Robert Pfeifle (1880-1958) was an American politician who served as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of the City of

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19, ...

for five terms between 1930 and 1950. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, Pfeifle led the city through the

great depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. A biography of Pfeifle, ''Dare to be Brave'', was published posthumously in 1977; it was co-written by his granddaughter, Jean Pfeifle McQuade, and a retired reporter, Frank Orpe.

Early life

Bob Pfeifle was born on April 14, 1880, on a farm in

Almont, Pennsylvania Almont is a populated place in West Rockhill Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States, approximately one-half mile west of Sellersville. History The area was settled mostly by Pennsylvania Germans in the early 1700s. Early religions ...

(a former crossroads village in what was then farm country, near Sellersville). His parents were Franklin (Frank) and Catherine (Headman) Pfeifle, of

Pennsylvania Dutch The Pennsylvania Dutch ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ), also known as Pennsylvania Germans, are a cultural group formed by German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. They emigrated primarily from German-spe ...

ancestry. The family moved in the 1880s, and Bob's primary-school education was at

Lansdale Lansdale is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a densely-populated commuter town, with many residents traveling daily to Philadelphia using SEPTA Regional Rail's Lansdale/Doylestown Line. In 1900, 2,754 people live ...

. The family moved to Philadelphia when Pfeifle was 12 years old. He served his apprenticeship as a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

there in the 1890s. He did not like the blacksmith trade, but because his father insisted, he finished the apprenticeship; afterward, from 1899, he left that trade and took up the one he preferred,

carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters tr ...

, in which he remained for decades afterward. As a young man he took up the harmonica, tap dancing, and amateur theatre. McQuade and Orpe said, "He took up

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

, and became a competent amateur, but gave up the ring, he said later, after he got "clobbered." In 1902, he moved to Bethlehem, continuing to work as a carpenter. In 1905 he both married Gertrude E. Heller and started his self-employment. After some years of handyman-type work and running a small planing mill, his business grew into a

general contracting A general contractor, main contractor or prime contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of ...

firm. His firm remained successful for years afterward and established him with a comfortable standard of living; although he was not a millionaire and his Church Dutch moral standards did not include idolizing wealth, he built for himself and his family a large house on Webster Street with fine masonry and carpentry, and he was well-off in the 1920s. He served as the director of the Bethlehem National Bank from 1915 to 1928, and in 1929 (before the crash) he was its principal stockholder. He was also the director of the Lehigh Valley Cold Storage Company from 1910 to 1928. McQuade and Orpe list various companies of which he was president or a director in the 1920s. He belonged to various business and service organizations and clubs. Bob and Gert had 4 children, a son and three daughters. He retired from his construction business in 1929 after a quarter-century of self-employment working on more than 600 buildings (residential and commercial). He was long a trustee of his church, the First Moravian Church, part of the

Moravian Church in North America The Moravian Church in North America is part of the worldwide Moravian Church Unity. It dates from the arrival of the first Moravian missionaries to the United States in 1735, from their Herrnhut settlement in present-day Saxony, Germany. They c ...

Political career

City councilman

Pfeifle was elected to the Bethlehem city council, serving from 1916 to 1928. During his time as councilman the city went through first

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and then the

Roaring Twenties The Roaring Twenties, sometimes stylized as Roaring '20s, refers to the 1920s decade in music and fashion, as it happened in Western society and Western culture. It was a period of economic prosperity with a distinctive cultural edge in the U ...

, which hit the city especially hard socially. During the 1920s, the south side of Bethlehem grew notorious for its increasing criminal elements, developing a reputation as a weekend retreat for New Yorkers to commit vices such as

drinking Drinking is the act of ingesting water or other liquids into the body through the mouth, proboscis, or elsewhere. Humans drink by swallowing, completed by peristalsis in the esophagus. The physiological processes of drinking vary widely among o ...

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

and

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

. On November 12, 1927, officer Charles Fenton was shot and killed attempting to apprehend a robbery suspect from one of the south side's 35 brothels. His death sparked massive outcry for the city government to step in and restore law and order.

Mayor of Bethlehem

Amid suggestions from friends and allies, Pfeifle decided to run for mayor in 1929 on a campaign of eliminating crime and corruption within the city. Once he took office (in 1930), he immediately set himself on shaking the city's perception as a weekend retreat for New Yorkers to commit vices such as

and

. In collaboration with the

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...

, mayor Pfeifle launched a series of raids within six months of taking office that shut down the

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

s and destroyed every known

moonshine Moonshine is high-proof liquor that is usually produced illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of creating the alcohol during the nighttime, thereby avoiding detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial dist ...

still. Pfeifle led the city through the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, during which he personally traveled to

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

to petition the government for more

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

jobs. Such work led to the construction of the Illicks Mill Park. He also personally mortgaged all his belongings in order to cover the withdrawals of Bethlehem citizens. He led the city during

, when

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...

and countless other manufacturing firms contributed to the

war effort In politics and military planning, a war effort is a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and human—towards the support of a military force. Depending on the militarization of the culture, the relative size ...

. As mayor, Pfeifle was known for a noticeable accent of

Pennsylvania Dutch language Pennsylvania Dutch (, or ), referred to as Pennsylvania German in scholarly literature, is a variety (linguistics), variety of Palatine German language, Palatine German, also known as Palatine Dutch, spoken by the Amish, Old Order Amish, Old Or ...

in his English. His interest in boxing led to installing a boxing ring in the mayoral office for his personal use. In 1939, Mayor Pfeifle erected a 60-ft lit-up star on South Mountain during the

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

season, reinforcing the city's nickname as the "Christmas City".

Posthumous recognition

A biography of Pfeifle, ''Dare to be Brave'', was published posthumously in 1977; it was co-written by his granddaughter, Jean Pfeifle McQuade, and a retired reporter, Frank Orpe. Almost immediately after his death in 1958, his house was purchased by a

straw buyer A straw purchase or nominee purchase is any purchase wherein an agent (economics), agent agrees to acquire a good (economics), good or service (economics), service for someone who is often unable or unwilling to purchase the good or service thems ...

for

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epis ...

and was demolished to make way for the Sinclair Laboratory. Many years later in 2019, a plaque was installed, dedicated to his memory, near the site. The dedication ceremony was attended by many local political leaders including mayors Kenneth Smith and

Don Cunningham Donald Cunningham Jr. (born December 13, 1965) is an American politician who is president and CEO of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC). He previously served as County executive, executive of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, se ...

as well as state Representatives Jeanne McNeill and Steve Samuelson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pfeifle, Robert Pennsylvania Democrats Mayors of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 1880 births 1958 deaths