the older children have to be kept out of school to assist with the
farm work. On account of deep snow and cold many children have to
stay out of school during winter. Transportation in winter would
help improve attendance in winter.
The per cent of attendance for the entire state of North Dakota was, for
the year ending June 30, 1914, 87 per cent, and for the following, 88
per cent.[47] County superintendents in the state sent in the following
reports for 1916.
McIntosh County, which is largely populated by Germans:
An investigation showed that hundreds of children of school age
were either not attending school at all or were lamentably
irregular in their attendance, for no legal or otherwise good
excuse. In order to set an example, several cases were prosecuted,
and this seemed to have a good moral effect all over the county.
[Illustration: IMMEDIATE RETURNS FROM CHILD LABOR DO NOT MAKE UP FOR
LOSS OF SCHOOLING]
Ransom County:
About half our county is consolidated. I find that we have 1,750
pupils enrolled in our graded and consolidated schools, the average
daily attendance of which is 75.4 per cent. There are only 993
pupils enrolled in the one-room schools, and their per cent of
attendance is 59.4 per cent.
In South Dakota the actual attendance of those enrolled in the country
schools is less than 60 per cent.[48] From Campbell County it was
reported as follows:
Most of our people are German-Russians and do not favor long terms
of school, as they want the labor of their children. For this
reason it is hard, even impossible, to secure regular attendance.
Their schools must not begin earlier than October, and close by
April 1st.
The Superintendent of Public Instruction of Nebraska reports for 1916 as
follows:
The average daily attendance, based on enrollment, is a fraction of
72 per cent. The loss is mostly to the rural children. Country
people find it somewhat easier to provide employment for their
children than do the people of our towns and cities, consequently
the attendance in our city schools is larger and more regular, and
a much larger percentage enroll.
In California the compulsory-school-attendance law is rigidly enforced,
except in the case of floating families. In this connection the
Commissioner of Public Education made the following explanation to the
writer: The California industries are mostly seasonal, which means that
the vast majority of labor forces are seasonal and floating. During the
seasons of fruit and hop-picking, cannery and lumber operations, large
numbers of laborers' families move from place to place. To keep track of
their children and to compel their school attendance is almost beyond
the power of the present school authorities, especially as they are now
organized.
The state school-attendance laws vary greatly, and one finds still more
variety in the enforcement of these laws. The greatest difficulties are
experienced in the rural districts. Using child labor in farming is a
deep-rooted tradition. The children are looked upon by their parents as
their economic asset. Moreover, it is a hard-headed conviction among the
rural population that child labor is beneficial to the children themselves;
they learn to work, their bodies are strengthened, they acquire good habits
of life, etc. That the children are deprived of the opportunity to play--to
develop as their nature requires--and to acquire a general education; that
this results in their mental abilities and social instincts being
undeveloped, the young people remaining bashful and shy; and that even
their physical development is greatly restricted by overwork--the rural
advocates of child labor cannot understand nor recognize.
In many cases the county school superintendents are elected by the
people who, in the main, are the parents of children. When the position
of the superintendent depends upon the will of the parent farmers, it
is often impossible to enforce the attendance law.
PRACTICAL CURRICULUM NEEDED
There is widespread dissatisfaction with the present program of the
public schools among the rural population. They say that no practical
training is given to their children. They feel that the teaching is
aimed to prepare their children for high schools and colleges only,
where only a very small percentage ever go. For instance, the Minnesota
Department of Education reports for 1915-16 that approximately 70 per
cent of the country children do not go beyond the elementary grades.
Only 5,532 out of 215,427 children in rural schools graduated from the
eighth grade for the year. Those who do enter high schools, and, later,
colleges, are indeed lost to the rural population, for the
college-trained boys and girls seldom return to the soil. The children
who do not enter high school remain on the farms, but they have secured
almost no practical training for rural life, either as farmers or farm
laborers. Instead, they have been prepared for high school.
The school program was especially sharply criticized by the Russian
sectarian peasants at Glendale, Arizona. "Why, the school is making out
of our children dancers and soldiers of war, instead of
farmers--soldiers of the soil!" exclaimed a gray-headed "prophet" in
disgust. Another peasant, perhaps not so high in the sectarian
hierarchy, wanted the school to teach their boys how to run and repair
automobiles and tractors.
The observations and inquiries of the writer led him to the conclusion
that the criticism of the school program by various elements of the
rural population is justified to a large extent. The school program at
present generally prevailing offers little practical training for
farmers' boys and girls. A native farmer in New Jersey explained to the
writer: "There is no use keeping my children in school after they have
acquired knowledge of reading and writing. They grow and learn more on
my farm than in the school, for I want them to become land tillers and
cattle raisers." This is perhaps an exaggerated and overdrawn statement,
but, nevertheless, the present rural public-school program works in
favor of the city at the expense of the rural communities.
Up to recent years the prevailing teaching language in the public
schools has been English, but in a number of the public schools in the
immigrant rural sections the teaching language has been German. This is
true in the states of Nebraska and North Dakota. A prominent church head
informed the writer that there are at least half a dozen schools in
McIntosh County, North Dakota, paid for by the money of the state, under
the direction of the County Superintendent of Schools, in which the
entire teaching is in German.
The writer found still more numerous cases where a foreign tongue was a
subject of study in the elementary public school, though English was the
teaching language. Both a foreign tongue as the teaching language and a
foreign tongue as a subject of study in the elementary public schools
are now done away with under the pressure of public sentiment against
these practices.
NEED FOR EXPERT ADMINISTRATION
The limitations to efficient rural-school administration are many.
According to a recent bulletin of the United States Bureau of
Education[49] in more than half of the states the county superintendents
are elected by the people, and in the remaining states they are either
elected or appointed by county boards, county courts, state boards,
state Commissioner of Education, Governor, president of township boards,
district boards of education, city or town boards, township directors,
parish boards, local school boards, or union boards.
In the majority of cases the parents control the local school inspection
and direction. Such democratic control would be desirable provided the
parents were as enlightened and expert in school training and education
problems in general as school-teachers and their inspectors and
superintendents. As a matter of fact, the parents, especially in the
rural districts, are quite backward, and often even ignorant, in these
problems. This is the root of the trouble with the local school
inspection and direction. A county superintendent is not always elected
for his merits as an educator, but often for his popularity, influence,
and "agreeableness." An elected county superintendent usually cannot
come into conflict with the parents--for instance, by insisting on a
rigid enforcement of the school-attendance law entailing the arrest of
the parents for disobeying the law--without losing his position at the
next election. This condition causes frequent change or "rotation" of
the county school superintendents, and is in itself a considerable
defect of the existing system of school inspection and direction. With a
few exceptions, county superintendents who were interviewed complained
of this "rotation" to the writer.
In most cases no educational or experience qualifications are required
by any higher authority for inspectors. As a result local politics,
village gossip, and jealousies have free play.
Usually there is no provision for office expenses, assistant, or
clerical force. The superintendent's salary is low, often lower than a
teacher's salary. The superintendent of Ziebach County, South Dakota,
received only $44.76 monthly, while the average teachers salary was
$55.04 per month. Another county superintendent told the writer that all
his salary went for gasoline and repairs for the automobile with which
he made his inspection tours. To the question why he served the county
without compensation he answered, "Because I love the 'game' and have my
own private income."
Another defect is the fact that the superintendents have to cover too
large a field. A county contains from one hundred to three hundred
teachers, and nearly as many schools. The county superintendent is able
properly to inspect all the schools under jurisdiction only once or
twice a year, which is not sufficient for the direction of the school
work. Quite a number of the county superintendents complained about the
lack of authority over teachers, especially in their selection and
appointment. Under such a condition, if a teacher carries out the
superintendent's wish or advice, she does so merely from courtesy.
On the whole, most of the local school inspectors and superintendents
interviewed by the writer impressed him favorably so far as personal
character went. They seemed to like their work and were doing what they
could under the circumstances.
PROPOSED MEASURES
There is no other public institution in the country so varied in its
organization, its strength, its methods and ways as the elementary
public-school system. It ranges from a shanty-like to a palace-like
building, from a teacher almost illiterate herself to a teacher with an
education and training which fit her for a college chair, from a few
hundred dollars of yearly appropriation to tens of thousands of dollars
for upkeep of a single school, from one teacher to a staff of teachers
in one school, from an almost voluntary attendance to a rigid compulsory
attendance. All these wide variations, in themselves picturesque, are a
weakness of the system.
When the writer speaks of the weakness of the elementary public schools
he uses this term in a relative sense, keeping always in mind that there
is no other tool in the hands of the government so powerful in stamping
out and keeping out illiteracy and hyphenism as the public school.
To make it meet these tasks a uniform public-school system based on
standard requirements should be established throughout the country by
the Federal, state, and local governments closely co-operating with one
another for this purpose.
The Federal Bureau of Education should certainly be developed and
elevated to the status of a department similar to that in a number of
the states, and in almost all foreign countries.
The reorganization and the support of an efficient public-school system
would require heavy public expenditure, a substantial part of which should
be contributed by the Federal government to the states as an inducement to
the latter to meet the minimum standard requirements in regard to the
public-school system and to accept Federal inspection of the schools for
the purpose of ascertaining that the states and the counties were keeping
to the minimum requirements, which might be as follows:
(1) Enlargement of one-teacher schools through either consolidation or
development; no less than two teachers and no less than three classrooms
in each school.
(2) At least a general high-school education, two years of training in
teaching methods, practical and theoretical acquaintance with
agriculture, with library work, with first aid and with recreation and
community activities, should be the minimum requirements for candidates
for teachers in the rural public schools.
(3) The rural teacher must receive a satisfactory living salary
throughout the calendar year, to be gradually increased as the years of
service increase. A pension for old age, and accident and health
insurance, should be provided. Near the schoolhouses there must be
established "teacherages," small experimental farms with family living
houses for the teachers.
(4) The school year should be made to coincide with the calendar year,
with a number of short vacations during the time of special farming
seasons, such as planting in the spring and harvesting in the fall. The
work done by the children for their parents during the vacations should
be considered as a part of their school curriculum. They would report on
their work to the school, and receive instructions on how to do the work
in a better way, and at times the teacher in charge of the children's
home work would make inspection and instruction tours in the district
during the vacation periods.
(5) Each child must be compelled to attend the public school, or a
private school which fully meets the requirements of the public school,
until he has completed the elementary-school education. Such school
attendance should be rigidly enforced throughout the country, which
would be possible if the local school authorities, in the enforcement of
the law, were made more independent of the will of the parents in their
districts. In addition to the inspection by the local authorities, a
Federal system of inspection and direction should be established.
(6) English should be the teaching language in all public schools.
(7) There should be included in the school program instruction in
farming methods, varying according to the local soils, climate, and
other conditions and requirements.
[31] C. P. Cary, _Education in Wisconsin, 1914-16_ (1917), p. 51.
[32] "Educational Conditions in Arizona," _United States Bureau of
Education Bulletin_ No. 44, 1917, p. 46.
[33] H. W. Foght, "Efficiency and Preparation of Rural School Teachers."
_United States Bureau of Education Bulletin_ No. 49, 1914, p. 19.
[34] Report of Superintendent of Public Instruction, North Dakota,
1914-16, pp. 84, 85, 87, 89, 109.
[35] "The Educational System of South Dakota," _United States Bureau of
Education Bulletin_ No. 31, 1918.
[36] C. P. Cary, _Education in Wisconsin, 1914-16_ (1917), p. 99.
[37] H. W. Foght, "Rural-Teacher Preparation in County Training Schools
and High Schools," _United States Bureau of Education Bulletin_ No. 31,
1917, p. 5.
[38] Report of Superintendent of Public Instruction, North Dakota,
1914-16, pp. 89, 107.
[39] Report of Superintendent of Public Instruction, North Dakota,
1914-16, pp. 52, 70.
[40] Report of Superintendent of Public Instruction, South Dakota, 1916.
[41] Report of United States Commissioner of Education, 1917, vol. ii,
p. 77.
[42] Minnesota Department of Education, Nineteenth Biennial Report,
1915-16, p. 8.
[43] C. P. Cary, _Education in Wisconsin, 1914-16_ (1917), p. 98.
[44] Department of Interior, Commissioner of Education, Report, 1917,
Vol. II, pp. 69, 77.
[45] "Educational Conditions in Arizona," _United States Bureau of
Education Bulletin_ No. 44, 1917, p. 67.
[46] Minnesota Department of Education, Nineteenth Biennial Report,
1915-16, pp. 34, 75, 87.
[47] Fourteenth Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Public
Instruction, North Dakota, 1916, pp. 67, 110, 121.
[48] Report of Superintendent of Public Instruction of South Dakota, 1916.
[49] K. M. Cook and A. C. Monahan, "Rural School Supervision," _United
States Bureau of Education Bulletin_ No. 48, 1916.
XII
EDUCATION OF ADULT IMMIGRANT SETTLERS
The adult immigrant settlers need American education, the women more
than the men. This fact was clearly impressed upon the writer during his
field investigation. The women do not penetrate the American world; they
live in the Old World, their children live in the New, and the men in a
mixed world. No matter how brokenly or how fluently their husbands speak
English, with but few exceptions the wives either speak it not at all or
attempt a few syllables of the strange language with a hesitation and
shyness which soon cause them to fall silent and retire in favor of
their children or husbands. Their social visits, their contact with
women and men other than their family, are confined to members of their
own nationality. They live in a cage, in which they suffer, but to which
they cling because it is all of life that they know.
IMPORTANCE OF REACHING WOMEN
To reach them, to bring them out into the world in which their families
live, is a difficult task. It must be undertaken and accomplished,
first, for the purely humane reason of lightening their lot and making
them individually more happy in the New World; second, for the sake of
preventing the disruption of families, the corner stone of the present
social order; third, for the sake of creating and sustaining good
citizenship. Whether immigrant women vote or not, they are an inevitable
influence in the political life of the country. They must be helped to
keep pace as nearly as possible with their children, who are
increasingly under the influence of the American environment, especially
the public schools. Not only that, but education of the mothers means a
more effectual development of the children, for the mother is the
greatest educator of the nation. The first question is how to reach them.
It is easy to say that the native women should go to them, establish
friendly social relations, and in this way influence them. The writer
observed in the field that such attempts have been made in earnest, but
without much result. The first difficulty is the lack of a common
language. Next is the difference in the levels of intellectual
development. One might question what common grounds for social
intercourse there would be between an American farmer's wife with either
grammar-school or high-school education and some European peasant's
wife, illiterate, impossibly shy, and downtrodden.
Still, there is a way out. In almost every immigrant rural colony one
may find a more intelligent immigrant woman, either a mother of a family
who has been long in this country or an elder daughter who has received
a public-school education, speaks English satisfactorily, and who, at
the same time, speaks the immigrants' language and knows the families in
the colony more or less thoroughly. Such women should be approached
first, should be brought into intimate contact with the native families,
and should be induced to take a course of training and become organizers
or teachers of the adult immigrant women in the colony. They will be
able to effect an organization which might be called the "Women's Club"
or "Mother's Club." Instead of creating an entirely new body, such
organizations as exist can and should be utilized; there may be clubs,
some co-operative association or a benefit society. There may be no
organization and one may have to be initiated. In that case it is
desirable that the more developed immigrant women be appointed to the
directorate of the new organization.
THE HOME TEACHER
It would seem advisable for our high schools, normal schools, and
colleges specifically to train their immigrant girl students to become
home teachers in the colonies of their respective nationalities. Such
home teachers, qualified and trained for their work, should receive an
adequate, living salary. Their duty would be to visit the immigrant
homes, talk with the mothers, tell them how to rear their children, how
to care for the health of the family, how to prepare meals of American
food and in American ways, how to can and preserve, and how to work in
the home garden. They should organize recreation facilities, reading
circles, amateur theatricals, choruses, etc. The home teacher should
organize the women into afternoon classes for learning English and
should induce them to visit the evening classes with the men. She also
would be the intermediary for the establishment of friendly and social
relations between the immigrant families of different nationalities and
the native American families. She should be attached to the teaching
staff of the local public school.
Such home teachers have been employed in California under the direction
of the Home Teacher Act passed in 1915. The conditions of employment,
the duties and qualifications of the home teachers are outlined by the
Act as follows:[50]
Boards of school trustees or city boards of education of any school
district may employ teachers to be known as "home teachers," not
exceeding one such home teacher for every five hundred units of
average daily attendance in the common schools of said district,
as shown by the report of the county superintendent of schools for
the next preceding school year. It shall be the duty of the home
teachers to work in the homes of the pupils, instructing children
and adults in matters relating to school attendance and preparation
therefor; also in sanitation, in the English language, in household
duties--such as purchase, preparation, and use of food, and
clothing--and in the fundamental principles of the American system
of government and the rights and duties of citizenship. The
qualifications of such teachers shall be a regular kindergarten
primary, elementary, or secondary certificate, to teach in the
schools of California, and special fitness to perform the duties of
a home teacher; provided that the salaries of such teachers shall
be paid from the city or district special school funds.
The provisions of the law at present limit its application to congested
neighborhoods.
In regard to afternoon classes for the women, one of the home teachers,
Mrs. Amanda Mathews Chase, writes as follows:[51]
Organize mothers' classes to meet afternoons at the schoolhouse.
This group work seems to me absolutely necessary in order to cover
the ground efficiently, and also because of the outlook and
inspiration for the mothers.... I would suggest forming classes
from the leading nationalities, each class to meet two afternoons a
week. One afternoon the program can be an English lesson, followed
by cooking, cleaning, or laundry. The other afternoon the program
might comprise English followed by sewing, mending, weaving, or
similar handcraft instruction. Sanitation, including personal
hygiene, and patriotic teaching should be kept in mind.... Every
forenoon will be spent in the homes. After all, the classes will
only be islands in the sea of your visiting. You must visit to
form the classes and visit to hold them. You must visit to see that
the knowledge absorbed at school is actually put into practice at
the home. You must visit to talk over many matters too delicate and
personal to be taken up on class afternoons.
The school system of Los Angeles has, under this law, employed an educated
Jewish woman from Russia for work in the colony of the Russian sectarian
peasants. The impression of the writer when he visited the colony was that
she was doing splendid work in helping the peasant women. The writer's
belief is that if she had been of the Russian nationality she would have
accomplished still better results, as the writer observed some antisemitic
feeling among the peasants in connection with her. One peasant woman told
the writer that this home teacher was a good protector for them, but did
not recognize that she was their educator. As the colony is large, the home
teacher really could not do much educational work other than to supervise
the attendance of the children at school and to help disentangle family
difficulties. It would be advisable to train and employ home teachers who
are of the same nationality as the people of the colony in which they work.
ORGANIZATION OF IMMIGRANT WOMEN
Immigrant women's organizations have been already started here and there on
the initiative, and by the efforts of the immigrant women themselves. For
instance, Finnish women in Calumet, Michigan, have organized an
"Americanization Club" for Finnish women, with the intention of extending
the movement into other Finnish colonies in America. The program of the
meetings consists of learning American songs, of addresses on America, its
history, civics, women's social work, child welfare. The club activities
hope to combat disloyalty, which the club members believe to exist among a
number of the immigrants of certain nationalities. The main aim of the
club, as its leaders state, is to assist in the Americanization of the
Finnish women in America--to eliminate the hyphen, to make the
Finnish-American women Americans.
The Council of Jewish Women in Newark, New Jersey, has established an
Americanization center for the Jewish women, mothers and grown-up Jewish
girls; while this center is in the city it illustrates the principle
involved. The activities of the "center" consist of an afternoon English
class for mothers, in order that they may "overtake their children on the
long road of learning," and of an English class in the evening for Jewish
girls who work in the factories. The chairman of the council states that
they have found a way to make the learning of English really interesting to
the foreign-born woman, that until now the woman who wanted to keep up with
her children in English had had to go to the evening school, where she
found a mixture of men and women of all races and all ages. She soon fell
behind the younger and smarter pupils, and lost her interest. In these
English classes of the "center" the women are practically all of the same
age, the same race, and have the same interests.
These attempts at Americanization by the immigrant women themselves,
under the stress of the tragedies caused by the estrangement of their
children through the American schooling, point the way to the remedy
above outlined. Help the immigrant mothers to keep pace with their
children. This is even more important, the writer believes, than work
with the immigrant fathers.
THE PUBLIC EVENING SCHOOL
When the writer visited an immigrant rural colony and found there a
large number of old-time immigrants still unnaturalized, there were two
explanations given. There was, first, the red tape in the naturalization
proceedings; and second, ignorance of English and of American geography,
history, and form of government. There had been no opportunity to learn
all these things, although the colonists had wanted to. Only in a few
cases did their own neglect seem to be a cause for their not being
naturalized.
The following field notes of the writer, taken at random, illustrate
the situation in regard to the knowledge of English and the
naturalization of the settlers in the immigrant colonies.
Italian colony, Canastota, New York. Writer's observations:
A large number of the men spoke very little English. The women did
not speak English at all. All the children spoke English.
Statement by their leader, a storekeeper:
The settlers have organized an "American-Italian Citizens' Club."
All the Italian voters, 117 in number, belong to this club. The
purpose of the club is to educate Italians in citizenship and to
assist them in becoming naturalized. There are about 250
unnaturalized Italians of voting age. Two causes have kept them
from naturalization: first, their ignorance; second, the red tape
of the procedure. Seventy-five per cent of the adults are
illiterate; 50 per cent of them do not understand English; only
about 25 per cent of the adults write and read English.
Portuguese colony, Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Statement by the priest:
Seventy per cent of the adults understand English; 50 per cent
speak English; 10 per cent speak and write English; about 80 per
cent are illiterate, not only in English, but in their own language
as well. The lack of education and culture of the adults is the
main obstacle in the way of their becoming Americans. For promotion
of Americanization, settlers should learn English and American ways
of life--attend evening schools.
Statement of a native storekeeper:
The only trouble with these Portuguese is that they lack even
elementary education. The vast majority do not know how to read and
write even in their own language. As a result, quite a number of
families live in dirt in their homes, and these are a source of
danger in the spreading of disease. I do not believe that school
would help these old people, for they never have been in any school
and it would be very hard to teach them anything. The only hope is
in the second and future generations.
Russian sectarian peasant colony, San Francisco, California. Statement
by one of their leaders:
Five per cent have second papers; from 30 to 40 per cent have first
papers.
Russian sectarian peasant colony, Los Angeles, California. Statements
made to the writer by the peasants themselves at a general meeting of
the colony members:
All but one of the members of the colony are unnaturalized. About 5
per cent have taken first papers. In explanation as to why they are
not naturalized, they brought several reasons. First, lack of
English; second, they have not felt so far that they are settled
permanently; third, they fear compulsory military service in case
they are citizens; fourth, their religion is opposed to violence,
which the government often uses in enforcing laws. During the
discussion the writer felt that they believed that their not being
citizens had helped keep their sons from being drafted into
military service. The writer explained that their sons were not
drafted solely because of their religion, as conscientious
objectors, and not at all because they were not citizens. For their
own benefit and the benefit of the country the writer advised them
to become citizens as rapidly as possible. They did not either
approve or reject the proposal, but the writer felt that there was
some suspicion.
Statement by the home teacher working among these peasants:
There ought to be schools to teach English to the parents at which
their attendance would be compulsory. The children now think they
are above their parents. The parents would gain by the compulsory
school. The children obey the teachers in school, but will not obey
their parents. The children go home and tell their parents that
they don't have to obey them. They lie to their parents. For
instance, the parents are opposed to dancing, but the children
dance just the same. The parents are so ignorant! They read the
Bible, but they don't know what is in the Bible.
Russian sectarian peasant colony, Glendale, Arizona. Statements made by
the peasants at a general meeting:
Not a single one of them is naturalized. Not one has taken first
papers. To the question why, they explained that they are firm
believers in the Kingdom of God, which is immeasurably higher than
the human kingdom and human governments. They are interested in the
spiritual kingdom and do not care for politics in any way.
Polish colony, Posen, Michigan. Statements by the local priest and the
settlers themselves:
About thirty men of voting age are not citizens. This is due purely
to neglect and the red tape in acquiring papers. Both Republican
and Democratic organizations exist, but most vote the Republican
ticket, believing that the Republicans keep the country's business
going better.
Polish colony, South Deerfield, Massachusetts. Statements by their leaders:
Almost every adult Pole understands English to a certain degree and
is able to make himself understood. About half of the adults can
write English, including those who can only write their own names.
About 50 per cent of the Poles are illiterate even in the Polish
language.
Large, long-established Italian colony, Vineland, New Jersey. Statements
by their leaders:
A large number, possibly two thirds, of the adults do not speak
English. All Italian farmers have first papers and intend to become
Americans, and about two thirds have second papers.
So it goes through all the rural colonies of immigrant settlers.
Everywhere the crying need is for education and training in English, in
citizenship, in agriculture, in everything. For the remedy, everyone
turns to the evening school for adults.
A large majority of the rural immigrant colonies in the country,
including small country towns, are without evening schools, without
libraries, without any educational facilities by which the adult
immigrant settler might learn the country's language, ways of life, the
meaning of citizenship, or better farming methods.
The public evening schools up to this time have been a city
institution.[52] Only during recent years have they made their appearance
in the centers of a few rural immigrant colonies. These have been
temporary establishments undertaken either privately by native Americans
in co-operation with the local immigrants, or publicly on the initiative
of the local government authorities. The money required has been raised
by collections or the local government has made temporary
appropriations. Usually the idea of a school for adult immigrants was
taken up by some public-spirited and patriotic local leader, a meeting
was held, money secured, a teacher employed, and the immigrants invited
to attend the schools. Almost in every case the enterprise seemed to be
successful at its beginning. The school was well attended and the
teaching and studying enthusiastically started. But after a week or two
the students began to drop out. Then, owing either to the decrease of
students or to the lack of money, the school was closed.
In a large Portuguese colony at Portsmouth, Rhode Island, a township
evening school was established in 1917-18. It was well attended, but
after two months the school was closed on account of lack of funds,
though it was very much needed.
In regard to an experience in establishing a Methodist evening school in
the Italian colony at Canastota, New York, the county school
superintendent made the following statement:
The greatest problem in the education of Italians here is how to
educate the parents. In 1915 they organized at the Methodist church
an evening school for the Italians. About forty students appeared,
and attended the school for about three or four weeks. They then
gradually ceased to attend the school. The causes were several:
there appeared a doubt with them whether the teachers and
supporters of the school were not trying to induce them to join the
Methodist church; second, there were no regular teachers, the
lessons were given by volunteers, and this resulted in
irregularity in teaching; third, a certain amount of shyness was
apparent. If such an evening school were to be organized for them
with no religious connections, and if it were a regular school, the
Italians would attend it.
In Holland, Michigan, where there is a large, long-established Dutch
colony, there was an evening school, but the attendance declined, the
people claiming that they had no time to attend it.
At South Deerfield, Massachusetts, in a Polish colony, there was
established an evening school a year or so ago.
It was a good thing for us [explained an elderly, bearded leader of
the colony]. Quite a number of our people attended it, but the
great majority did not. They simply did not want to, for they had
lots of work to do at home. Perhaps their bashfulness was the main
obstacle. You see, people with beards and lots of children do not
feel well in school. Look at me. Wouldn't I feel awful there?
In Woodbine, New Jersey, a large Jewish colony, the local manager of the
Baron de Hirsch fund, in charge of the financial affairs of the colony,
stated that there are evening classes held in the public schools during
the winter. Adults may attend these classes, but they do not. General
subjects are taught in these classes.
A prominent Italian in the Italian colony at Vineland, New Jersey, said
that evening schools were needed there. A year ago they had one with two
teachers, but the funds gave out. The people attended. These night
schools would teach voting, civics, etc., to the adults. The
superintendent of schools in the town said there were no classes in
English for the adult immigrants, but suggested that for Americanization
purposes classes should be organized and that the Italian leaders should
be approached and persuaded to bring in Italian people to the classes.
In the Bohemian and Slovak colonies at Willington, Connecticut, there
were no evening classes or schools, though several of the settlers
thought it would be a good thing to have such a school and believed that
the people would go if they had a chance.
In interviews, the rural evening-school students usually explained that
they felt "funny" and were shy and awkward in the school. They went to
the same school which their children attended, sat on the same benches,
had the same teacher, and read the same books which their children did.
Finally, they stopped, deciding that their children could do the
learning of English for both themselves and their parents. They also
explained that their time was too limited to allow of school attendance.
After the daily farm work they have to do chores.
Around a farm, especially a new, developing farm, there are countless
things to be cared for. There is no moment when a settler can say: "Now
everything is done and I am free." Besides, even if he does take time
and goes to the evening school, he feels tired there and is restless
about the work left undone at home. Another explanation given by the
immigrants in regard to their failure to attend the school was that the
school did not teach anything useful to them in their farming, and that
the progress in learning English was slow, almost imperceptible. It
seemed to them that never would they be able to master the language, and
they grew disappointed and discouraged.
The impression made upon the writer was that the complaint about lack of
time and weariness was not well founded. There are certain seasons,
especially in winter, when the settlers have time to go to the evening
school. Even in the heavy working season they might attend school, for
their fatigue from farm work is rather physical than nervous or mental.
EDUCATION MADE INTERESTING
The root of the trouble is in inadequate programs, in defective teaching
methods and unsuitable teachers. The knowledge of English, American ways
and standards of living might well be developed in the immigrant
settlers during the process of teaching them something useful,
necessary, and interesting. A simple course on farming methods, local
conditions, and useful information could be given, with the probable
result of awakening their enthusiasm and taste for more.
Such a program makes it essential that the evening-school teacher know
farming and rural conditions in general and be familiar with the home life
of the students and their racial peculiarities, to which he has to adjust
his methods. Possibly the best teacher would be a settler's son or daughter
who, after high school, has had training in agriculture and teaching
methods. The students should be graded according to their race, level of
mental development, and learning ability, whenever this is possible.
The ordinary method now in use consists in imitating and repeating the
words and sentences, often disconnected one from another, and the
stories told by the teacher. The formal copying of the words and
sentences written on the blackboard by the teacher, and reading
children's books are sufficient to discourage the most ambitious
student. Conversation is more successful than the story-telling method,
and exercises in the reading of popular textbooks on farming and of
popular essays on American history, geography, etc., are far more
interesting to the adult settlers than children's stories.
[Illustration: THE ARRIVAL OF AN IMMIGRANT SETTLER IN 1883 WAS SHOWN IN
A COMMUNITY PAGEANT]
[Illustration: THE SAME MAN IS WORKING FOR LAND AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT]
The evening school in the rural immigrant colonies should be provided
and attendance for the adult non-English-speaking immigrants urged,
until they have mastered simple English, the elements of citizenship,
and a rudimentary knowledge of farming.
In almost every colony visited the writer discussed with the settlers
the advisability of compulsory attendance at evening or afternoon
classes. No one was against compulsion, though a number suggested
qualifications. For instance, the evening school should operate in the
wintertime; the teaching should include subjects useful in farming; in
the case of hired men, the school time must be paid for by the employer;
the evening school should be a public institution, not a private,
charitable, or religious enterprise; if private organizations wish to
establish evening schools, they should do so only under public
regulation and control; the purpose of the evening school should be to
teach English, civics, and other useful subjects, not to serve any
special or private interests, party, or class; the evening school should
be free of charge to immigrants.
A few settlers wanted the evening school to teach the operation and
repair of automobiles and tractors; some wanted singing, music, and
theatricals taught; some wanted to be instructed in the growing and
harvesting of special crops, as, for instance, onions, tobacco, and
cotton. In general, the immigrants expect from the evening school more
than English and citizenship. They want practical knowledge which helps
them in their farming.
[50] _The Home Teacher; the Act, with a Working Plan_, the Commission of
Immigration and Housing of California.
[51] _A Manual for Home Teachers_; the Commission of Immigration and
Housing of California, pp. 20-21.
[52] See Frank V. Thompson, _Schooling of the Immigrant_, chap. iii.
XIII
LIBRARY AND COMMUNITY WORK
So far as Americanization is a question of education and so far as the
printed word is an instrument of education, the reading of American
literature by the immigrant is of inestimable value. It might be safely
stated that almost every time an immigrant reads something in English,
be it only a trade label on a tomato can or an advertisement in a street
car, he learns something about the country, at least a word or two of
the country's language.
PLACE OF THE PRINTED WORD
As a rule a newly arrived immigrant is eager to learn English. It gives
him a new sensation and a feeling of pride to know and speak another
tongue. When he has succeeded in mastering a few of the most common
words and expressions, like "no," "yes," "how do you do," "good-by,"
"street," "lunch," and others, he likes to use these words in his
conversation with fellow immigrants. When he says to his friend in his
native tongue, "Let us go to lunch," the last word is in English. His
eagerness to learn English is increased by the practical needs of
everyday life--to get a job, to understand the foreman's directions, to
buy or sell something, to travel, to apply for licenses, or to make
agreements. Everywhere the immigrant confronts English.
In addition to the signs on streets and shops, a newly arrived immigrant
soon becomes acquainted with the great American daily, especially its
"help-wanted ads." Here he looks for a job, reading the "ads." with the aid
either of a dictionary or of some one of his fellow immigrants who has
already mastered the "ad." language with its queer abbreviations. When he
has established himself in a job, perhaps he begins to think of taking up a
systematic study of English. He enters an evening school if there is one in
his town. There he makes his first acquaintance with the American book--too
often a children's reader containing stories such as "Puss and Her
Kittens," "Patty and the Squirrel," "The Dormouse," "Lullaby," "Andy and
the Worm," which, though perhaps very interesting to children, do not
correspond to the requirements of his mental development. Nevertheless, the
stories are related in good English and he goes ahead.
As time passes and his mastery of English grows, he begins to read items in
the daily papers and stories in the Sunday editions. Later he takes up the
reading of books, perhaps first those related to his trade, or the subjects
which are connected with his future plans in America. Still later he begins
to read books about America in general, its history, geography, nature,
social life, etc. An immigrant seldom takes to American fiction. He
ardently tries to be practical, being mainly interested in that which is
useful and helpful. When he reads general literature about America he does
this for the purpose of learning to know his new country, knowledge which
would help him to make a success here. The writer has often been approached
by immigrants with requests that he recommend literature on, for instance,
making a certain kind of candy, or pickles, or on hog raising or concrete
building. Frequently he has had to translate or assist in the
interpretation of various formulas and receipts.
RURAL NEEDS FOR BOOKS
A demand of this kind for literature by the immigrants indicates three
problems in connection with their education through the printed word:
first, the immigrant should be advised in his selection of publications,
told which might be the most useful to him. He is quite unable to make
this selection for himself; second, the means for acquiring the desired
publications should be supplied. As a rule the immigrant has little
money to spare for books; third, there should be encouragement and
cultivation of the reading habit among the immigrants as an efficient
means of their general education and, through this, of their
Americanization.
All these problems can be met through the institution of the public
library--a great agency for socializing knowledge in a modern democracy.
Though America is one of the countries most advanced in the development
of public libraries, still the development has not kept pace with the
requirements. This is especially true in regard to the rural
communities. Particularly in rural immigrant communities, the public
library is still lacking. Out of about forty rural immigrant colonies
visited by the writer during the past year, about thirty had no library
facilities at their disposal, while the remaining ten were able to pride
themselves on some sort of a library, either school or parish.
Both these kinds of libraries appear to be very unsatisfactory. As a
rule the school libraries are small and contain mainly children's books,
so that the adults have not much interest in using them. The parish
libraries contain mainly ecclesiastical literature and books on the old
country's history and general affairs. The majority of these last-named
books are in a foreign tongue.
An old Polish settler stated that the children sometimes bring books
home from the school, but that there is nothing in them for the older
people, while the church library is not much, either, for who cares to
read of one Sigismund or of one Friedrich der Grosse? The settler
concluded by saying that he and his fellow immigrants would like to read
American books about America. His colony needed an American public library.
The dean of the extension division of the University of Wisconsin reports
that there are 72 per cent of rural communities which are without public
libraries. This is in a state where the library facilities are
comparatively highly developed. It has been the writers impression, while
visiting the Wisconsin backwoods immigrant communities, that though the
various traveling and package libraries and library "stations" are
successfully operating in other parts of the state, they have not yet
reached these wilderness communities to any extent. As a rule the rural
immigrants do not even know of the existence of such libraries.
PACKAGE LIBRARIES IN WISCONSIN
Yet the demand for literature among the rural population is great and
growing rapidly. Take, for instance, the package library of the
extension division of the above-mentioned university. It has more than
10,000 packages. Each package contains collected literature--books,
newspaper, and magazine clippings, statistical tables, etc.--dealing
with a certain subject. It is sent, under certain conditions, to anyone
who requests it. The demand for such packages has more than doubled each
year. During 1908 and 1909 there were sent out 524 packages on 116
subjects to 136 localities, and during 1915 and 1916 there were sent out
5,948 packages on 2,404 subjects to 483 localities. The reason why such
wonderful carriers of knowledge do not reach the rural immigrants is
obvious; the immigrants do not know of their existence. Even if they do
know, they do not understand how to order them. In many other states
conditions are much worse.
What must be done to make the library common to every rural settlement?
What kind of a library is best suited to the needs, and how shall it be
extended to the backwoods rural communities?
The recommendation of the writer is that the school libraries be
developed and put on a higher level, with special adult and children's
sections. A library board should be created in each county as a unit
operating under a state law for the purpose of directing and developing
a county library system. A library tax should be levied upon each
county. Schools, community halls, and stores should be made library
stations, so that the settlers could have easy access to the books.
SELECTION OF BOOKS
Then there is the question of the selection of publications for the
libraries intended for immigrant communities. In this, the conditions
and requirements of the immigrant settlers have to be taken into
consideration, for it would be useless and wasteful to select books in
which the settlers are not interested and which they do not want to read.
First place must be taken by publications concerning farming.
Particularly should there be included in such libraries the publications
of Federal and state Departments of Agriculture. Then comes the
literature for the learning of the English language: dictionaries,
grammars, textbooks on composition, etc. Recreation literature--books on
sports in the open, plays, music, etc.--would be also in demand. Then
come the publications related to American history, geography, nature,
economics, government, and social life, and other serious publications
containing information about the country's past and present.
Finally comes fiction. A few immigrants who have acquired the habit of
reading fiction prefer to read stories and poems of a more realistic
character, like those of Jack London, Upton Sinclair, Ernest Poole, Mark
Twain, Arnold Bennett, Longfellow. The traveling libraries need not be
voluminous so much as of good quality. Aside from being practically
useful, they should try to help the rural immigrant settlers to improve
their standards of living and to broaden their intellectual horizon.
But who is going to stimulate and lead such an extension of the
libraries into the backwoods communities? The national and state-wide
library associations would be the ones to undertake this work. As they
succeeded in the extension of the American library to the battlefields
of Europe, so they without doubt will succeed in the extension of the
library to the firing line in our own country--to the line where future
America is in the making.
There is no doubt that rural communities will respond to national
assistance and greatly benefit by it. Even if only a small beginning
could be made very soon, increased demand and local initiative would
undoubtedly justify the project.
The day is not distant when the need of community books in every
American community will be recognized as an indispensable supplement to
all schooling work. In the new colonies that are being planned by
colonization companies the library as a part of the general community
scheme must not be overlooked. As the advantages of having book supplies
available become manifest, it may be possible to provide local housing
facilities as well as trained assistants.
There may be a room or even a separate building that can be given over
to this purpose. If there is a general community building, no better use
could be devised for a portion of it than a small, practical, accessible
library. If not the primary object of such a community building it would
certainly be an important one.
A COMMUNITY HALL
A public recreation hall in a rural community may be made one of the most
effective Americanizing agencies. Public meetings, lectures, amateur
theatrical performances, dancing, public celebrations, games, sports, etc.,
may be held there. It is the neutral place where all community members,
natives and immigrants of various races, religions, and tongues, meet one
another and learn to know one another, where the much-needed social
visiting among the natives and immigrants may have its inception.
[Illustration: A RURAL COMMUNITY CENTER PLAN WAS DEVELOPED BY THE
WISCONSIN COLONIZATION COMPANY FOR SOUTHERN SAWYER COUNTY]
One of the characteristics of the European immigrants is their inclination
toward singing, music, and amateur theatricals. In the old country there is
rarely a village which does not pride itself on some sort of an amusement
organization, be it a choir, a band, or a drama group. These are to
European people what sport, baseball, football, and the like are to the
mass of Americans. When the European immigrants come over they are strange
and unsettled, they have little opportunity for amusement, they even
neglect church attendance. But when they are settled and have begun to make
ends meet, they usually take up their former amusement activities, perhaps
singing first, then soon a band, and then the stage.
Under present conditions the natives seldom mix with the immigrants in
their amateur amusement enterprises. The immigrants conduct these in
their own tongue and select mostly their own songs, airs, and plays. It
is equally true that the grown-up immigrants seldom acquire interest in
the American sports like baseball and football. Their children, through
the influence of the school and their intercourse with the American
children, quickly become interested in the American sports, so much so
that the parents fail to understand and appreciate their enthusiasm.
"It's all right to a certain degree, but my boys seem to be already
crazy for baseball, neglecting everything else. I am afraid for their
future!" complained an elderly Italian settler to the writer.
Country life is poor in amusements and social intercourse as compared
with city life. Still, through organized efforts, the rural social life
can be made much richer and even very attractive. It was common
testimony given to the writer by the local community leaders that they
have succeeded in keeping their boys and girls at home, on the farms, by
building a community hall, organizing singing, games, and theatricals.
The community dances exert a great attraction in bringing the native and
the immigrant boys and girls together for common pleasure. It is quite a
sight to watch these dances: the village band is playing, the boys and
girls are dancing, while the elderly people are sitting around the walls
of the hall and watching the fun of youth, forgetting their daily
sorrows and worries and remembering perhaps their own youthful days
somewhere beyond the ocean. All, dressed in their Sunday finery, are in
a festive mood.
AMATEUR THEATRICALS
Perhaps the most beneficial enterprise in the community work is the
amateur theater. It gives the richest opportunity for self-expression.
It includes acting, literature, singing, music, and painting. It amuses
and teaches--it reflects and analyzes the social life and directs it in
its entirety toward higher levels of achievements. Whatever the
shortcomings and the sins of the Russian Bolsheviks, in one thing they
have struck, the writer is sure, the right road. This is in placing the
stage at the forefront in popular education, if only in an experimental
and theoretical way as yet. A properly directed amateur theater is
second only to the school. In a rural community it brings together
varied elements, brings out the best in each, and unites them by
developing common aims and ideals.
The amateur country theater has made much headway in the state of North
Dakota. The State Agricultural College at Fargo took the lead in the
movement. The president of the college attributes the success of the
country theater there not only to the influence of the college
leadership, but also to the deep need for entertainment and the hunger
for social life among the prairie people who are living on farms at long
distances from one another. The fact that the population is largely
foreign-born stock and has inherited an inclination toward stage plays
is another reason.
Professor Arvold of the same college, who is in charge of the
development of the country theater, stated to the writer that their
little country theater has a strong Americanizing influence upon the
population. It brings together both native born and immigrants of
various nationalities. They learn to know one another. They learn about
America, its history, present conditions, and future aspirations more
than in any other way. The theater teaches them the country's tongue,
for the plays are given in English. He believed that every large rural
community and groups of smaller communities in the same neighborhood
should have an amateur theater.
The theater, public lectures, exhibitions, and the American outdoor
sports should be centered in and around the community hall. Such highly
varied activities in community life require a trained director. He
should be a person with a good general education, with experience in
rural life and affairs and in organizing group activities. He must be a
good mixer and a lover of the work. For his work he should receive an
attractive salary. Colonization companies have initiated such work,
which should be taken over and maintained by the community itself.
COMMUNITY TEAMWORK
To put the community work in the rural districts on an organized and
permanent basis the writer recommends that a community board be created
in each county as a unit operating under a state law for the purpose of
directing and developing rural community work, similar to that which the
writer recommends for the development of rural libraries. A community
tax should be levied upon each county, the money received to be used for
community work among the population in the county.
In community union there is strength. Working and planning together for
any undertaking, however limited and comparatively humble its
dimensions, inevitably ties its promoters in bonds of greater
understanding and sympathy. Native and foreign born united for enriching
and enhancing their common life act as a powerful force for
Americanization. Better than any artificially devised scheme is the
spontaneous pulling together for a common need of all elements of the
community. This constitutes real amalgamation in a democracy.
INDEX
A
Americanization:
Factors, 145, 164
Instruments
Finnish women's club, 232
Parochial schools, 169, 171
Anderson, Vic, 184
Arizona:
Colony
Glendale, 30-31, 217, 236
Illiteracy, 146-147
Inability to speak English, 147
Schools
Attendance, 212-213
Aron, J., 160
Arvold, Professor, 255
B
Banks:
Settler's, 57-58
Baron de Hirsch Fund, 176, 180, 239
Bohemians:
Colony
Willington, Connecticut, 15-16, 240
Brommer, C. F., 160-161, 185
Brooks, John Graham, viii
C
California:
Colonies
Durham, 87-91
Los Angeles, 24-31, 231, 235
San Francisco, 152, 235
Home teacher, 229-231
Illiteracy, 146-147
Inability to speak English, 148
Land settlement, 31-33, 86-91
Dealers, 117-119
Legislation
Co-operatives, 141
Home teacher, 229
Land settlement, 87
Real-estate brokers, 117
Soldiers, 94
Schools
Private, 175
Public, 195, 215-217
California Commission on Immigration and Housing, 23, 229, 230
California Commission on Land Colonization:
Colonies, 31-33, 86
Cary, C. P., 173, 204, 209
Chase, Amanda Mathews, 230-231
Chicago, 158
Colonization company, 44-45
Child Labor:
On farms, 65-66
Churches:
Foreign language, 182-194
Immigrant pastors, 192-193
"Interfaith" marriages, 189-192
Clarke, W. T., 28
Colonization Board:
Federal legislation, 68
Functions, 127-128
Colonization Companies (_see_ Settlers):
A typical one, 52-65
Credit required, 66-68
McAlester, Oklahoma, 33-35
Methods, 49-52
Policy, 44-45
Promotion, 14-19
Regulation, 112-121
Colony:
Composition, 90, 132-133
List, xxvii-xxix
Size, 69-70, 131
Commissioner General of Immigration, 7
Community (_see_ Colony):
Rural
Hall, 252
Theater, 254-256
Work, 49, 63-65, 252, 256-257
Connecticut:
Colony
Willington, 15-16, 240
Conservation:
By colonization companies, 68-69
Cook, K. M., 219
Co-operation:
For land settlement, 136
Co-operatives:
California, 141
Michigan
Finnish colony, 136-137
Nebraska, 141
Wisconsin, 138-141
Credit:
Land companies, 67, 135
Settlers
Need, 66-68, 110, 135
Soldier
Foreign countries, 105-106
United States, 91-93
D
Department of Agriculture:
Land exchange, 122-124
Land settlement
California, 19, 23
Wisconsin, 19-23
Department of Interior, 92-93
Reclamation service, 95-98, 104
Detroit, Michigan, 167
District of Columbia:
Real-estate brokers, 121
Dutch:
Colony
Holland, Michigan, 171, 180, 188, 198, 239
Schools, private, 171
E
Education (_see_ Schools):
Effect of parochial schools, 153-155
Immigrant women, 226-228
Rural agencies, 149
Elmira, California:
Farms, 29
Ely, Richard T., xxvi
F
Fargo, North Dakota:
State Agricultural College, 255
Farm laborers:
California
Allotments, 88
Foreign born, 6-7
Naturalization, 148
Federal Farm Loan Board, 135
Finnish:
Colonies
Calumet, Michigan, 232
Rudyard, Michigan, 136-137, 167-168, 197
Schools, private, 167-168
Flag:
Display, 81, 160
Florer, Alice, 159
Foght, H. W., 205
Ford, Henry, 52
Fosdick, Raymond, viii
France:
Soldier settlement, 105
Fresno, California:
Land company, 26
G
Gavit, John P., 148
Gay, Edwin F., viii
German:
Colony
Au Gres, Michigan, 172
Schools, private
Michigan, 167, 172
Minnesota, 165
Nebraska, 159-160
North Dakota, 161-164
South Dakota, 174-175
Wisconsin, 174
Glenn, John M., viii
Grabner, W., 158
Gross, John P., 186
H
Hensick, H. F., 184
Honolulu:
Russian peasants, 29
Hrbkova, Sarka, 159
I
Illiteracy:
Urban-rural, 146
Immigration Bureau:
Land settlement, 18-19
Inability to speak English:
In colonies visited, 234, 236-237
Settlers, 71, 166, 234, 236-237
Urban-rural, 147-148
Italian:
Colonies
Canastota, New York, 198, 234, 238
Vineland, New Jersey, 151, 210, 237, 239
Document
Land settler, 10
J
Jenks & Lauck, 6
Jewish:
Center in Newark, New Jersey, 232
Colony
Woodbine, New Jersey, 180, 239
K
Kelly, M. Clyde, 99
Kenyon, W. S., 99
Knutson, Harold, 68, 102, 103, 135
Kreutzer, George C., 90
Kuehne, Richard, 184
Kuizinga, Reverend, 198
Kunzendorf, Reverend, 160
L
Land dealers:
Regulation, 112-121
Types, 39-45
"Realtors," 45-48
Sharks, 37-39
Land exchange:
In Maryland, 122-123
Proposed Federal, 124
Land settlement (_see_ California, Legislation, Wisconsin):
Available land, 111
Policy, 3-13
Program, 107-122
Promotion
By Federal Immigration Bureau, 18-19
By State Immigration Bureau, 18-19
Settlers' terms, 55-56
Stages, 50-52
Lane, Franklin K., 111
Legislation:
Co-operatives
State, 140-141
Land
Federal
Colonization Board, 68
Credit, 68, 135
Reclamation Service Act, 95-97, 126-127
Settlement, 101, 103
Soldiers, 98, 102-103
Foreign countries, 105-106
State
Credit, 68
Dealers, 114-122
Settlement, California, 87
Soldiers, 92-93
School
State, 215-217
Home teacher, 229-230
Regulation, private, 180-181
Lehninger, M., 184
Library:
Rural, 247, 251-252
Wisconsin, 248-249
Lincoln, Nebraska:
State Americanization Committee, 160, 183
Link, Professor, 159
M
McAlester, Oklahoma:
Colonization company, 33-34
Maryland:
Land Exchange, 122-123
Massachusetts:
Colony
South Deerfield, 153, 236, 239
Matzner, Adolph, 185
Mead, Elwood, 87
Michigan:
Colonies
Au Gres, 172
Calumet, 232
Holland, 171, 180, 188, 198, 239
Posen, 77, 168-170, 187, 198, 236
Rudyard, 136-137, 167-168, 197
Schools, private, 167, 172
Minnesota:
Colony
St. Cloud, 166
Land Regulation Bill, 119
Schools
Attendance, 213-214, 217
Private, 154, 164-166
Public, 200, 209
Missouri:
Legislation
Soldier settlement, 94
Monahan, A. C., 219
Mondell, Frank W., 102
Myers, Henry, 99
N
National Association of Real Estate Exchanges, 120
Naturalization:
Farm laborers, 148
Settlers, 79, 234-237
Nebraska:
Americanization Committee, 160, 183
Council of Defense, 158-160
Foreign-language church, 183-186
"Interfaith" marriage, 191
Immigrant pastors, 192-193
Legislation
Co-operatives, 141
Schools
Attendance, 215
Private, 159-161
Public, 209, 218
Nemac, Matt W., 193
Nevada:
Legislation
Soldier settlement, 94
New Jersey:
Colonies
Newark, Jewish center, 232
Vineland, 151, 210, 237, 239
Woodbine, 180, 239
New Mexico:
Illiteracy, 146, 147
Inability to speak English, 147
New South Farm and Home Company, 17
New York:
Colony
Canastota, 198, 234, 238
Legislation
Real-estate dealers, 119
Occupation tax, 117
Real Estate Association, 119
New York City:
Population, by nationality, 130
North Dakota:
Agricultural College, 255
Americanization work, 164
Country theaters, 255
Foreign-language church, 183
Languages spoken, 131
Schools
Attendance, 214
Private, 161-162
Public, 200, 201-202, 206-207, 209
O
Occupation:
Farm laborers, 6-7
Tax, 116-117, 121
P
Packer, B. G., 20-23, 115
Parochial (_see_ Schools, private)
Pennsylvania:
Occupation license, 116
Piper, A., 158
Polish:
Colonies
Posen, Michigan, 77, 168-170, 187, 198, 236
South Deerfield, Massachusetts, 153, 236, 239
Schools, private, 167-170
Pomp, F. E., 193
Population:
Comparative, 130
Urban-rural, 1920, 11
Portland, Oregon:
Real-estate brokers, 121
Portuguese:
Colony
Portsmouth, Rhode Island, 234, 238
Promotion:
Land settlement
Private, 14-19
Public, 18-23
R
Real Estate:
Regulation of dealers, 112-121
Reclamation:
Federal service, 95-97
Investigation, 104
Legislation, 92-94, 98, 99, 100, 126-127
Rhode Island:
Colony
Portsmouth, 234, 238
Robb, J. W., 161
Roosevelt, Theodore, viii
Rural:
Colonies studied, xxvii-xxix
Community work, 49, 63-65, 252, 256-257
Educational agencies, 149
Illiteracy, 146
Inability to speak English, 147-184, 234, 236-237
Libraries, 247, 251-252
Population, 1920, 11
Schools
Private, 153-181
Public
Elementary, 164, 195-225
Evening, 233-243
Russian:
Colony
Glendale, Arizona, 30-31, 217, 236
Los Angeles, California, 24-31, 231, 235
San Francisco, California, 152, 235
S
Schools, private, 153-181
Foreign language, 159-170, 172, 174-175
Schools, public:
Rural
Elementary, 154-155, 164, 195-225
Immigrant, 233-243
Settlers:
Aid to, 22-23
Banks, 57-58
Documents, 72-76, 80, 83
Inability to speak English, 71, 166, 234, 236-237
Naturalization, 79, 234-237
Progress record, 59-61
Selection, 88, 129
Terms, 55-56
Types, 133-134
Slovenian:
Colony
St. Cloud, Minnesota, 166
Soldiers:
Land settlement
France, 105
Legislation, 91-103
United Kingdom, 106
South Dakota:
Legislation
Soldier settlement, 94
Schools
Attendance, 215
Private, 154, 175
Public, 203-204, 209, 215, 221
Speek, Frances Valiant, xxvii
Stager, John H., 185
Strasburg, North Dakota, 163
T
Taylor, E. T., 101
Teachers:
Home teacher in California, 229-231
Rural, 203-211
Teaching:
Rural, 195-199
Texas:
Illiteracy, 146-147
Inability to speak English, 147
Land settlement Dealers, 119-120
Realty Association, 119
Theater:
North Dakota country, 255
Thompson, Frank V., 181, 237
U
United Kingdom:
Soldier settlement, 106
United States Bureau of Education, 196, 204, 205, 219
United States Census, 6, 11
United States Immigration Commission, 6, 7
University of Wisconsin:
Package libraries, 249
Urban (_see_ Rural)
Utah:
Legislation
Real-estate brokers, 121
Russian peasants' settlement, 29
V
Voll, John A., viii
Votava, Joseph G., 186, 193
W
Walsh, Thomas J., 103
War, 11, 67, 91
Washington:
Interstate Realty Association of Pacific Northwest, 121
Land purchase, 26
Legislation
Real estate, 121
Soldier settlement, 94
Weller, George, 159, 161
Williams, Talcott, viii
Wisconsin:
Co-operatives, 138-139
Land settlement, 20-22
Colonization companies, 52-65
Sharks, 38
Legislation
Co-operatives, 140-141
Real-estate brokers, 114
Libraries, rural, 248-249
Schools
Private, 173-174
Public, 154-155, 196, 204, 209
Women:
Immigrant
Document, 164
Education, 226-228
Organization, 232
_Americanization Studies_
SCHOOLING OF THE IMMIGRANT.
Frank V. Thompson, Supt. of Public Schools, Boston
AMERICA VIA THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
John Daniels
OLD WORLD TRAITS TRANSPLANTED.
Robert E. Park, Professorial Lecturer, University of Chicago
Herbert A. Miller, Professor of Sociology, Oberlin College
A STAKE IN THE LAND.
Peter A. Speek, in charge, Slavic Section, Library of
Congress
IMMIGRANT HEALTH AND THE COMMUNITY. (In press)
Michael M. Davis, Jr., Director, Boston Dispensary
NEW HOMES FOR OLD. (In press)
S. P. Breckinridge, Assistant Professor of Household Administration,
University of Chicago
ADJUSTING IMMIGRANT AND INDUSTRY. (In preparation)
William M. Leiserson, Chairman, Labor Adjustment Board,
Rochester
THE IMMIGRANT PRESS AND ITS CONTROL. (In preparation)
Robert E. Park, Professorial Lecturer, University of Chicago
THE IMMIGRANT'S DAY IN COURT. (In preparation)
Kate Holladay Claghorn, Instructor in Social Research,
New York School of Social Work
AMERICANS BY CHOICE. (In preparation)
John P. Gavit, Vice-President, New York _Evening Post_
SUMMARY. (In preparation)
Allen T. Burns, Director, Studies in Methods of Americanization
_Harper & Brothers Publishers_
[Transcriber's Note:
* The footnotes have been moved to the end of the relevant chapter.
* Americanization Studies section moved from the beginning to the end
of the book.
* p. 106: Table III was broken into four parts due to size.
* p. 193 "Nemec" ("Rev. Matt W. Nemec") and p. 263 "Nemac" ("Nemac, Matt
W.") retained as printed.
* Added "period" to the ending of Chapter XI, Footnote 14.
End of Project Gutenberg's A Stake in the Land, by Peter Alexander Speek