Peter Witt (politician)
Peter Witt (born July 24, 1869 in Cleveland , Ohio , † October 20, 1948 ) was an American politician and traffic expert.
Life
Peter Witt was a son of Christian or Christoph and Anna Witt, who came from Germany. He was the tenth of eleven children. After completing five years of school he worked first in a basket factory, then in a printing shop and later in an iron foundry. In 1892 he married Sadie James, with whom he had three daughters. In 1894 he came into contact with Tom L. Johnson , who was a member of the United States House of Representatives for Ohio . In 1896 he was blacklisted because of political activity or participation in strikes . Witt was a supporter of Henry George's tax policy and wrote a work on tax evasion . After he had been in the Cleveland public service since 1900, he was from 1911 to 1915 commissioner for tram traffic . He introduced the pay-as-you-enter system in trams and reduced the number of stops in order to shorten travel times on the individual routes.
In 1915 he ran for Mayor of Cleveland, but was unsuccessful. From 1916 to 1923 he also advised other cities on mass traffic. In 1921 he was also involved in the development of a form of city management in Cleveland. From 1923 to 1927 he was a member of the Cleveland City Council. In 1924 he supported Robert La Follette in the fight for the presidency. His candidacy for governor of Ohio in 1928 was unsuccessful, as was the renewed candidacy for mayor of Cleveland in 1932. From 1932 onwards, he lived rather withdrawn.
aftermath
The Peter Witt trams that he designed and were used in many American tram companies from 1915 are named after Peter Witt. In Europe, vehicles based on his design were purchased from several Italian tram operators. A considerable number of Peter Witt cars are still in use on the Milan tram under the name Ventotto . Some were sold to the United States from Milan and are used on the F Market & Wharves museum tram in San Francisco , among others .
Sandor Vago painted a portrait of Peter Witt. The base of a Lincoln bust in the American Cultural Garden bears the inscription: Erected in memory of Peter Witt | Devoted public servant who sought light and guidance from the ideals of the Great Emancipator. 1869-1948.
Works
- Labor Annual , undated
- Cleveland Before St. Peter. A Handful of Hot Stuff , circa 1899
- Social Contrasts of Cleveland's Millionaires and Paupers , 1899
- Abraham Lincoln, the Man of Sorrow , around 1938
literature
- A Streetcar Named Peter Witt , in: Mike Filey, The Way We Were. No. 6: Toronto Sketches , Dundurn Pr Ltd 2000, ISBN 978-1550023398 , pp. 288-233
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated August 20, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.clevelandmemory.org/ebooks/tpap/pg31.html
- ↑ http://web2.ohiohistory.org/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=127359Q430G8D.436994&profile=allsoc&uri=link=3100026~!59370~!3100001~!3100002&aspect=basic_search&menu=search&ri=3&sittource&m=Whorizon% 2C + Peter% 2C + 1869-1948 & index = ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Witt, Peter |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American politician and transportation expert |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 24, 1869 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cleveland , Ohio |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 20, 1948 |