RED CROSS AND OTHER COMMUNITY WORK
Thoughtful people are becoming disposed to criticize the present
methods employed in many of our sewing, cooking, and millinery classes.
It is felt that the girls in these classes, through the work which they
do, think of themselves first, last, and all the time. They spend time
on embroidery to cater further to decorative instincts long established
by custom without much thought as to artistic values. They spend half
a year making graduation dresses which they may wear before admiring
parents. They copy the latest fashion in hats without thought as to
utility or beauty. They knit feathery neck pieces and neglect stocking
darning. They laboriously sew by hand articles which had better be made
on a machine.
Our girls must learn to think of others than themselves. Their sewing
and millinery must get away from the individual-problem idea. Of
course girls must learn to sew by hand, especially when the home in
these days teaches so little in the way of hand sewing. But after they
have learned to sew by hand, they should not continue to use hand
sewing on work that should be done on a sewing machine. Of course it
is wise to train girls to make some of their own clothing, but to make
this clothing without regard to study of textiles or adaptation to
personal needs or the eternal fitness of things is not in accord with
the educational purpose of our schools, which is to train personal
character as well as to develop skill in domestic arts. When the family
hosiery needs darning, and the small children of the family need
clothes, and the schoolgirl needs a middy blouse or a school uniform,
it is unwise to spend so much energy on continuing a type of domestic
art which lacks the socialized appeal necessary to conform with modern
social needs and modern industrial methods.
The teachers of household arts are beginning to see the need for
reform. Many are bringing into the school life such problems as the
mending and darning of the family clothes; cooking school luncheons;
managing day nurseries for babies of working mothers; making table
and bed linen for hospitals; making jams and jellies for charitable
societies. Such teachers have welcomed the opportunity offered by the
present war to forward the new idea of socializing domestic-arts work.
They have been impatient of the dilettante work which they formerly
did when their girls practically wasted hours of school time in making
things which could be bought for less than the cost of materials,
to say nothing about the cost of time of the girls themselves, who
are in school but a few years at best--years when they should be
receiving instruction in subjects which have real training values.
These progressive teachers have desired that their girls develop more
speed; that they receive training helpful in meeting the actual trade
conditions in dressmaking and millinery shops; that they learn to work
together on some common problem which all may see is worth while and
for a purpose which is larger than themselves. Red Cross work has given
these teachers the opportunity which they sought. They believe that the
Red Cross work during the war may easily be converted into community
work after the war is over. Hospitals, charity organizations, orphan
asylums, and homes are always with us. The great appeal now, obviously,
is Red Cross work. The permanent appeal is always the need of the home
and the community.
An activity which has been very general throughout the country, as well
as in France and England, has been the voluntary contribution of the
work of women's organizations to the Red Cross Society. The making of
hospital supplies belongs more peculiarly to women than do many forms
of war work, and it is easily incorporated into the sewing courses
of our elementary and secondary schools. A feature that makes it
especially adaptable to schools is the standardization by the present
business manager, under whose direction blue prints, photographs, and
written and pictured specifications have been prepared.
Those of us who are interested in the methods employed in vocational
schools to turn out standard products appreciate the benefit to the
girl of learning to work from well-planned directions and of turning
out a product exactly corresponding to specifications. It is believed
that this manner of doing the work holds an educational value which
entitles it to a place in the sewing course of every school. Both
technique and speed elements are necessary for the condition of need
which the Red Cross is meeting. As pupils are called upon to respond to
this demand for quantities of garments and hospital supplies, as well
as for accurately made articles, they will become trained in speed and
accuracy while rendering a distinct service to their country.
In the state of New York about 3000 girls in sewing classes began
work for the Red Cross on March 1, 1917, under the direction of Anna
Hedges Talbot, state specialist in girls' vocational work; the work
being done voluntarily by both schools and pupils. To obtain materials,
arrangements were first made with local Red Cross chapters; but in
many places the lack of a chapter or its lack of funds prevented the
coöperation with the schools, and material was supplied by liberal
contributions from women's clubs, which realized the necessity of
making use of the offer of the girls' services, thus causing more work
to be turned into Red Cross channels than would have been possible
without this financial aid. In organizing the work the various
localities sent an authorized school person, generally the teacher
of household arts, to confer with the Red Cross people as to what
articles were needed and how they should be made, and to bring back to
the school written specifications, paper patterns, and models. In many
places the teachers took a course of instruction under some Red Cross
nurse specifically qualified to give sewing instruction.
In this careful way the schools proceeded, and within six weeks
returned reports to the State Education Department showing that every
kind of article which was needed, from the simplest surgical dressings
to the most carefully finished surgeon's gown, had been made by about
3000 girls working on an average of one or two hours a week during
their regular school time. That none of this work had to be ripped or
done over when it reached the Red Cross headquarters reflects credit on
both girls and instructors.
One comparatively small sewing class in the vocational school at Mount
Vernon, New York, filled a box for the Belgian Relief, according to Red
Cross specifications, as follows:
18 hot-water-bag covers
54 sheets
36 pillow cases
27 wash cloths
27 pairs of pajamas
36 hospital-bed sheets
9 pairs slippers
9 convalescent gowns
36 pairs socks
18 pairs bed socks
18 bath towels
36 face towels
In addition this class shipped in a few months over 2000 separate
articles to Red Cross headquarters; as, for example,
75 children's dresses
149 tampon bags
224 baby bootees
219 ward shoes
76 hospital nightshirts
62 crocheted trench caps
597 slings
19 petticoats
14 chemises
403 body bandages
42 eye bandages
373 bathing suits
12 air cushions
77 pneumonia jackets
50 bath towels
All the schools of the state inquired if they might go on with this
work when the schools opened in September. Schools which were not
able to do the work in the spring were ready to begin on the first
day of school in the fall. The work, however, has hitherto been
neglected except in the curriculum of schools which have vocational
courses, so that only girls electing domestic arts have had the
opportunity of doing it as a part of their school program, but there
is no reason why it should be limited to these girls. Those who are
taking academic courses in high schools--and they greatly outnumber the
vocational students--should have a chance to render service through
the schools. In this connection it is well to say that the burden of
doing productive work in war service should not be limited entirely
to students in vocational courses. It will be a mistake to throw the
burden of useful service upon a special group and in this way help
develop the notion that those who take classical courses have nothing
to do but look on, while those in vocational courses are to do the work.
Voluntary after-school clubs were organized in a great many schools,
but no voluntary work can be systematized or directed so well as
courses incorporated in the curriculum, and it is suggested to the
schools of the country that special Red Cross courses be offered and
that all girls be expected to devote a few hours a week to the work.
The following quotation from Édouard Petit's book "De l' école à la
guerre" on what the normal schools of France are doing ought to be
enough to inspire our American girls.
The girls of the normal schools of France are working very
hard, knitting, sewing, making hospital supplies, in the intervals
of their school work; also acting as laundresses, secretaries,
bookkeepers, etc. They are not old enough to be nurses. In addition
to the work for the armies, they give a part of their time to work
for other students. They are providing for the girl students of
the normal schools in the invaded districts, many of whom were
obliged to make long journeys on foot, clad in summer clothes,
with no chance to carry even a change of clothing with them. The
school at Fontenay appealed to the normal schools for aid for
its students; other appeals followed, some from schools in the
districts from which the invaders were driven out. Very soon in
all the normal schools of France girls were cutting and sewing,
providing new garments, or garments from their own supply, to be
sent to the towns in the north of France. Some of these supplies
are held in reserve for the towns that are still to be liberated.
One teacher writes: "Our young girls are glad to come to the aid
of their fellow students who are not known to them but who are
coming to seem nearer as I have them learn about the schools, read
the letters that are received, etc. Anything which makes real and
tangible the responsibility of this friendly help ought to be
encouraged."
As the need arises, our secondary-school girls will respond in
like manner.
The preparation needed to initiate Red Cross work in any large way
in the schools of a state is considerable. There is a good deal of
organization and consequent detail connected with it. The domestic-arts
teachers of a school district or county ought to be called together and
instructed in the minutiæ of garment-making and surgical dressings.
With the blue prints, photographs, and written specifications already
issued by the Red Cross headquarters at Washington these teachers could
then work out a full set of directions for each article which would be
specific and graphic. These could be printed by the state printer or,
better, by the boys in a vocational school. In addition, moving-picture
reels of processes carried on according to the most modern methods of
workroom procedure could be shown to those who have not been in contact
with present-day modes of work.
In order to excite interest on the part of the community in rural
districts where this work has not as yet penetrated to any extent,
moving pictures of processes of making surgical dressings, pajamas,
surgeons' gowns, or children's dresses could be exhibited as
illustrating what other sections of the state are already doing. These
moving pictures could be taken of girls at work in an up-to-date New
York City factory, and the reels could be either purchased outright or
rented from an educational-film company. In Washington the Department
of the Interior has a number of reels which have been put at the
disposal of the Red Cross, and will make more if the occasion demands.
Slides too could be made showing special operations, special garments,
and special methods of arranging work. When public interest has been
aroused at a public meeting in a small center, the school will find
it easy to take up the work and push it forward. The person in charge
of the work would have to keep in constant touch with the Red Cross
headquarters as to the needs for garments and hospital supplies, as
well as to the changes that from time to time have to be made in the
kind and quality of supplies. A chart could be made of the capacity
as to equipment and number of pupils, and the present grade of their
working ability, for each place where a school is located. Brief
reports could be sent to a state director from these schools as to what
they could make, when they could make it, and when specified articles
could be finished. Thus there would be a line out from a central
supervisor to each school in the state where pupils are old enough
to do any work of this public-service nature. Along this line would
travel the information as to what was being done and what would be the
next thing to be done.
Knitting by hand is one of the occupations which many girls and women
are taking up. One drawback to hand-knitting is that it takes a good
deal of time, and in the case of socks, at least, the results of
amateur work may be uncomfortable to the wearer. It is suggested that
schools put in knitting machines. One school at Yonkers, New York, has
such a machine. It enables its operator to finish a sock every twenty
minutes, or 12 pairs in an eight-hour day. It is possible to knit
wristlets and sleeveless sweaters on these machines. The Vacation War
Relief Committee of New York City has been responsible for the sale of
980 of these machines, on which over 85,000 pairs of socks have been
made during the past year.
A letter written to me by Mettie B. Hills, Director of Girls' Work in
Troy, New York, relative to her Red Cross work is so full of human
interest and gives in such detail the excellent methods which she
employed that I quote it in full. It will serve as suggestive material
for other equally enthusiastic and competent teachers.
My office has been turned into a cutting room. Girls are now at
a large table cutting hospital bed shirts with just as little waste
as possible. Smaller girls are snipping the few waste pieces,
and one little girl at the end of the table is filling a fracture
pillow with the snips. In my machine-sewing room the girls are
making hospital bed shirts. Each girl has a different operation.
The shirts move through the cutting room to this room and from one
machine to the next just as they do in a factory. They finally
reach the inspection table, where they are inspected as they are
folded, and an inspection card is placed in the pocket. They are
then piled up for that final inspection which I give every article
before it goes to our stock room. Here we hold all articles until
we have enough to make the moving worth while, and then they are
taken to Red Cross headquarters in the city truck. The chairmen
of each Red Cross division of our local chapter are notified
beforehand that things are coming and they are at headquarters to
receive our work and sign for it. I tell you, it is a big day for
all when the school work is turned in. I hear about it for weeks
afterward.
The girls do not stay at one operation. As soon as they are
ready, they are promoted to the next. [And in this connection may
I call the reader's attention to the chapter which brought out the
new spirit of teaching the household arts?]
The little jacket which is hanging in my clothespress is
only the beginning of a big piece of work which I expect to push
during the winter, a piece of work which I believe will do more to
standardize the girls' work than anything we have yet done.
Another room is given over to knitting, and the girls pass
from one type of work to another. We have a teacher from the Red
Cross rooms who is showing the older girls how to make oakum pads.
The work is really fascinating, and fortunately we no longer have
to think of the money for the materials, as the work done in the
schools has been of so much higher standard that the local chapter
has voted me $500 in order that there might be no danger of our
stopping the work. I am inclosing a list of what our schools have
done in the past three months.
I. For the Red Cross Society
1. Hospital Supplies
Hospital boots 48
Hospital shoulder wraps 36
Hospital shirts 156
Pajama suits 48
Surgeons' operating gowns 6
Surgeons' operating caps 12
Surgeons' operating helmets 48
Slings 492
1-inch bandages 12
2-inch bandages 13 rolls
2. Surgical dressings 22
Oakum pads 20
Fracture pillows 20
II. For the Soldiers' Welfare League
1. "Housewives" for Second New York Regiment 48
2. "George Washington kits" for Second New York
Regiment
3. Neckerchiefs for Second New York Regiment 120
4. Pajama suits 32
III. For the National Navy Comforts League
1. Knitted mufflers for the army and navy 313
2. Knitted sleeveless jackets for the army and navy 25
3. Knitted wristlets for the army and navy 40 pairs
4. Knitted caps for the army, navy, and aviators 2
5. Knitted hospital socks 7 pairs
IV. For the Surgical Dressings Committee (French)
1. Slings
2. Fracture pillows
3. Eye binders
V. For Belgian Relief Committee
1. Kits for small children (full set of clothes)
VI. For National League for Woman's Service (adults)
1. Two commissariat classes
2. Motor classes with 30 enrolled
Of course the Red Cross work need not be limited to girls and women.
Boys under 14 are able to pick over oakum and to do other work that
girls of the same age can do. The older boys can adjust and tend the
knitting machines and pack and deliver the finished product.
Men and women in many of the state institutions will be glad to
contribute a share in service. Thomas Mott Osborne, while warden at
Sing Sing, organized through the Mutual Welfare League a large class of
men who enthusiastically gave up their evening periods of recreation in
order that they might knit for soldiers in foreign fields.
A number of young boys, none over 14, from Troy and Albany orphan
asylums were taken in auto trucks 30 miles into the country to a
currant-producing section, where they picked 5000 quarts of currants
which had been donated to the county Red Cross organization. These
currants were shipped in a refrigerator car 90 miles down the river to
Yonkers, New York, where the girls made them into jelly and currant
juice, the sugar being donated by a local refinery.
Possibly the largest service that boys can render will be the making of
Red Cross splints. As has already been stated in another chapter the
Canadian schoolboys are doing a great deal of this work in connection
with their manual training. An article in a recent issue of the _Manual
Training Magazine_ describes in detail the work of the manual-training
centers of British Columbia. These splints are made merely for first
aid, and are used where it is not necessary that they conform exactly
to the contour of the limbs or body. They are padded a little with
cotton or cloth and fitted on the injured part of the soldier.
A general conception prevails that Red Cross work is limited to
battle-field relief, but it must be remembered that this organization
also carries on civilian relief. It is very likely, as time goes on,
that the schools will come to realize that there is probably no better
agency than the Red Cross with which they can associate themselves in
allaying the suffering and relieving the distress in the community. It
must be remembered that the Red Cross is splendidly organized, with
its great central headquarters at Washington, its division headquarters
in larger groups of states, and its local chapters in every county.
There is no activity of the Red Cross which a child cannot duplicate
in its own sphere of life, and the American school may well become
a center of interest in Red Cross work in time of war. One of the
departments already organized is that of Home Service, which exists
to help families maintain their standards of living. School-service
work under a Junior Red Cross has been organized in order to bring the
schools into direct touch with the work. The schools can give lessons
in first aid, elementary hygiene, and home care of the sick, in home
dietetics, and in the preparation of surgical dressings. It can make
the necessary supplies for local soldiers who are in mobilization
camps. It can make supplies for the soldiers' families, especially
during the winter months. It can raise money by means of entertainments
of an educational nature, and here opportunities are often presented
to correlate the work with history and English. In short, during the
stress of war, with its rising cost of food, its industrial changes,
its uncertainties in living conditions, with the home often handicapped
by the withdrawal of the chief wage earner, there will be an excellent
opportunity for the school to come in with its aid. The diet of the
family, both in quality and variety, may be improved through the
helpful advice of the teacher of home economics; children who are in
need of medical care may be sent to the dispensary. The Home Service
Department suggests that teachers may do helpful vocational-guidance
work; for in the absence of father and older brothers many a boy and
girl can be helped by a teacher's encouragement to go into occupations
where there is a future, where skill can be acquired, and where there
is a chance for advancement.
The following quotation from the London _Times_ of some Red Cross work
in France pointedly illustrates what home and school service in the Red
Cross movement may mean in America.
The most detailed enumeration would hardly exhaust the
activities of education in the common cause--voluntary
contributions to the national funds deducted from the salaries of
teachers; liberal subscriptions from pupils; participation in the
collection of gold; the dispatch of packets to soldiers, and of
books to the children of reconquered Alsace; help given to orphans
whom a school or class has taken under its charge; manual labor
on behalf of soldiers at the front, the wounded, the lame, and
prisoners; material or moral assistance to refugees; a welcome
given to all abandoned children, Belgian or French, in the families
of masters or of friends of the school; correspondence with
soldiers at the front, wounded, and prisoners; attendance at the
funeral of soldiers who have died of their wounds; the public
reception by schools, _lycées_, and universities of colleagues or
old pupils wounded, promoted, or quoted in dispatches; befriending
soldiers who have no family to look after them; the institution of
workrooms for men and women who are out of work; participation in
the celebration of Belgian Day, the Serbian Day, the French Day,
the Day of the 75, the Day of the Orphans, and so on,--tasks which
will have to be continued during the coming school year, because
the need for them will still be present, and doubtless, for some of
them at least, during the years immediately after the war, when the
school will still have before it a splendid opportunity for social
service.
[Illustration: Service recognizes no school grading. Girls of the lower
grades are snipping waste pieces for fracture pillows and working with
the older girls who are cutting hospital bed shirts, Troy, New York.]
[Illustration: The new spirit of household arts in the schools is based
upon the project plan and community service. War needs create new
school practices. Troy (New York) girls at work on Red Cross supplies.]
[Illustration: A country school need not be idle during the summer.
This one housed a group of farm cadets]
[Illustration: Flying squadron leaving camp on an emergency call for
berry pickers at Highland, New York.]
President Wilson has honored the school children of our country by a
proclamation dated September 18, 1917, in which he calls upon them
to do their part in the war by joining the Junior Red Cross, thus
assisting in the mercy work of the senior organization. A portion of
his message is quoted:
The school is the natural center of your life. Through it you
can best work in the great cause of freedom to which we have all
pledged ourselves.
Our Junior Red Cross will bring to you opportunities of service
to your community and to other communities all over the world, and
guide your service with high and religious ideals. It will teach
you how to save in order that suffering children elsewhere may
have the chance to live. It will teach you how to prepare some of
the supplies which wounded soldiers and homeless families lack.
It will send to you through the Red Cross bulletins the thrilling
stories of relief and rescue. And, best of all, more perfectly than
through any of your other school lessons, you will learn by doing
those kind things under your teacher's direction to be the future
good citizens of this great country which we all love.
Our President is a master of good pedagogy as well as a leader of
men, and he expresses the very best in modern educational thought. He
tells the children to think of their school as the natural center of
their lives; to serve the community in which they live; to reach out
through service and study to the larger world outside; to have behind
all action high ideals; to save that others less fortunate may have; to
learn how to do and through doing how to grow; to learn directly of the
world of action while it is in action; to work with their elders for
a common purpose,--the common purpose of being useful citizens of our
great country.