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CHESAPEAKE REGION HISTORY
By William H. Miller, Jr.
There was no organized antique automobile hobby activity in the Baltimore area until the organization of the Chesapeake Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America took place. There were, however, a few individuals who owned and drove antique automobiles. The largest known collection of cars by one individual was that of Edward Hook, who lived then in the Walbrook section of Baltimore. He started collecting in about the year 1936, and by the year 1950 had collected some fifty vehicles. Another independent enthusiast was Willard J. Prentice, who bought a 1922 Ford Runabout in 1949 at the cost of $45.
In 1950, Willard Prentice bought a 1913 Ford from Laurence Stillwell of Goodville, Pa., a member of AACA. Through association with Laurence Stillwell, Willard Prentice became interested in the AACA and became a member that year. In the spring of 1950, he attended the Spring Meet in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, PA. At this event he saw first hand what was being done in the hobby and his interest grew. These events led to the organization of the Chesapeake Region.
In the year 1952, Willard Prentice joined the National Capital Region. He drove over to Bethesda, Maryland, Sunday afternoons to attend meetings at the home of W. L. Cook. For some time he was the only person from Baltimore to attend these meetings.
Somewhere along the line, Willard Prentice met Karl Feather and they went together to Bethesda to attend several meetings. It was Karl Feather who first advanced the idea of organizing in Baltimore. He thought a good idea would be to organize a Chapter of the National Capital Region. However, Willard Prentice thought the organization of a Region would be a much better idea. After much discussion, the Region idea was decided upon, and so the story of Chesapeake Region began.
Karl Feather personally contacted all local owners of antique automobiles that he knew or heard about, while simultaneously Willard Prentice wrote letters to national members all around the area. When they felt that they had commitments from enough people to form an organization, a meeting was set up for Sunday afternoon, March 13, 1955, at the North Baltimore Y.M.C.A. Auditorium.
Dr. Mark L. Redding, Director of Gettysburg Region, attended and supplied necessary information on requirements for organization. Several suggestions were made for a Region Name and the choice was CHESAPEAKE REGION. A slate of officers was elected as follows:
Region Director-Karl W. Feather
Assistant Director-Joseph Mullen
Secretary-Treasurer-Willard J. Prentice
Executive Board-Wayne F. Haller
J. Leonard Rhinehart
Charles E. Smith
Activities Chairman - Edward Hook
A petition for a Regional Charter was prepared with 24 signatures. This Charter was approved by the National Board of Directors on April 30, 1955.
Several activities took place in that first year of operation, the first of which was the Easter Parade along Charles Street. The lead car was Edward Hook’s 1909 Hupmobile Roadster. There were a total of 21 antique and classic cars in the procession.
The first Chesapeake Region Fall meet was held at the home of Edward Hook in Walbrook. Invitations were sent to National Capital and Gettysburg Regions. In all, 42 antique and classic cars were present. At the business meeting connected to this meet, the Constitution and By-laws of the Region were adopted. This document, with only minor amendments, is still in use to this day.
Of the original 24 charter members, only 4 are on our rolls as active members today. Some of these people drifted away for a time and later rejoined. Of these 4 charter members, three have been continuously active through the entire 45-year life of the region.
In the early days of the Region, articles about our activities were submitted to the Antique Automobile Magazine regularly by Willard Prentice, Barbara Paulison, Harry Heiger and John Howard Eager. Photocopies of these articles are in our Historical files, and were the basis for a series of articles in the Chesapeake Bulletin during 1977 and 1978 by Murrell Smith entitled ‘Chesapeake Region Roots.’ This series of articles has enabled us to fill our history over a period when original documentation is missing.
The principal documentation of the events leading up to the formation of our Region as well as the source material for this report is an article written by Willard J.Prentice, and first published in the Chesapeake Bulletin in April of 1974, entitled "How Chesapeake Region Started."
On January 29,1956, the first Annual Meeting was held, and J. Leonard Rhinehart was elected as the second Director of the Chesapeake Region. It is not known how many members were in the Region, nor who the new members for that year might have been since there is no roster for that year in existence as far as is known. We have been told that the roster for 1956 was one sheet of paper. No one seems to have saved a copy.
The year 1956 started off activity-wise with involvement in a Massachusetts-to-California Motorcade for the March of Dimes. Chesapeake Region members met the Motorcade at Elkton, Maryland, and escorted it to Baltimore. A dinner and rally were held on behalf of the March of Dimes. Afterward, Chesapeake Region members escorted the Motorcade to Laurel, Maryland, where it was met by members of the National Capital Region.
Oakley A. Sumpter, Jr. became the Director for the year 1957. Several significant events occurred that year. One was a discussion of the possibility of obtaining special license tags for antique automobiles. This project was continued, and such registrations were finally granted in 1959.
In March of 1957 Vol. 1, No. 1 of the Chesapeake Bulletin was issued under the Editorship of Julia Hayden, who served as Bulletin Editor until 1962. A reproduction of this first issue of the Chesapeake Bulletin was included in the December 1974 issue of the Bulletin.
Our 1957 Roster, a staple-bound volume with cardboard covers, lists 63 members (no listing of wife-members), a copy of the Region By-laws, the list of AACA car classifications current at the time, and a list of acceptable domestic and foreign classic cars.
On the first day of December, 1957, the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel was officially opened to traffic. Our Charter Member Willard J. Prentice led a procession of Chesapeake Region member cars through the Tunnel as a part of the opening ceremonies.
The year 1958 started with Albert P. Hayden as Regional Director. At that time it was the custom at some meets to award a trophy to a visiting club. A number of Chesapeake Region members journeyed to Pottstown, Pennsylvania, to participate in their Fourth Annual Spring Trial Run. More than a dozen Chesapeake cars attended the meet and came away with a fine trophy. This trophy, a bronze cup, is now located in the Chesapeake Archives.
Other activities in the 1958 season included a run by several members to Winchester, Virginia, for the Annual Apple Blossom Festival. It was reported that Helen Ports won a First Prize for having the best unrestored classic car. Also held was a meet at the Eastpoint Shopping Center on May 4 in which 66 cars were registered. The cars ranged in age from an 1899 Locomobile to a 1941 Cadillac.
The Annual Meeting held on January 18,1959, saw the election of W. E. ‘Bud’ Miller as Regional Director. Les Henry and his wife, members of the National Club and James B. Monroe, Maryland Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, were the Banquet speakers. It was at that meeting that the decision was made to institute the Antique License Tag. These tags were made available for use in the new registration year beginning April 1. The tags were marked ‘EX 3-31-60’.
The 1959 Roster listed 66 members along with four pages of pictures taken at various activities during the year.
This is the first of two years (1959 and 1960) that Chesapeake Region won Revere bowls for participation in the DELMARVA Chicken Festival. These bowls are now located in the Chesapeake Region Archives.
The year 1960 saw William S. Clark at the helm. This is the year in which the second of our Revere bowls was won for participation in the DELMARVA Chicken Festival. The Chesapeake Bulletin reached the age of three years in March of 1960. An interesting sidelight was an ad that appeared in the March Bulletin offering a restored 1941 Brunn bodied Lincoln V-12 Town Car, an extra V-12 engine, and a parts car, all for the sum of $1500.
The 1960 Roster listed 104 members and contained five pages of pictures of Region activities for the year.
The new Regional Director for the year 1961 was C. Gordon Kirwan, Jr. The official membership listed in the Roster was 101, down a few from the previous year. New members in 1961 included Harold L. Clemens, Harry Goldman and George Horn. Once again there were pictures of Chesapeake Region activities included in the Roster. A meet was held that year at the Keswick Home. This is the first mention in our writings of this meet.
The annual meeting for 1962 was held at the Four Corners Inn. Elected to the Directorship that year was Harry M. Heiger. National President of AACA, Mahlon Patton was among the 140 persons attending. In this year, our Charter member and Past Director J. Leonard Rhinehart was elected National AACA President.
In March of 1962, Julia Hayden retired as Chesapeake Bulletin Editor. Harry Heiger took over as interim Editor, with Maryann Nelson doing the typing.
The Chesapeake Roster for 1962 was the first in which members’ cars were listed. We listed 113 members and 133 cars.
The Reisterstown Road Plaza meet was established in 1963 and continued for many years as an annual event. Originally the Plaza was an open shopping center, but several years ago it was converted to an enclosed mall.
Also in 1963 Edward E. Watson became Regional Director, and Carter L. Nelson became Editor of the Chesapeake Bulletin.
The Regional Director for 1964 was Ernest W. Gill. Earl D. Beauchamp, Jr., became Editor of the Chesapeake Bulletin and continued in that capacity until 1969.
The CHICK SMITH AWARD was established in 1964. This award was established as a memorial to a deceased member by his widow. It was to be presented each year to the member selected by popular vote of the membership who had contributed the most effort for the good of the club in the previous year. The first recipient of the CHICK SMITH AWARD was Earl D. Beauchamp, Jr.
The Regional Director for 1965 was Earl D. Beauchamp, Jr. It was in this year that our annual meet at the Laurel Race Course in conjunction with the Laurel Lions Club was established, although previous events had been held at that facility..
Earl C. Anstine became Regional Director in 1966, and George L. Horn, Jr., was elected in 1967. The Chesapeake Region was incorporated in 1967.
Robert W. Parks, Jr., became Regional Director in 1968. It was in the spring of this year that the antique automobiles were invited to participate in the Annual McDonough Fair. The McDonough Fair Meet along with the event at Reisterstown Road Plaza and the Laurel Lions Meet were advertised in our Bulletin for several years as "Chesapeake’s Triple Crown".
Howard Scotland became Regional Director in 1969. In February of that year the regular meeting place of the Chesapeake Region was relocated from the Enoch Pratt Library Branch on Loch Raven Blvd. and Cold Spring Lane to the Community Hall of the Dunhill Village Apartments through the efforts of Chesapeake member John Bassler. This move gave the Region greater flexibility in planning membership meetings and programs since we were no longer required to vacate the premises by 10 p.m. as we had been at the Library. In addition we had available lockable storage space for Region property that we had previously been required to remove after each meeting. Another advantage as far as the membership was concerned was that there was much more available parking space.
The Regional Director for 1970 was Joseph M. Henriques. For a brief period of time after Earl Beauchamp retired as Bulletin Editor, those duties were assumed by Thomas Horwath. For several years during the life of the Bulletin, Joseph Henriques and Peter Maguire served as Circulation Managers.
The year 1971 saw David A. Phillips serving as Regional Director and Gene Crim as Bulletin Editor. It was in this year that Chesapeake Region was invited to hold a meet at the newly opened Baltimore Streetcar Museum on Falls Road. This meet, though small, has always been an interesting one, and for many years was held both spring and fall.
In 1972, with Harold L. Clemens as Regional Director it became Chesapeake Region’s turn to help with the establishment of a new Region. Harold Clemens, Gene Crim and Earl Anstine met with a group in Bel Air, Maryland, who were desirous of establishing either a Chapter of Chesapeake Region, or an entirely new Region. Their final decision was to establish a new Region. The name of the new group was Harford Region.
In September of 1972, after the Region had long searched for a suitable and affordable location at which to hold an indoor winter flea market, Joseph Henriques was able to obtain from the Penn Brothers Chrysler Agency of Reisterstown Road the use of their shop area that was normally closed on Saturday. A working committee consisting of Harold Clemons, James Dyson, Roger Langstan, Gene Crim and Earl Anstine was formed to plan Chesapeake Region’s first indoor Winter Flea Market. The date was set for February 17,1973. The Flea Market was a success and has been held annually since that time.
A decision by the Directors of the National Club was made in 1972 to change the title ‘Regional Director' to 'President’ for all Regions.
Murrell E. Smith was elected President of the Region in 1973, re-elected in 1974 and again in 1975. He was the first President of Chesapeake Region to serve three consecutive terms. It was in this year that John Packard began his first turn as Bulletin Editor. On June 28, 1973, the new parallel span of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge was officially opened. Once again, antique cars formed part of the Ceremonial Procession. The Procession was led by 86 antique automobiles, 18 of which were owned and driven by Chesapeake Region members.
Once again it became necessary to change our meeting place. Due to a managerial change at the Dunhill Village Apartments, the Community Hall was no longer available to us. A new meeting place was obtained for us at the First English Lutheran Church Meeting Room at the corner of Charles and 39th Streets.
Several times in the history of Chesapeake Region the question of sponsoring a National Meet was brought up. Many members liked the idea, but some were hesitant about taking on such a large project. When the question arose again in 1974, the officers decided to contact the National Headquarters for the purpose of obtaining information and guidance in conducting a National Meet and to inquire about available dates. There was much discussion on the subject and when the year 1978 was offered as an open date, the decision was made to go ahead with plans. So it was that the Chesapeake Region announced that we were indeed going to sponsor a National Spring meet on June 16-18 of 1978.
Following this announcement, there was a general increase in Region activity. There was a marked increase in membership, a greater number and a wider scope of activities as well as a marked increase in member participation. Judging Seminars were held and more people became interested in judging on both the local and national levels. 1975 marked the 20th year of operation of Chesapeake Region. At the 1975 Annual Banquet our Charter Members were extended a special invitation to attend. Many responded, including several Past Directors who were invited to address the membership.
July of 1974 was the last month in which John Packard’s name appears as Bulletin Editor. Between that time and May of 1975, Sue Winchester served as interim Editor while Joseph Henriques remained as Circulation Manager. This information comes from actual perusal of Bulletins during that period and does not appear in Rosters for 1974 and 1975.
Frances Byard became the new Bulletin Editor in May of 1975. During this year the idea was formed that perhaps the name of the Chesapeake Bulletin should be changed. Suggestions for a new name were requested and many were submitted, but the general opinion by the greater number of members was that the original name should be retained.
During this year the decision was made to establish Participation awards and to establish service awards for members with 15 or 20 years membership in the Region. As of the date of the original writing of this report, (February 1980) 15-year Service Awards had been made to 40 members and 20-Year Service Awards had been made to 20 members.
Earl D. Beauchamp, Jr. was elected for the second time as Region President in 1976 and Murrell E. Smith was designated General Chairman of the upcoming National Spring Meet. He spent a very busy Year laying the groundwork for the meet. While the meet seemed a long way off, time seemed to fly by and there was much preparation to be done.
Richard R. Byard, who had served as Activities Chairman, was elected President in 1977, and was re-elected in 1978. These were busy years in both Regional activity and in the preparation for the National Meet. The first organizational meeting for the National Meet was held on February 21, 1977. Committees were appointed and Meet preparations got under way. Meanwhile, more local meets, tours, etc., were scheduled. During the two-year period our membership increased to some 400 members.
In the spring of 1977, the Board of Directors established the appointed office of Region Historian and Archivist. William H. Miller, Jr., who was in the process of retiring from his job at Westinghouse Electric Corporation, was selected to fill the office. The job of the Historian was to gather together all available historical material and establish a running history of Chesapeake Region. In addition, past records, obsolete material and any other data pertaining to history of Chesapeake Region were to be gathered together and placed in a suitable Archive collection.
With the help of many members who contributed material, and with the gathering of obsolete records that otherwise might be misplaced or lost, the Chesapeake Region History and Archives have become an ever-expanding collection.
At the Banquet in 1977 a special award, MEMBER OF DISTINCTION, was given to Helen F. Ports and to Willard J. Prentice in recognition of their many years of service to Chesapeake Region.
During the year 1978 the task of Bulletin Editor was lightened by the acquisition of an improved stencil cutter. This machine had the capability of reproducing stencils directly from copy, thus saving a lot of typing. A little later on, a collator was acquired which eased the job of assembling the Bulletin. When considering the quantity of Bulletins that were required each month, one can appreciate the amount of work required to accomplish this task and how the acquisition of these two machines eased the burden.
Finally the date for the Big Event, The Eastern National Spring Meet arrived. The dates were June 16-18, 1978. The show ground and flea market areas at the Timonium State Fair Grounds were prepared in good time for the early arrival of flea market vendors. The food stand was set into operation early and a contingent of show cars arrived and were housed in the Exhibition Hall where they would be secure.
Saturday started out rainy and it was feared that the weather would cut down on the number of cars shown. However, 575 cars showed up. About mid-morning the rain let up but the weather remained cloudy and muggy. A very large crowd of people were on hand. On Saturday night the Awards Banquet was held at the Hunt Valley Inn. The number of Banquet tickets sold was 557. The number of tickets sold or used for the Ladies’ Luncheon was 57, and 245 persons attended the Judges’ Breakfast. On Sunday morning a breakfast run was held, followed by a tour of the Ladew Gardens. It was later declared that this was the largest National Spring Meet ever held in the Eastern Division of AACA.
Robert Nelson was elected President in 1979. Frances Byard retired as Bulletin Editor after four years of service. Phillip B. Schnering took over as the new Bulletin Editor. The participation in meets, parades, etc., continued at a great pace. The members began to ask, ‘How about having another National Spring Meet?’ It was decided that this was a good idea, so application for an open date was made to National Headquarters and the date was set for June 18-20, 1982. Groundwork was started immediately. The first visible evidence was the sale of National Meet T-shirts.
A new award was established in 1979. It was called the SPIRIT AWARD. It was a trophy given by an anonymous donor to be held for one year by the member (not an elected officer), selected by vote of the Board of Directors who was judged to have done the most in the previous year to reflect the Spirit of Chesapeake Region. The first presentation of this award was made at the 1979 Annual Banquet to Robert L. Hause, our Publicity Chairman.
Charles W. Talbert, Jr., our Past Activities Chairman, was elected President for 1980, our 25th year of operation. Murrell E. Smith was once again appointed General Chairman of our upcoming 1982 Spring National Meet. Activities continued apace.
At our Annual Banquet, service pins for 25-years service were given for the first time to our still-active Charter Members. They were:
Margaret Anderson
Harry Anderson, Past Vice-Director
William F. Berger
Burgoyne J. Frank, Past Activities Chairman
Willard J. Prentice, Past Secretary-Treasurer
Ina Rhinehart
J. Leonard Rhinehart, Past Regional Director and
Past National AACA President
Frank Viers, Past Director
Ray White, Past Vice-Director
The SPIRIT AWARD for 1980 was presented to Phillip B. Schnering, Editor of the Chesapeake Bulletin.
So ended twenty-five years of existence of the Chesapeake Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America. Our members constituted the largest group of automobile hobbyists in the Baltimore area.
About the Author
The late William H. Miller, Jr. was appointed Club Historian in 1977 and served in that capacity until his death in 1998. Bill had an avid interest in antique automobiles, particularly those built prior to the 1930s. He frequently presented slide shows at club meetings that were much appreciated by the membership.
Click on photo to enlarge
Bill's collection of club history started with a briefcase and a single loose-leaf binder. At the time of his death it consisted of twelve loose-leaf volumes of running history and a complete collection of Chesapeake Region Bulletins, Roster, and three filing cabinets of material. The Club will be forever indebted to Bill for his diligence in assembling our history and the thorough manner in which he preserved it.