Historical background

HARRY NELSON LENDALL, was the Educational Director and the moving spirit of the North Jersey Water Conference for the first nineteen years of its existence starting in 1942.  He was Professor of Municipal and Sanitary Engineering and Chairman of the Department of Civil Engineering of Rutgers University College of Engineering, at New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Harry Lendall was born July 13, 1878, in Essex, Massachusetts.  He graduated from Tufts College with membership in the three honorary fraternities of Sigma Xi, Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi.  After several responsible engineering positions he became head of the Department of Civil Engineering at Rutgers in 1912.  He was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Water Works Association, and other professional organizations.  The American Water Works Association honored him with the Fuller Award in 1947.  He was for a time the Secretary of the New Jersey Section of the association, and its Director on the AWWA Board. Professor Lendall died in New Brunswick June 5, 1963.

HISTORY OF THE

NORTH JERSEY WATER CONFERENCE

The North Jersey Water Conference originated with instruction courses in public water supply which started in the fall of 1942 under the “Engineering, Science and Management War Training Program” which was sponsored and financially supported by the Federal Government.  The first of these courses opened in October 1942 at the Y. M. C. A. in Paterson.  It consisted of two concurrent classes.  One was on the subject of “Water Works Maintenance” with Professor Harry N. Lendall as the instructor.  The other was on “Water Works Chemistry”, with Lee Purcell as the instructor.  These classes were each held weekly for twelve weeks, on Friday evenings, and concluded in March 1943.

The members of these classes held a dinner on January 5, 1943, which was described as the “First Annual Dinner, in appreciation of Professor H. N. Lendall and Lee Purcell”, at the Cedar Cliff Hotel in Haledon.

A second course of instruction was started March 26, 1943, consisting of the class on Water Works Maintenance, by Professor Lendall, and which also was held weekly for twelve weeks, ending in June 1943.

A third course, also consisting of Professor Lendall’s class, was held in the fall of 1943, starting on Friday, October 15, and concluding with a dinner for the professor on April 21, 1944, with twenty-five persons present. Following this course the financial support of the government was discontinued.

On November 17, 1944, a group of those who had attended these classes met in the offices of Passaic Valley Water Commission, then in Paterson, and after discussion they decided to form an organization to be known as the North Jersey Water Conference, with the purpose of “organizing and conducting classes in public water supply and water works maintenance and operation”. The following were elected as officers of this conference:

The course as planned for the winter of 1944-45 was to consist of twenty meetings to be held on Friday evenings, and four inspection trips to manufacturing plants.  Professor Lendall was chosen as leader of the group and designated as Educational Director.  An assessment of $12. per person was voted “to cover rent for class room and other expenses”.  The first meeting was held at the Paterson Y. M. C. A. on Friday evening, November 24, at 7:30, with the topic “Open Reservoirs, control and protection; factors affecting capacity”.

From the beginning the North Jersey Water Conference has continued for twenty-five years.  Our beloved Harry Lendall passed to his reward on June 5, 1963, having been faithful to the conference almost to the end, in spite of the infirmities of his age.  Our first Chairman, Bill Fairhurst, passed away on March 1, 1951, having been continued in office for five years.  Since then we have had a succession of officers, but outstanding for faithfulness among them is Edward Walasyk who, assisted by Mrs. Walasyk, was our secretary following Dick Bonyun for many years.

The meeting place of the conference continued to be the Paterson Y. M. C. A. until after the 1964-65 season, when a change was made to Gene Boyle’s restaurant in Clifton where the meetings continue to be held still usually on Friday evenings.

Meetings of the conference have always been characterized by free and spontaneous informal discussion.  No matter what the subject or who led it everyone in the audience could feel free to express his opinion or ask questions.  Every member could have the satisfaction of knowing that he had taken part in the evening discussion.  Most of the meetings have consisted of a presentation by a speaker or a panel, with discussion.  At least once a year it has been customary to have an industrial plant visitation.

Occasionally a meeting date has been given over to an excursion of some kind outside of the water works field, such as a trip to an ice hockey game, or to an industrial plant of general interest.  An innovation of the past six years has been the annual mid-summer party at the Dover Water Works picnic grounds.

The growth of membership of the conference has reflected the satisfaction of the members with its activities.  From an early membership of about 25 it has grown to well over 100 in recent years. 

There is every indication that the North Jersey Water Conference will probably be celebrating its 50^th Anniversary about twenty-five years from now.

Available Records do not make it possible to compile an accurate list of those who were members of the first classes in the fall of 1942.  The following list is of those whose names appear in the very early membership lists.  There may be some omissions.