so thoroughly in the work of the social agencies
that the financial drives became a crusade, an adventure in human
relationships. He took off his coat, so to speak, and plunged into the
drives as one of the solicitors. The calls assigned him were the general
run as well as the difficult cases. He canvassed people of modest means
whom he didn't know as well as the large donors. As the calling was done
by two men soliciting together, he often found himself teamed with a man
whose occupation contrasted sharply with his own, once being paired with
a distiller! In the personal interviews his was not the milk and honey
approach, and he often became quite indignant if some did not give
according to their means. On one occasion he called with Mr. William J.
Shroder on a man who headed a large corporation but who refused to give
commensurately, using as an excuse the fact that the directors were
away. Mr. Nelson's feelings blazed forth and he blurted out, "You run
this corporation, and you can do as you please," and with that he strode
out of the room leaving his calmer friend to secure a gift of $500.00.
Sham irritated him beyond measure. Again, at headquarters one day
Maurice Pollak was holding forth in vivid language on the subject of
people who refused to contribute, and he did not notice Mr. Nelson
coming in behind him. When he suddenly stopped in some embarrassment,
Mr. Nelson exclaimed, "Go ahead, Maurice, you are saying just what I
feel but can't express so well." As he was a man of intense fervor, it
is probable that he was better at interpreting the inner significance of
the cause than in soliciting contributions. In 1922 he was elected the
General Chairman of the drive, and from 1916 to 1939 was a director of
the Chest.

As the years went by, Mr. Nelson became something of an "institution" in
Cincinnati, and his popularity made him "fashionable" to the
superficial-minded. Yet there was something decidedly spontaneous in the
acclaim with which he was once greeted by over one thousand canvassers
at a campaign dinner in the suburban city of Norwood. To a man the great
audience rose when he stood to speak, and applauded with genuine emotion
this Christian minister who represented Cincinnati as they wanted it to
be. Always sensitive to the reactions of a throng, he poured forth such
utterance as made them see the Community Chest as a great moral force,
not as just a financial campaign. Their consciences were quickened by