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Event:  Civic Improvement League established
Brief Description:  The Civic Improvement League was initially established in 1896, but was reorganized and officially chartered in 1901 as a local branch of the Amercian League for Civil Improvements. This organization consisted of professional and business members of the St. Louis community that shared a goal of improving the quality of urban life in St. Louis, especially in the early 1900s. In particular, the League focused on such areas as health care, recreational facilities, transportation, education, and government. By 1902, the League had over 900 members. Part of its success in attracting members was due to its efforts to draw from downtown businesses and professionals who were already socially connected to one another. The prestige of hosting the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904 was a major impetus to make improvements. In 1905, the League´s constitution was revised to include a new commitment "to secure better civic donations; to promote local municipal improvements; and to further wholesome legislation," in addition to its original goal of emphasizing the organization´s interest in making St. Louis a better place to live. It was renamed the Civic League in 1907, and in 1910, some of its member formed a new organization -- The City Plan Association. One of the League´s shortcomings, even suggested by its president, however, lay in the fact that "the Civic League has always been an organization of the well-to-do and well-educated men and women of the community and has not enlisted the interest and cooperation of all sectors of the city and men and women in all walks of life." The League was eventually replaced by the City Plan Commission, and then the Community Development Agency [129-30, 178].
Year:  1901
Decade:  1900 - 1909
Beginning Date:    1896

Reference
St. Louis (Documentary History of American Cities)
 St. Louis: The Evolution of an American Urban Landscape

 

 

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