Frederic C. Howe

Frederic Clemson Howe (November 21, 1867 – August 3, 1940) was a progressive era reform politician and author who served one term as a member of the Ohio Senate (1903–1907) before becoming managing director of the People's Institute in New York City in 1910 and Commissioner of Immigration of the Port of New York in 1914. He was also founder and president of the League of Small and Subject Nationalities.

The author of 17 books in his lifetime, Howe is recognized as the originator of the well-known phrase "big business" in 1905.

Biography Early years

Fred Howe was born in Meadville, Pennsylvania on November 21, 1867.

He received a bachelor's degree from Allegheny College in 1889 and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1892. He also attended the University of Halle in Germany as well as University of Maryland Law School and New York Law School.

Cleveland years

After graduation from law school, Howe relocated to Cleveland, Ohio, where he became a partner in the firm of Garfield, Garfield & Howe. Availing himself of his PhD, Howe also taught at Cleveland Law School on corporation and taxation matters.

In 1900, as a member of the Cleveland Municipal Association, Howe gained public attention as the author of a bill placing the expenditures of Cuyahoga County board of commissioners under increased scrutiny by requiring all contracts to gain approval of the county solicitor, with all proposals over $500 publicly advertised. Previously only contracts over $1,000 were scrutinized, with larger jobs frequently split into $1,000 pieces to elude oversight. The two proved to be kindred spirits, with Howe broadly supportive of the new mayor's proposals for reforms to ensure honest and economical government, municipal ownership of public property, and a reduced 3-cent streetcar fare. Howe agreed, provided his name was not used in the piece indicating authorship.

Howe was elected to the Cleveland board of assessors in 1909, in which capacity he was able to adapt some of the precepts of George's single-tax theory to local policy. The People's Institute, while not formally affiliated with the Cooper Union, made use of the school's facilities after hours for the conducting of evening classes and public lectures on social and cultural themes, seeking to integrate the steady stream of immigrants through the Port of New York into American society. Not only did the institute provide a forum "for discussion in which progressive, ethical, political, and social views can be voiced," Howe added, but it had also come to fulfill a social function, organizing the use of school buildings as social centers for music, dance, and education.

Howe remained as managing director of the People's Institute until resigning in 1914. During his time at the head of the organization, the institute expanded its programs through the establishment of the People's Music League and the Drama League of America, in addition to continuing to conduct its program of classes, social clubs, and educational lectures.

Washington, DC years

On 27 July 1933, George N. Peek, head of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, appointed Howe as the head of the Consumers' Counsel. He left that position in 1935 to become a special assistant to Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace. He fell ill there, however, dying in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts on August 3. Chester R. Davis now decided to get rid of Howe. He later recalled: "Fred Howe was a man of high ideals and very little practical sense. He was the 'turn the other cheek' type. He was a well-meaning man who permitted his organization to be loaded down with a group of people who were more concerned with stirring up discontent than they were with achieving the objectives of the act."