Irvin G. Bieser Sr. Papers

Irvin Gruen Bieser, Sr. was the third of four children born to Charles W. Bieser and Louise Gruen. To appreciate Irvin, it is instructive to know about his father, in whose footsteps he apparently trod. Born in 1867, Charles was reared in Dayton and joined his father's business. The 1909 History of Dayton and Montgomery County, by Drury, records Charles' impressive service as clerk of probate, common pleas and circuit courts, as well as political activity in local and state republican committees. He was a delegate at state conventions 21 times, including the one which nominated Taft. In 1907, he founded Everybody's Book Shop at 21, 23 West 5th St., and served as director of the Union Trust Company, the Dayton Building and Loan and the Gruen Watch Company in Cincinnati. He was the Postmaster of Dayton at the time of the 1913 flood and orchestrated reconstruction of the Post Office building after it. He also belonged to numerous fraternal organizations. In the 1932 Dayton and Montgomery County Resources and People, he is characterized as an "organizer and leader in securing for Dayton its present form of government."

Irvin was born in Dayton on June 15, 1902. He prepared at Steele High School in Dayton, received an S.B., cum laude, from Harvard College in 1924, and an L.L.B. from Harvard Law School in 1927. He was admitted to the Ohio Bar and joined the oldest law firm in Dayton, McMahon, Corwin, Landis, and Markham. During the 1930s and 1940s he was a frequent courtroom lawyer and appeared twice before the United States Supreme Court. In later life he practiced mostly corporate and probate law, eventually became a senior partner and reorganized the firm into its present form as Bieser, Greer, and Landis. He served as President of the Dayton Bar Association for the 1957-1958 period. On April 14, 1936, he married, in Piqua, Ohio, Catharine Mary French. They had two children, Catharine Rockwell, born in 1937, and Irvin G. Jr., born in 1941. Like his father, Irvin G. Bieser Sr. became a leader in the community. He was the director of several corporations, including the Dayton Power and Light Company, the City Transit Company, Midwest Securities Investment Inc., George Pflaum Publishing Company, and others. For an unequalled 46 years he was a member of the Board of Trustees of Miami Valley Hospital, serving as President from 1948-1954. He was a founding trustee and President of Hospital Care Corporation (now Blue Cross Corporation of Southwest Ohio), the first such care plan in the region, serving from 1939 to 1979. The Frank M. Tait Foundation benefited from his service as trustee and president from 1980 to 1989, as did the Dayton Art Institute and the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra Association, the Young Womens Christian Association, the Public Orchestra Association, the Young Womens Christian Association, the Public Library, the Harvard Club of Dayton and the Lawyers Club. He also followed his father's example of involvement in government, working with the Chamber of Commerce, the Dayton Research Association, Community Research Incorporated, and Dayton City Improvement. In connection with the Second World War, he served on the Dayton Peace Council and the Draft Board. Somehow, in the midst of all this, Irvin found time for worldwide travel with his lifelong companion. He died at the age of 87 on September 15, 1989 following a stroke, at the Miami Valley Hospital he had served for so much of his life.

THE DAYTON RESEARCH ASSOCIATION: In 1912, John H. Patterson founded and funded the Dayton Bureau of Municipal Research, which operated briefly until interrupted by the First World War. In 1922, Patterson established The Dayton Foundation with an endowment of $250,000 by himself, Robert Patterson Sr., and Mrs. H.G. Carnell. The following year, Patterson's friend, Dr. D.F. Garland, organized The Dayton Research Association, which was funded by the greater part of the Foundation's income. It was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization to "promote the welfare of the city by collecting, compiling, and interpreting information and statistics for its social, charitable, and governmental agencies. In August 1926, the director resigned to become Secretary for the Dayton Community Chest, whence came financial support for the next 3 years. Organized with 7 trustees, the decision was made in 1927 to amend this number to 9. The following year, with both Garland and John H. Patterson deceased, the new Foundation decided that The Association trustees allowed rose to between 12 and 25, all of whom must be elected to their position. It was at this critical point that Irvin G. Bieser Sr. became a trustee and Treasurer for the Association, serving in this capacity until December 1941, when community interest and support was distracted" by the war. Even without the war, there were continuous problems with funding and, in 1941, an effort to merge the Association with the newer Public Advisory Committee, which was more of a campaign group than a research body. In any case, it was abandoned during the war and all assets were finally liquidated on 3 May, 1945, the last check for $231.51 going to the original benefactor, the Dayton Foundation. The records were turned over to the Government Research Bureau of the Dayton Chamber of Commerce.

DAYTON PEACE COUNCIL: In the late 1930s, there was a nationwide peace movement formed to persuade the U.S. government not to enter the war that was about to erupt in Europe. The National Peace Council in Washington D.C., under the leadership of Walter W. VanKirk, urged the formation of local councils throughout the nation. Irvin G. Bieser, Sr. became convinced that a single effort united within a national organization would be preferable to smaller less effective groups like the World Affairs Council and the Emergency Peace Campaign Committee that already existed in Dayton. He united the two and started the Dayton Peace Council, serving as its president, startinf in 1938. Their goal was to educate people to the possibly dire consequences of entering such a conflict and to lobby members of Congress.

THE CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR THE DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY: Dayton, Ohio has had a public library since 1802, but it has often had to expand or change locations over the years. One such change was contemplated in the late 1950s and special committees were formed by the Board of Trustees to plan and organize the effort. In January 1957, as a prominent Dayton attorney, Irvin G. Bieser Sr. was invited to serve on what was initially known as the Citizens Advisory Committee, then the Public Legal and Site subcommittee, responsible for selecting a site and overseeing the necessary legal work. On August 29, 1960, ground was broken for the Main Dayton and Montgomery County Public Library.

COMMUNITY RESEARCH INCORPORATED: Organized in 1957 as Metropolitan Community Studies, Inc., for the sole purpose of performing research studies on local government problems in the general area of Dayton, Ohio, the name was changed to Community Research, Inc., in May 1960. This was mainly to demonstrate the fact that the organization was not prejudiced toward the adoption of any particular form of local government. Its own regulations forbade engaging in any promotional or political action programs. Its studies were, however, made available to the public and local government officials, for educational or advisory purposes. It was a private non-profit organization, supported entirely by private contributions, non-partisan, and not connected with local government.

NEW DAYTON COMMITTEE (DAYTON CITY IMPROVEMENT): This late 1950s, early 1960s committee described itself as being involved in studies of community problems, which they would analyze in order to avoid potential problems that might occur in broader area of urban development. They would recommend practical solutions, serving as a citizens' study group and an advisory body for the Dayton City Commission. They also espoused charitable and educational purposes in the entire area of urban development. In order to avoid duplicative efforts, they affected liaisons with other groups, who were similarly engaged. They did not lobby nor involve themselves in the legislative process.