Harold Roe Bartle
Encyclopedia
Harold Roe Bennett Sturdevant Bartle (June 25, 1901 – May 9, 1974) was a businessman, philanthropist, Boy Scout executive, and professional public speaker who served two terms as mayor
of Kansas City
, Missouri
. After Bartle helped lure the Dallas Texans American Football League
team to Kansas City in 1962, owner Lamar Hunt
renamed the franchise the Kansas City Chiefs
after Bartle's nickname, "The Chief."
, the only child of Samuel Dunn Bartle, a Presbyterian
minister and an immigrant from Scotland
, and Ada Mae Roe of northern Illinois
. The Bartle family was musical, and at age thirteen Harold was playing the piano and organ at his father's church. The same year he also attempted to enlist in the army
, but his father produced proof of his age and had him discharged.
Between 1916 and 1920, Bartle attended Fork Union Military Academy
, where his father taught history and military science. There Roe (as he now insisted on being called) became a championship debater. Bartle attended the University of Chattanooga
in 1920, where he proved a natural athlete, but he suffered a serious bout of pneumonia
. He returned to his family, now in Lebanon, Kentucky
, where in 1921, he earned a law degree from Hamilton College of Law, a Chicago correspondence school.
Bartle met Margaret Ann Caroline Jarvis in Lebanon, and they were married on September 26, 1923, in St. Joseph, Missouri, where his father had taken another pastorate. The Bartles had one child, Margaret Roe "Jimmy" Bartle Taylor. Bartle, who was 6' 4", weighed well over 200 pounds before his marriage, and he continued to gain until at one point he may have reached 375.
troop in Lebanon, and in 1923-24, he accepted a position as the executive of the Cheyenne Council of the Boy Scouts of America
in Casper, Wyoming
, a responsibility that included oversight of the entire state. From 1925 until 1928 he held a similar position in St. Joseph, Missouri; and from 1928 until 1955, he was the executive at the Kansas City
Area Council.
Bartle created the Tribe of Mic-O-Say
honor society
in Saint Joseph, Missouri
in 1925, although the inspiration for the program dated to his Wyoming years. A Boy Scout camp at Osceola, Missouri
is named the H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation
in his honor.
, Bartle had to resign from 57 boards of directors to avoid possible conflicts of interest.
As a professional public speaker, he regularly addressed political, fraternal, educational, religious, civic, business, and service organizations. (He had a rich, powerful voice, and in Nice, France, he blew out the public address system
.) By the time he ran for mayor, he was making 200 speeches a year at fees that ranged upwards from $1,000 each. One service club secretary was so dazzled by Bartle's rhetoric and humor that he announced Bartle had given "one of the most dynamic speeches ever heard by man." A slightly skeptical reporter added that, nevertheless, "just what he said...was not recorded."
The money Bartle made in the private sector subsidized his public service and allowed him to fund organizations in which he took an interest. For instance, for 30 years he donated his Boy Scout salary to the organization. There were three Bartles, he said, the Bartle "who makes money, the Bartle who gives it away, and the Bartle who works for free."
, a small coeducational school associated with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church
.
In 1948, while a college president, Bartle founded and contributed $100,000 toward establishing the American Humanics Foundation, now the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance, a philanthropic organization intended to prepare young people for careers in professional youth leadership in such organizations as the Boy Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, and the YWCA
.
Bartle was National President of Alpha Phi Omega
service fraternity
from 1931 until 1946. Alpha Phi Omega grew from 18 chapters when he took office to 109 chapters when he stepped down. It was said that Bartle personally financed the fledgling organization.
Bartle was a devout member of Central Presbyterian Church, Kansas City, from 1929 until his death, although he was often not in attendance because he was filling a pulpit somewhere else. (If Bartle were called to substitute for a pastor who was ill, he needed only the time to dress and get to the church. He could work out the sermon on the way.) Bartle served as a member of the general council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
, 1961-68, and was a member of the General Assembly, 1962-66. He was also a charter member of the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
Bartle's wife said she believed he "could do anything on this earth that he sets out to do....and he has more energy than any other five men alive." Bartle received numerous honors and awards for his public service, including honorary degrees from at least a dozen colleges and distinguished service medals from a dozen foreign governments.
out of power in 1940, Bartle chose to run as an independent with Citizen Association support. However, in his reelection campaign of 1957, Bartle also accepted the tacit support of the remnants of the Pendergast machine, leading to unfounded fears about the possible revival of "boss politics." In Kansas City, the mayor was comparatively weak, effectively an at-large city councilman; but Bartle, not surprisingly, was superb at performing the inspirational and ceremonial aspects of his office.
During his two terms, Bartle oversaw the desegregation
of the city hospitals and removed them from political influence. He also overhauled the city tax structure, organized the mayors and city manager
s of 67 nearby towns into a planning council, supported the advancement of African-American police officers, and oversaw initial construction of the Kansas City airport
and a nearby freeway. Also during his two terms, the Philadelphia Athletics professional baseball team and the Dallas Texans
professional football team moved to Kansas City, the latter adopting Bartle's nickname, "Chief." While he was mayor, Bartle went to all two-alarm fires in a fireman
's hat, coat and boots; and every weekday morning at 8 AM—or when he could actually make it to the station—he broadcast a radio report to the city.
Bartle found his first term the more enjoyable. Then he had carried into office virtually the entire Citizens Association ticket. During his second term, a block of councilmen stymied his plans. Although Bartle remained on the 1963 ticket, he asked voters not to reelect him.
Bartle idolized his clergyman father and displayed some guilt for not having followed in his profession. Bartle continued to make major decisions only after deciding what his father would have done in a similar circumstance. But Roe Bartle hated the penury of the clergyman's life. The first time he asked a girl for a date, she rejected him because he was dressed in ill-fitting, second-hand clothes. Crushed, he swore before a mirror, "hand upraised," that no child of his would ever know poverty. But once he had the money, he also acquired expensive hand-tailored suits.
Kansas City Star editor Roy A. Roberts
was puzzled by Bartle, "You can say almost anything you like about Roe Bartle—call him demagogue, opportunist, tycoon or dedicated saint—and you will be correct, but you will speak only half truths. Nobody knows Bartle. He is too complex to be figured out."
and injuries to his back and legs caused by a 1944 plane crash. Bartle died on May 9, 1974, from complications of diabetes and heart disease
. He was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery. The Kansas City Convention Center
, completed in 1994, was named Bartle Hall in his honor, and Bartle's wife and friends provided items for exhibit cases that there memorialize his life. Bartle's papers are in the State Historical Society of Missouri
.
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. After Bartle helped lure the Dallas Texans American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
team to Kansas City in 1962, owner Lamar Hunt
Lamar Hunt
Lamar Hunt was an American sportsman and promoter of American football, soccer, basketball, and ice hockey in the United States and an inductee into three sports' halls of fame. He was one of the founders of the American Football League and Major League Soccer , as well as MLS predecessor the...
renamed the franchise the Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
after Bartle's nickname, "The Chief."
Youth, education, and marriage
Bartle was born in Richmond, VirginiaRichmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, the only child of Samuel Dunn Bartle, a Presbyterian
Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,...
minister and an immigrant from Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and Ada Mae Roe of northern Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. The Bartle family was musical, and at age thirteen Harold was playing the piano and organ at his father's church. The same year he also attempted to enlist in the army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, but his father produced proof of his age and had him discharged.
Between 1916 and 1920, Bartle attended Fork Union Military Academy
Fork Union Military Academy
Fork Union Military Academy is a private, military boarding school located in the town of Fork Union, Virginia. The school is more commonly known by its acronym FUMA ....
, where his father taught history and military science. There Roe (as he now insisted on being called) became a championship debater. Bartle attended the University of Chattanooga
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is a public university located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The University, often referred to as UTC or simply "Chattanooga" , is one of three universities and two other affiliated institutions in the University of Tennessee System; the others being in...
in 1920, where he proved a natural athlete, but he suffered a serious bout of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
. He returned to his family, now in Lebanon, Kentucky
Lebanon, Kentucky
Lebanon is a city in Marion County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 6,331 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Marion County. Lebanon is located in central Kentucky, southeast of Louisville. A national cemetery is located nearby....
, where in 1921, he earned a law degree from Hamilton College of Law, a Chicago correspondence school.
Bartle met Margaret Ann Caroline Jarvis in Lebanon, and they were married on September 26, 1923, in St. Joseph, Missouri, where his father had taken another pastorate. The Bartles had one child, Margaret Roe "Jimmy" Bartle Taylor. Bartle, who was 6' 4", weighed well over 200 pounds before his marriage, and he continued to gain until at one point he may have reached 375.
Scouting career
Bartle was admitted to the Kentucky bar in 1920 (before completing his correspondence degree) and worked for a Lebanon firm; he was also the Lebanon prosecuting attorney, 1920-22. Nevertheless, Bartle's gifts were as an organizer and promoter, and he was unwilling to spend his life in the law. Bartle had supervised a Boy ScoutBoy Scout
A Scout is a boy or a girl, usually 11 to 18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split this age group into a junior and a senior section...
troop in Lebanon, and in 1923-24, he accepted a position as the executive of the Cheyenne Council of the Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
in Casper, Wyoming
Casper, Wyoming
Casper is the county seat of Natrona County, Wyoming, United States.. Casper is the second-largest city in Wyoming , according to the 2010 census, with a population of 55,316...
, a responsibility that included oversight of the entire state. From 1925 until 1928 he held a similar position in St. Joseph, Missouri; and from 1928 until 1955, he was the executive at the Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
Area Council.
Bartle created the Tribe of Mic-O-Say
Tribe of Mic-O-Say
The Tribe of Mic-O-Say is an honor society used by two of the 303 local councils of the Boy Scouts of America, The Heart of America Council and The Pony Express Council; it is not a program of the National Council of the BSA...
honor society
Honor society
In the United States, an honor society is a rank organization that recognizes excellence among peers. Numerous societies recognize various fields and circumstances. The Order of the Arrow, for example, is the national honor society of the Boy Scouts of America...
in Saint Joseph, Missouri
Saint Joseph, Missouri
Saint Joseph is the second largest city in northwest Missouri, only second to Kansas City in size, serving as the county seat for Buchanan County. As of the 2010 census, Saint Joseph had a total population of 76,780, making it the eighth largest city in the state. The St...
in 1925, although the inspiration for the program dated to his Wyoming years. A Boy Scout camp at Osceola, Missouri
Osceola, Missouri
Osceola is a city in St. Clair County, Missouri, United States. The population was 835 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of St. Clair County.-History:...
is named the H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation
H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation
Heart of America Council serves Scouts in Missouri and Kansas. This council was formed on July 1, 1974 with the merger of the former Kansas City Area and Kaw Councils.-History:...
in his honor.
Business career
While a scouting executive, Bartle also engaged in profitable business enterprises and made shrewd investment decisions. He also served on the board of directors of numerous corporations and banks, including largest independent liquor dealer in Missouri. According to his daughter, when his friend, President Harry Truman, asked him to become the regional director of the Economic Stabilization AgencyEconomic Stabilization Agency
The Economic Stabilization Agency was an agency of the United States Government that existed from 1950 to 1953.The creation of the ESA was authorized by the Defense Production Act , which was signed into law by President of the United States Harry S. Truman on September 8, 1950...
, Bartle had to resign from 57 boards of directors to avoid possible conflicts of interest.
As a professional public speaker, he regularly addressed political, fraternal, educational, religious, civic, business, and service organizations. (He had a rich, powerful voice, and in Nice, France, he blew out the public address system
Sound reinforcement system
A sound reinforcement system is the combination of microphones, signal processors, amplifiers, and loudspeakers that makes live or pre-recorded sounds louder and may also distribute those sounds to a larger or more distant audience...
.) By the time he ran for mayor, he was making 200 speeches a year at fees that ranged upwards from $1,000 each. One service club secretary was so dazzled by Bartle's rhetoric and humor that he announced Bartle had given "one of the most dynamic speeches ever heard by man." A slightly skeptical reporter added that, nevertheless, "just what he said...was not recorded."
The money Bartle made in the private sector subsidized his public service and allowed him to fund organizations in which he took an interest. For instance, for 30 years he donated his Boy Scout salary to the organization. There were three Bartles, he said, the Bartle "who makes money, the Bartle who gives it away, and the Bartle who works for free."
Civic, philanthropic, and religious endeavors
Bartle seemed determined to participate in as many charitable organizations as possible. He accepted thirty appointments to philanthropic boards and commissions and in time became an executive in virtually all of them. During World War II, he served as director of American War Dads, a soldier-welfare group. After the war, from 1945 to 1952, Bartle became interim president of Missouri Valley CollegeMissouri Valley College
Missouri Valley College is a private, four-year liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church . The campus is in Marshall, Missouri.The college was founded in 1889 and supports 27 academic majors and an enrollment close to 1,800 students...
, a small coeducational school associated with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church
Cumberland Presbyterian Church
The Cumberland Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian Christian denomination spawned by the Second Great Awakening. In 2007, it had an active membership of less than 50,000 and about 800 congregations, the majority of which are concentrated in the United States...
.
In 1948, while a college president, Bartle founded and contributed $100,000 toward establishing the American Humanics Foundation, now the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance, a philanthropic organization intended to prepare young people for careers in professional youth leadership in such organizations as the Boy Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, and the YWCA
YWCA
The YWCA USA is the United States branch of a women's membership movement that strives to create opportunities for women's growth, leadership and power in order to attain a common vision—to eliminate racism and empower women. The YWCA is a non-profit organization, the first of which was founded in...
.
Bartle was National President of Alpha Phi Omega
Alpha Phi Omega
Alpha Phi Omega is the largest collegiate fraternity in the United States, with chapters at over 350 campuses, an active membership of approximately 17,000 students, and over 350,000 alumni members...
service fraternity
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
from 1931 until 1946. Alpha Phi Omega grew from 18 chapters when he took office to 109 chapters when he stepped down. It was said that Bartle personally financed the fledgling organization.
Bartle was a devout member of Central Presbyterian Church, Kansas City, from 1929 until his death, although he was often not in attendance because he was filling a pulpit somewhere else. (If Bartle were called to substitute for a pastor who was ill, he needed only the time to dress and get to the church. He could work out the sermon on the way.) Bartle served as a member of the general council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
The Presbyterian Church , or PC, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. Part of the Reformed tradition, it is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S...
, 1961-68, and was a member of the General Assembly, 1962-66. He was also a charter member of the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
Bartle's wife said she believed he "could do anything on this earth that he sets out to do....and he has more energy than any other five men alive." Bartle received numerous honors and awards for his public service, including honorary degrees from at least a dozen colleges and distinguished service medals from a dozen foreign governments.
Mayor
In 1955, Bartle, a Democrat with no previous political experience, was asked to run for mayor of Kansas City on the Citizens' Association ticket. Although the Citizen's Association (of which Bartle had been a founder) had helped sweep the Pendergast political machineTom Pendergast
Thomas Joseph Pendergast controlled Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri as a political boss. "Boss Tom" Pendergast gave workers jobs and helped elect politicians during the Great Depression, becoming wealthy in the process.-Early years:Thomas Joseph Pendergast, also known to close friends as...
out of power in 1940, Bartle chose to run as an independent with Citizen Association support. However, in his reelection campaign of 1957, Bartle also accepted the tacit support of the remnants of the Pendergast machine, leading to unfounded fears about the possible revival of "boss politics." In Kansas City, the mayor was comparatively weak, effectively an at-large city councilman; but Bartle, not surprisingly, was superb at performing the inspirational and ceremonial aspects of his office.
During his two terms, Bartle oversaw the desegregation
Desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
of the city hospitals and removed them from political influence. He also overhauled the city tax structure, organized the mayors and city manager
City manager
A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a council-manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief executive officer or chief administrative officer in some municipalities...
s of 67 nearby towns into a planning council, supported the advancement of African-American police officers, and oversaw initial construction of the Kansas City airport
Kansas City International Airport
Kansas City International Airport , originally named Mid-Continent International Airport, is a public airport located 15 miles northwest of the central business district of Kansas City, in Platte County, Missouri, United States. In 2008, 10,469,892 passengers used the airport...
and a nearby freeway. Also during his two terms, the Philadelphia Athletics professional baseball team and the Dallas Texans
Dallas Texans
-American football:*Dallas Texans , 1952 team in the National Football League*Dallas Texans , 1960–1962 team that is now the Kansas City Chiefs*Dallas Texans , 1990–1993 Arena Football League team-Ice hockey:...
professional football team moved to Kansas City, the latter adopting Bartle's nickname, "Chief." While he was mayor, Bartle went to all two-alarm fires in a fireman
Firefighter
Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...
's hat, coat and boots; and every weekday morning at 8 AM—or when he could actually make it to the station—he broadcast a radio report to the city.
Bartle found his first term the more enjoyable. Then he had carried into office virtually the entire Citizens Association ticket. During his second term, a block of councilmen stymied his plans. Although Bartle remained on the 1963 ticket, he asked voters not to reelect him.
Personality
Bartle was a hail-fellow-well-met, who "never knew a stranger" and demonstrated an impressive recall of names. On Christmas, he would regularly spend the day visiting orphanages, the Boy's Home, the city jail, and other places that might be overlooked on such a holiday. For most of his life, Bartle lived simply, becoming more expansive in his personal spending only after being elected mayor. (His greatest extravagance until that point was fine cigars, of which he smoked 25 per day.)Bartle idolized his clergyman father and displayed some guilt for not having followed in his profession. Bartle continued to make major decisions only after deciding what his father would have done in a similar circumstance. But Roe Bartle hated the penury of the clergyman's life. The first time he asked a girl for a date, she rejected him because he was dressed in ill-fitting, second-hand clothes. Crushed, he swore before a mirror, "hand upraised," that no child of his would ever know poverty. But once he had the money, he also acquired expensive hand-tailored suits.
Kansas City Star editor Roy A. Roberts
Roy A. Roberts
Roy Allison Roberts was a managing editor, president, editor and general manager of The Kansas City Star who guided the paper during its influential period during the Presidencies of Harry S. Truman and Dwight D...
was puzzled by Bartle, "You can say almost anything you like about Roe Bartle—call him demagogue, opportunist, tycoon or dedicated saint—and you will be correct, but you will speak only half truths. Nobody knows Bartle. He is too complex to be figured out."
Death
In later years, Bartle was plagued by health problems including phlebitisPhlebitis
Phlebitis is an inflammation of a vein, usually in the legs.When phlebitis is associated with the formation of blood clots , usually in the deep veins of the legs, the condition is called thrombophlebitis...
and injuries to his back and legs caused by a 1944 plane crash. Bartle died on May 9, 1974, from complications of diabetes and heart disease
Heart disease
Heart disease, cardiac disease or cardiopathy is an umbrella term for a variety of diseases affecting the heart. , it is the leading cause of death in the United States, England, Canada and Wales, accounting for 25.4% of the total deaths in the United States.-Types:-Coronary heart disease:Coronary...
. He was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery. The Kansas City Convention Center
Bartle Hall Convention Center
Bartle Hall Convention Center is a major exposition hall in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, USA. It is named for Harold Roe Bartle, a prominent, two-term mayor of Kansas City in the 1950s and early 1960s...
, completed in 1994, was named Bartle Hall in his honor, and Bartle's wife and friends provided items for exhibit cases that there memorialize his life. Bartle's papers are in the State Historical Society of Missouri
State Historical Society of Missouri
The State Historical Society of Missouri, a private membership and state funded organization, is a comprehensive research facility located in Columbia, Missouri specializing in the preservation and study of Missouri's cultural heritage...
.