Paul Beers claims, "Mary Sachs was the city's savviest and most civilized entrepreneur," (2012). Sachs was a Jewish woman who never married. Instead, she developed a life of humble service. First and foremost, she was a business woman. Mary Sachs created a beautiful and fashionable shop across from Capitol Park on Third Street. Mary Sachs put a lot of work into her store. Unfortunately, it burned down. However, she was able to get back up and build a stunning new building. Plus, the architecture of the shop was clean and pleasing to look at. Sachs’ work brought beautiful clothing and design to the city of Harrisburg. This ultimately helped to make the city more beautiful as whole.
Sachs' business life was much like her civil life. She made advancements such as building a boy scouts camp for all races to come together. She also also helped Harrisburg hospitals and the Harrisburg academy. She brought beauty and life into Harrisburg through her store and kind charity. She is a true reflection of the City Beautiful movement because she helped lift Harrisburg in status and beauty to rank of Paris or London.
While Mary Sachs might not be considered a “reformer” to the City Beautiful Movement, she was a woman who loved her home in Harrisburg and contributed a lot to making it a nice and beautiful place to live and that is all the City Beautiful movement was about anyway.
Credits
Robin Schwarzmann