Laughlin Family Visits Sewickley Center, Tours Renovations

of Sewickley is undergoing major changes while still maintaining its rich history. 

Tuesday, the board of trustees met to see and discuss at the Center, most notably, the completely revamped carriage house that will serve as Laughlin’s preschool. 

Among the trustees are Mary and Alexander Laughlin’s grandson and two great-grandsons.  Through all of the years, whether things change or remain the same, the Laughlin family continues to be involved in the organization, whose roots are more than 100 years old.

A significant part of the Laughlin Center’s history lies in its namesake. 

Mary and Alexander Laughlin founded The Fresh Air Home in in 1897, which was a place of refuge for women and children to escape the heavy pollution caused by the steel mills during that time.  

After Mary Laughlin’s death, the endowment created for the Fresh Air Home was used to establish the Laughlin Children’s Center in 1956. 

Since then, Alexander Laughlin, named after his grandfather, has served as a trustee of the Center and has traveled from his home in New York several times a year to meet with the board of trustees and visit the Center.

Laughlin, 86, is passionate not just about keeping his grandparents’ legacy alive, but also loves children and wants to see all children thrive. 

He remembers visiting the Fresh Air Home as a child and seeing his grandmother care for so many women and children.

“It was a big old house where lots of women came with children and several of them had severe medical problems,” he said.  “Some stayed for years.”

Although he has never lived in Sewickley, Laughlin never goes too long without visiting, whether it’s to meet with the trustees of the Laughlin Center or the Laughlin Memorial Library in Ambridge. His belief in these organizations are what keeps him coming back.

Aside from serving on the boards of these family organizations, Laughlin has had quite the career in his own right. 

After graduating from Yale University, he worked for Gulf Oil Corp. before heading to Wall Street.  His success there, along with his keen eye for the arts, earned him a position as a trustee at the National Gallery of Art in Washington  for 14 years. During his last three years there, Laughlin served as chairman.

His love for art, in fact, carried over into the Laughlin Center’s courtyard: He by artist Mary Callery that still hangs on the wall. 

“I commissioned this piece called ‘The Flying Lesson,’ in memory of my grandmother,” he said.  “It symbolizes a mother and child.”

While Laughlin is happy to see parts of the Center’s history, such as the sculpture, preserved, he is excited and hopeful for its future.

“The work I saw being done in the preschool is very imaginative,” he said.  “It’s a good step.” 

Here’s to another 100 years of good steps at the Laughlin Center.