Cincinnati's Unique Charter Party

Christine Schmid Engels

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Cincinnati's Unique Charter Party
Christine Schmid Engels

Modes of thinking about American society have more powerfully influenced the organization and operation of Cincinnati politics and government than social or economic factors and forces.

—Zane Miller

Zane Miller's intriguing words would seem to fly in the face of Cincinnati's common reputation of not being a progressive city. As he so eloquently described in many writings on Cincinnati's history, Cincinnati's Charter movement stood out even in an era of progressive reforms because of its sweeping, enduring influence on the city's governance. Democrats and independent Republicans formed what in the mid-1920s became known as the Charter Party or Charter Committee. Instead of a political system run by neighborhood wards and bosses, they desired a new charter that would change how the city would be governed. The three largest changes they sought were that the city hold elections at-large with proportional representation instead of within each ward and that a city manager position be instituted as a replacement for a party or ward boss. Though the changes happened gradually, the bigger story was that Charter candidates dominated local politics for decades. Although the party's successes would wax and wane through the twentieth century, its new ideas on governance greatly affected Cincinnati's political landscape.¹

With 135 boxes and 15 oversized folders, the Cincinnati Charter Committee Records of Greater Cincinnati (Mss 800) is expansive. Most of it covers the years 1924–1961, though there is some material from before and after those dates. It is broken up into eleven series, many of which contain correspondence and files of directors and administrative files of the party. A great deal of the files are on Forrest Frank (1907–1979), executive director from 1935 to 1973. The campaign materials, including pamphlets as well as talking points and instructions for canvassers and speakers, is a fascinating part of the collection and demonstrates their grassroots campaign techniques.

The Charter Committee's earnest quest for efficient and progressive governance methods led its members to study other cities. Files relating to this research are scattered throughout the collection under a variety of topics. Charter leadership and its constituents valued research and transparency, and subject files in the collection bear witness to that openness. [End Page 73]