standard-bearer of "a revolution that closes a dark and opens a bright era in the municipal affairs of New York." The reform-minded Strong established the New York City Board of Education, created small parks, and is credited as the "father" of the city's Department of Correction. The Department of Public Charities and Correction had been split by Governor Levi Morton in 1894 into two departments. Strong appointed former U.S. Civil Service Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt as Police Commissioner. Roosevelt was noted for fighting corruption and making the police department more professional. Strong's leadership help pass the School Reform Law in 1896. In the late 1890s, New York State legislators passed a law mandating bath houses for cities with more than 50,000 people. Strong agreed with the law's necessity due to sanitation issues caused by overcrowding. The city's bath houses, originally built for cleanliness and bathing, were later used for recreation. Personal life In 1866, Strong married Mary Urania Aborn (1843–1921), the daughter of Robert W. Aborn of New Jersey. Together, Mary and William were the parents of two children: Mary Aborn Strong (1868–1935), who married Albert Richardson Shattuck (1854–1924), a wealthy banker from Ohio, in 1889. Putnam Bradlee Strong (1875–1945), who married actress May Yohé, the former wife of Lord Francis Hope (later the Duke of Newcastle). Strong died in his home on November 2, 1900. After complaining of not feeling well, he retired to his room. During the night, he worsened very quickly, and he died early that morning, leaving behind a wife and two adult children. He was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in the borough of The Bronx in New York City. His widow died of heart disease at The Mount, their daughter's residence in Lenox, Massachusetts (and the former home of author Edith Wharton), in July 1921. Legacy The Fire Department of New York operated a fireboat named William L. Strong from 1898 to 1945. References External links 1827 births 1900 deaths Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) Mayors of New York City People from Loudonville, Ohio New York (state) Republicans 19th-century American politicians