The first woman judge of delinquent girls sits on the bench in the
Chicago Juvenile Court. She is Mary M. Bartelme, a Chicago lawyer.
Previous to her present connection she was for eighteen years public
guardian of Cook County, acting in this office, in the words of the
_Continent_, as “official mother to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of
children” who had no other parents and whose persons or estates were
in the care of the court. Guardianship of their persons meant actual
custody and education, and this for a period of many years; it meant
also in many cases interest and love for the child and always, in the
tangled relations of life, an understanding of human nature, as well
as a thorough knowledge of the institutions best fitted for special
cases. All this experience has thus been excellent preparation for
Miss Bartelme’s present delicate task of reconstructing the lives and
characters of delinquent girls.
[Illustration: MARY M. BARTELME]
Up to the time of her appointment cases of delinquent girls were
heard, like those of boys, in open court. The effect is thus
described by Judge Pinckney of the Chicago Court, whose assistant
Miss Bartelme is:
“The delinquent girl, unlike the delinquent boy, is generally
brought to court for some sexual irregularity. This means that the
story of her shame and downfall is told openly, publicly. There are
often present at such times curiosity seekers, sensation hunters,
and now and then among the latter, I am sorry to say, are newspaper
reporters looking for a story. Frequently the name of the girl, the
names of her parents, of her brothers and sisters, and her home
address appear in the newspapers, with all the harrowing details of
her trouble. She is fortunate if her picture is not surreptitiously
taken for publication.
“After such an exploitation of her trouble, you tell the
unfortunate child that you want to do something for her—you want to
help her. Is it any wonder that she does not readily respond to the
proffered aid? Her feelings shocked, her sensibilities blunted, her
sense of justice outraged, she is more apt to refuse than accept
your suggestions for her future welfare. To my mind this procedure
is unnecessary, is wrong, is barbarous. Even under the most
favorable conditions possible to a public hearing, it is difficult
to get into sympathetic touch with the child so that she will be in
a receptive mood and willingly amenable to helpful suggestion and
treatment.
“The plan proposed is to have the case of each delinquent girl
heard by a woman, who shall act as the representative and assistant
of the presiding judge. To this woman assistant, in the presence of
the girl’s father and mother, the witnesses will tell the girl’s
story. Every consideration will be shown the girl and her family.
In so far as it is possible to do so, this darkened page in their
lives will be guarded from the public gaze.
“It is believed that these delinquent girls will the more readily
unburden their souls to one of their own sex, and especially if
allowed to so do out of hearing of the public and surrounded by
father and mother and those in sympathy with her and them.
“This is the all-important work for delinquent girls which Mary M.
Bartelme is expected to do—will do. She is the unanimous choice of
the judges of the Circuit Court for the position of assistant to
the judge of the Juvenile Court.”
* * * * *
At the recent annual meeting of the Society of Sanitary and Moral
Prophylaxis, Dr. Edward L. Keyes, Jr., was elected president, to
succeed Dr. Prince A. Morrow, founder, and until his death the head
of the society.
Dr. Keyes is a charter member of the society and was for many
years its secretary. He has also been a member of the Executive
Committee, and worked in close touch with Dr. Morrow. Dr. Keyes is a
professor at the Cornell Medical School and president of the American
Association of Genito-Urinary Surgeons.
Professor Maurice A. Bigelow of Teachers’ College, Columbia
University, and Dr. Rosalie Slaughter Morton were elected to fill
the vacancies in the Executive Committee. Mr. Marshall C. Allaben of
the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions was chosen chairman of the
Executive Committee.
* * * * *
The Italian Club of New York is an interesting center. In the
low-ceilinged basement opera singers, art importers, physicians,
orchestra leaders and the like rub elbows at the club tables.
In the three rooms on the main floor an exhibition is being held
this month of the drawings of Joseph Stella, an Italian artist of
more than ordinary promise. He is a brother of Dr. Antonio Stella,
a pioneer in the tuberculosis movement and a leader in New York’s
civic life. The artist himself was a member of the staff of the
Pittsburgh Survey, and readers of this magazine will remember the
striking character sketches of the steel workers he drew in black and
white. An entire room is given up to these Pittsburgh drawings, which
in many respects represent the artist’s most forceful workmanship.
In another room is his earlier work with East Side types, and in
another the canvasses he has produced in Rome and Paris, where he
has spent the last two years. These have the color and method of the
post-impressionists.
[Illustration: DOWN AND OUT