With Tuesday's General Election behind us and the completion of the official vote counting a few weeks away, I thought it might be interesting to relive the day a presidential candidate visited our area.  Originally printed in the Town and Country on Sept 9, 2021.

            William Jennings Bryan was one of our country's greatest orators in the late 1890s and early 1900s.  He was a lawyer, editor-in-chief of the Omaha World-Herald, a

William Jennings Bryan

United States Congressman from Nebraska, and a three-time Democratic Party nominee for President of the United States.  He also served as Secretary of State for Woodrow Wilson.  He was widely known and heralded for his lectures that openly denounced and criticized many government plans and decisions.  He had a very deep religious background, and some considered him a political evangelist.   

            It isn't every day that someone of that kind of national prominence makes an appearance around here.  So whenever the opportunity arises to make that happen, it's accompanied by an extreme desire to make sure everything goes well.  Hopefully the personality might return, or others may be inspired to come.  Back in 1922, one of our local school boards was able to secure a visit from Bryan.  Whether you agreed with his ideas, opinions, and teachings or not, just the thought of meeting him was enough to excite the residents of our Valley.   

            This was long before television was invented and radio broadcasts were still in their infancy.  Attending public talks by prominent speakers was a vital way for adults to learn at the time.

            The East Greenville School Board was indeed proud that they were able to

William Jennings Bryan addressed residents of the Upper Perkiomen Valley at Realty Hall on April 1, 1922.

schedule this esteemed public speaker to deliver his lecture on "Pending Problems" at the borough's Realty Hall on April 1, 1922.  Bryan was in the middle of a very ambitious speaking tour throughout the eastern states. 

            While traveling to Allentown, his tight schedule would allow him to make an appearance here.  According to High School Principal C. W. Woiring, Bryan was scheduled to leave Philadelphia at 5:05 p.m. and arrive, via the Perkiomen Line, shortly before 7 o'clock.  The lecture would start promptly at 8 p.m.  The organizers were expecting a sellout crowd to attend the event.  The hall, located at Third and Main streets in East Greenville, had a seating capacity of 600 persons.  However, because the demand for seating was so high, an additional 125 seats were placed on the stage.

           On the eve of the scheduled Upper Perkiomen Valley visit, Bryan spoke to a crowd in Virginia.  He reportedly left word with a hotel porter to call him in time to catch the morning train to Philadelphia.  For whatever reason, the porter woke Bryan an hour too late to catch the early Philly-bound train that would allow him to make his Perkiomen railroad connection.  Rather than skip the engagement in East Greenville, he came up with a plan.  Keep in mind, this was a man of worldly reputation who never visited, nor had any friends in our Valley.  As a matter of fact, during his run for the Presidency in 1896, Montgomery County voters preferred William McKinley over Bryan by a 19,000 to 14,000 margin.  Nonetheless, the man of principle telegraphed to have someone from East Greenville meet him at the Philadelphia train station at 6 p.m., and he could then make the trip by automobile.

            Traveling from the Upper Perkiomen Valley to Philadelphia in 1922 was not an easy or quick task.  There was no Turnpike, I-95, or Schuylkill Expressway.  But three volunteers rose to do their part to make sure that the event would happen.  East Greenville residents John Dimmig, Joseph Dyson, and Harvey Heck (who ran a local taxi service) hopped in Heck's car and made the trip to the City of Brotherly Love to give Bryan a ride.  The esteemed speech maker was one of the last persons to exit the train, causing a few anxious moments for the greeting party.  Shortly after they greeted Bryan, the travelers were in Heck's car heading back to the Upper Perkiomen Valley.  The punctual Bryan's instructions to Heck were simply, "Don't be reckless, but run fast enough to make time."

            Eight o'clock came, and the speaker delivered his message on time to the capacity crowd.  At the time, it was the largest audience ever assembled under one roof in the entire Perkiomen Valley.  William Jennings Bryan delivered his lecture, and at the conclusion, stayed to shake hands with those who attended before continuing on to Allentown.

            Thanks to our trio of travelers, the visit was a success.  Bryan must have been satisfied with his visit here because he returned to our Valley for another speaking engagement in 1923.