Vance Criswell McCormick (June 19, 1872 – June 16, 1946) was an American politician and businessman. He served as mayor of Harrisburg from 1902 to 1905 and as chair of the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

from 1916 to 1919. He also served as the leader of the American delegation at the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

in 1919, appointed by American President Woodrow Wilson.

Biography

McCormick was born in 1872 to Henry McCormick and Annie Criswell. He attended Harrisburg Academy and Phillips Andover before completing a

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

course at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. McCormick graduated from Yale's Sheffield Scientific School in 1893, and was given an honorary MA degree by the university in 1907. While at Yale he was a member of St. Anthony Hall. A born athlete and leader, he became captain of the class

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

teams his freshman year and was on the university football team his junior and senior years. Vance was named to Walter Camp's All American Team as the first team

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. He served as president of Intercollegiate Football Association his senior year and garnered other university honors and awards, as well, including being a class

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

. He was also student body president of Yale in 1893.

Business and politics

In 1902, McCormick began his career as journalist and publisher. He was president of The Patriot Company, publishers of several area newspapers including '' The Patriot'' (1902 to 1946), ''The Evening News'' (1917 to 1946), and ''Harrisburg Common Council'' (1900 to 1902). He was also president of the Pinkey Mining Company, located in Harrisburg. In 1902, McCormick was elected

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

of Harrisburg and as part of the growing City Beautiful movement he immediately set about to improve the city. Today, he is credited with expanding the city

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

system (which eventually included 1,100 acres), built steps along the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River ( ; Unami language, Lenape: ) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeastern United States, Northeast states (New York, Pennsylvani ...

and paved Riverfront Park (which still exists today), paved seventy miles of roads, and improved the city water system. During this time, the population of Harrisburg increased from 51,000 to 73,000. His uncle, Edward Z. Gross, would go on to succeed him as Mayor of Harrisburg in 1905. In 1912, he served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention from Pennsylvania. McCormick was the Democratic nominee for

Governor of Pennsylvania The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

in 1914, finishing second in a seven-candidate field. Republican nominee Martin Brumbaugh, Superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia, defeated McCormick on the strength of a strong performance in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and Allegheny counties. From 1916 to 1919, McCormick served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee and went on to be appointed chair of the American Commission to Negotiate Peace (1919) at

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

, under President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

, heading up numerous clubs and organizations along the way. He also served as Wilson's 1916 campaign manager, as chair of the War Trade Board (1916 to 1919) and as a member of many local, state, national and international organizations throughout the later years. He helped professor Thomas Garrigue Masaryk legions especially in Russia in 1918.

Later life

McCormick remained a bachelor until the age of 52, when he married the widow of Martin Olmsted, an eight-term Republican Congressman. They announced their engagement on December 29, 1924. Vance died at his country estate (Cedar Cliff Farms), June 16, 1946, near Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. Mrs. McCormick died in 1953. McCormick was a teetotaler for his lifetime.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* Vance Criswell McCormick papers (MS 478). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library

McCormick Family History
at the Center of Pennsylvania Culture Studies at Penn State Harrisburg * :la:Vance C. McCormick {{DEFAULTSORT:McCormick, Vance C. 1872 births 1946 deaths 19th-century players of American football All-American college football players American football drop kickers American football halfbacks American football quarterbacks Burials at Harrisburg Cemetery Carlisle Indians football coaches Democratic National Committee chairs Harrisburg Academy alumni Mayors of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Phillips Academy alumni Players of American football from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Yale Bulldogs football players