OUTLINES AND DETAILED ACCOUNTS OF DEPARTMENT WORK
The Faculty and Staff
The original staff of the Manhattan Trade School, 1902-1903, consisted
of a Director, an Executive Secretary, 4 supervisors (Operating,
Dressmaking, Pasting, and Art), 5 instructors and forewomen, 4 or 5
assistants and occasional workers, a janitor, and 2 cleaners. The
present staff, 1909-1910, consists of (1) _Office Administration_, 11:
Director, Executive Secretary, Assistant Secretary, 2 Stenographers
(office and placement), Placement Secretary, Investigator, Business
Clerk, Buyer, and 2 Assistants (records, telephone, etc.). (2) _Teaching
Force, Supervisors, and Assistant Supervisors_, 7: Dressmaking,
Dressmaking workroom, Electric Operating, Millinery, Novelty, Physical
Education, Art. _Instructors, Teachers, and Forewomen_, 11: Academic, 2;
Dressmaking, 3; Operating, 5; Art, 1. _Assistants_, 14: Dressmaking, 7;
Novelty, 3; Operating, 1; Physical Education, 2; Art, 1. (3) _Doctor._
(4) _Care of Building_, 7: Engineer, Janitor, Machinist, Cleaners 2,
Elevator boy, and Night watchman.
ADMINISTRATION
Admission Requirements
I. Age: fourteen to seventeen years. The law requires a child to remain
in public school until fourteen. The Manhattan Trade School has found
that under fourteen a girl is too immature to specialize in trade work,
and that over seventeen most girls are too mature to fit into the work
planned for the majority of the class.
II. Public School Grade: 5-A or above. The subject matter of 5-A grade
or its equivalent is required by the state before a child can leave to
work. If for illness or other good cause a girl has not made this grade,
she is admitted to the Trade School with special permission of principal
of last school attended, and, while studying her trade, the necessary
amount of schooling is made up to her by special classes and coaching.
The Board of Health recognizes this substitute.
Grade of girls admitted since beginning is shown in following table:
GRADE UPON LEAVING SCHOOL
-----+-------+-------+-------+---------+--------+----------+-------
| Below | Fifth | Sixth | Seventh | Eighth | Graduate | High
| Fifth | Grade | Grade | Grade | Grade | Per | School
| Grade | Per | Per | Per | Per | cent. | Per
| Per | cent. | cent. | cent. | cent. | | cent.
| cent. | | | | | |
-----+-------+-------+-------+---------+--------+----------+-------
| | | | | | |
1902 | 8 | 19 | 35 | 26 | 2 | 10 | 0
| | | | | | |
1903 | 11 | 18 | 19 | 29 | 6 | 15 | 2
| | | | | | |
1904 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 25 | 16 | 25 | 2
| | | | | | |
1905 | 7 | 15 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 19 | 4
| | | | | | |
1906 | 8 | 16 | 20 | 23 | 17 | 13 | 3
| | | | | | |
1907 | 7 | 10 | 25 | 23 | 15 | 18 | 2
| | | | | | |
1908 | 4 | 15 | 26 | 20 | 13 | 16 | 6
| | | | | | |
-----+-------+-------+-------+---------+--------+----------+-------
During 1908, 143 older women were admitted to a special workroom opened
for the "unemployed."
III. Filing of working papers is required of girls under sixteen.
1. No girl under sixteen can work in New York unless she has an
Employment Certificate issued by the Board of Health, and then only from
8 A.M. to 5 P.M., or for eight hours daily.
2. The public school last attended by the girl is responsible for her
until she is sixteen, or has her working papers, or is dismissed to
another school. If dismissed to Manhattan Trade School her attendance
there cannot be made compulsory, and she may attend a few days and then
leave and work illegally. Our facilities for following up such cases are
limited. With her working papers on file we know she is not evading the
law, and can dismiss her to work if she is not a success in trade lines
of training.
3. Exceptions: Lack of proper birth record, on account of foreign birth
or failure to make record of it by officials, may prevent the obtaining
of an Employment Certificate. A special provision is made by the Board
of Health in such cases, and, pending adjustment, the girl is admitted
upon notice of date of future issuance.
IV. Reference: Some reliable person's name is required of each applying
student, in order to have some one to communicate with in case of
difficulty of any kind.
V. Application in person: Each girl fills out an application blank
giving name, address, and birthplace of self, father, and mother, public
school attendance, previous trade experience, if any, trade desired,
reference. This must be written at the school, for the manner in which
it is done is a large part of test for admission.
Times of Admission
The school year begins in July, but a girl is admitted any Monday when
there is a vacancy in the department she wishes to enter. The following
table gives record of yearly admission:
-------------------------+--------
|
Nov. 2, 1902 (first day) | 20
|
Rest of 1902 | 93
|
1903 | 139
|
1904 | 193
|
1905 | 239
|
1906 | 328
|
1907 | 433
|
1908 | 689
|
1909 | 517
|
|--------
|
Total | 2,651
|
-------------------------+--------
Some of these students did not remain long enough to take a thorough
training, for home demands made even a small wage imperative, and the
girl had to join the ranks of earners ill prepared. Some were not
adapted to trade conditions, and soon fell out by the way. Many
persisted until they took more than the average twelve months' course,
and went into business at a proportionately higher wage.
Records
I. Attendance: 1. Daily, Monday to Friday inclusive. The factory method
of time cards punched by a clock upon entrance and leaving has been
adopted as being most exact, businesslike, and time saving. It registers
the exact time when rung, and so indicates tardiness as well as absence.
2. Weekly. A small filing card ruled for fifty-two weeks summarizes the
daily record of time cards and requires the marking attendance only once
a week. This file is subdivided into departments and again into classes,
so that the statistics of enrollment are easily gathered.
II. Individual records: 1. Upon admission a record card is started for
each girl, no matter how long she may attend. This contains (1) the data
given upon the application blank copied in detail; (2) Student Aid, if
given, amount, date, and remarks.
2. Upon leaving, entries are made on the same card of (1) date and cause
of leaving; (2) record in different departments--Art, Academic, Trade,
and Health; (3) certificate--kind, record, date. This is not granted
until the pupil has proved satisfactory in her trade both in the school
and in business; (4) Trade Record--upon the reverse side of the card is
the "record in trade after leaving school," with columns for date,
employer, kind of work, wages, remarks. This is kept up by the Placement
Secretary by frequent visits and letters, and gives the basis for many
valuable deductions as to the practical results of the training.
III. Other records kept in departments are (1) Student Aid: application
and information; (2) Health: examinations upon entrance and future
reëxaminations; (3) Department: records of each girl as she passes from
class to class, such as "attitude," speed, and skill.
Length of Year
The school is in session forty-eight weeks each year, four weeks being
given up to one-week vacations at Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July, and
Labor Day. The summer session is the beginning of the regular work, and
not a unit for summer training. No one is admitted for the summer only,
as the time is too short for real trade standards to be approached.
Tuition
The tuition is absolutely free. The Manhattan Trade School aims to reach
the poorest girl who has little chance to advance rapidly unless some
one gives her a lift. In order to do this most effectively it is
sometimes necessary to assist her. (See the report of the Student Aid
Work.)
Choice of Trade
A girl upon application can select the trade into which she wishes to
go. If after a month's trial she proves competent, she is allowed to
continue; if not, she is advised to change to another department or to
seek employment in work not taught at the Trade School. If a girl has no
choice of trade because of ignorance of possibilities, she is shown the
kinds taught and given a chance to make a selection. If then she is
undecided, she is advised to take what seems best adapted to the time
she can spend and the type of girl she appears to be.
Business Management
However simple a school is, some bookkeeping is necessary, and when with
the running of the school is combined the management of trade order
supplies and receipts the problem becomes very complicated. (See Trade
Order Work.)
I. General: A system of up-to-date bookkeeping of General Ledger,
Invoice Book, and Daily Exhibit, with details worked out in Petty Cash
and Maintenance Books, has been adopted. These few simple books so
distribute accounts of expense and receipts that one can soon see the
standing of the whole school or of a single department. All bookkeeping
is centralized in one office, except the taking of orders and the
details of filling them, which must be in the hands of the department
concerned.
II. Departmental: 1. Requisition blanks for purchases made. 2. Order
blank and duplicate for order given by customer. 3. Time slips, wherever
possible, to get exact record of time value of work done. 4. Material
slips, to keep account of what has gone into any orders. 5. Final
billing, to give data for bills sent out from main office and duplicate
filed there for final records.
THE POWER MACHINE OPERATING DEPARTMENT
Aim
To train girls to work on sewing machines run by electric power and to
put a thinker behind every machine as its operator. The department hopes
by awakening intelligent interest in the tool, _i. e._, the machine, to
kindle ambition in the workers. It is only through the intelligent use
of the tool and consequent love of work which follows that we can look
forward to supplying the skilled machine workers of the future. This
training must be given while the girls are in the formative period, to
develop habits of thought and action which will counteract the bad
effects upon the worker that follow division and subdivision of work,
with consequent subdivision of ability, which takes place in all
factories today. When a pupil has been thoroughly trained in the
intelligent use of her tool, when she has learned to construct complete
garments, if she is then, through force of circumstances such as modern
production entails, compelled to carry out one process on the machine
indefinitely, or to make one part of a garment, she still holds the
balance of power in being prepared to do something else when opportunity
or necessity demands.
General Steps in Training
I. A pupil must be given a short time to adjust herself to the workshop
environment, consequently she is put first at some simple work, such as
ripping or cutting up old garments. This gives her freedom while using
her hands to look about the workroom and to get accustomed to the sight
as well as to the sound of machines in action.
II. The pupil is taught to control the power by which the machine is
run, and is then given an intelligent understanding of the mechanism of
the machine or machines she is to operate.
III. The pupil then begins her regular course of work, and her feeling
of responsibility of the value of _time_ is awakened--that is, her
seconds, minutes, and hours, days, weeks, and months are now important
factors in her life, and they may be used for good or evil. In the
language of the department, time may be spent wisely or foolishly, and,
while studying at the Manhattan Trade School, seven hours out of every
day of the girl's life is given over to productive work and should be
accounted for. The department has developed its own plan of time
payments, which is much like the piece-work system employed in trade.
Through its rewards for time well spent it makes the fact real to the
pupils, as no form of punishment could do, that wasted time is gone
forever.
The department is divided into five classes, three of which must be
taken to make an all-round operator, namely: Elementary, two months'
course; Intermediate, four months' course; Advanced, six months' course.
In trade, salaries for such positions range from $5 to $15. The other
two classes train specialists on the electric machines, special machines
of various kinds, straw-sewing machines. Special machine work requires
from three months to one year in addition to the full course of
all-round operating. Salaries range from $6 to $30. An expert trade
worker is in charge of each class.
_Course of Work_
Regular Operating Course:
1. Control of power--learning names and uses of parts of machines.
Making bags, clothes, and operator's equipment.
2. Straight and bias stitching, equal distance apart.
3. Spaced bias stitching from given measurements.
4. Making and turning square corners, stitching heavy edge for
tension practice.
5. Machine table apron, using former principles. This is used to
protect operator from shafting and oil.
6. Seams: Plain seam, plain and band seam; French seam; bag seam on
warp; bag seam, one warp and one bias; bag seam, two biases.
7. Hemming: Different sized hems turned by hand for correct
measurements; hems run through hemmer to learn use of attachment and
give speed; seams through hemmer--bag seam, flat fell.
8. Quilting: Following designs made by pupils in Art Department.
Practice for control of power, starting and stopping machine at
given point.
9. Banding: Straight and bias bands placed by measurement from
design made in Art Department. Practice for edge stitching, turning
corners, accuracy of measurement.
10. Advanced seams on cloth and silk: Flannel seam, slot seam,
umbrella seam.
11. Yokes made and put on: Round yokes--petticoats; round front and
straight back--drawers and petticoats; bias yokes--waists; shaped
yokes--aprons; round yokes--children's dresses; miter corner
yoke--dresses.
12. Tucking: Free hand tucking for accuracy in measuring and use of
rule; special tucking on length and widths of different materials to
give speed and skill in handling different fabrics.
General Construction: Trade Stock and Order Work (See Order Work):
Infants' slips, children's underwear; children's rompers; children's
dresses; women's underwear; shirtwaists; aprons; house dresses;
fancy negligees.
Special Machine Work:
Buttonholes; tucking; two-needle work; hemstitching; Bonnaz
(Corneli) embroidery; machine hand embroidery, scalloping. Students
of special ability only are fitted to take this course. One girl in
fifteen has usually the requisite application and self-control to
operate a special machine successfully. Each machine is specialized,
_i. e._, does its own particular work and no other. Patient
attention to little things is required on the part of the operator
in order that good results may be produced. Such machines are
supposed to need only a hand behind them to guide the work. Our
experience has proved to us that good results are produced only when
intelligence and patience are factors. In the factories, machinists
keep the special machines in order, but the school aims to train the
operator to keep her own machine in good condition, thus saving her
valuable time.
Bonnaz (Corneli) embroidery work offers excellent opportunities for
correlation with the Art Department. Both Bonnaz (Corneli) and machine
hand embroidery must be felt in the muscles before they can be carried
out on the material, therefore the work with the pencil in making
designs which are to be carried out on the machine is of first
importance. Free-hand designs must be made first in large, free
movements on the machine until the arm muscles are thoroughly familiar
with the curve, sweep, and feeling to be executed. After mastery of
movement and sweep are acquired, the same designs may be reduced in size
ten or twenty times and the pupil will still work them out in perfect
rhythm. After the mastery of movement is acquired, the cording,
braiding, and three-thread attachment work are easily learned by a pupil
who has the necessary mechanical sense. The course of Bonnaz (Corneli)
work covers: chain stitch, lettering, appliqué work, cording, braiding,
three-thread work.
Machine hand embroidery should be given as a supplementary course to
Bonnaz (Corneli) embroidery. It gives excellent training in design and
color work.
Special trade machine straw sewing should also be taken up after the
regular course in operating. It gives splendid exercise for quick
handling of material, but makes a poor foundation of itself on which to
build a painstaking, expert, all-round operator. Speed is the first
requisite in getting a hat properly shaped, as the straw braid is flying
through the machine at the rate of four thousand stitches a minute;
hence the general operating is given first to the pupil to train her in
the requisite neatness. As straw-sewing has long slack seasons, the
operator can during such times return to the regular operating.
DRESSMAKING DEPARTMENT
Aim
The aim of the Dressmaking Department is to train girls in the elements
of the dressmaking trade, in order to enable them to immediately secure
employment as improvers and finishers or as assistants on skirts,
waists, and sleeves, and to give them a preparation which will help them
eventually to rise to positions of skill and responsibility. The
training eliminates the errand girl and apprenticeship stages, and makes
possible a living wage at the start. The result is accomplished in from
nine to seventeen months, the time depending entirely upon the
capability of the girl, her physical condition, her application to her
work, her regularity of attendance, and her previous training.
Classes
The department is divided into three sections: (1) The Elementary, which
consists of two classes for the teaching of simple sewing and machine
work. This section is rendered necessary by the poor preparation of the
students at the entrance. It would be not only practical but desirable
for elementary public and industrial schools so to train their students
that they could omit this part of the Manhattan Trade School course. (2)
The Vocational. This section also includes two classes. The work is
tradelike in character, but much time has to be given to developing
right habits of work as well as to learning specific kinds of handwork.
The public secondary schools could offer this section to advantage, and
through it train pupils for a better knowledge of the home or for future
livelihood. (3) The Trade Section. This is a business shop, which
reproduces trade conditions as nearly as possible and is subdivided into
the same progressive divisions. Although the object is to work as trade
does, the educational aim is also prominent, and the course of training
has been planned with both ends in view. Order work plays an important
part in this section, for it makes possible the quantity and variety of
material necessary to supply the many repetitions of important phases of
dressmaking, the new views of old principles, and the elaborate costume
manufacturing which are needed in the training. It would be impossible
for a school to adequately deal with the many varieties of garments in
this trade without some equivalent for the order work. The use of models
or of practice material is not satisfactory on account of the great
difference between theoretical and practical knowledge in handling
valuable materials. A girl may learn to run fine tucks on cheesecloth,
but this will not enable her to do satisfactory hand-tucking on chiffon.
Neither is it a correct educational or economic principle to cut up
quantities of good material, which the students will look upon as
"rags," and then, after working on them, to throw them into a receptacle
for waste or sell them simply to get rid of them. To secure the best
results in any line of instruction there must be interest and
enthusiasm. The aim, therefore, must be definite and the results vital.
The work is planned to foster these higher qualities. The students
produce articles for a definite use; they are given a required time in
which the work should be completed; trade itself sets the standard of
judgment, and a definite relation exists between the work of all the
classes, so that old principles may be recognized when presented in new
forms.
Courses of Work
I. Elementary Section. (1) Beginners' Class. First, a test is given each
girl when she enters which enables her instructor to judge of her
ability in sewing. It has been found necessary, in the majority of
cases, to teach all or the greater part of the following principles: the
use of sewing utensils, the making of the stitches, their application in
articles, and the running of the sewing machine. Hence the second step
has been a course of work covering the use of these needed principles,
each girl beginning at the point where she needs training. Third, the
final test. On the satisfactory completion of this very elementary
training a test is given to show a girl's ability to work, to think, and
to utilize ideas. If she is not yet fully prepared, further time is
spent in emphasizing the points she still requires.
The work in the Beginners' Class is done upon articles which have a
trade value and which are sold to customers or to the students for about
the cost of the materials. The school furnishes the materials for all
elementary work, but the students must provide their own tools and keep
them in good condition. These include a thimble, needles, scissors, a
tape measure, an emery, and a white apron.
Class instruction followed by individual criticism is the method of
teaching in the Elementary Section. Emphasis is placed upon the proper
use of the utensils, the position of the body, and the handling of the
work. Individual records are kept of the grade of work and of the time
taken to finish a problem. The course takes from two to three months to
complete, and the students are at work four and one-half hours per day.
OUTLINE OF WORK IN BEGINNERS' CLASS
1. Stitches and special forms of sewing: Basting, running,
overhanding, overcasting, hemming, blind stitching, sewing on
buttons (two hole, four hole), buttonholes, featherstitching.
2. Seams: Plain; selvage and raw edges; French; felled; straight and
bias edges; overhanded.
3. Machine stitching: Straight seams and rows; hems;
facings--points; use of tucker.
4. Principles: Measuring, seams, hems, tucks, cutting by a thread;
matching stripes; turning and basting hems; making casing for
drawstrings; putting on band--by hand, by machine--one and two
pieces; setting strings into bands; finishing ends of hems; putting
on pockets--straight and shaped; plain placket; cutting bias strips;
piecing bias strips; facing curved and straight edges (armholes,
neck, waist, points); joining waist and skirt with bias facing;
making straight tucked ruffle; inserting ruffle under tuck on skirt;
ripping.
5. Articles used in the work (this list is changed at will and is
merely representative): Handwork--Pin cushion, bag, towel, white
apron with ruffle. Machine work--Belt, gingham apron oversleeves,
child's dress with waist, uniform apron.
6. Supplementary work: Shoe bags, silver cases, holders, bibs, silk
bags, darning bags, needle books, traveling cases, baby caps and
work of a similar character.
7. Materials used: Cotton, linen, silk.
(2) Intermediate Class. The Beginners' Class gives most of its time to
hand sewing, the Intermediate Class emphasizes machine sewing. The work
is a repetition of the principles taught in the Beginners' Class, but is
presented in a different manner, with new applications. Orders are taken
from individuals or business houses for the garments which are made in
this course. The price is that of the trade. These orders furnish a
market for the entire output of the class. A certain amount of class
instruction is given, but the girls are expected to do independent work
under supervision.
OUTLINE OF WORK IN INTERMEDIATE CLASS
1. Review of former principles on new garments: (1) French
seam--straight edges, baby slips and nightgowns. (2) Hems, (_a_)
straight, (_b_) turned by hand, on princess aprons, bloomers,
sleeves, etc., (_c_) turned by machine--hemmer on ruffles, for
drawers and petticoats. (3) Overcasting--seams of skirts. (4)
Buttonholes--all garments. (5) Plackets--plain hemmed, on skirts,
baby slips. (6) Bias bands--joining and applying to straight and
curved edges, on princess aprons, drawers, top of petticoat. (7)
Ruffle--joining, measuring, and applying under tuck, on skirt and
drawers. (8) Machine instruction--threading, setting needles,
winding bobbin, scale of thread, needle, and stitch.
2. New principles: (1) Flat fell--shaped and bias edges on princess
aprons and drawers. (2) French seam--shaped edges in petticoat
seams. (3) Loops--on petticoats and dressing sacques. (4)
Hems--shaped edges in gored skirts, princess aprons and nightgowns,
baby slips and children's dresses. (5) Overhanding--pieces on
nightgowns, piecing ruffles and lace on underwear. (6)
Plackets--faced in drawers, petticoats, bloomers, and dress skirts.
(7) Bias band--applying to top of ruffle in petticoats and drawers.
(8) Bias binding--corset cover and nightgown. (9) Ruffle--finishing
with bias bands on petticoat and drawers. (10) Cuffs--making and
applying to nightgowns, baby slips, rompers, and house dresses. (11)
Sleeves--gathering on wrong side and putting into baby slips,
nightgowns, dressing sacques, etc. (12) Pressing. (13) Sewing hooks
and eyes on petticoats. (14) Machine instruction in cleaning,
oiling, and attachments.
3. List of articles made for stock and order: Aprons--princess,
maids', fancy. Women's clothes--dressing sacques, nightgowns,
kimonos, lounging robes, house dresses, chemises, drawers, skirts
(washable, mohair, silk), collars, and corset covers. Children's
clothes--nightdresses, night drawers, drawers, skirts, rompers,
dresses, and aprons.
4. Materials used: Cotton, silk, woolen, and worsted.
II. Vocational Section. The increasing demand for ready-made clothing
has opened a new field for girls obliged to enter the business world as
soon as the law will permit them to leave school. This requires hand
finishing on fancy waists and plain and fancy gowns, which are made by
the dozens on machines run by electric power. It is not necessary to
have a knowledge of actual dressmaking to be able to do this work. The
ability to do good handwork rapidly is the prerequisite. In some
establishments there are opportunities for girls of ability to rise from
finisher to draper, which latter position commands a high wage.
The producing of fine, handmade underwear, waists, and dresses is
another opportunity for girls who can take but a short time in which to
prepare to earn their living. Work of this character is of a much higher
grade than that of the wholesale finishing, and demands the ability to
do extremely good hand and machine work. The worker must be able to
handle the finest kind of materials and to do the most intricate work,
such as hand tucking, setting in lace, and trimmings.
Although the course in the Vocational Section trains for specific
branches, it is very necessary that all dressmaking students should have
experience in these lines in order to be better prepared for the actual
dressmaking. If, however, a girl has the ability to do the work of these
classes, she is allowed to skip either one or both of them.
Course of work in the Shop for Gymnasium and Swimming Suits: The
students are drilled for one or two months in putting garments together,
stitching, and finishing. As but two kinds of garments are made, speed
is acquired and a certain amount of accuracy is gained through much
repetition. Definite arrangements have been made through wholesale
houses for the disposition of the product. The materials are furnished
by the school. The price is that of trade.
(1) Articles: Swimming suits (patented), bathing suits, and gymnasium
suits. (2) Materials used: Cotton, wool, worsted.
Course of work in White Work Class: The previous training having been a
general one for accuracy, speed, and the mastery over mind and hand,
attention is now given for two and one-half or three months to fine
detail work and the handling and keeping fresh and clean of the
daintiest of cotton goods. The materials are furnished by the school and
the work is sold to customers at trade prices.
(1) Principles: Hand-tucking, rolling and whipping, mitering corners,
overhanding trimming, inserting lace and embroidery by hand and machine,
fine featherstitching, and white hand embroidery. (2) Garments for stock
and order; fine underwear, waists, and baby clothes. (3) Material used:
cotton.
III. Trade Section--The Business Shop. Trade demands skilled workers,
and preference is given to those who have had practical training. The
trade section aims to add experience to skill by offering the students
the actual work and conditions demanded in the outside market. The
general scheme is the one in use in moderate-sized dressmaking
establishments.
The workroom has its tables devoted to separate kinds of work, the
students obtain a definite amount of knowledge from each experience, and
pass from one to the other as rapidly as their ability to grasp the
principles will permit. Each division is in charge of an instructor with
practical trade experience, who prepares and supervises the work and
also does the skilled parts which the students, on account of their lack
of experience, are unable to do.
The girls are not taught cutting, fitting, and draping, as trade would
not permit a sixteen-year-old girl to attempt this work on account of
her lack of judgment and experience; but they have the opportunity to
see and assist in the preparation of work. No girl in the trade shop
will make a complete garment, but she will have worked upon all parts
many times.
Custom orders supply the shop with work. The customers are interviewed,
measurements are taken, estimates are given, and dates for fittings are
planned. The information obtained is recorded upon blanks prepared for
the purpose. The materials are purchased, the garments cut, and the
different parts (skirts, waists, sleeves) are delivered to the tables
where such work is done. Blanks are provided for the recording of all
materials used for customers' work, and from these the bills are made
out in the main office. Stock is obtained from the storerooms on signed
requisitions only. The stock clerk measures and delivers the materials
and notes the amount withdrawn on each package.
Course in Dressmaking Shop:
1. Linings: Waist (practice materials): basting, stitching,
pressing, binding, boning (whalebone, featherbone); hooks and eyes;
facing; overcasting.
2. Shirtwaists and nurses' uniforms: Covering rings; making
shirtwaist cuff; making shirtwaist placket; putting on neckbands.
3. Skirts: Petticoats or drop skirts for; basting, stitching,
pressing; seams, bands, plackets; trimming, pinning, putting on
band.
4. Trimmed skirts: Slip stitching; milliner's and flat folds;
covering buttonholes; binding, shirring, cording, tucking, piping,
facing, braiding.
5. Trimmed waists: Application of principles; experience in making
and applying trimming and handling delicate or perishable materials.
6. Trimmed sleeves: Application in general knowledge and experience
in applying trimmings.
7. Garments made in the shop: Shirtwaists, fancy dressing sacques
and wrappers; nurses' and maids' uniforms; dancing dresses;
elaborate waists; street, afternoon, and evening gowns; tailored
suits.
8. Materials used: All varieties of cotton, linen, silk, woolen, and
worsted dress fabrics; chiffon, mousseline, and trimmings of all
kinds.
IV. Results of training. A change in the general appearance of the girls
is soon apparent, for which ability to make their own clothes and the
refining influence of the doing of good work on good materials is
probably responsible. The elements of good order, obedience,
thoughtfulness, judgment, self-control, industry, and thrift are
fostered, and every effort is put forth to make intelligent workers.
The fact that on entering trade the girls from the Trade School receive
nearly double the salary given untrained girls indicates that they are
fitted for the outside workrooms.
V. Departmental relations. The emphasis which the Academic and Art
Departments have laid upon accuracy, careful work, appreciation of
measurements, distances, color, and form has been of great value to the
students in the Dressmaking Department. The Operating Department has
also been of service in training some of the students to work on special
machines, thus enabling them to make dress decoration. The use of the
electric power machine in custom dressmaking establishments is on the
increase.
VI. Trade relation. The department is kept in close touch with trade
conditions through personal visits, through the houses which purchase
its output, and through those from whom the stock is bought. Many
opportunities to purchase materials at reduced rates have been secured
through the kindly interest of the trade.
An advisory board, composed of business men and women, has been
appointed to pass judgment upon the scheme of work, the standard and
quality of work, and the cost and market value of the products.
MILLINERY DEPARTMENT
Aim
The aim of the Millinery Department is to train assistants, improvers,
frame makers, and preparers for wholesale and custom workrooms.
Short Course
When this department was first opened the scope of the work for the day
classes was much more extended and included training for copyists,
designers, and milliners. The curtailing of the course to more
elementary preparation was brought about by a feeling of dissatisfaction
with this trade for the young, untrained, or partly skilled workers.
Close and continued contact with millinery shops showed that for young
wage-earners a small, initial wage and a not very rapid rise are usual;
that a short, irregular, seasonal engagement is almost inevitable; that
a long experience is needed before even the trained girl can rise to the
higher positions; that young workers become discouraged and are apt to
drop the trade altogether, even for lower wages, if they can obtain
steady work in another occupation. As it was the fourteen or
fifteen-year-old girl who came for the instruction, it was better for
her to be well trained as an assistant than to detain her at the school
for a more advanced position which she would probably not be allowed to
take on account of her youth and inexperience. Students in this
department need to be watched with especial care to determine whether
they are well adapted for their occupation, and the mediocre worker
would better enter some other field where the opportunities for her are
more encouraging. As the advance is slow the girl also whose poverty is
hurrying her into wage-earning would better not elect this work.
The night classes which have been offered at the school gave training in
the more advanced lines of millinery. The day classes are also prepared
to do so whenever older workers feel they can give time for the
instruction.
COURSE OF INSTRUCTION
Length of course: Six months.
1. Practice: Shirring, tucking, cording, rolled hem, plain fold,
milliner's fold, and cutting and joining bias pieces.
2. Making and covering buckles and buttons; wiring ribbons and
laces; making hat linings and wiring hats.
3. Bandeaux: Wire, capenet, and buckram.
4. Wire frame construction from dimensions and models; making frames
of buckram, capenet, and stiff willow.
5. Covering frames with crinoline, capenet, mull, maline, and soft
willow.
6. Facings: Plain, shirred, and in folds.
7. Bindings: Stretch, puff, and rolled.
8. Plateaux: Plain and fancy.
9. Making hats of straw, silk, chiffon, maline, and velvet.
10. Sewing trimmings on hats and sewing linings in hats.
11. Renovating: Ribbon, velvet, lace, feathers, flowers.
12. Machine work: Plain stitching, tucking, shirring, bias strips
stitched on material.
Orders are taken for a limited amount of trimmed hats in order to
provide the students with experience in preparing, sewing on the
trimming, and in finishing the hat.
As millinery is a seasonal trade, students are advised to take, in
addition, lamp and candle shade making in the Novelty Department, or
straw sewing in the Operating Department. They are thus provided with
good trades during the months when their own trade is dull.
NOVELTY DEPARTMENT
Aim
(1) To teach the use of paste and glue in several good trades. (2) A
short course in lampshade and candleshade making for girls who have a
dull season in their regular trade during November, December, and
January.
Lines of Work
Sample mounting, novelty work, jewelry and silverware case making,
lampshade and candleshade making.
Trades and Wages
Sample mounting is pasting or gluing samples of all kinds of material on
cards or in books to be used by salesmen in selling goods. New York is a
center for this class of work. It gives year-round employment to many
girls, and offers wages from $5 to $15 a week. The simpler lines of
sample mounting can be learned by almost any girl. A bright student can
learn this trade in six months.
Novelty work is the covering and lining of cases and boxes with
different materials. Girls can earn from $5 to $18 a week, and can learn
the trade in from eight months to a year.
In jewelry and silverware case making the girls are taught both to cover
and line up the cases; they earn from $5 to $15 a week. It takes from
eight months to a year to learn this trade.
Lampshade and candleshade making: A short course is offered to good
sewers who wish to learn a line of work that will give them employment
during November, December, and January, which is the busy season in this
occupation. Girls can earn from $1 to $2 a day. It is a very good course
for millinery workers, as the work is similar and therefore easily
learned, and the slack time in millinery is the busy time in this trade.
Course of Work
All pupils entering the Novelty Department take a short course in sample
mounting to learn the use of paste and glue. Some are advanced soon to
the novelty work, while others continue in sample mounting, taking up a
greater variety of work along that line. Those entering for lamp and
candle shade making do not take the sample mounting, but come from the
millinery or sewing classes, where they have had some training with the
needle.
Interrelation with Academic and Art Work
In the academic classes the girls are drilled in measurements and have
problems estimating the cost of materials and labor. Their discussions
pertain to actual processes and materials used in the classes of the
Novelty Department.
In the art classes the girls are trained to draw straight lines and
square corners, to miter corners, to fold on a line, to make good
letters and figures, and to appreciate good proportions and balance.
This work enables the student to arrange her samples in straight lines
on the card, with proper margins, and to print neatly on the card the
name of the materials and stock numbers. The discussion of materials
helps her to cut and place her materials on the cases so that the design
will appear to the best advantage. The color work aids her in choosing
the best hues of ribbons or linings to use with the figured coverings.
Orders
Where trade orders can be used without keeping the girls too long on the
one problem, they prove a great incentive and also help them to acquire
speed. Private orders give more variety in the work, and thus enable the
girls to adjust themselves more easily to each season's new styles. The
private orders, however, being smaller in number, do not help the
students to acquire the speed that the repetition does in the large
trade orders. Each kind of order work is used, as it can be of advantage
to the development of the student.
ART DEPARTMENT
The courses of work in the Art Department are shaped according to the
needs of each trade department. Various phases of work in dressmaking,
electric power operating, novelty, and millinery are made "centers of
interest." Each girl thus finds her art aiding her to be more valuable
in her trade. Her enthusiasm is awakened and she is stimulated to
self-expression directly along the line of her chosen work. The entering
students lack in the technical skill which can be used in their trades.
The first step, therefore, is to give the elementary exercises needed in
their departments. This is followed by more difficult and more artistic
work as the student shows ability.
Aims
To help the work of the trade departments, to improve the trade selected
by each student, to give ideals.
Conditions
Time of average student in art, seven months, three hours per week.
Previous art training little or none.
Difficulties
The students do not see or estimate correctly; they are not exact, and
they lack ideals.
Organization of Art Work
I. _General_ course for _all_ students, connecting Art Department with
Trade Courses. Approximate time, three months, three times a week.
1. Principles of Proportion: Measurements by ruler and free-hand.
Related lines and sizes, as in hems and margins.
2. General Use of Principles: (1) Horizontal, vertical, oblique
lines for machine practice. (2) Related margins and spots as used in
the writing of letters, the orderly placing of subject on a page.
3. Specific Department Work: Departments express their needs to Art
Department. (1) Machine operating: (_a_) Lines--horizontal,
vertical, oblique, for machine practice. (_b_) Quilting, banding,
practice for curves and square corners.
(2) Sewing: (_a_) Lines--horizontal, vertical, oblique, for machine
and hand practice and tailor basting. (_b_) Hems, tucks as
prescribed by department and proportioned to garment. (_c_)
Constructive drawing--giving different angles and figures with a
view toward an intelligent use of patterns for waists and skirts.
(_d_) Piecing bias and mitering corners.
(3) Novelty: (_a_) Lines--horizontal, vertical, oblique, for sample
mounting. (_b_) Spacings for sample mounting. (_c_) Letterings and
figures for sample mounting. (_d_) Margins for pasting different
shaped labels and samples. (_e_) Paper folding, mitering corners.
(4) Millinery: (_a_) Lines--horizontal, vertical, oblique, for hand
sewing practice. (_b_) Problems for proportions for the wire frames.
(_c_) Bias facings and mitered and square corners. (_d_) Color.
Students unable to benefit further by the Art Work are dropped from
course and devote this time to their trade.
II. _Supplementary_ course for students showing ability who have
finished the prescribed departmental course. Approximate time, seven to
nine months.
1. Machine Operating: (1) First step in designs, arrangement of
straight lines in borders, and orderly arrangement of spots in
borders. (2) Squared-off designs, stenciling same, for coördination.
(3) Sample curved line designs, continuous (limitation of machine
and for speed). (4) Patterns for practice work for the special
machine. (5) Special workers to practice the exercises for the
Bonnaz machine. (6) Color--three charts. (7) Exercises for
perforating.
2. Sewing: (1) Simple designs for shirtwaists and for braiding. (2)
Designs for revers, cuffs, vests, and yokes. (3) Proportions of
figure. (4) Copying from magazines for trade technicalities. (5)
Discussions on dress for trade workers. (6) Color harmony in dresses
and application.
3. Millinery: (1) Sketching different views of the hats. (2)
Sketching models. (3) Color harmonies and application. (4)
Discussions on how art principles can be applied to hats of the
present day.
4. Novelty: (1) Simple, squared-off designs stenciled for
coördination for hand and head, not gained in the trade work. (2)
Simple illumination of words and phrases. (3) The materials and
decoration to be used for pads, desk sets, and boxes discussed and
carried out.
In this supplementary course emphasis is put on the thought, invention,
and appreciation of the student.
III. _Special_ course for students who show unusual ability in art and
can utilize it in trade.
1. Costume sketching for making records in dressmaking workrooms.
2. Stamping and perforating: (_a_) Machine practice--pedaling,
guiding needle, threading machine, and learning to adjust the
different parts. (_b_) Stamping on different materials with the
different mediums; composition of the different mediums, liquid and
dry. (_c_) Copying patterns for perforating; nature study for
motifs; conventionalizing those to apply them to materials.
(All designs are such as can be used in trade and are made according to
trade methods.)
ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT
Aim
I. Elementary: To supplement previous schooling. Girls who have left the
public school from low grades need special tutoring in the common
branches. Special instruction is also needed for newly arrived
foreigners.
II. Trade: To quicken and enrich the mind, that the girl may become a
more efficient, intelligent, and enthusiastic trade worker.
The work falls under the following subjects: Civics, Industries,
Arithmetic, English.
Civics
This course is given as a means of enabling the pupil to recognize her
place in the family, the school, the community, and in the world's work.
For lack of a better term it is called Civics. It is dealt with under
two heads: (1) Community Life in General, (2) Community Life in New York
City.
1. Under the first head the discussion of life in a given community is
followed by the simple facts that lie at the foundation of civic life.
These are approached through the interests or desires which the pupil
feels in common with all other people. Building still further on the
pupil's own experience, she is led to apply the ideas received to her
own community, which ever widening its scope is carried from the
neighborhood or the school to the city, the state, and on to the nation.
Civics also gives to the pupils a knowledge of the existing laws under
which they will work, by whom these laws are made, and the possible
means for improving them. In the discussion of such subjects as Tenement
House Laws, Child Labor Laws, and Trade-Unions, there is opportunity for
the introduction of home and business economics which have been found to
be valuable. Economics is further taught by the detailed discussion of
the apportionment of an income of $6 a week for fifty working weeks,
considering car fare, lunches, savings, a portion toward family support,
and an allowance for clothes. The literature for this course is obtained
from the United States Department of Commerce and Labor, the State
Department of Factory Legislation, the Consumers' League, the National
and State Labor Committees, and current magazines. Mr. Arthur M. Dunn's,
"The Community and the Citizen," especially such chapters as those on
the "Making of Americans," "How the Government Aids the Citizen in His
Business Life," "Waste and Saving," "What the Community Does for Those
Who Cannot or Will Not Contribute to Its Progress," has given valuable
assistance in leading to discussions which have direct bearing upon
daily life and work.
2. The following outline shows the treatment of the second division of
Civics:
New York City: (1) City Government, (_a_) Officials, Mayor,
Commissioner, Borough President, Aldermen; (_b_) City Departments.
(2) Citizenship, (_a_) Who are citizens, (_b_) How to become a
citizen, (_c_) Duties and privileges of citizens, (_d_) Aliens. (3)
Child Labor Laws, (_a_) School attendance, (_b_) Working papers, how
obtained, (_c_) Hours for work. (4) Factory Laws for girls over
sixteen years old. (5) Sweatshop labor. (6) Tenement House Laws. (7)
Trade-Unions. (8) Commerce and Industries of New York. (9)
Philanthropies.
Industries
Aim: To furnish the worker with a background for her trade and to help
her to see her place in the working world of today. 1. A generalized
view is taken of the main steps in the early progress of the race. 2.
Textile materials are discussed as to their values, their uses, their
cost, the processes of their manufacture, the comparison of foreign and
domestic goods, with reasons for the differences, and the connected
problems of arithmetic which the students will meet. These subjects help
the girl to "get next" to what she is working with every day and to
arouse interest in her personal connection with the subject. The English
girl whose father was once employed in a lace house in London brings
mounted specimens of that sort of handwork to the class; the Hungarian
brings hand-spun articles from her mother's bridal outfit; the Italian
presents a skein of raw silk taken from the family's treasure box, and
the girl from Roumania brings an embroidered bed cover. The student
whose mother does not believe cotton ever grew on bushes asks that she
may verify her own statement by taking home a real cotton ball. A Labor
Museum is being collected to give reality to the instruction, and
exhibits from it, which show the steps in the manufacturing of the
fabrics and of other familiar articles, are put up in the classroom when
needed. A bulletin board provides for the numerous clippings brought by
the students or teachers.
Arithmetic
Aim: The fundamental aim of arithmetic is to give the pupils working
methods for the problems that occur in trade practice. To make the
correlation clear to the girls, workroom methods of presentation and
phraseology and the customary materials are used. Sewing and operating
students make hems, tucks, and ruffles to actual measurements; novelty
girls cut and arrange cards for samples in accordance with their
workroom demands; and millinery students work out the measurements for
hat frames as closely as varying styles permit.
With the fundamentals of trade problems established, arithmetic is
further developed along special lines of trade to meet the demands of
the business world. The trained worker should not only be skilled in the
manipulation of tools and materials, but she should be able to compute
her own problems, such as estimates for garments, how to cut materials
economically, the cost of one garment or article as related to the cost
of many of the same kind, the prices, and similar trade questions. The
ability to deal with these subjects adds materially to the value of a
skilled worker.
The central scheme of the course is to lead the pupil to prompt and
accurate mental calculation. This is stimulated by frequent oral drills
in trade problems and business problems involving short methods of
computation. The extent and progress of this work are regulated by the
ability of the class.
The following outlines show the adaptation of arithmetic to the
different trades:
_Operating_: (1) Cutting of gauges, (_a_) For hems, (_b_) For tucks.
(2) Tucking problems, (_a_) With gauges, (_b_) As formal arithmetic
problems. (3) Ruffling problems. (4) Time problems, Department time
schedules as basis for the work. (5) Factory problems. (6) Income,
expenditure, savings. (7) Bills and receipts. (8) Computation of
quantity of material required for garments, (_a_) By measuring
garments, (_b_) By use of patterns on cloth, (_c_) Economy of
material. (9) Problems based on above work. (10) Civic problems.
_Sewing_: (1) Cutting of gauges, (_a_) For hems, (_b_) For tucks.
(2) Tucking problems. (3) Ruffling problems. (4) Computation of
quantity of material required for garments, (_a_) By measuring
garments, (_b_) By use of patterns on cloth, (_c_) Economy of
material. (5) Problems based on above work. (6) Store problems. (7)
Bills and receipts. (8) Income, expenditures, savings. (9) Textile
problems. (10) Civic problems.
_Novelty_: (1) Sample mounting, (_a_) Cards are cut a given size and
are divided with the ruler into spaces for samples, with proper
margins, etc., according to trade demands, (_b_) Problems involving
the various sizes and shapes of cards and samples, using cards and
rulers for the work. (2) Sample cutting. (3) Cutting materials for
boxes, (_a_) Pulp board, (_b_) Covering plain, flowered, (_c_)
Economy of materials. (4) Problems based on above work. (5) Trade
problems, (_a_) In sample mounting, accuracy, speed, (_b_) Cost of
materials. (6) Bills and receipts. (7) Income, expenditure, savings.
(8) Civic problems.
_Millinery_: (1) Measurement of frames. (2) Trade problems, (_a_)
Quantity of material, (_b_) Price of materials, (_c_) Economy of
material. (3) Orders, (_a_) By letter, (_b_) By order blanks. (4)
Bills and receipts. (5) Income, expenditure, savings. (6) Problems
on manufacture of silk. (7) Civic problems.
English
Aim: 1. To facilitate oral and written expression. 2. To give practice
in business forms: _Spelling_: (1) Technical terms of each trade
department; (2) Textiles and other trade materials; (3) Ordinary
business terms. _Descriptions_: (1) Written work on materials used and
articles made in each department; (2) Outlining and defining of
department work. _Business Forms_: (1) Letters of application; (2)
Letters ordering goods; (3) Telegrams, postal cards, etc.; (4) Writing
of advertisements.
In addition to practice in spelling and in the writing of business
forms, the work in English aims to be in close correlation with the
other subjects taught. As a rule, the latter part of each recitation
period is spent by the pupils in writing upon the subject in hand. The
purpose is to obtain from them freedom of expression after arousing
interest in a subject, rather than to get long compositions
necessitating home study and probably generating a dislike for written
work. Attention is called to paragraphing and emphasis is laid upon both
the form and the manner of writing, but form is made subservient to
thought. The interrelation of Art Department helps the student to
appreciate the need of good form in the appearance of a written page.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
The young wage-earner who goes into trade untrained at fourteen years of
age is greatly handicapped by her physical condition. Either through
ignorance or neglect early symptoms of disease are disregarded, and it
is not until she finds herself out of employment as a result of physical
weakness that she realizes that good health is the capital of the
working girl.
Many of the girls who enter the school are found to be suffering from
poor vision; enlarged glands caused by decayed teeth; poor nasal
breathing as a result of adenoid growths or enlarged tonsils; anæmia;
skin eruptions; slight asymmetries and poor posture. These defects
produce exaggerated nerve signs and poor nutrition.
Aim
The work of the Physical Department is to correct as many of these
irregularities as possible and also to train the student to a knowledge
of her body and how to care for it, that she may be able to stand the
long hours of confining work and be able to show efficient results in
her trade.
The following examination is required of each entering student:
_Physical Examination_: Beginning with the family history, a complete
record of all important events relating to a student's physical life is
taken. She is carefully examined for asymmetry; curvature, incipient or
well defined; traces of tuberculosis; weakness of heart and lungs;
enlarged glands; skin diseases, or signs of nervous disorders. She is
closely questioned as to all bodily functions and a careful record is
kept of irregularities. Eyes, ears, teeth, nose, and throat are likewise
examined. Impressions of the feet are made in order to detect weakness
of the arch or flatfoot. Measurements of height, weight, and the
principal expansions are taken for comparison with later records and for
the purpose of comparing with normal standard.
Prescribed Treatment
After the examination the girl is instructed as to treatment, if any is
needed. If perfectly normal she will report for gymnastics three times a
week. If any asymmetry, curvature of the spine, heart disease, or
nervous disorders are discovered, she must report for special corrective
exercises at the school. In some cases individual instruction is given
for supplementing the work at home. Cases demanding special apparatus
and individual attention have been treated in the Physical Education
Department of Teachers College, through the kindness of the director,
Dr. Thomas Denison Wood. The girls so affected have thus the advantage
of the latest methods known to science. If any of the numerous skin
diseases are present which demand frequent and regular attention, the
student is assigned to a group who go twice a week to a dispensary to
receive electrical or X-ray treatment. In cases of enlarged tonsils or
adenoids, the necessity for immediate operation is explained and every
effort made to gain the consent of the parents. When permission is
obtained the girl goes to a neighboring hospital on Sunday evening, is
operated upon on Monday, and returns home Tuesday. Each student must
have her eyes thoroughly examined by a doctor selected at the Ophthalmic
Dispensary. If glasses are needed they are procured at the expense of
the parent or donated by an optician who is interested in the school.
Dispensary treatment is also necessary in cases of catarrh of nose and
throat. Teeth are carefully examined and the girls directed to their own
dentists, or to the Dental Dispensary adjoining the school, where we are
fortunate enough to have a limited amount of work done free of charge.
Cases of asymmetry demanding braces, plaster jackets, and operations
have been treated at the Post-Graduate Hospital. Tuberculosis cases in
advanced stages have been placed on the special boats in New York Harbor
or are sent to Tubercular Camps in the country.
In sending girls to the hospitals and dispensaries the aim is to place
them in touch with institutions to which they will have independent
access after they leave the Manhattan Trade School.
Statistics
The statistics below show the condition of 278 girls when they
registered at the school. The charts are divided according to the
departments entered. From them can be seen the need of special care for
the health of the working girl.
|Dressmaking.
| |Art.
| | |Millinery.
| | | |Novelty.
| | | | |Operating.
| | | | | |Total.
--------------------+-------------------+-----+---+----+----+----+------
| | | | | | |
Nutrition | Good | 101 | 7 | 15 | 26 | 35 | 184
| Fair | 39 | | 2 | 6 | 18 | 65
| Poor | 7 | | 4 | 10 | 8 | 29
| | | | | | |
Mentality | Good | 122 | 7 | 19 | 33 | 40 | 221
| Fair | 21 | | 2 | 6 | 17 | 46
| Poor | 4 | | | 3 | 4 | 11
| | | | | | |
Nerve signs | Present | 39 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 16 | 77
| Absent | 108 | 4 | 15 | 29 | 45 | 201
| | | | | | |
Asymmetry, slight | Present | 53 | 4 | 12 | 23 | 29 | 121
curvatures, high | Absent | 94 | 3 | 9 | 19 | 32 | 157
hips or shoulders, | | | | | | |
etc. | | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
Posture | Good | 93 | 4 | 8 | 29 | 31 | 165
| Fair | 54 | 3 | 13 | 13 | 30 | 113
| | | | | | |
Skin | Good condition | 95 | 5 | 13 | 32 | 44 | 189
| Acne, comedones, | 52 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 17 | 89
| etc. | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
Glands | Good condition | 66 | 3 | 10 | 19 | 20 | 118
| Enlarged | 81 | 4 | 11 | 23 | 41 | 160
| | | | | | |
Vision | Need glasses | 44 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 19 | 86
| Good condition | 103 | 4 | 13 | 30 | 42 | 192
| | | | | | |
Hearing | Defective | 6 | 1 | | 4 | 1 | 12
| Good | 141 | 6 | 21 | 38 | 60 | 266
| | | | | | |
Speech | Good | 170 | 7 | 20 | 37 | 56 | 260
| Defective | 7 | | 1 | 5 | 5 | 8
| | | | | | |
Nasal breathing | Good | 32 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 60
| Fair | 58 | 4 | 11 | 13 | 28 | 114
| Poor | 57 | 2 | 6 | 19 | 20 | 104
| | | | | | |
Tonsils | Good | 44 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 21 | 79
| Slightly enlarged | 75 | 2 | 11 | 25 | 24 | 137
| Much enlarged | 28 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 62
| | | | | | |
Teeth | Good | 103 | 5 | 16 | 30 | 40 | 194
| Poor | 44 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 21 | 84
| Need attention | 108 | 4 | 12 | 31 | 40 | 195
| | | | | | |
Hearts | Good | 122 | 4 | 21 | 23 | 44 | 214
| Weak, irritable, | 24 | 2 | | 17 | 13 | 56
| or with anæmic | | | | | |
| murmurs | | | | | |
| Organic trouble | 1 | 1 | | 2 | 4 | 8
| | | | | | |
Lungs | Good | 138 | 5 | 20 | 36 | 58 | 257
| Tuberculosis | 3 | | | 2 | | 5
| Suspected | 6 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 16
| tuberculosis | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
Feet | Good | 125 | 7 | 16 | 38 | 53 | 239
| Weak arches | 10 | | 1 | | 4 | 15
| Broken arches or | 12 | | 4 | 4 | 4 | 24
| flatfoot | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
Enlarged thyroid | | 12 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 23
glands | | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
Exophthalmic goiter | | 2 | | | | 2 | 4
| | | | | | |
Chorea | | 2 | | | 2 | 1 | 5
| | | | | | |
Needing corrective | | 5 | | 3 | 4 | 7 | 19
exercises | | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
--------------------+-------------------+-----+---+----+----+----+-------
A second examination of the same girls six months later shows gain in
weight, height, and general health; 125 had their teeth put in order;
six were treated for defective hearing; twenty had attended the Skin
Clinic; all had their eyes examined; eighty-six were fitted with
glasses. In twenty-five cases where the adenoids and tonsils were
removed the result was increase in weight, better breathing and heart
action, alertness of mind, and a noticeable improvement in trade work.
Where the obstructions of nose and throat still remain there is loss in
weight and diminished chest expansion and a generally weakened
condition. The extraction of decayed teeth and the providing of
well-fitting glasses have diminished nervous irritability and the
frequency of headaches. Three cases of tuberculosis were sent to camps.
Seven cases of organic heart trouble were treated by specialists;
nineteen girls were given corrective exercises at Teachers College; two
were fitted with shoes and braces; two were put into plaster jackets,
one for lateral rotary curvature and one for neuritis; and one advanced
case of chorea has been placed in the hospital. Of the girls whose
records are given in the list it can be said that, with the exception of
the cripples and a few others needing simple operations, a year's care
shows that very few of them are in any way handicapped by the effects of
disease.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION COURSE
I. Gymnastics:
1. Elementary: 3 thirty-minute periods a week. (1) Swedish floor
work for general posture; (2) Work in control of breathing; (3)
Marching tactics for form and accuracy; (4) Light apparatus work:
(_a_) Wands, (_b_) Dumb-bells, (_c_) Indian clubs; (5) Heavy
apparatus for coördination; (6) Simple dances and rhythm work for
grace and poise; (7) Simple plays and games.
2. Advanced: 2 forty-five-minute periods a week. (1) Gymnastic
dances containing more than three figures; (2) Swedish and Danish
weaving dances in correlation with study of textiles (Academic
Department); (3) Folk dances of Sweden and Russia for form; (4)
Modern athletic dances for grace and poise; (5) Athletic
Competition: (_a_) Running and jumping, (_b_) Relay and obstacle
races, (_c_) Hockey and basket ball.
3. Special corrective work for spinal trouble or poor position: (1)
General floor work for mobility; (2) Free-hand work: (_a_) Single
assistive and resistive exercises, (_b_) Hanging exercises with and
without assistance, (_c_) Work with iron dumb-bells.
II. Hygiene: Talks on hygiene are a regular part of the work, and aim to
give each girl a knowledge of her body and of its functions that will
enable her to care for her health in an intelligent manner and to
establish in her mind ideals of correct living which can be made
practical in her surroundings.
1. _Personal Hygiene_: (1) Brief survey of the body as a whole; (2)
The use of the mouth, nose, larynx, trachea, and lungs in breathing;
(3) Care of nose and throat: (_a_) The nose as a source of
infection, (_b_) Dangers of enlarged tonsils and adenoids, (_c_)
Treatment of colds; (4) Structure and care of the teeth. (5) The
Digestive System: (_a_) Organs directly concerned, and (_b_) Their
care, (_c_) Disorders of the Digestive System; (6) The Nervous
System, Brain, and Spinal Cord; (7) The Skin, (_a_) Structure and
Use, (_b_) Hygiene of Skin; (8) Heart and Blood Vessels; (9) The
Hair; (10) The Ears; (11) The Eyes; (12) The Feet; (13) The Hygiene
of Clothes.
2. _Domestic Hygiene_: Construction and furnishing of Home: (_a_)
Internal arrangement, walls, and coverings, (_b_) Ventilation, (_c_)
Heating, (_d_) Lighting, (_e_) Water Supply, (_f_) Plumbing and
Drainage, (_g_) Toilet rooms, (_h_) Disposal of Garbage and Ashes,
(_i_) House Cleaning, sweeping, dusting, cleaning, and use of
disinfectants.
3. _Foods_: (1) Nutritive value of foods; (2) Purity of food
materials; (3) Cooking--Cooking utensils; (4) Planning of meals.
4. _Diseases_: (1) Causes and Transmission; (2) Contagious diseases,
care, prevention; (3) Hygiene of sick room; (4) Insects and vermin;
(5) Infectious diseases.
Transcriber's Note:
Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.