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... a tradition so
evident in Pioneering was born when the outdoor plant of our infant
telephone industry met and passed its first service test. "The Spirit of
Service" commemorates that historical event. It was during the great
blizzard that began in New York before dawn on March 12, 1888, when all
other means of communication failed between Boston and New York, that the
toll line remained in service, thanks to the foresight of the builders and
the courage and dedication of the men who watched over it. The storm was
the worst to hit this nation in a century. It paralyzed the Northeast,
piling drifts as high as houses, blocking every highway, knocking out all
telegraph and train service, and almost—but not quite -
eliminating telephone
service. These, of course, were the days of open wire construction, when
the telephone system was subject to the worst the elements could offer.
The telephone industry was in
its infancy—Bell had
invented the phone just 12 years earlier.
Angus
Macdonald
was a 23-year-old
lineman in 1888. He was part of a crew that worked through that blinding
storm—patrolling the lines and repairing breaks wherever they found
them—to keep open the last remaining long distance line between New York
and Boston.
Thanks to the dedication
of Macdonald and his fellow workers, New York was never without at least
some long distance telephone service. But, for several days, the telephone
was New York’s only
means of communication
with the rest of the world.
Because of his part in
this historic event, Macdonald was asked to pose for the painting that was
commissioned in honor of the dedication of those brave workers. It would
come to be known as
"The
Spirit of Service"
and would serve as a tribute to generations of dedicated telephone people.
Macdonald was an active Telephone Pioneer as well as a dedicated telephone
man. In fact,
he, along with Alexander
Graham Bell and 243 other telephone people, attended the very first
Pioneer meeting in Boston in 1911. Macdonald retired from the Long Lines
department in the ‘30s after more than 48 years of service. He belonged to
the Life Member Club of the Edward J. Hall Chapter in New York at the time
of his death in 1958 at age 94.
The spirit of service
didn’t die out when old-timers like Angus Macdonald retired. It’s still
very much alive today, and, over the years, telephone employees have seen
how essential that spirit is in providing our country with the world’s
best telephone service—not just in responding to emergencies, as important
as that is, but in meeting our day-to-day commitments as well.
The tradition of passing this famous print to each President of the
Pioneers began in 1970, when
H. I. Romnes, then AT&T
chairman, presented it to Pioneer President Robert D. Lilley at the
General Assembly in Cleveland. Southern Bell Pioneer President B. Franklin
Skinner displayed the print in the Southern Bell Center lobby during his
term as Pioneer President, July 1, 1986 to June 30, 1987. In addition,
Chapter President Jere Randall was also presented a print for display
during his term of office. Wherever it hangs, the spirit of service
reminds us all that service remains our number one priority. It’s fitting
that it be associated with the Telephone Pioneers, for no one knows the
meaning of that spirit better than those who have dedicated their careers
to keeping it alive. The
"Spirit of Service"
– it’s our most important tradition. |
