Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1960-01-14
People M Jr.y
Champion Of The Aged
BY Kathleen Leary
Woman'S Editor

four, is Maryland's top crusader
for the elderly.
The slim, prematurely white
tressed delegate to the Mary
land State Legislature began
her fight to solve the problems
of the aging during her first
campaign for office in 1854.
Next week, on January 20,
She takes another step forward
when the State Coordinating
Commission on Problems of the
Aging holds the first in a series
of conferences at the National
Institutes of Health, Bethesda.
MY hope" Delegate Schwein-
haut stresses, "is that out of the
workshops will come recommen-
dations creating atmospheres
and attitudes that will not deny
to senior citizens their right to
a rich and meaningful life."
Lay View Sought
AS chairman of the Commits
sion, she also is hopeful many
members of the communicate
large, as well as the experts,
will attend the all-day meeting
and give their views on prob
lens of the aging.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Schweinhaut
is talking to organizations and
individuals all over the state.
This afternoon she will be in
Sykesville. Last Friday after
noon she addressed the Wom-
ans Club of Chevy Chase. Next
week she'll preside at the NH
Conference.
Her telephone rings con-
stantly.
A nursing home operator pro-
tests the low amount of state
aid for INDECENT patients.
Someone else hits out at the
poor care provided in a nursing
home.
A gentlemen caller is given an
appointment to discuss another
legislative matter. This problem
Of aging is only part Of, the
legislators Job.
Mail Brings Complaints
The mail is piled high at the
Schweinhaut home in Rock
Creek Hills.
A Montgomery County couple
writes, 1--WE saved for our future
but because of initiation we can
no longer live in dignity"
The complaints are many.
1--WE can't live on social secur-
fly. We deeply resent the $1,000
limitation on income"
I'VE want to keep our home
but high taxes won't permit us"
There is no secretary to
handle the correspondence or
answer the two telephones.
A political pro, perhaps, Peg
Schweinhaut is also a dedicated
dogooder.
How 1t All Began
Her interest in old folks
really began in San Antonio,
Tex, where an identical twin
sister, Marie c. Mcclure, is d.
rector of the Housing Author
ity. In a city with a below-aver-
age number of middle-class resi-
dents, Mrs. Mcclure serves a
mass Of small income families.
"The slums," remarks Mrs.
Schweinhaut, "are filled with
nice, pathetic old people trying
to live on small incomes and in
sufficient pensions"
~As my sister gradually be.
came aware of the old, the
saddest Of situations" Mrs.
Schweinhaut continues, II, too,
grew interested in the subject
and when elected to serve in the
Maryland Legislatures began to
ask What is Maryland doing
for it's aged?'"
Lack Of Coordination
Although Maryland was pro-
viding food and money for its in
digents, carrying on adult edu-
cation programs and offering
"spotty" recreation facilities,
medical services and low-cost
housing, she discovered the state
had no coordinated program for
the aging.
Finally in 1857, after many.
many interviews with various
state agencies and interested in
dividuals, Mrs. Schweinhaut in
troduced resolution in the leg
islature to set-up a study COM
mission under the Legislative
Council to determine the need
for a permanent state agency
designed to study all phases of
problems of the older popula-
ton.
During the 1858 campaign the
group, headed by Mrs. Schwein-
haut, worked tirelessly through
the summer and fall holding
hearings before various inter-
ested groups.
Bill Creates Commission
The outcome was a favorable
recommendation to the Legis-
lative Council, which sponsored
House Bill I, calling for the per-
manent commission. 1t passed
about the same time the 1861
White House Conference on