Thursday, February 16, 2017

February 16, 1944 -- Gordon L. Pirie Dies


February 16, 1944 – Gordon L. Pirie, vice-president and general manager of Carson Pirie Scott and Company, dies of heart disease in the Presbyterian Hospital.  Pirie’s condition had been dire for several days, and as he lingered near death his sister ALSO died at her winter home in Plymouth, Florida.  Pirie graduated from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and worked in various retail stores before he came to Chicago to join his father, the founder of the store in which his name played a prominent part.  Pirie was a member of the executive committee of the American Retail Federation, treasurer of the North Shore Property Owners association, chairman of the committee on transportation and traffic of the State Street Council, and former director of the Association of Commerce.  He was also a trustee of the Winnetka Congregational Church.  [Chicago Daily Tribune, February 17, 1944]

Also on this date from an earlier blog entry . . .


February 16, 1954 -- Ralph Budd, chairman of the Chicago Transit Authority, proposes a plan for extending the city's rapid transit system. The greatest share of the plan involves adding to the city's rapid transit system by constructing rights of way for rail operation as part of the network of proposed super-highways. Mayor Kennelly called the proposal "remarkable." Arthur T. Leonard, president of the Chicago Association of Commerce, called the plan "both challenging and constructive." Observe the Red Line as you drive on the Dan Ryan or the Green Line along the Kennedy or the Blue Line running parallel to the Eisenhower, and you will see Budd's proposal at work today, the first time, at least in this country, when rapid transit was planned as an integral part of the highway system.


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