Another specialized agency for work with the foreign-born groups is
the International Institute of the Young Women's Christian
Association. This association has attempted in a short period of time
to develop over a wide area this form of service, so that between the
spring of 1913 and March, 1919, there had been established 31 of these
organizations, most of them in industrial centers in different parts
of the United States. In general, their work, as outlined in the
After-War Program of the association, includes (1) a foreign-language
information office, (2) home visiting for newly arrived women and
girls, (3) case work in connection with legal difficulties, sickness,
and emergencies, and (4) work with groups, including organized classes
and informal gatherings. The last are to be especially designed for
women and girls unable or unwilling to attend night schools, and there
is to be a persistent urging upon the public school of the importance
of socialized methods in work for women.
The use of foreign-language visitors is considered to be one of the
most important features of these undertakings. Although few of the
institutes have been able to secure enough workers to reach all the
language groups in the community, provision can usually be made for
the most numerous groups. Among the 18 replies to questionnaires sent
to these institutes only 4 show less than 3 languages spoken by
visitors, 10 have as many as 4 or more, and 4 have 8 or 9 languages.
These 18 institutes employ 76 foreign-language visitors. Forty-six of
these are themselves foreign born. These visitors represent a great
variety in training and experience, but the institute secretaries
think that on the whole they are more valuable than native-born
visitors would be even if these native-born visitors were more highly
trained. The training of these particular visitors, while varied and
often apparently inadequate, is on the whole surprisingly good.
Fifteen of the 46 have had some college training; 3 have had
kindergarten training, and 4 nurses' training. Eight have had previous
case-work experience; 4 have lived in settlements. Eight have taken
training courses given by the association, varying from a few weeks to
several months at the national headquarters. A number have had
religious training of one kind or another, 2 in a school for
deaconesses, 12 as prospective missionaries, and 1 in a theological
seminary.
The 18 International Institutes report the establishment of 134 clubs
or classes in which married women are members, having an enrollment of
894 foreign-born married women. The subject most generally taught is
English. Among 134 clubs and classes, 101 are organized exclusively
for the teaching of English, and 7 others combine English with cooking
or sewing.
Some attempt is made to teach housekeeping in classes. Ten of these
are organized for cooking or sewing, 7 for English and cooking or
sewing, and there are 13 mothers' clubs with subjects of such general
interest as health, the care of children, and home nursing. In
addition to the organized clubs and classes, most of the institutes
have given lectures in foreign languages to larger groups of women
subjects such as "Women and the War," "Liberty Bonds," "Thrift," "Food
Conservation," "Personal and Social Hygiene," "The Buying of
Materials," and "What the English Language Can Do for You."
Most classes are composed of a single national group, but classes are
reported in which there are Polish and Ruthenian, Slovak and Polish,
Greek and Lithuanian, Armenian and French, and Portuguese, Magyar and
Slovak, and "mixed" nationalities. English is used in practically all
classes which are primarily for the teaching of English. Fourteen of
the institutes, however, have foreign-speaking workers to interpret
whenever the women do not understand the teacher. In answer to the
question as to the success of the institute in connecting married
women with classes in public evening schools, three reply that they
have had no success because the public schools do not use
foreign-speaking workers and the women cannot understand the teachers
who speak only English.
The institutes conduct vigorous campaigns to acquaint the mothers with
their work, using posters, printed invitations, announcements at
schools, notices in foreign papers, and particularly home visits by
foreign-speaking workers.
With regard to home visiting it appears that there has not yet been time
to work out a program for the teaching of improved standards of
housekeeping, personal hygiene, and proper diet. The institutes,
however, lend their foreign-speaking visitors as interpreters to other
agencies organized for particular phases of work in the home, such as
Visiting Nurse associations, Infant Welfare societies, Anti-Tuberculosis
societies, and Charity Organization societies.
A very real effort is often made to reconcile foreign-born mothers and
Americanized daughters. Those responsible for some of the institutes
realize very keenly the significance of the problem, and impress upon
the children they meet their great interest in the Old-World
background of the parents, their appreciation of the mother's being
able to speak another language besides English, their pleasure in
old-country dances, costumes, and songs. They try in every way
possible to maintain the respect of the daughter for her foreign-born
mother. In home visits they try also to explain to the mother the
freedom granted to American girls, the purpose of the clubs for
girls, and the need for learning English themselves to lessen their
dependence upon the children.