand placed Maynard in direct con- demonstrating his newest invention - the tele- flict with company policy requiring agents phone - to prominent businessmen, scientists, to collect lease fees, which then amounted and membersto of Congress. Courtesy, LC. $40 per year, in advance, for two telephones. As the situation escalated, Maynard wrote to Thomas Sanders, treasurer of the Bell expected with Government officials they company, saying it would probably be best* must have their own way."17 "to let [government officials] do as they Confronted with a cash-starved compa- please about the matter" and not require ny, Sanders continued to press for advance advance payment. Maynard also suggested lease payments. Maynard replied that the that future government orders be filled confused state of affairs regarding tele- without written contracts - in other words, phones for government use gave him no install telephones free of charge, with the more satisfaction than it did Sanders; how- expectation of being paid at some future ever, "any attempt to force the matter date. Hubbard, who at this point was would stop all payments by the govern- spending some nine months a year lobbying ment." Sanders finally relented, acknowl- in Washington as well as mentoring the new edging Washington "as being one of the Bell agency, added his own endorsement. most valuable [markets] on our books," but Maynard, he wrote, had "acted constantly still harboring the hope that the time was under my advice and I agree entirely with not too distant when a steady flow of gov- him, [that] if any considerable business in ernment fees would be forthcoming. The the drive to build up a customer base is problem of government payment gradually

29 Washington History, Fall/Winter 2000-2001

righted itself; however, as late as October more than 1880, Maynard was writing the Executive two users. Mansion asking to be paid for a telephone With his six- installation of May 1879.18 year com- As the oral agreement of September mitment in 1877 between Hubbard and Maynard began hand, May- to play out, both sides realized the need for nard turned a written contract to codify the rather com- to exploring the new central telephone plex relationship now evolving. This new exchange, an exciting innovation that would agreement was signed by Hubbard as Bell ensure the future success of the telephone. trustee and by Maynard on April 22, 1878. Maynard was again recognized as the sole central exchange system linked a Bell agent in Washington. At Maynard's central office to residences, factories, request, the contract was for six years businesses, and government offices, instead of the usual three to give him ade- allowing subscribers to be placed in direct quate time to build a viable business. communication with each other. Bell had Maynard, as an independent contractor, was anticipated such a development as early as to receive the standard 50 percent of tele- the spring of 1877, and within a year, on phone rentals at $40 per year. However, to January 28, 1878, the first commercial tele- encourage government use, Hubbard took phone exchange had opened in New Haven, the unprecedented step of agreeing to per- Connecticut.20 mit Maynard to furnish agencies with tele- Maynard had also entertained the phones at the cut rate of five dollars per year exchange concept as early as the fall of 1877, and to dispense with advance lease pay- when he installed an embryo switching sys- ments and signed contracts.19 tem in his downtown office, manned by 15- Both sides came away from the contract year-old Burnet L. Nevius, Washington's signing satisfied that the telephone agency first telephone operator. "One of these in Washington was on firm footing. At this wires," recalled Maynard some years later, point, however, Maynard's system still con- "led to the Capitol building and another to sisted of a series of private lines linking no the office of the Evening Star." When

30 The Telephone Comes to Washington

Bell's box telephone of early 1877, far left, had the trusteeship. Under this agreement, a single opening, used alternately for speaking Maynard was empowered to establish an and listening. Within months, Bell devised the exchange telephone system and to associate wooden hand-held ''butter stamp" receiver with one or more partners to raise funds for (which resembled stamps used to mark butter pats). By early 1878 a wall-mounted tele- capital improvements. The latter clause phone, left, used two butterstamp instru- opened the way for Maynard to enter into ments, one for listening and one for transmit- an arrangement with local businessman ting, and a hand-cranked magneto bell. William H. Barnard. Barnard acted as agent Courtesy, AT&T Archives. for investor H. D. Cooke (brother of million- aire financier Jay Cooke), who advanced Congress assembled in special session in $10,000, half of which went for equipment, October 1877, Maynard suggested to the and the other half for operations.23 Star reporter stationed at the Capitol that he The National Telephonic Exchange send the latest news to his paper via tele- opened for business in late December, with phone, just before the paper went to press. Maynard as manager and Barnard as trea- "On the first trial," wrote Maynard, "the surer. Initially, the exchange operated out of reporter gained a decided advantage over Maynard's electric supply store located at the other evening journals. . . . Thereafter, 1423 G Street. One month later, in January during the session, this custom was a daily 1879, Maynard moved exchange operations occurrence."21 one block to the fifth floor of the Evans In spring 1878, Maynard pursued the building at 1420 New York Avenue. In exchange concept further, experimenting March Maynard was already complaining with a switchboard that he had purchased of being "driven with work in supplying the from Charles Williams, Jr., in Boston, the demand for telephones." By fall, he had original manufacturer of Bell telephones attracted 190 exchange customers, served by and call bells. Come summertime, Maynard a work force of 12 employees, including 8 announced plans for a telephone exchange telephone operators. At this point Maynard in Washington. By August, a number of his proudly published Washington's first private line customers, including nearly all exchange directory, an alphabetical list of the hotels and leading newspaper corre- subscribers plus a classified section. The spondents, had given him orders for the first five telephones connected to the new exchange service. In the meantime, exchange were the Executive Mansion, the Maynard traveled to New York (the new, Capitol, the Associated Press, the Treasury temporary location of Bell company head- Department, and the Institute for the Deaf quarters) where he met with Hubbard, (later Gallaudet College). The majority of Watson, General Manager Theodore Vail, subscribers were merchants and small busi- and Robert W. Devonshire, the recently nessmen, numbering more than 100, fol- hired company bookkeeper, to discuss lowed by private residences (30), attorneys financing and changes in his contract to and newspaper reporters at 13 each, and 11 accommodate a telephone exchange. There physicians and 11 government agencies.24 he was assured he could form a partnership The opening of the Washington ex- or a joint stock company for the purposes of change marked a major turning point in raising additional capital.22 Maynard's telephone interests. For the first On December 2, 1878, with the Wash- time, he had to rely on venture capital and ington exchange about to open, Maynard share control and ownership, an arrange- signed a new contract with Hubbard, now ment that was contrary to his desires to be president of the newly incorporated Bell independent and manage his own affairs, as Telephone Company, which had replaced he had successfully done since opening his

31 Washington History, Fall/Winter 2000-2001

Maynard opened the National Telephonic electric supply store in 1873. At the national Exchange in late December 1878 with a single level, the growth of telephone exchanges male operator. In this ca. 1880 view of a larg- was beginning to bear strong resemblance er, unidentified exchange, young women are to Western Union with its family of 12,000 already replacing some male operators. Within telegraph offices nationwide, interconnected a decade, almost all daytime telephone opera- tors in the Bell system were female. Courtesy, by thousands of miles of telegraph lines. Smithsonian Institution. These dual sets of offices would provide the setting for a mighty struggle between the powerful, wealthy Western Union and the financially struggling Bell Telephone Manager Vail warning that the independent Company over control of the telephone. agents were caught in "a war" in which Western Union was "the enemy."25 the late 1870s, Western Union had In December 1877 Western Union had become a corporate giant with assets acquired the services of Thomas A. Edison totaling some $80 million. Twenty and at the same time established a tele- years earlier, the company had over- phone subsidiary, the American Speaking whelmed its telegraph competition, either Telephone Company. In April 1878 the tele- buying them out or eliminating them by graph giant upped the ante with the intro- undercutting rates. In the 1870s, Western duction of Edison transmitters, which were Union appeared to be repeating the process, clearly superior in power and clarity to only this time its targets were the proliferat- Bell's telephones. Maynard nervously ing independent telephone agencies under watched for evidence that customers were contract to the Bell Company. Maynard, hooking up "infringement" (Edison) tele- who had been following the actions of the phones to Maynard' s network of wires. In telegraph giant, wrote to Bell General April 1878, he attended a meeting of the

32 The Telephone Comes to Washington

National Academy of Sciences in Wash- holds in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, ington where Edison was introduced as "the and elsewhere, the Bell Telephone original and only inventor of a practical tele- Company finally filed suits to stop the tele- phone," an assertion that only reconfirmed graph giant.26 Maynard' s suspicions concerning Western The suit did little to discourage Western Union's intentions. It wasn't long before he Union, which soon turned its attention to a was proved correct. In July Maynard report- • prized goal: the nation's capital. When Bell ed the first use of Western Union equipment officers heard that Maynard had been con- in his area, at which time he asked the Bell tacted by Western Union, Bell President W. Telephone Company to honor its agreement H. Forbes, who had succeeded Hubbard in with him "to defend and indemnify" him in May 1879, asked Maynard to reveal his his exclusive right to lease all telephones in intentions regarding these overtures. his territory. In September 1878, with Maynard replied that he had no intention of Western Union aggressively seeking foot- disposing of any portion of his exchange. Moreover, said Maynard, "I am faithfully relying on your Company to fully carry out 77ns 1878 pencil sketch by Maynard shows the the letter and the spirit of its contracts and route of a private telephone wire he planned to promises and to defend me against all oppo- run from his office on G St. (1) to his home at sition and to indemnify me for all losses and 919 1 St., N.W. (10). With no poles for sup- port, Maynard attached brackets to private res- damages. I propose to stand by the Bell idences, a church, and the Orphan Asylum Telephone and all its interests to the end of along the way. Courtesy, GCMF. the war."27

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To emphasize the immediacy of the promptly published Bell's statement in the Western Union threat, Maynard sent Forbes Evening Star.29 a newspaper clipping announcing plans by But to little effect. In August 1879, Western Union to open a telephone ex- Maynard's worst fears were realized as change in Washington. Meanwhile, back at Western Union opened its Washington Bell headquarters in Boston, Bell and exchange and published its first (and only) Watson began searching for equipment to directory. It turned out to be pyrrhic victory compete with the superior clarity and loud- for Western Union, however, for by this ness of the new Edison instrument. They time Bell Telephone's year-old lawsuit was found it in what has since been called the going against them. Indeed, in a sudden, Blake transmitter or microphone, the princi- dramatic reversal, Western Union reached pal feature of which was the Berliner vari- an out-of-court settlement with Bell in able pressure transmitter, covered by the November 1879. Western Union agreed to inventor's caveat of April 14, 1877.28 divest itself of its telephone interests, turn- On December 20, 1878, after many test- ing them over to local Bell exchanges. The ing and design changes, the Bell Telephone elimination of the Western Union threat Company announced the availability of removedthe a major emotional as well as eco- new Blake transmitter. It was an immediate nomic stumbling block for Maynard. success and began blunting customer pene- However, the euphoria was short-lived, for tration by Western Union. Undaunted, on its heels came a rash of new critical busi- Western Union continued to press its ness developments. advantage. Exacerbating the situation for Bell agents was the fact that Western Union the years, Maynard had success- had not increased its rates for the new fully mastered the technical aspects Edison telephone, forcing Maynard and of the telephone business, but he other Bell agents to absorb significant never costs could find the handle on the financial associated with their new Blake instrument. challenge. Attracting risk capital in the latter Maynard continued his Western Union part of the nineteenth century was a very vigil, sending a stream of letters to Boston citing incidents of infringement telephones, including the purchase of 50 Western Union In an 1886 view looking east from the telephones by the Army's chief signal offi- Treasury Department, telephone poles line cer. Finally, the Bell Company issued a both sides of G St. Despite initial city efforts statement: according to the Bell telephone to force the wires underground, unsightly patents, particularly U.S. Patent No. 174,465 poles and wires proliferated. The Brown's of March 7, 1876, Bell maintained the exclu- awning, right of center, shades Maynard's former office at 1423 G St., and the tall build- sive right to provide all "speaking tele- ing mid-block on New York Ave., left, is the phones" throughout the nation, and Evans building, site of Maynard's 1879 infringers would be prosecuted. Maynard exchange. HSW.

34 The Telephone Comes to Washington

Maynard used this letterhead, complete with niary investment in the enterprise to him/'30 butterstamp instruments, in the late 1870s. Maynard's partnership with William Courtesy, GCMF. Barnard, begun in December 1878, had brought in $10,000 of H. D. Cooke's money, sufficient to get the newly organized tentative process, since wealthy entrepre- National Telephonic Exchange up and run- neurs tended to shun new inventions, ning. But by fall 1879, considerably larger including the telephone, until it became infusions of capital were needed to support abundantly clear that the innovation was growth and expansion. Whereas Maynard profitable. Maynard had experienced this had rejected earlier investment overtures reaction previously when, in October 1877, from Western Union, he viewed with con- banker and financier Jay Gould walked into siderable interest a second offer from Jay Maynard's Washington office and asked for Cooke's American Union Telegraph a demonstration of the telephone. Gould, Company. a Maynard promptly contacted railroad entrepreneur with a fortune Bellin General Manager Vail, informing him excess of $25 million, had heard that the of the offer. Vail responded by asking telephone might offer a good investment Maynard to delay any such arrangement. opportunity. What he saw and heard from He then went on to describe his vision of the Maynard, however, did not impress him, Bell Company's future. "Our idea now," and he left, according to Maynard's journal, Vail wrote, "is to provide additional capital with an air of disgust that anyone should so that we can take part interest in any have "dared to mention the subject of pecu- exchange already organized . . . leaving the

35 Washington History, Fall/Winter 2000-2001

management of such exchanges to local par- information on individual agencies concern- ties, and in this way combine in our busi- ing the effectiveness of management, num- ness the elements that I think will go to ber of customers, status of physical plant, make it strong. In other words, giving to profitability, value of assets, and future each exchange the benefit of one grand prospects. With this information, Boston organization with general experience and could then prioritize its agencies as to the abundant capital, and the strength that order the parent company would invest in comes from local organization/'31 them. Hubbard's successor, Forbes, agreed The phrase "one grand organization," with Hubbard and hired J. M. Brown, an accompanied by assurances of financial sup- employee of the General Land Office of the port and local control, had an appealing ring Department of the Interior. Brown reported to it. But the time was late. With Western to Boston in May 1879, and for the next 18 Union opening a Washington telephone months visited agencies, quietly gathering exchange, Maynard felt hard pressed not information.32 to accept Cooke's offer, which also came with In Washington, meanwhile, with finan- assurances of local control. Over the next cial assistance from Boston yet to appear few weeks and into the fall of 1879, Maynard even as the need for capital grew more sent several letters to Vail seeking details urgent of by the day, Maynard sought short- the company's plans for financial participa- term relief. One possible solution was to tion in local exchanges. Vail did not respond, invite his friend and mentor, Gardiner nor could he, since his vision of one grand Hubbard, to join him and Barnard in form- organization was still just that. Then came ing a new telephone company for the Western Union's sudden withdrawal from nation's capital. the telephone business. The momentary With Hubbard's name recognition and relief provided by Western Union's with- prestige, Maynard hoped to attract enough drawal, coupled with Maynard's strong local investors to see the company through sense of loyalty to Hubbard and the Belluntil Vail was in a position to act. Hubbard Company, led him to reject the American at first demurred, citing his heavy schedule Union Telegraph Company and stay with as a member of the Bell company's executive Bell. Unhappily for Maynard, the Vail offer committee and his concern that, as trustee in of financial aid dragged on for months. Andthe proposed company, he would be respon- when it did arrive, it would be on terms sibleand to the stockholders for the company's at a time not to Maynard's liking. performance. But out of his long-standing personal and professional relationship with ail's vision for reorganizing this Maynard, he finally accepted. On December loose assembly of several hundred 1, 1879, the National Capital Telephone independent licensees, including Company, a joint stock company, was Bell agencies, exchange contracts, and extra- formed, replacing the National Telephonic territorial (city-to-city) contracts, brought Exchange, with Hubbard as president, forces into play that would ultimately leadBarnard as treasurer, and Maynard in the to the passing of control from the original familiar role of general manager.33 Bell licensees to companies organized with Unfortunately, hopes for the new tele- financial participation from outside sources, phone company were never realized. Offers principally the Bell Telephone Company. of new financing were slow in coming. In Gardiner Hubbard had anticipated such addition, a mounting technical problems, prospect when, in late 1878, he suggested declining revenues, and growing customer that the Bell company hire a special agent complaints to just would not go away. At this begin gathering "minute and particular" point, Maynard decided to do what he had

36 The Telephone Comes to Washington often done in the past: ask other agents to see how they were handling similar chal- lenges. Visiting agents across the Northeast and the Midwest in summer 1880, Maynard found common concerns, frustrations, and not a little empathy. By the time the trip ended, he had helped persuade some 23 officers of prominent telephone-related businesses to sign a petition calling for a national convention of telephone represen- tatives. The national body would then form a general telephone association to serve as an information clearinghouse as well as a forum to study and debate the critical issues confronting the new industry.34 The organizing committee, with Maynard as a member, was swamped with responses from owners of telephone exchanges, manufacturers of telephone sup- plies, telephone journals, and from the Bell Company itself in the person of O. E. Madden, superintendent of agencies. As the clamor for action mounted, representatives from 93 exchanges and 19 manufacturers met in September 1880 in Niagara Falls, New York, and organized the National Telephone A well-known Washington lobbyist and mem- Exchange Association, with Maynard as ber of the Bell company's executive committee, Gardiner Greene Hubbard recognized the vice-president. All topics and issues were on enormous potential of the Washington market the table, including the relationship between and supported Maynard' 's efforts to make the Bell Boston and the local companies, local local phone company financially secure. company organization, private lines vs. Courtesy, LC. exchange lines, government regulations, aux-. iliary systems, and technical problems. The most urgent issue confronting the the convention, according to the minutes, Bell agents, however, was exchange charges. "groping in the dark for some system which When the central exchanges first opened, shall make compensation for the service agents expected the number of customers to given equitable, both for the public and for grow slowly, and that the annual charge the stockholders."35 averaging $46 per customer, depending, On the day before the convention ad- among other factors, on whether it was a journed, the Bell Company raised yet residence or business, would cover costs another issue that held great import for the and provide a reasonable profit. Instead, future of the telephone industry - the ques- when the exchanges were swamped with tion of linking exchanges. Bell's Madden requests to join, the agents' profit calcula- was quick to put such talk into Bell's per- tions proved inaccurate. Despite much dis- spective, noting that current contracts pre- cussion, however, no consensus was cluded the building of such links. None- reached on how to bring exchange charges theless, it was clear to Bell that intercity links in line with actual costs. The attendees left were on their way. "I believe," said Madden,

37 Washington History, Fall/Winter 2000-2001

"that the development of the extra-territorial Telephone Company, to recognize the line business will bring about no inconsider- Subscribers' Protective Association further able change in the relations of exchanges to solidified the opposition.38 each other. Isolated now, they will become Days passed with no apparent move- in many cases united in groups, having one ment on either side. Finally, with tension common interest, and seeking one common and anger rising, on March 21 the Sub- management. I look to see consolidation all scribers' Association delivered an ultima- over the country, such as have already tum: on April 1, association members would begun in the East/'36 Such system changes, cease using their telephones unless the par- quite simply, were key elements of Vail's ties could agree on a new schedule of vision of one grand organization. charges. The record is silent on Maynard's Maynard returned to Washington in fall public position regarding the ultimatum; 1880 considerably better informed but still however, his actions were not. On March 26, feeling very vulnerable on the questions of just five days after the ultimatum, Maynard exchange charges, private lines, and cus- resigned as manager of the National Capital tomer relations. Through the remainder of Telephone Company, assigning all his inter- the year, Maynard, Hubbard, Barnard, and ests in the exchange to the new board of the National Capital Telephone Company directors. President Hubbard, caught up in searched for answers, particularly on the the turmoil of the moment, also resigned. subject of rates. Finally, with the financial Treasurer Barnard stayed on to become the situation worsening daily, they could wait new general manager, while two new no longer. On January 20, 1881, the National trustees were elected to take Hubbard's and Capital Telephone Company published a Maynard's places.39 circular signed by Maynard announcing a The telephone lockout took place as new and "radical" departure from the exist- scheduled on April 1. Subscribers inserted a ing schedule of charges. Instead of paying a grounding plug into the lightning arrestor, flat rate of $46 per year, each customer causing a short-circuit and making it impos- would now be charged by the call (later sible to use the telephone. For some 12 days, called "the message rate system"). A new telephones were silent along the Potomac. schedule was announced to go into effect on Service was restored on April 12, but only March 1,1881.37 after the National Capital Telephone Com- The news came as a bombshell. It pany recalled the "Maynard Schedule," as it unleashed a public fury, complete was withderisively called, in favor of a new set charges of corporate greed, extravagance, of rates agreed to by both the company and and monopolistic practices. Within the Subscribers'three Association.40 weeks, 300 of some 700 exchange Within sub- days of his resignation, Maynard scribers had banded together asdistributed the a notice announcing the continu- Telephone Subscribers' Protective ation Asso- of his private line business, an asset ciation of the District of Columbia, thatpledging he had withheld from both the National to stop using their phones if the companyTelephonic Exchange and from the National did not forthwith reverse itself. Led Capitalby lead- Telephone Company. Appended to ing businessmen and professionals, thethe circular sub- was a note from Bell General scribers objected not only to the Manager rate Vail: "George C. Maynard is the increase, but also to the abrupt and arbitrary only person authorized by us to supply tele- manner by which it was imposed, phoneswith no for Private Lines . . . within the apparent effort to solicit customer District involve- of Columbia." The notice prompted ment and support. Maynard's refusal, an immediate, as angry response from the reor- general manager of the National ganized Capital National Capital Telephone Com-

38 The Telephone Comes to Washington pany charging that the statement had con- fused the public as to the distinction between private and exchange lines, and who controlled each. Maynard responded to Vail with an eight-page letter complaining of "systematic encroachment" by National Capital Telephone and asked Bell to "defend and indemnify" him as provided in their April 1878 contract. "Unless I am protected by your company or by the courts," wrote Maynard, "there is danger that it [the National Capital Telephone Company] will swallow up a large portion of that part of the telephone business in this district which belongs exclusively to me."41 Ominously, there was no reply from Vail. Moreover, time and events were pass- ing Maynard by as some of his best private line accounts, including the Smithsonian, joined the local exchange. Other defections followed, and by July 1881, only four months after Maynard resigned from Washington's exchange company, it was all over. Maynard, A telegraph operator, right, shares an office now completely alienated from his old com- with a telephone operator seated at a single- pany and faced with a rapidly shrinking pri- position switchboard in the Smithsonian's National Museum building (now Arts and vate line customer base, abruptly sold his Industries), 1886. Courtesy, Smithsonian Bell telephone rights together with his Archives private lines to the National Capital Tele- phone Company for $50,000.42 This was a handsome sum by 1880 standards. And with J. Carty, chief engineer for AT&T (1907- it, along with future salaries, Maynard and 1918) and a leading figure in technical his family would enjoy an uninterrupted advances in telephony. Writing in the fore- upper-middle-class life. word to Beginnings of Telephony, Carty noted, "As is the case with the first efforts in discovery of the principle of every new field, the difficulties and tri- transmitting the human voice over an umphs of the early workers are likely to electric wire ranks as one of the great become lost. . . . While Bell stated and technological achievements of the nine- demonstrated the fundamental principle [of teenth century. From humble beginnings, the telephone] with astonishing complete- the telephone would go on to connect the ness, the difficulties which faced the pio- globe and become a bridge to the Internet neers who sought to make it commercially and thus the information age of today. For useful seemed almost insurmountable. . . . the most part, however, history has Great credit," concluded Carty, "is due to remained silent on the contributions of the those who by research, invention, and de- early telephone workers, particularly the velopment, created a new public service Bell agents, to this twenty-first century from the beginnings of the telephone art."43 telecommunications phenomenon. An In the space of three and one-half years, exception can be found in the words of John Maynard and his partners had pioneered

39 Washington History, Fall/Winter 2000-2001

the building of a telephone plant and a cus- gaining recognition in the field of electricity. tomer base for the nation's capital where In 1888 he was invited to serve the presti- none had existed. A few years later the suc- gious, New York-based Electrical Review as cess of that pioneering effort became appar- its Washington editor. The Review had ent when, in 1883, Bell General Manager begun publishing in 1882 in support of Vail combined the Washington and "electricians, inventors, and the telegraph Maryland exchanges to form the Chesa- and telephone fraternity on matters pertain- peake and Potomac Telephone Company, ing to electrical and other scientific sub- which 100 years later would serve some 1.5 jects." Maynard spent several years report- million customers. ing on the irresistible rise of the telephone Amid the turmoil of building his tele- industry. Possibly related to his work with phone business, Maynard was able to bring the Review was his selection in 1891 to serve his personal life into balance. On April 10, on a committee of prominent scientists and 1879, at age 40, Maynard married Lucy businessmen planning the centennial cele- Warner of West Chester, Pennsylvania. bration of the U.S. Patent Office in 1892. The Shortly thereafter, the two began discussing celebration was a popular success, reflecting a "dream home" in Washington. By spring the new nationalism sweeping the land.44 1882, the Maynards had constructed, for By the late 1890s, Maynard had become $7,000, an elegant three-story brick building a valued advisor and regular contributor to with a separate livery stable at 1227 19th the National Museum's electrical collection, Street, N.W. There they began raising a fam- and in 1898 he was appointed custodian of ily that eventually included three sons, its electrical collections. Maynard would go Colton, Henry (Hal), and Maudesley. on to become curator of the museum's Momentary bitterness and disappoint- entire technology section, including the tele- ment accompanied Maynard's stormy phone collection. He remained active at the departure from the telephone business in museum until his death on July 28, 1918. 1881, but he never lost his enthusiasm for Although the range and scope of telephony and the scientific age that Maynard's technology interests broadened spawned it. Armed with a new business considerably after he opened his electrical card reading "Electrical Engineer," May- supply store in 1873, no invention held for nard began searching for new opportunities. him the simple magic, fascination, and won- Amid the rise of fairs and exhibitions der of the Bell telephone. "Nothing," around the world that displayed and Maynard cele- reflected in later years, "is so full brated the revolutionary discoveries ofof continuedthe interest, so fascinating, myste- age of invention, Maynard found his rious, next so nearly supernatural, as the speak- calling. Eagerly he began collecting histori- ing telephone."45 cal pieces of the beginnings of telegraphy. As interest in collecting gained followers, Maynard organized the Telegraphic Historical Society of North America in 1894, urging its 300 members to donate or lend telegraphic and other electric artifacts, Richard T. Loomis received the Ph.D. in Ameri- including the telephone, to the Smith- can history from Stanford University and spe- sonian's National Museum. Throughout the cializes in the history of electrical communica- 1890s, the Telegraphic Historical Society tions, particularly the telephone. He has served would be an important source of artifacts as a visiting scholar at the Smithsonian National for the National Museum. Museum of American History, preparing a biog- In the meantime, Maynard continued raphy of George Colton Maynard.

40 Washington History, Fall/Winter 2000-2001

NOTES

The Telephone Comes 15. toMaynard Washington to Bell Telephone Co., Oct. 13 and Dec. 4, Richard T. Loomis, pp. 22-40 1877, and Maynard to Thomas Sanders, Jan. 18, 1877, box 1221, AT&T. 16. Thomas A. Watson to Maynard, Aug. 5, 1878, Maynard Papers; Maynard to Theodore Vail, Oct. 1. Telegrapher, 9-344 (Feb. 15, 3, 1878,1873): box 1221, 1; AT&T. Elihu Thomson, "Electricity During the 17. Nineteenth Maynard to Sanders, Dec. Century," 18 and Jan. 18, 1877, box Annual Report of the United 1221, States AT&T. National Museum for 1900 (Washington: Government 18. Maynard to Sanders, Printing Feb. 7, 1878, Office, and Sanders to 1901), 333-58. Maynard, Feb. 9, 1878, box 1221; William H. 2. Handwritten notes by George C. Maynard, George Barnard to W. K. Rogers, Oct. 21, 1880, box 1264, C. Maynard Papers, in possession of Marian AT&T. Cragin, Waterville, Me. The author discovered the 19. "Contract, Gardiner G. Hubbard, Trustee, and Maynard papers in the possession of Marian George C. Maynard, appointing Maynard as the Maynard of Gaithersburg, Md., Maynard' s daugh- Sole Agent to Lease Telephones and to Make ter-in-law. The author was the first and only Contracts in the District of Columbia, Apr. 22, researcher to make use of these papers. Telegraph 1878," Maynard Papers. Operators, Civil War, 1861-65, Office of the 20. Robert V. Bruce, Alexander Graham Bell and the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Conquest of Solitude (Boston: Little, Brown, 1973), 221. Archives; Telegrapher 3-42 (Dec. 15, 1866): 86. 21. Maynard, "The History of the Invention and 3. Annual Report of the Chief Signal Officer for 1870 Development of the Speaking Telephone," (Washington: GPO, 1870), 6; Telegrapher, 9-344 (Feb. Electrical Review 38-2 (Jan. 12, 1901): 58. 15, 1873): 1. 22. Charles Williams, Jr., to Maynard, Apr. 8, 1878, 4. Richard F. Evans, 'The 19th-century High-Tech Maynard Papers; Maynard's Journal, 1877-1879, Systems of Christian Heurich's Mansion," Bell Papers, LC. Washington History 8-1 (spring/summer 1996): 43. 23. Agreement, Bell Telephone Co. and Maynard, Dec. 5. Card catalog no. 3,542, Division of Electricity and 2, 1878, Maynard Papers. Modern Physics, National Museum of American 24. Maynard to Bell Telephone Co., Mar. 4, 1879, box History, Smithsonian Institution. 1221, AT&T; National Telephonic Exchange 6. Alexander Graham Bell to his parents, Mar. 5, 1875, Directory, 1879, Maynard Papers. drawer 17, Alexander Graham Bell Papers, 25. Maynard to Vail, Mar. 15, 1879, and July 21, 1879, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress. box 1221, AT&T. 7. George C. Maynard's Journal, 1877-1879, container 26. Maynard, "Development of the Speaking 299, Bell Papers, LC; Maynard to Theodore N. Vail, Telephone," Maynard Papers, 56; Maynard to Bell Mar. 20, 1884, Maynard Papers. Telephone Co., July 17, 1878, box 1221, AT&T. 8. The Bell Telephone. The Disposition of Alexander 27. Maynard to W. H. Forbes, June 24, 1879, box 1221, Graham Bell in the Suit brought by the United States to AT&T. Annul Bell Patents (Boston: American Bell Telephone 28. Bell Telephone Co. to Maynard, Dec. 27, 1878, Company, 1908), 142; circular, 'The Bell Telephone, Maynard Papers. for Cheap and Instantaneous Communication by 29. "Special Notice," Washington Evening Star, Aug. 28, Direct Sound," Maynard Papers. 1879,1. 9. Because of the number of name changes during the 30. Maynard, "History of the . . . Speaking Telephone," early years of its existence, the name "Bell 58. Telephone Company" is used throughout to identi- 31. Maynard to Vail, Sept. 3, 1879, and Vail to fy the parent company; Maynard' s Journal, 1877- Maynard, Sept. 13, 1879, box 1221, AT&T. 79, Bell Papers, LC. 32. Gardiner Greene Hubbard to Forbes, Mar. 17, 1879, 10. Ibid. box 1264, AT&T. 11. Ibid. 33. Hubbard to Maynard and Barnard, Nov. 28, 1879, 12. Annual Report of the Chief Signal Officer for 1878 box 1264, AT&T. (Washington: GPO, 1878), 3-4; Maynard to Bell Tele- 34. Report of the Proceedings of the National Convention of phone Co., Oct. 13, 1877, box 1221, AT&T Archives. Telephone Companies, Niagara Falls, N.Y., Sept. 7-9, 13. Frederick Leland Rhodes, Beginnings of Telephony 1880 (New Haven: Turtle, Morehouse, and Taylor, (New York: Arno Press, 1974), 176. 1881), 3-4. 14. Maynard to Thomas E. Waggaman, Nov. 15, 1879, 35. Record of the Organization and First Meeting of the box 1139, AT&T; Maynard Diary, "Tests of National Telephone Association, Sept. 9 & 10 (New Lightning Rods," Apr. 13, 1874-Sept. 30, 1875, Haven: Turtle, Morehouse, and Taylor, 1881), 164. Maynard Papers. 36. Ibid., 87.

90 Notes

37. "Exchange Charges/' National Capital Telephone Dec. 12, 1949, Al; "Politicians Favorite Subject of Company, Jan. 20, 1881, Maynard Papers. Berryman's Drawings," Evening Star, May 2, 1944, 38. 'The Telephone War/' Evening Star, Mar. 22, 1881, 1. A2; W.R. Castle, "Literary Society Memorial Paper 39. "Telephones Must Go," Washington Post, Mar. 22, on Clifford K. Berryman," Jan. 14, 1950. 1881, 1; Department of the Interior, U. S. Patent 7. Library of Congress press release, May 14, 1945, in Office, "Contract of Sale executed by George C. Berryman Collection, Washingtoniana Division, Maynard on Mar. 26, 1881, of all his interests in the D.C. Public Library. National Capital Telephone Co.," Maynard Papers. 8. Green, Washington: Capital City, 432-40, 494-95; 40. National Capital Telephone Co., "Schedule of Rates Anthony J. Thompson, "The Story of the 23rd to take effect Apr. 16, 1881," box 1033, AT&T. Amendment," B.A. thesis, Princeton University, 41. Flier, "Maynard's Private Line Business," Apr. 28, 1963, 16-18; Records of the Home Rule Committee, 1881, Maynard Papers; Maynard to Vail, May 10, D.C. Community Archives (DCCA), Washing- 1881, box 1221, AT&T. toniana Division, D.C. Public Library. 42. U.S. Patent Office, "Maynard assigns rights and 9. Sam Smith, Captive Capital: Colonial Life in Modern interests in private line business to Henry D. Washington (Bloomington: Indiana University Cooke," July 11, 1881, Maynard Papers; Telephone Press, 1974), 239-47; Henry S. Jaffe and Tom Pioneers of America, "Proceedings of the Sixth Sherwood, Dream City: Race, Power, and the Decline Annual Convention," Atlanta, Georgia, Oct. 21-28, of Washington, D.C. (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1916, 40. 1994), 40-44; Jonetta Rose Barras, The Last of the 43. Rhodes, Beginnings of Telephony, ix. Black Emperors (Baltimore: Bancroft Press, 1998), 44. New York Review of the Telegraph and Telephone and 116-21. Electrical Journal (retitled Electrical Review, 1883), 1-1 10. Willard Clopton, 'The Genesis and the Exoduses of (Feb. 15, 1882): 4. Free D.C. Movement," Washington Post, Apr. 24, 45. George C. Maynard, "Hon. Gardiner Greene 1966, E3. Hubbard," Inventive Age and Industrial Record 4-105 11. Ibid.; Jaffe and Sherwood, Dream City, 46-47; (Mar. 1893): 1 Barras, Last of the Black Emperors, 121. 12. "A Self-Determination for D.C. Coalition Salute to Volunteers," 1985, and Records of the Self- The Art of D.C. Politics Determination for D.C. Coalition, DCCA. Faye P. Haskins, pp. 46-63 13. Smith, Captive Capital, 271. 14. Philip G. Schrag, Behind the Scenes: The Politics of a Constitutional Convention (Washington: George- 1. Keith Melder, Hail to the Candidate: Presidential town University Press, 1985), 18-26. Campaigns from Banners to Broadcasts (Washington: 15. D.C. Code Sec. 1-115 through 1-116. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992), 52. 16. Records of the D.C. Statehood Commission, 2. A Decade of Home Rule: The Challenge Continues DCCA; D.C. Code Sec. 1-115 through 1-116; (Washington, n.p.: 1985), 10-11; Sam Smith, "A Charles Wesley Harris, Congress and the Governance Short History of Home Rule," The Statehood Papers: of the Nation's Capital: The Conflict of Federal and Articles on D.C. Statehood by Sam Smith, 1970-1991 Local Interests (Washington: Georgetown University (Washington: Progressive Review, 1992), 6; Press, 1995), 231. Governance of the Nation's Capital: A Summary 17. Records of the D.C. Statehood Commission, History of the Forms and Power of Local Government DCCA; Paul Duggan and James Ragland, for the District of Columbia, 1970 to 1973, Prepared "Courting D.C. Statehood," Washington Post, Sept. for the House Committee on the District of 2,1993,A1. Columbia, July 1990, Serial no. S-2 (Washington: 18. Howard Gillette, Between Justice and Beauty: Race, GPO, 1990), 39-50. Planning, and the Failure of Urban Planning (Balti- 3. Jessica L. Elfenbein, Civics, Commerce, Community: more: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995), 151-59. The History of the Greater Washington Board 19.of Trade,Ibid. 165-69; Douglas F. Feaver, "Three-Sisters 1889-1989 (Washington: Center for Washington Highway Area Project Is Killed - Again," Washington Studies of George Washington University, 1989), Post, 63- May 13, 1977, Bl. 66; Chalmers M. Roberts, In the Shadow of Power: 20. Jo-Ann The Armao, "Legendary Takoma Park Mayor Story of the Washington Post (Potomac, Md.: SevenDies," Washington Post, Dec. 18, 1990, Cl; Sammie Locks Press, 1989), 295; Constance McLaughlin Abdullah Abbott: 1908-1990, a commemorative Green, Washington: Capital City, 1879-1950 booklet for "A Celebration of the Life and Times of (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1962), 437. Sammie Abdullah Abbott," Washingtoniana 4. Smith, "A Short History of Home Rule," 9; Green,Division vertical files. Washington: Capital City, 495-98. 21. Retha Hill, " 'Angry' Mayor Remembered," 5. "George Y. Coffin Dead," Washington Post, Nov. Washington 29, Post, Jan. 6, 1991, B3; "Sammie Abbott, 1896, 1. 82, ex-mayor of Takoma Park," Washington Times, 6. "Berryman Cartoonist Dead at 80," Times Herald, Dec. 19, 1990, B4.

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