This volume is the result of studies in methods of Americanization
prepared through funds furnished by the Carnegie Corporation of New
York. It arose out of the fact that constant applications were being
made to the Corporation for contributions to the work of numerous
agencies engaged in various forms of social activity intended to
extend among the people of the United States the knowledge of their
government and the obligations to it. The trustees felt that a study
which should set forth, not theories of social betterment, but a
description of the methods of the various agencies engaged in such
work, would be of distinct value to the cause itself and to the
public.
The outcome of the study is contained in eleven volumes on the
following subjects: Schooling of the Immigrant; The Press; Adjustment
of Homes and Family Life; Legal Protection and Correction; Health
Standards and Care; Naturalization and Political Life; Industrial and
Economic Amalgamation; Treatment of Immigrant Heritages; Neighborhood
Agencies and Organization; Rural Developments; and Summary. The entire
study has been carried out under the general direction of Mr. Allen
T. Burns. Each volume appears in the name of the author who had
immediate charge of the particular field it is intended to cover.
Upon the invitation of the Carnegie Corporation a committee consisting
of the late Theodore Roosevelt, Prof. John Graham Brooks, Dr. John M.
Glenn, and Mr. John A. Voll has acted in an advisory capacity to the
director. An editorial committee consisting of Dr. Talcott Williams,
Dr. Raymond B. Fosdick, and Dr. Edwin F. Gay has read and criticized
the manuscripts. To both of these committees the trustees of the
Carnegie Corporation are much indebted.
The purpose of the report is to give as clear a notion as possible of
the methods of the agencies actually at work in this field and not to
propose theories for dealing with the complicated questions involved.