By Patrick Crowley and Chris Mayhew
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Mr. Seifried

NEWPORT - When he delivered mail on Newport's west end in the 1940s and into the 1950s, Christian Seifried was "horrified" with what he saw: brothels and gambling halls.

"They were bad enough, but I was horrified at the children I saw hanging around those places," Seifried told The Cincinnati Enquirer in 1961. "I made a pledge to God and myself that I'd do something about it if the opportunity ever presented itself."

Mr. Seifried, who died Wednesday at age 90, made good on that pledge. Working with clergy as well as business and community leaders, "the rugged letter carrier" as Seifried was described in the Enquirer, helped form the Social Action Committee, which eventually became known as The Committee of 500.

It is credited with leading to a crackdown on the vice and political corruption that was rampant in the place known as "Sin City."

"We first wrote to (FBI Director) J. Edgar Hoover for advice on our problems," Seifried told the Saturday Evening Post in 1960, "and he told us that our main job in the beginning was to bring conditions to the attention of the public. I think we've done fairly well with that."

While making his daily mail rounds, Seifried collected evidence. With that and other information, the committee helped oust several city and county officials accused of secretly working with organized crime in operating gambling casinos and brothels.

The committee members went to public meetings. Members reached out to reporters.

"They kept the light shining on what was going on, and that really helped make the difference," said his son, Roger Seifried of Loveland, who was in high school and college during his father's days as a reformer.

"He was very involved. He would never rant and rave. He was very methodical, very principled about it. It was what he believed in, and he went out and did something about it."

The organization used politics, too, to promote change, backing and helping elect former pro football player George Ratterman as Campbell County sheriff. The mob tried to discredit Ratterman by inviting him to a meeting, apparently spiking his drink and then photographing him with a stripper who went by the name of April Flowers.

Police arrested Ratterman on prostitution charges. But during a sensational trial, a photographer testified he was hired to take the photos. The charges were dropped and the reform movement had a major victory.

The effort by Seifried and others inspired Newport teenager Gary Bauer to pursue a life of political activism and social change. Bauer, 56, a Newport native, was a member of President Reagan's administration, ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2000 and today heads American Values, a Washington-based conservative advocacy group.

"For me, the work by Mr. Seifried and so many others on the Social Action Committee was an early example of the difference citizen activism can make in a community by using the liberties we have in this great country," Bauer said Thursday. "The whole effort inspired me, and the battle for Newport really defines who I have become in politics."

Visitation will be 10 to 11 a.m. and a memorial service at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. John's United Church of Christ, 415 Park Ave., Newport.

Fares J. Radel Funeral Home and Crematory in Cincinnati is handling arrangements.

E-mail pcrowley@enquirer.com and cmayhew@enquirer.com