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SAMUEL SERSON BAXTER
1 905- 1 982
BY EDWARD ~ . C LEARY
SAMUEL S. BAXTER, consulting engineer, died at the age of seventy-
seven in Philadelphia on February 7, 1982. He was in private prac-
tice for ten years following almost half a century of service as
Municipal Engineer and Administrator in his native city of Philadel-
phia.
Among his peers Sam Baxter was regarded as a versatile practi-
tioner who combined innovative thinking with energetic leadership
in a variety of public works undertakings. National recognition of
his performance found expression in election to the presidency of
three professional organizations: the American Public Works Asso-
ciation (1947), the American Water Works Association (1966), and
the American Society of Civil Engineers (1971~.
Samuel S. Baxter was born February 6, 1905, in Philadelphia. He
lived and worked in that city his entire life except for a four-year
period of military service during World War II. Preparation for his
career began at the Drexel Institute of Technology Evening College
where he obtained a diploma in municipal engineering in 1926. One
of his instructors, a senior city engineer, encouraged him to take a
civil service examination for a surveyor's position in the Philadelphia
Department of Public Works in 1923.
This episode initiated employment with the city that spanned a
period of forty-nine years. His pragmatic engineering skills and
managerial talents attracted recognition for promotion to greater
responsibilities. Many challenging tasks were entrusted to him,
11
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12
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
including renovation of the exterior of Independence Hall in his role
as coordinator of all federal work-relief projects in Philadelphia.
Reflecting on these coordinator experiences he said, "It was compli-
cated and frustrating work, but it turned out to be important
because at that time I had more money to spend than practically all
department heads in the city."
His administrative capabilities in handling this program attracted
the attention of the Mayor, and at the age of thirty-five, Sam Baxter
was designated Assistant Director of Public Works. A singular aspect
of this appointment was that he was chosen despite the seniority
status of several other competent candidates. Traditionally the assist-
ant directorship had been reserved for a politician who handled only
patronage matters. But the newly elected Mayor in 1940 concluded
that this post should be occupied by a professional engineer who
would be responsible for improving operation of all water, sewage,
streets, highways, airports, public buildings, and street-lighting
facilities. Mr. Baxter had no problem in accommodating to these
various tasks.
At this time preparations for war claimed nationwide priority, and
Sam Baxter, an Army Reserve officer, was called to duty in 1942.
His first assignment with the U. S. Corps of Engineers was construc-
tion of a military airfield, which today is the Northeast Philadelphia
Airport. Impressed with his experience in public works manage-
ment, the Corps soon reassigned him to supervising the design,
construction, and operation of a brand-new community to accom-
modate 70,000 people. This was Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where facil-
ities were to be located for building the atomic bomb.
After military service he returned to Philadelphia in late 1945.
With the title of City Projects Engineer, later Chief Engineer, he was
charged with reducing a tremendous backlog of deferred public
works. This included design and construction of water treatment,
sewage disposal, airport terminal, and bridge facilities. In connec-
tion with the latter, he assembled a team of Belgian consultants to
explore the feasibility of building a prestressed concrete girder
bridge, which was a low-cost technique new to the United States.
His boldness in undertaking this structural innovation, using a num-
ber of very small prestressed wires embedded in concrete, in build-
ing the Walnut Lane Bridge, is today a widely employed practice.
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SAMUEL SERSON BAXTER
13
In 1952 political reform in Philadelphia led to the Democratic
party's taking control of the city, which had been a Republican
stronghold since the 1880s. With this change came a new city char-
ter, one provision of which created several new departments to
administer public works functions. One of these was a Department
of Water, in which were consolidated the design, construction, and
operation of all facilities associated with water supply, sewage dis-
posal, and storm water drainage. A unique feature of the arrange-
ment was the financing of operations. The Commissioner of the
Department was empowered to establish appropriate service charges
to ensure sufficient revenue to satisfy all funding requirements. This
established the Commissioner as a powerful, independent member
of the Mayor's cabinet.
Mr. Baxter promptly accepted the invitation of the new Demo-
cratic administration to serve as Commissioner. It was a further
tribute to confidence in his competence and integrity by all factions
in Philadelphia. Although he was a registered Republican voter,
he was reappointed five times for four-year terms by Democratic
Mayors.
By the mid- 1 940s Philadelphia's water system facilities had
greatly deteriorated and were inadequate for the city's needs. Its
streams were heavily polluted, and its drinking water bad tasting
and malodorous. Commissioner Baxter changed all of this during
his tenure. He quickly launched what became a $500-million mod-
ernization program and on the first anniversary of his appointment
announced that for the first time in ten years Philadelphia's drinking
water had received an unconditional certificate of approval from the
U.S. Public Health Service.
Sam Baxter left a legacy that included three modern water treat-
ment plants, fifteen new or improved water pumping stations, sev-
eral large storage reservoirs, three new water pollution control
plants, and sanitary and storm water pumping stations. Also, 1,500
miles of new water mains and sewers were constructed. He intro-
duced a number of concepts into his organization, including auto-
mation or computer control in Water Department plants, stream
studies (including micros/raining of storm water overflow, retention
of such flow, distribution of rainfall, bottom sludge blankets, and
effects of photosynthesis on streams), use of the computer for many
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MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
operational reports and engineering studies, and he contributed
much to the theory and practice of fixing water and sewer charges,
since he was one of the few utility heads in the country with the
power to fix these rates and charges. He established a financially self-
supporting utility service organization that ranked among the best in
the Nation.
A test of the Commissioner's achievements came during the
Northeast draught of 1965. While other communities (including
New York City) suffered water shortages, there was no shortage in
Philadelphia.
Mr. Baxter was selected for important national assignments. In
1967 he was named by Secretary of the Interior Udall as a member
of a special federal commission sent to Europe to observe technical
progress in water resources and wastewater fields. In 1968 he was
commissioned by the President as a member of the National Water
Commission.
He received many honors in recognition of his distinguished
career in public works: an honorary Doctor of Engineering from
Drexel Institute of Technology; the Public Works Man of the Year
from the American Public Works Association in 1960; the Engineer
of the Year Award from the Pennsylvania Society of Professional
Engineers in 1959; and numerous awards from Philadelphia, includ-
ing the Robert K. Sawyer Good Government Award, Philadelphia
Junior Chamber of Commerce, 1967; the George Washington
Medal, Philadelphia Engineers Club, 1967; and the Man of the Year
Award, Philadelphia City Business Club, 1965.
Sam Baxter was elected to the National Academy of Engineering
in 1970. He cherished this honor and served as a member of the
Committee on Public Engineering Policy and most recently as a
participant in the round table on engineering and technical aspects
of urban infrastructure.
Supplementing his devotion to engineering and management of
public works, Sam Baxter was indefatigable in lending support to
local community activities. He served as President of the Philadel-
phia Council, Boy Scouts of America; Chairman of Disaster Ser-
vices, American Red Cross; Board Member of the Methodist Hos-
pital; Chairman of the United Fund Community Services; and
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SAMUEL SERSON BAXTER
15
Director of the local Rotary Club. An important interest was pro-
moting development of the East Gerard Savings Association of Phil-
adelphia. He first became a Director of this institution in 1929, and
from 1964 until his death he was Chairman of the Board that guided
investment of assets totaling $375 million.
He was married to Norma Winter and was the father of two
children, Richard and Linda. The family was planning a fiftieth
wedding anniversary when he died. Norma was well known among
his professional colleagues because she accompanied him on most of
his travels.
In seeking further characterization of Sam Baxter, what comes to
mind is the recent assessment of a former City Councilman of Phila-
delphia, Thatcher Longstreth, now President of the Greater Phila-
delphia Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Longstreth's views may be
summarized in this fashion: "Baxter had prestige that few public
officials can ever command. This stemmed from his competence,
integrity and discipline as an engineer. In his appearances before city
council we were in awe of him. He was highly respected and
deserved it because he was a person of extraordinary stature."
Representative terms from entire chapter:
storm water
