I NEIGHBORHOOD ee HOUSES | Bye CHRISTINE T. WILSON i ee “BOARD OF NATIONAL MISSIONS pepe QF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE U. S. A. 156 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. nous > te ber ood il rk “ret fy j h & gh 4 } ne ey ely ppl anahy Or PRlaee~. f > my # » i a! | OCT 28 1995 — KS iy TWATR YT yy, LO pein sewrk’ NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSES ene ee SE A SURVEY of THIRTY PRESBYTERIAN NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSES eMade Dei CHRISTINE T. WILSON A Department of City, Immigrant, and Industrial Work BOARD OF NATIONAL MISSIONS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE U. S. A. .. 156 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. dite ; ead | cea ental, eee Min " , PAS ’ ’ - A Sl! « bin wl’ “hy _ of : ie ‘wer, ‘tone ey q ane 7 ee ° ri wir PP Cuts een : 5 ‘hae es a0 tia Pe hy coal ewer es fone ¢ i iF ue Aon n AA i LET scot GQULOdda NVOIHOIN ‘“LIOWLAG ‘ANNAAV UAVA GNV LAAULS NIATM ‘ASQOH ALINOWWOOD ADGOd AHL AO HOLAMS S.LOULIHOUV STAGED ONT RYWHOR BLINE ere wht Bt - FOREWORD HE Neighborhood House is an answer of the Church to the deep human need of our foreign and polyglot communi- ties. Where as many as a dozen different nationalities live together in one neighborhood, it is clear that any effort to minister to so many groups through a foreign-language church would be attended by great difficulty. Aside from this matter of language, most of these recent immigrants maintain at least a nominal loyal- ty to Old World faiths, Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, and Orthodox, with their familiar, picturesque, and vivid services. Our American Protestantism is not at the outset greatly interest- ing nor acceptable to such immigrants. It is as foreign to them as their Old World religions would be to us. Meanwhile the streets of our cities and industrial towns swarm with children, boys hang around the corner waiting for something to turn up, and in the home of the workers each new day brings some new problem. To help these thousands of foreign-speaking people and their children make their adjustment to America is a first concern of the Neighborhood House, and to help them realize here a religion which has to do with every department of life. In the last ten years the Neighborhood House as a form of Christian service has made steady gains in the interest of the Pres- byterian and other denominations. There are more than thirty Neighborhood Houses under the auspices of the Presbyterian Church. The first effort made to list these Houses was in a Direc- tory published by the Board of National Missions, January, 1925. It furnished a brief statement concerning the date of their found- ing, the auspices under which they are conducted, the investment in their properties, the number of workers engaged, and the an- nual expenditure for their maintenance. For the purposes of classification and inclusion in this Directory, a Neighborhood House was distinguished from a church, as a form of Christian service carried on in a building or group of buildings especially erected or adapted for neighborhood service, with a staff of work- ers, some of whom reside on a settlement basis in the House or aca neighborhood, and with a program of activities developed in response to neighborhood needs and not limited to any particular church constituency. A Committee of Management or Board of Directors responsible for oversight and conduct of the work was also specified. The Neighborhood House work has not been projected from any one headquarters. It has taken hold variously. It has gained inspiration and much of its technique from the Social Settlement. In some cases local Presbyterian churches have initiated and sup- ported the work. The City Church Extension Boards have seized upon the Neighborhood House as one of the most effective ap- proaches to our foreign communities. The Synod of Indiana has ‘nterested itself in the Gary Neighborhood House and the Hill Crest Community Center at Clinton. The Synod of Michigan is sponsor for the Community House at Caspian in an iron-min- ing town. A number of projects have been initiated by the Women’s Presbyterial Societies, and Women’s Synodical Societies have collaborated. The Board of National Missions has assumed responsibility for a number of Houses where a demonstration of this method of approach was sought, and has cooperated with various Synods and Presbyteries. Under the leadership of Dr. Robert N. McLean, Associate Director of City, Immigrant, and Industrial Work, a number of Homes of Neighborly Service with a resident woman worker have been established in Mexican communities in the southwest. These Homes have the spirit and genius of the more largely de- veloped Neighborhood House. There has been no matured nor generally accepted policy for Neighborhood House work in such matters as the organization and responsibility of the Board of Management, qualifications and responsibilities of staff workers, club work, relation to other community agencies, or even the religious program. Perhaps this very freedom of initiative has been one of the movement’s great- est assets. The Neighborhood House would appear to be a fresh and unconventional approach to very real human, social, and reli- gious need. Now that the movement has carried on for fifteen years or more, however, it is in order carefully to gather up the experience gained. The Department of City, Immigrant, and Industrial Work of the Board of National Missions, accordingly, undertook a survey and inventory of Neighborhood Houses under aaa Presbyterian auspices. Miss Christine T. Wilson, Assistant Director, made the survey with the cooperation of the Directors of the Neighborhood Houses and the Executives of the Pres- byteries concerned. In June, 1925, the Department held a con- ference on the Neighborhood House at Harkness Camp, Cleve- land, attended by a hundred men and women, staff workers and executives, when the results of this study were submitted and when there was an interchange of experience and consideration of the whole Neighborhood House program. A number of papers presented at this Conference have been issued in a pamphlet, “Proceedings of the Conference of Neigh- borhood House Work,” which may be had from the Board of National Missions. WILLIAM P. SHRIVER, New York City ‘ Department of City, Immigrant Mayen, 125 and Industrial Work. ea ‘ i nf iF f cea sip ‘ Le m6 9 i ‘ere va sins ae aay au oh INTRODUCTION E died learning” is the epitaph carved on the tomb of the English historian Greene. “He died learning” could appropriately be inscribed on the tombstone of anyone attempt- ing a survey of Presbyterian Neighborhood Houses. Not only a constantly changing program and staff, but even a change in the list of Neighborhood Houses themselves places any survey out of date before it is completed. Last autumn’s Directory of Neighborhood Houses includes two pieces of work already discontinued, Calumet City, and Boyle Center of St. Louis. Chicago Heights Community Center and Onward in Chicago should be added, and Brick Church Neighborhood House, now really a Parish House offering a lunch club for business women, does not belong in the Directory. “Labor turn- over” figures in a subsequent section show that an up-to-date statement about any staff is out of the question. As for the methods of administration, equipment and group activities, all are in a continual and unceasing process of development. Sev- eral House Councils were about to breathe their last gasp, others were facing their new responsibilities with the enthusiasm of youth. Two directors, visited toward the end of October, ex- claimed, “Oh, we wish you had come a month later when we really have our program going.” The Clubs and stated groups themselves are ever changing in purpose, membership and size to meet the immediate demands of the surrounding neighbors. Thus, I believe that if I returned again next winter, a very different situation would present itself in many centers. And so one might keep on studying about these same Neighborhood Houses indefinitely, and it might truly be said “he died learning.” A second consideration that should be firmly borne in mind by the reader, is that the most worthwhile and precious things of life are intangible—immeasurable. This holds true in the Neigh- borhood House. No method of evaluating the spiritual influ- ence of a Neighborhood House in a given community or a given life has yet been evolved. Yet, herein is the fundamental func- tion and chief aim of every center. Of necessity this report has been purposely kept to the tangible, the concrete, the “mechan- ics” of the Neighborhood House task. It is a handbook of the grouped experience of thirty centers. ya be VRE ale Pe Var ; { i il wa Me rae ney + - , ii H ATS TABLE OF CONTENTS Ore ward egiian an hier mara hay Teuleve Rae PRS PRC) BRON A A ia PDALOMUCUON Leen taki jena um treet Mie ee renr Ln ieee Rioree COLE HANGS VICLIOC mile nek Milas aE vale ob nm ane Surcoundingy Neishhorhoods sii: alte OAs Wa En as Ata TART Ven COUNTS he ie aye th Velichele mp icipae cts aN a ne A OULD an at EO Underiving a mlosophies vans 2, ail nc Gee ide fo ek he TD ce ATAITHRIO LIEU Uris Seyret et CRE MMC cao ee hil eae et nei th aL TEN mba PLGUINIs AOU IanO AIP oanizanon esos) Wace nn i Lae PAL Ges ture Cay ae aaa WEN ECAC Mitta 2,00) SNe ew A ECOrds ands REpOrtsyA tie sont Neem Cine ohh ta Oe AY ER LAAT LES EVENT g G8 2h REAR ala i US ck ag UR Ph a a a Se a POU NAGUCR MLM y Ure na ony WAN th a uth SoA PN oh EN ATS RE COI? EAU URE ALL. dS Ry MERE PRR ASETL TR Ge Ost EO A RL ttt Di SHARE en RIAD RR eR Cone Uy TIT A EIRRE an ADIN AW EG RAL Un NAIR, ASCE APPENDIX SUGGESTED REcorpD Forms BAS ECHL er tua ae I Mm SEN SCAN RNG dhe Vai aL nk ARN CMDS ACTS RC DOTTS in Mal puma non nner n rk Nuk ony ene LEE VU INR CA Tes Nee aa co CUS ANN PRA, ee Wear A Minimum STANDARD FoR A NEIGHBORHOOD HousE ......... FLoor PLans oF DopGE Communtry HousE ................ DIRECTORY OF) NEIGHBORHOOD. Houses.) ee ee Lys CHARTS PAGE 1. THe Prepominant PoPuLATION IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD COMMUNITY 3. cciy ea En er gee arnt tine’ Lon. ata aaa 15 ) ) SRORRIGN-SPEAKING GROUPS) Hoa Wh tchey tes + He ws aeet ape 16 3. Tur PrepomInant RExicious FaIrH IN THE NEIGHBOR- STOOD | COMM UN TTY iis ee a a arate ape areal nis Noten ae 18 A’ “Grow | oF NEIGHBORHOOD Houses ©...) 00) s/s} see 22 5. ADMINISTRATION AND ORGANIZATION ........-+-20¢005 30 6. REPRESENTATION ON Boarps OF DIRECTORS ............ yee Pi. SOURCKHS OF SUBROR Tar. te ees RC eae is near hats Ia 40 Sh) AoTriVvrries-— DY PES AND Ul REQUENCY 155.000) oleh geen am 52 OM NATIONAL: ORGANIZATIONS”. : ywletsiens Weis ste en nC rage a 54 10. 990 SraTrep AcTiviITIEs BY AGE GROUPS ............ Fk sO 11. Types or 82 Futt-Timme StaFF Workers’ Positions .... 76 12. AcE Groups 83 FuLL-TImME STAFF WORKERS .........-. 78 13. Previous PRoFEssSIONAL ExPERIENCE OF FuLL-TIME STAFF WORKERS a OR eis Aa OD Sra eae Ete ee 82 14. Epucation oF 92 FuLL-TIME STAFF WORKERS ......... 84 15. Prrtiop oF SERVICE oF 92 FuLt-TimeE StaFF WorKERs—A 86 16. PrERriop oF SERVICE OF 92 FuLt-Time STAFF WorKERS—B_ 88 TABLES I. Ten NercGHBoRHOOop HousE ExPENSE ACCOUNTS ....... 36 TEP GROUP ACTIVITIES ial eae ee ae ee ae ea 51 III. Previous ExPERIENCE oF 80 STaFF MEMBERs IN RELIG- TOUS WiGRe ie oc) coe ea alin lat ay URNS tg aha ee 13 IV. Previous ExPERIENCE OF 83 STaFF MEMBERS IN SOCIAL WW ORR eect Pca GAO Pc ae cote yen 80 V. Previous ExPERIENCE OF 79 StarF MEMBERS IN OTHER Work ie sos AY Bh IA SR SAR eee rk a na 80 VI. Worxinc Hours oF 88 FuLL-TIME WoRKERS ......... 87 ILLUSTRATIONS Dodge -Commiunitywhlouse warw ioes oe acer ene Frontispiece Howell ‘Neighborhood: House erie PU i Panga fom Pn ett ae ef: Hilicrest Community Center) saa nicie geen me avan cine n preae 27 PURPOSE, SCOPE, AND METHOD "THE study of Neighborhood Houses was not undertaken to determine the efficiency or effectiveness of centers, or to measure one center against another, but to provide trustees, staff and executives in social-religious fields with facts and generaliza- tions drawn from the experience of Neighborhood Houses. Dur- ing the last quarter of a century Neighborhood Houses have de- veloped with little or no relationship to one another, in different parts of the country, in a variety of communities, under the direction of diversified leadership. The Department of City, Immigrant and Industrial Work receives frequent inquiries about vocational training. Requests for advice on the development, organization, program, support and administration of Neighbor- hood Houses are common. College students and the religious education departments of the universities want to know, “What training is necessary for church social service?” A distraught member of a committee on management recently inquired, ‘What shall we do? We had two thousand dollars on hand, and started a community work. Now we have used up all our money, and the year is but half over! Where should we look for support?” “Fiow far can a successful administration of a Neighborhood House be democratic?” comes from a director. From the casual supporter one hears, “Wouldn’t it be better to spend my money to start a church?” Ina little isolated mining “location” a girls’ worker inquires, “What are girls’ clubs doing in Chicago and Detroit??? Why do we need Neighborhood Houses? Is their function an end in itself? Are they peculiarly related to com- munity needs? Do they offer a form of service distinct from the social settlement and the institutional church? With the hope of correlating experience for answering these and similar questions and gathering a body of knowledge that would furnish a basis for setting up standards and methods for future attainments, a sur- vey of Presbyterian Neighborhood Houses was undertaken. The questionnaire used is the outgrowth of an attempt to draw up a standard of measurement for a Neighborhood House ibe] made at the meeting of the Chicago directors, April, 1924. After prolonged discussion, the group decided that we must “take ac- count of stock” first, and that we must know more generally the program of Presbyterian Neighborhood Houses throughout the country before setting up evaluation standards. Therefore, a committee was appointed to draw up a questionnaire. This ques- tionnaire was then submitted to national and local executives for suggestions and amplifications. When finally completed it repre- sented a composite authorship of those engaged in Neighborhood House work from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast. To define the limits of the survey the following description of a Neighborhood House was adopted: “A form of Christian service carried on in a building or group of buildings especially erected or adapted for neighborhood service, with a staff of workers, some of whom reside on a settlement basis in the House or neighborhood, and with a program of activities developed in response to neighborhood needs and not limited to any particular church constituency. The Neighborhood House provides for a Committee of Management or Board of Directors responsible for oversight and conduct of the work.” On this basis thirty were selected for analysis. They were: Buffalo— Erie, Pennsylvania— Welcome Hall Social Settle- Neighborhood House ment Gary, Indiana— Westminster House * Memorial Chapel Social Center Calumet City, Ilinois— Calumet City Neighborhood Center Caspian, Michigan— Caspian Community House Chicago Heights— Chicago Heights Community Center Detroit— Delray Presbyterian Institute and Neighborhood House Dodge Community House Dupont, Pennsylvania— Dupont Neighborhood House Gary Neighborhood House Lackawanna, New York— The Lackawanna Friendship House Milwaukee, Wisconsin— Calvary Community House Chicago— Christopher House Settlement Garibaldi Institute Howell Neighborhood House Laird Community House Olivet Institute Samaritan House *Peniel Community Center Cleveland— Woodland Center Settlement *Qualifies in all particulars except that workers do not live in residence. [ 12 ] Clinton, Indiana— Sea and Land House Hill Crest Community Center Spring Street Neighborhood New York City— House Central Presbyterian Church Neighborhood House Jan Hus Neighborhood House Labor ‘Temple Neighborhood House of Amer- Summit, New Jersey— ican Parish Neighborhood House San Francisco, California— Potrero Hill Neighborhood House The method of survey was practically the same for each center. Potrero Hill was the only house not visited personally. Clubs and classes, Sunday schools, special events, staff and boards of directors’ meetings were observed, wherever possible. The main body of the questionnaire was filled out in conference with the director, and, in the larger houses, with heads of departments. In addition, individual conferences were held with staff members. Residence at thirteen houses and extended day and evening visits at others permitted an intimate glimpse into a Center’s underlying philosophy. | Directors, workers and Board members allowed the surveyor to go in and out of group activities at will, to peer into records, explore the recesses of garrets and cellars, as well as club rooms and gymnasium, and painstakingly answered endless questions and thus made possible any help that this summary may bring their fellow workers. Generalizations, statistics, and facts included in this report refer only to the thirty Neighborhood Houses listed. The term “Neighborhood House” is used throughout the report to desig- nate the centers under Presbyterian auspices, and does not include non-sectarian social settlements also frequently called Neighbor- hood Houses. SURROUNDING NEIGHBORHOODS THE communities surrounding the centers partially explain the whole neighborhood house movement and have implications for its future. Twenty-eight out of thirty houses are in cities [ 13 J having populations of over 10,000. All are in the midst of polyglot communities. Jan Hus House, New York City, is the only one which definitely serves a single nationality to the ex- clusion of all others. Many houses, however, serve large numbers of a single national group—Howell Neighborhood House serves Czechs very largely; Christopher House reaches a large number of Poles; Delray Presbyterian Institute in Detroit’s Armenian and Hungarian district specializes in one or two nationalities. The Italian immigrant and his children are the first concern of a large number of centers. Polish and Jewish groups receive second and third place respectively. The predominant foreign populations in the Neighborhood. House communities are shown in Chart 1. The negro migration northward has brought increasing numbers of colored people to such districts. The Community House at Caspian, a small mining town with a population of 2,000 on the Michigan Iron Range, listed thirty-nine different nationalities actually enrolled in its activities. The variety and frequence of nationality groups clustered about the Neighborhood Houses are shown in Chart 2. All but four houses reported a changing community, and but four of the remaining twenty-six reported changes within the same nationality grouping only, i. e., Italians replacing other Italians. The trend is for the earlier immigrant group of Ger- man, Scotch, English and Irish extraction to be crowded out by Italian or Slav, and they in turn are giving way to the negro in some districts. A constant and ever shifting stream of different nationalities surround the Neighborhood Houses. In Calumet City an American group is replacing a'Polish group, and the city blocks around Spring Street Neighborhood House in New York City are being reclaimed by “uptowners.” In only seven out of twenty-nine neighborhoods were the majority of residents believed to own their own homes. Religious faiths represented in these communities are clearly shown in Chart 3. Roman Catholics predominate, with Jew- ish, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox groups following in im- portance. Also, one may find small gatherings or established or- ganizations of Nazarenes, Russelites, Pentecostal Brethren, the Polish National Church, Mohammedans, Lutherans, and Holy Jumpers. De CuHarT 1 e The e Predominant Population im the Neighborhood Community Thirty Presbyterian Neighborhood Houses tation 9 Polish 5 az Jewish 3 a Gecho Slovak 2 Sam Hungarian 2 Ra German 2 Russian 2 American 2 a » Colored 2 Jugo-Slav 1 This chart indicates the nationality groups predominating in the Neighbor- hood House district—that is, nine centers have more Italians than any other one nationality. Five centers have more Poles in their community than any other one nationality, etc. [ 157] Cuart 2 Foreign-Speakin¢g Groups in Thirty Presbyterian Neighborhood House Communities PN ey | Oc OE ee Vis, aa 3 Gino: Eis 0 Sos have 9 Hungarians Cre | Russians Russians 1 Sardinian; as cexs And 21 Other 6 Tithuanian s lille Nationalities tore eople iam , Cotored Feople The bars indicate the number of Neighborhood Houses having the given nationality living in their immediate districts. For example, some Italians live in the immediate neighborhoods of twenty-three Neighborhood Houses. [ 16 ] In addition to religious faiths, the type of industry prevalent in these communities was noted. If time had permitted, it would have been enlightening to analyze the types of industry in vari- ous neighborhoods to see what opportunities for employment were open by age and sex, and to study these opportunities or lack of opportunities in their relationship to the development of a normal community life. Only the briefest summary of the outstanding industries of a neighborhood were tabulated. Three Neighborhood Houses are in mining towns—Caspian, Michigan, where iron mining is the only industry; Hill Crest, Indiana; and Dupont, Pennsylvania, bituminous and anthracite coal centers respectively. Eleven houses reported heavy manufacturing, such as steel mills; twenty-two reported small factories; eighteen, trade, that is, small stores; six, common Jabor—longshoremen’s and railroad-yard jobs and fisheries,—in their immediate vicinity. Only two reported much opportunity for clerical work close at hand. One in a changing section of New York City had pro- fessional people living nearby. This data shows that the Neigh- borhood House is operating largely among unskilled and semi- skilled workers, and must be concerned with the problems of in- dustry. It also means that Neighborhood House communities are far from static; that one cannot settle down complacently to serve any one nationality or religious faith; that any Neighborhood House program must be elastic, constantly being subjected to close scrutiny and always based on a continuous analysis of com- munity needs. No careful study of the relationships of the Neighborhood Houses to their surrounding communities was attempted. To what extent the Neighborhood House was allowing its own pro- gram to be determined by the needs of the locality could only be discovered after a minute analysis of the district. Time did not permit this. Furthermore, the extent to which a Center 1s effective in a given district is one of the intangible values, we have as yet determined no rule for measuring. The extent, to which a Neighborhood House fosters or cooperates with desirable social and religious organizations, may be one test of its efficacy. At Columbia University participation tests for the individual are being developed. These will enable one to discover to what extent a boy or girl is participating in his family life, in his day school, in the moving picture house, in the Sunday school. The degree to which a Center participates in the community life is surely one of the tests of Neighborhood House success. [ 17 ] CHART 3 The Predominant Religious Faith [n the Neighborhood Community Thirty Presbyterian N eiphborhood Houses fomnctnsic 22 is Jewish 3 ae Protestant 2 eS Eastern Orthodox 1 a Molokans {| El Socialist | 1 The bar sent the an otk Ne ighbe rhood House communities ac- cording a ioe r predominating igio aith, 1.e., twenty-two are in communities pre A Toba * Catholic [ 18] EARLY BEGINNINGS HE Neighborhood House has been described as “‘a fresh and unconventional approach on the part of organized Christian- ity to a polyglot neighborhood, with a program adapted to neigh- borhood needs.” We have seen that the Houses are working in polyglot com- munities. The story of early beginnings will show that the neigh- borhood house is an outgrowth of neighborhood needs. It would seem that the Neighborhood House is a development of the last quarter of a century in response to a felt need for something more than the conventional religious and educational opportuni- ties offered in the average American community. NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE ORIGINS Origin No. of Houses Grew out of kindergartens. . 7 Conventional churches Pe et atte or Mupolemented 6 CSreWaOUt oralitiday, Schools ti) 0s yeti Piva inet eis Fay Grew out of Missions . vy HaDNeE Wee Started as Neighborhood Houses 3 Miscellaneous Mi stints 6 OT ATe un PNyipeuite Bae bas torrie O Of the six listed Miscellaneous, one nai as a Settlement; one _ asa Daily Vacation Bible School; one, with cottage prayer meet- ings; one, with labor meetings; one, with English classes for foreigners; and one, to provide public baths for laborers in the steel mills. Only three houses, Dodge, Garibaldi, and Dupont, all founded within the last five years and encouraged by the example of institutions already started, were founded as Neigh- borhood Houses. The rest grew out of small beginnings, trans- forming and increasing their service to meet the needs of the immediate locality. The stories of individual Neighborhood Houses are worth examining— Caspian, Michigan, a sordid iron mining town of approximately 2,000 people, eagerly welcomed a Daily Vacation Bible School held Bates in a small store building, in the summer of 1917, under the direc- tion of one young college woman. ‘The vacation school was suc- ceeded by clubs and classes for boys and girls. A women’s group was started. In 1919 a second worker was added to the staff, and in 1921 the new building erected for Neighborhood House work was dedicated. ‘The program includes a circulating library and reading room, organized clubs and classes for children and adults of both sexes and all ages, Boy Scouts, Vacation School, Camp Fire Girls, gymnasium, baths, play-room, community gatherings, summer camp, and community organization. ‘The attendance of over eight thousand a month represents 39 nationalities and draws on many other mining locations in the Iron River District. ‘The house is an important factor in the recreational, social, political and educa- tional life of the community, and above all is a potent exemplifi- cation of the “Christian way of life.” The Labor Temple, New York City, had its beginnings in the ancient brown stone church at the corner of 14th Street and Second Avenue. The old church organization had long ago failed to reach a district, one of the most densely populated in the country, which was 98 per cent foreign, and notorious for saloons, gunmen, low grade movies, dance halls and radicalism. Charles Stelzle, inspired by “the dream of my machinist days . . . pictured a church working men would like to attend,” se- cured the use of the building for two years from the Church Extension Committee of New York Presbytery to demonstrate what the church might accomplish, if it were ready to adapt itself to changing city conditions. “The basic idea of the enterprise was the open forum. While such meetings were conducted nearly every night in the week, the service on Sunday night was thoroughly religious and thoroughly orthodox. Perhaps the order of service was a bit more vital and human than usual. Within a month we began to turn people away from the Sunday night services. Our average audience was 95 per cent men, 75 per cent of whom were Jews, and 50 per cent of whom were socialists, agnostics, and radicals. “It was distinctly my purpose not to organize a church. ‘The main thing was to indicate to the people that here was a religious enterprise, conducted by a denomination which was thoroughly ortho- dox, and which was trying to work with the people to solve their own immediate social and religious problems. Nightly there was a discussion of radicalism, but I soon discovered that no matter what the social problems that attracted the audience they were vitally interested in religious matters. [ 20 ] <5 a fa tar ~ a Aas a pal = nae esr iNT ie eoar oak ase! Svs es ee The Second and Third Homes of Howell Neighborhood House The building on the left Was next used, and in 1913 the Neighborhood house on the right was erected. Where Howell Neigh- borhood House Started: This old saloon was con- verted into a_ settlement and housed the first kinder- garten and clubs in 1905. Lhe Howell Neigh- borhood House in 1925 The wing on the rear right was added recently for boys’ clubs. “And so, one evening I frankly told the audience that if they desired it, we would devote one night a week to a discussion of pure- ly religious themes. The proposal was unanimously received. Every Friday night eminent religious speakers were invited to talk. “This led to the formation of the Labor Temple Fellowship. “Within two years it was demonstrated that men and women were intensely interested in discussing in open forum meetings the problems with which they are most vitally concerned; that working men, apparently out of sympathy with the church, will attend reli- gious services if humanly conducted; that if the church is willing to adapt itself to changing conditions and to apply modern methods, the men outside the church will respond; that after all religion is the basic appeal which the church of Jesus Christ must set up, even in its social work, and that social work as such can never take the place of the religious appeal.”’* Since the early days Labor Temple has branched out in many directions. The program now includes the American Interna- tional Church, organized clubs and classes for boys and girls, the Labor Temple School, a self-supporting enterprise of the move- ment for “worker’s education,” forum, playground, and a Daily Vacation Bible School. As this pamphlet goes to print, the work of Labor Temple is being transferred to the new building, erected on the old site at 14th Street and Second Avenue. “Tn 1905, Howell Neighborhood House, originally called Bo- hemian Settlement House, opened first as a kindergarten, supported by the Woman’s Presbyterial Society, in a small one story frame building previously occupied by a saloon. A sewing school for girls was soon added on Saturday mornings; cooking and raffia classes, game and story hours, Sunday school, a weekly mothers group and a circulating library were later started. “Next, clubs for boys and girls of working age, citizenship classes and other activities for men and women, lectures and con- certs were added. The children came in greater numbers every month. Within a few years the first building and then a second three-story building were outgrown. A new building erected and equipped especially for Neighborhood House activities was dedicated in 1913. ‘“‘A new people, Croatians, commenced coming into the commu- nity, and their children did not feel at home in a building, whose very name, Bohemian Settlement, suggested a ministry exclusively for that nationality. So the name, Howell Neighborhood House, was adopted to commemorate the long and devoted leadership of *The Continent Oct. 25, 1923—page 1921, Beginning of Labor Temple. [eehny CuHart 4 Growth of | Neighborhood Houses Presbyterian Church in U.S.A. Twenty-eight Neighborhood Houses Work begun 1920-24 - 1910-14 LOISHD ca z 6 => 4 8 The numbers of Neighborhood Houses arranged, according to year of founding, are grouped by five year periods. [ 22 ] Mr. Howell, for thirty-five years Superintendent of the Sunday school and Chairman of the Committee of Management. “Eventually a church organization was formed within its circle to answer the demand of some of the parents, but more largely of the young people, who had come up through the Sunday school and wanted further opportunity for their new found Christian faith. “Protestant churches in the district dwindled or moved as their constituencies departed to more exclusive sections, but the Howell Neighborhood House flourished. Here is an example of a successful approach by the church to an immigrant community. It has pro- duced Christian characters and lives such as the church is called on to develop. Yet it is not a church. It is the church, functioning in a new way, with a new emphasis, with a larger purpose, bringing to bear the Christian spirit upon a community endeavoring by every possible means to meet individual and community needs and trying to carry out the full program of Jesus.’’* The Neighborhood House Movement indicates an increasing number of Neighborhood Houses (Chart No. 4). The middle west especially has adopted this form of service. Of the eight houses opened in the last five year period, three were in Chicago Presbytery, two in Detroit, and one each in Cleveland, Ohio, Lackawanna, New York, and a small coal mining town in Penn- sylvania. UNDERLYING PHILOSOPHIES I! is not the function of this report to arrive at or prescribe a purpose and aim for all Presbyterian Neighborhood Houses. The very genius of the Neighborhood House requires that the needs of the local community determine the aim of a Neighbor- hood house. It is important, however, that every Neighborhood House should define its aim sufficiently clearly so that its staff and members can interpret the Neighborhood House ideals and phil- osophy to friends or questioners. A fluctuating policy is a danger. By this I do not mean that policies should remain static irrespective of changing conditions, but rather that the Neighborhood House should not stand first *Condensed from the Neighborhood House—Rev. W. Clyde Smith. [ 23 ] for one policy and then for another. The community should be made conscious of a steady, definite and continuing plan and pur- pose. It is harmful to the center to “keep the community guess- ing” by a frequent shift of emphasis. Honesty demands that the center take the community into its confidence; let it know why it is there; and what is its purpose. The Board of Directors, cooperating with the director, must assume the responsibility for maintaining a continued policy. The success of the strongest centers can be traced directly to the confidence which the neigh- borhood. places in them. The community and house supporters should know why the center exists. The name “Neighborhood House” is well chosen. Though exact data about residence of the Neighborhood House constitu- ency was not available for plotting, it is probable that the majority live within a radius of a quarter or a half of a mile of the center. Residence of Constituency Number of Centers Believed the majority of constituency lived within a radius of one-hal fi mile’, Wkaineeeieh (Meal sate ake. we Believed constituency came from all parts of the 5 5 ARES LMM ANE Ie PNM LHe URL a) SEMEN CRAY airbag LA Insufficient data available for answer. . . . . 7 Almost all the houses defined the district served within a small area of city blocks. Nearly all the children lived in the immediate vicinity; some adults came from a distance; young people or families who had prospered and established homes in the suburbs, like Cicero, the Bronx, and Long Island, still re- turned with surprising regularity. The question arises, whether or not there is another area of service to be developed in these suburbs. Many alumni come back to Neighborhood Houses ac- knowledging quite frankly that they do not feel at home in the suburban American churches. This may have implications for an extension and variation of Presbyterian work in these districts. How may the religious needs of these peoples be met? is a ques- tion still to be faced and answered by the suburban church. The thirty Neighborhood Houses vary in emphasis from the social settlement with little or no formal religious teaching, to the Center that is so closely bound up with, as to be almost indis- tinguishable from the institutional church. The following classification indicates, in general, the kind of programs followed: [ 24 ] Type of Emphasis Number of Centers NOcIa Weatlement ErOOTaMe sie) ya; ai) aly iat eae A Church is a definite part of the program. . . 12 Social Settlement with religious services, i. e., Sun- day school, Daily Vacation Bible School, and Ser- VICES OLN EVV OTST AT sada beaut ail ot ew tac ame deh k Of the twelve which place considerable emphasis on the church program, two, Jan Hus House and Sea and Land House, are practically institutional churches with a limited service, such as kindergartens, foreign language schools, and women’s clubs for non-church and Sunday school members. The inclusion of these organizations in a list of Neighborhood Houses may be justly questioned. Purposes of the Neighborhood House were variously ex- pressed in constitutions and annual reports, and by directors. The term “Christian Americanization” was repeatedly found in state- ments of purpose. “To make Jesus Christ real to our people”; “to meet the physical, mental and religious needs of the community”; and to “be a neighbor” were other common ways of phrasing aims. Jan Hus House exists “to bring out and preserve what is best in the Czechoslovak people, particularly their art, music, historic and religious ideals for the betterment of the people themselves.” Howell Neighborhood House is an unconventional interpreta- tion of the Christian ideal and purpose, its program being freely developed in response to the needs of the neighborhood. It aims at a full rounded Christian ministry to all departments of life; to show forth the spirit of Jesus in acts of Christian friendship and neighborliness; to project a program that will meet the physical, mental, spiritual, and social needs of the Community; by living in the Community to become a part of it in such a way as to serve as an interpreter of Christian American ideals and to help conserve the best that our foreign-born bring to us. It includes provision in the neighborhood for a Christian Church when such a church grows out of a naturally felt need. Christopher Neighborhood House, Chicago, aims “to establish a home in the neighborhood which consciously and actively en- deavors to elevate the physical, mental, and moral quality of the individual and neighborhood life, by means of direct instruction, by direct personal contact with leaders who reveal these qualities in their lives, by cooperating with other existing agencies with similar purposes, and by organizing and permitting such activities [ 25 ] and functions as create a spiritual quality and value in all settle- ment activities, and extends that influence deeper and deeper into the individual and neighborhood life.” The emphasis is on the development of individual and com- munity Christian ideals, standards and character, rather than the development of ecclesiastical organizations. An institution offering group participation in Christian pro- jects, under the direction of Christian men and women, sym- pathetic friendship to its neighbor, a leadership ready to pio- neer for a better community, seemed to be the ambition of all centers. A Presbyterian Church was not the sole aim. Workers are measuring their success in terms of transformed neighbor- hoods and individuals, the development of individual social con- sciousness and action, and by the extent and continuation of com- munity participation in the Neighborhood House program. Only a few tested the success of their work in terms of church mem- bership. Formation of Christian habits of thought and action were first with all. The Neighborhood House is founded on what Walter H. Page calls “the fundamental article in the creed of American de- mocracy—the unchanging and unchanged resolve that every hu- man being shall have an opportunity for his utmost development —his chance to become and to do the best that he can.” In conclusion two quotations from papers on the philosophy of the Neighborhood House given at the Conference on Neigh- borhood House work will further clarify the aim and purpose. “The Neighborhood House exists to demonstrate the power and beauty of practical Christianity ... America and Christian America are very different . . . The Neighborhood House exists to interpret Christian America to the neighborhood and the neigh- bor to Christian America . . . Christian America will be caught rather than taught.”* And Dr. W. Clyde Smith writes, “The Neighborhood House goes into a neighborhood to be a part of it, conscious of a contri- bution to make, knowing that it will receive as well as give, re- joicing in the opportunity that is given to know the humanity of which it is a part. It says in effect to the community—‘Come, let us work and play and live together, give the best you have and we will give the best we have, that all of us may do a bit for the welfare of all.2. Thus through the common effort can *Laura H. Dixon. [ 26 ] ‘*, Pin au . ae ; ain ae * ot ul Pale % | oo Ue ' Soe - “yen 40 4. / +4 7 7 ay ae dathats | : wd : ; . we ie oaawahn. Fee repeat sie ah; ‘}I_ 0} QURIQUA AapIsuI Uv sey pUe Jo}UAd AyunwWOoD) ey} sutofpe aduapIsar stayIoM ayy, ‘seourtjUa SuryauU0I puv ayeredas yoq YIM UINISeUWAS pa}INI}SUOD [JAM ASIV] V SI Ivar oy} Ul ‘UaYyo}TY aUaTIs dTYsauIOp pue suIOOI qny{o ‘sougo “‘qadvyd sasnoy surpying sour0d ayy, “AO J[eus ve ut yom sof paddinba Ayqeatupe st YaLNaD ALINOQWWOO LSAaXOTHAH AHL social wrongs be righted, light be brought into dark places, and the reality of democracy approached. “The Neighborhood House offers an opportunity for expres- sion of the finer and better things; it seeks to find the Christ as he lives and moves among men. It desires to know and discover the best that is in those among whom it lives, and to aid in giving expression to that best. “Tt believes thoroughly in the power of love as a redemptive force. It realizes that the most potent sermons are those that are lived rather than those that are preached; it endeavors to find and to exemplify the Jesus Way of Life, both for itself and for those with whom it comes into contact.””* EQUIPMENT PROGRESS in Neighborhood House work is revealed in the increasingly fine equipment provided. Properties used and in process of erection show an investment of over two million dollars. This year three new buildings specifically designed for Neighborhood Houses are being erected. Of the 30 Neighbor- hood Houses, 19 were erected specifically for the purpose, 7 were residences remodeled (sometimes with too little remodeling! ) _2 were apartment houses remodeled, 2 were churches remodeled. Only 18 buildings were well adapted for Neighborhood House use. The recent constructions are well planned, contain the essen- tials for conducting a community center and suggest the director’s careful supervision of the architect (the latter usually has had little experience in this type of designing). That there is still something to be desired in buildings is shown from the fact that 28 houses checked as follows: Buildings inadequate for work needed. . . . . . . 12 Burcings acequate for work Needed +26) at ee Ons Will transfer into new quarters within a year. . . . . 3 a Gin Ssh ins OON LCOn GION | yh ay ae ee ODS PUMMbG Mastek CONGINOM ay ivi ke tah SO re ak eg DULIC eS MaDiENOOeICON GION) 13 1 )i cyl ietilarclaycueueeh Casts Minkeeln Oat DE OPATIONE SMMC aris Gli call Viexlabeondhas ny why Wigt Bie] Cae wcg'y Wann ter UO *Proceedings of Neighborhood House Conference, W. Clyde Smith: Aim and Purpose of the Neighborhood House. An] Responses to questions of amounts, appearance and condition of furnishings were similar. The valuable contribution of women’s auxiliaries, entrusted with the upkeep of interior furnishings was plainly visible. There is all too little beauty in our industrial districts. Un- fortunately economic necessity has kept down Neighborhood House expenditures for exterior architectural beauty. But 13 houses out of 27 could honestly be checked “attractive in appear- ance.” The picture of Dodge House shows that the newer build- ings are being planned with thought for beauty. Every Neighbor- hood House should be a center of beauty amidst the sordidness of downtown immigrant quarters, and the deadly monotony of company-owned homes, or where The factory chimneys rear Their impudent heads, thick-browed; | Polluting the air with their foul, sooty breath, They shriek of the things of the world To the crowd. Outer structure and interior decoration must be planned, not only for durability and usefulness but for utilizing aesthetic values, simple lines and colors appealing to foreigners who have come out of a background of vivid gayness and brilliance. Also, a Neighborhood House should be a model of cleanli- ness, orderliness and sanitation, both in residents’ apartment and main building. Desperate efforts to stretch budgets to their ut- most too often postpone that much needed coat of paint from year to year. Repairs made at a low price by a “friend of the house” are often unsatisfactory, leave the building unsightly, and in the end cost more than if made by a reliable firm in the begin- ning. A decrepit janitor, hired to give employment to an old Neighborhood House retainer, cannot keep up with the ceaseless accumulation from muddy shoes and the wear and tear of rest- less throngs of children. The utilization of the Neighborhood House yard, though a small patch of land in the shadow of city buildings, may bring beauty into the community. A few shrubs, a little grass seed and fertile loam, a fence, if necessary, would transform a few square feet of barren ground or a cinder heap. Neighborhood Houses in less crowded cities would certainly rise in the estimation of the thrifty alien peasant whose garden is a mass of luxuriant growth if eal money and care were spent on the Neighborhood House yard, [ 28 | ADMINISTRATION AND ORGANIZATION HE Neighborhood House has no prescribed form of admin- istrative organization as has the Presbyterian church with its elders, trustees and deacons—all with stated duties, fixed terms of office, and methods of election. However, one or more ad- ministrative bodies were found functioning in almost every center. What were these bodies? What were their duties? What persons and committees actually function in the management and determination of policies? And is the control democratic? were questions the survey sought to reveal. All but two houses reported a Governing Board, Committee of Management, or a Board of Trustees. Nine had Women’s Aux- iliaries, 9 had House Councils, 15 held regular staff meetings (at least monthly, and usually weekly). Eight directors had regular individual conferences with their staff members. (Chart 5.) A few staff meetings visited were full of constructive sugges- tions and inspiration. Others failed to utilize fully this chance for group thinking, for unifying the purpose of the house, and for continued education of staff by bringing in outside speakers, book and conference reports. There is danger of wasting the entire hour with tiresome discussions of pageant dates, a basket ball schedule, assignment of trivial duties to individual workers and other “‘mechanics of the job,” and thus of crowding out the spiritual impetus or broad vision of the work. Eight directors out of 30 hold stated conferences with staff members. Where there are but two or three on the staff, regular appointments would be a farce. But among a large staff, such conferences coordinate a program, prevent individual workers from feeling that they are laboring alone, and are a real benefit to the director and the worker. Greater emphasis on such con- ferences, either with directors or heads of departments, will also help to interpret the Neighborhood House purpose and program to students and volunteers. Only 9 out of 30 Neighborhood Houses had any body of control which compared with a House Council or a local adminis- [ 29 ] CuHart 5 Administration and Organization Thirty Presbyterian Neighborhood Houses Thirty Houses 28 cg) 2 LS 8 Board ides pa) g ular have statect ee Auxiliaries Councils stare es for ; . individual Directors Meetings Contes with staff This chart shows the forms and numbers of administrative organizations functioning in Neighborhood Houses in relation to the total number.of Neighborhood Houses studied. [ 30 ] trative group. Councils were made up of representatives from each group, elected by the club or appointed by a club’s president. In all but two cases these represented senior (members over 16 years of age) clubs. In one or two instances only the boys’ clubs were represented on the House Council. General supervision of house order, and responsibility for athletic and recreational sche- dules of the center were the principal duties of these bodies, though one council had power to cast the final verdict on protest decisions in athletics, and another was entrusted with admittance of new clubs to the center. Only three councils had direct or in- direct representation on the Boards of Trustees. Obviously, houses recently established have scarcely had time to develop House Councils, but should not the organization and training of such an administrative group be considered one of the chief functions of each new enterprise? A paper by Mr. E. T. Wilkes, “Democratic Control of the Neighborhood House,” in Report of Neighbor- hood House Conference, 1925, contains forward-looking and stimulating suggestions for such procedure, arrived at after con- ference with the staff and senior club members of a well estab- lished Neighborhood House. The women’s auxiliaries, made up of local church women, flourish, especially in Chicago. Their major duties are super- vising the upkeep of household equipment, raising money for special objects, kindergartens, Christmas fund, etc., and interest- ing others in the center. The Howell Neighborhood House Aux- iliary, large and firmly established, has an active membership of about forty-five meeting monthly at the house, and an associate, $1.00 a year, membership of over one hundred women from the churches of the Presbytery. The Auxiliary assumes responsibility for the upkeep of interior equipment, has an intimate knowledge of the affairs of the center, and is represented on the Board of Trustees. For twenty-five years the personal interest and loyalty of the members of the Auxiliary have been a very real source of inspiration and strength to the staff. Contrary to the similarity of duties of all auxiliaries, or of all House Councils, the responsibilities of Boards of Trustees varied considerably according to the personality of the Board and head- worker. Two Boards scarcely functioned, acting as little more than rubber stampers of directors’ proposals. Two were subject to the supervision of the session of the supporting church. How- ever, 20 Boards determined house policies; 15 were responsible be Fr CHART 6 Representation on Boards of Directors Thirty Presbyterian Neighborhood Houses 28% Other Sources Leis _ Presbyterian Agencies 5 Zo On ly from Neighborhood House Constituency The black indicates the percentage of Board members who represent Presby- terian agencies outside the community. The white indicates the percent- age which represents other interests. Only five per cent of the total num- ber of Board members represented the Neighborhood House constituency. [ 32 ] for raising the budgets; 15 were responsible for administering the budgets; 23 Boards acted in an advisory capacity; 21 had members who represented agencies with financial interests in the Neighborhood House; only 8 Boards had members taking an active part in the Neighborhood House program. Though the primary administrative responsibility for a Center usually rests ultimately with the Board of Directors, often it is a director and his staff who actually determine the Neighborhood House policy. Wherever intimate knowledge of the community and specialized experience are required for a decision, the Board usually has to rely, toa great extent, upon the staff. The place and frequency of meeting of Boards of Directors were also studied. Twenty-three Boards convened at regular intervals and stated times; 18 met monthly except during the summer; others met bi-monthly, quarterly, three times a year, or twice a year; 14 found meeting at the Neighborhood House an effective way of keeping Board members in touch with the community and house activities. An analysis of the composition of the Boards to see in how far the control was democratic revealed a preponderance of repre- sentatives from local and regional Presbyterian organizations. (See Chart 6). Of 347 directors on 24 Boards, 248 (72 per cent) represented churches, local women’s societies or organ- ized national and regional Presbyterian agencies. Of the re- maining 99 (28 per cent), 50 (14 per cent) came from the com- munity at large (were members of a Manufacturers Association, prominent professional and business men, etc.); 19 (5 per cent) represented the Neighborhood House constituency, or local com- munity. Among the other 30 (9 per cent) were public school principals, employees in near-by factories, and members of a cooperating City Mission Society. Would it not be better to make a decided effort for local representation on our Boards, for example, representation from the House Council and prominent leaders in the district? At Memorial Chapel, the election of a colored minister to the Board of Directors has done much to in- terpret the needs of colored people to the Center and the purpose of the Center to colored congregations. At the Labor Temple the House Council and members of Trade Unions are included in the controlling board. The Council of Immigrant Education of New York City advises: [ 33 ] “Participation by the members of the community in the work of the Association, in the direction of its policy, in the development of its concrete programs seems to us an end in itself. It constitutes an activity and should be so considered rather than as a means for arriving at objectives and results whose desirability has been pre- determined by some outside group. “Tf achieved it strikes at the heart of the problem of ‘foreigners.’ For it is the inevitable tendency of racial groups in a new country to segregate, intensify and in-breed in their interests and organized activities, look upon themselves as apart from the community as a whole. ‘To secure their active assumption of responsibility for com- munity enterprise, their cooperation with other groups in the conduct of those enterprises not only affords a broader release for funda- mental instincts which will inevitably seek expression in some fashion, but is the only sound way to break down racial barriers, make them feel part of America, think and act in terms of America rather than in terms of their own specialized interest.” It was also discovered that Boards of Directors were chosen to a large degree to represent a supporting organization, usually Synod or Presbytery, rather than because of competence in Social- Religious work. Should we not also recommend that social workers employed in the same district, thoroughly acquainted with local resources and problems, equipped with technical ex- perience and training along similar lines of work, be added to these Boards? A comparison of the total number of men with the total num- ber of women serving on Boards of Directors showed a ratio of two men to one woman, and has little significance. Some Boards were made up almost entirely of men, others almost entirely of women. It is important that every Board should provide for the expression of both masculine and feminine viewpoints. The relationship of the centers to Presbytery and Synod showed that three were conducted under the immediate direction of Synod’s National Missions Committee and that 13 were ad- ministered by Presbytery’s Church Extension Committee. Six houses supported chiefly by a local church were related to Presby- tery as any phase of the local church work would be. In the others, Presbytery had a financial interest and its control was ef- fective in varying degrees, usually through representation on the Board of Trustees. Interdenominational cooperation was only found in one Center—Potrero Hill, San Francisco. Here the American Baptist Home Mission Society shares support and administration. yee FINANCES N O doubt analysis of synods’ and presbyteries’ budgets will show an increase in expenditures for Neighborhood House work in the last decade. Yet insufficient available data prevented comprehensive deductions about the increase of Neighborhood House expenditures over any considerable period of time. Dif- ferent fiscal years, no uniform classification of resources and ex- penditures in the individual centers or localities, made budget comparisons impractical. For general information ten typical expense accounts are printed on the following page. Expenses were included in different categories as follows: SALARIES: All salaries of workers full or part time. Salaries of janitors and cleaning women, are included under Maintenance. GENERAL OPERATING ExPENsEs: Expenses of all activities carried on in the Neighborhood House and supported by the Neighbor- hood House. MAINTENANCE: Repairs and upkeep of equipment, janitor’s salaries, taxes or rent, light, fuel etc. RELIEF AND COMMUNITY COOPERATION: Expenditures for relief in the district and a Center’s cooperation with other social and religious agencies. FURNISHINGS AND PERMANENT EQUIPMENT: Any _ permanent gymanasium equipment, kindergarten chairs, interior decorations etc. SPECIAL FuND FoR SUMMER Work: Summer camp or home. OTHER: Miscellaneous unless otherwise stated. The following summaries of the environment, equipment and activities of these Neighborhood Houses, will give some idea of the type and extent of work to be anticipated from a given budget. House A. Established 1905 in the foreign district of a large city, maintains a four story brick building designed for the pur- pose, and a staff of four full-time workers—directors, girls’ worker, case worker, secretary and part time workers. “The program includes an organized church and Sunday school, case work, a music depart- ment, classes or clubs for every age, a Daily Vacation Bible School, [ 35 ] O1'SOL LI 00°ess‘e 00°00L°9 6£°9SL°9 66° FILET 67'0S0°SE ES S66 TI 00°167°97 89°8rE°TI 10°96 1°02 67°STE I 00°SHL‘L 64°08 6S°PSE my fol 2 10°C7S‘I 00°0SZ 00°00 1e"49S PISO S20 6 6-8 a ® oe © © © @ LIULULNG puny quad § 00°09 00°00T SOAGLE 6c 0C7 00°'0SC quaudinb gq BANJUAN J Sc 0s Ce So Soe en an | ek we Som, |e ee Ss oe ier ey et a ek Pen | 00°0S1 99°607 €L°950°T puv {ayy uo1qv4agoo/) yusuoulsag puo\ Aqrunuuoy 65°SS9'P 00°58 00°007'T TIES O°! L6°610°S PL°S96°9 CO9ES*T 00°008°¢ CO'LY6Y I7'Lb8'b 9IUDUII “UDI 77'980°7 00°00 00°00 IL'Sty LL‘O81L SHBELE 94 TE0°S 00°018°Z LL'¥E8 7L°500°F sasuadx 7 susosa¢O qv4auayy SLNNOOOY ASNadX yy asnoFY GOOHAOPHOIAK NAL ] Z1aV 7L°590°8 00°0SS5°Z 00°009"r 00°08E"F 10°E94°L L6VEVSI SLOTS 00°9ES‘TI 8r°9L79 SL°00+'S8 sat40j0g 25n0 H [ 36 ] and summer outings at Presbytery’s camp. A total attendance of 1200 per month is recorded in winter activities. House B. Established 1920 in a large city’s “Little Italy.” The building is a private home, remodeled with gymnasium in the rear. ‘The visitor is the only full time worker. The director, girls’ worker, kindergarten, office secretary, boys’ worker and gym- nasium director are all employed on part time basis. The Italian pastor also has responsibilities elsewhere. The program includes an organized Italian church, a Sunday school, clubs or classes for all ages, home visitation, Daily Vacation Bible School, and summer out- ings at camps. It will be noted that the maintenance expense for this inadequate, dilapidated building is almost equivalent to “A” where the building is suited to Neighborhood House work. House C. Established 1922 on the edge of a manufacturing district of a large city; working in a temporary building; supports two full time workers, the director and a domestic art teacher and four part time workers. ‘The program includes informal religious services for children and young people on Sunday, Daily Vacation Bible School, organized club groups for intermediate age and above, class or playground groups for those under intermediate age. “The item $7745.00 listed under “Other” maintains a clinic with special staff and equipment not included elsewhere in the budget—672 per- sons are registered in clubs and classes. House D. Established 1909 in a manufacturing city’s polyglot population, maintains a three story well-equipped building erected for the work, a staff of five full time workers, a girls’ worker a boys’ worker, kindergarten, nursery matron and office secretary. The director has part time responsibilities elsewhere in Presbytery. In addition there are eight part time workers. Activities include an organized church, Sunday school, employment bureau, nursery, public baths, library, clubs or classes for all ages; also nationality groups, foreign language churches and the week day school of religious edu- cation meet at the center. The house is in touch with over one thousand families. House E. Established 1910 in a commercial and residential section of a large city; equipment, a renovated church and residence; budget for salaries provides five full time workers, director, girls’ worker, visitor, Italian pastor and secretary, and six part time workers, also four students give half time in return for room and training under supervision. The item $8911.19 under “Other” provides a music department and a self-supporting school for in- dustrial people. Other activities are an organized church and Sunday school, clubs and classes for all ages, a forum, Daily Vacation Bible School and summer outings at Presbytery’s camp. House F. Established 1905 in foreign residential and manu- [R375 facturing district of large city; completely equipped three story brick building designed for Neighborhood House and a summer camp. Staff made up of five full time workers, director, head of residence, secretary, director of children’s work, and nursery matron and nine part time workers. Program includes Sunday school, informal re- ligious services, nursery, kindergarten, extensive club and class work for children and young people, home visitation, Daily Vacation Bible School and summer camp. Activities reach 2500 to 3000 persons. House G. Established in 1901 on the edge of foreign resident and manufacturing district of a small residential city, medium-sized two storied stucco house adapted to work. Staff: two full time women workers. Activities include Sunday school, Woman’s Bible Class, informal religious services, classes and clubs for all ages, Daily Vacation Bible School and playground. Reaches 560 people through its activities. House H. Established 1921 in a Jewish residential district of a large city, temporarily operates in an old church building adapted for a Neighborhood House; supports two full time workers, director and girls’ worker and a part time boys’ worker. Activities include a small number of girls’ and boys’ clubs, a forum, Daily Vacation Bible School, playground and summer outings at Presbytery’s camp. House I. Established 1918 in the foreign residential and manu- facturing district of a large city, operates on the ground floor of a two family frame house, unsuited to Neighborhood House work. Maintains one full-time worker, director and club leader, and a part time childrens’ worker and assistant. Activities are Sunday school, citizenship classes, a play school, boys’ and girls’, young peoples’ clubs, a woman’s club, home visitation and Daily Vacation Bible School. Reaches about 300 people through its activities. House J. Established in 1894 in a downtown Italian district. of a large city. Building erected for purpose. Supports four full time workers, director, assistant director, girls’ worker and secretary and approximately 20 part time workers (18 of these merely teach a particular class—music or sewing etc.) Activities are mainly in- dustrial and domestic arts classes, recreational programs, a music school, a few clubs and home visitation. “The item $1325.29 under “Other” meets part of the expense of a music school. Reaches 1225 people through its activities. Until every Neighborhood House adopts the practice of filing complete accounts of all expenditures, no absolute aggregate of the cost of Neighborhood House work for the country can be estimated. Self-supporting clubs, a kindergarten milk account, relief given by an individual worker, frequently never appear on a financial statement. These omissions make calcula- [ 38 ] tion of the complete cost of operation of a center or all centers impossible. However, an estimate of the expenditures of 22 cen- ters shows an annual expenditure of $386,223.90, divided as follows: Distribution of Bud get—22 hte he: Houses Per cent Salaries of Staff. . . Gui c (OADLOSY bagels 42.8 General Operating Recenee A Ane Maser Or teanstnay CN TA Se By 26.4 Maimtenances Opabiden sete, 60s iil. aee-s 63,829.24 16.5 Relief and Community Cooperation. . . 2,130.25 0.5 Furniture and Permanent Equipment. . 2,570.06 0.7 LO farteles $m Se Jal Lssanibabrieith eso Ulee A 6.9 Special Funds (summer etc. erie ie te 5. pate cee L 6.2 Crrand Votal te) vei.) 00,220.70NE et UOr0 The Budget Form for a Neighborhood House (see page 93) sug- gests mutually exclusive categories for estimating and listing ex- penditures. If all Neighborhood Houses would adopt this form, comparisons of budgets might be the basis for many constructive suggestions. Difficulty in estimating the total cost of opera- tion has arisen when clubs and organizations within the Center are self-supporting. In such cases small city associations of the Young Womens Christian Associations follow one of two methods: 1. To include the club or organization budget in the Center’s budget as both receipt and expense item. ‘This is simply to show that this amount is handled by the center and appears on the books in a lump sum. 2. Budgets for clubs or organizations separately. In this case the Neighborhood House auditor should audit the club books and club treasurer’s reports, and the auditor’s statement should appear in the annual report of the Neighborhood House directly below that of his statement for the Neighborhood House accounting. In either case the right of club members to raise and aie their own money should be safe guarded. The accounts of a church included in the Neighborhood House may be kept this way. The larger presbyteries have one auditor for all Centers. very Center should have all books audited at least once a year. “Light on Finance,” though written primarily for the Young Womens’ Christian Association, contains many other helpful suggestions on budgeting and other finance problems also applicable to a Neighborhood House. [ 39 ] CHART 7 Sources of Support Twenty-five Presbyterian Neighborhood Houses ageae ee #179,000 ee Individuals *75,000 H d Meer ean OLOCO e } grmunity 419000 fi Other Denominations #3500 Various Other Sources *39,000 ae 1382500 [40°] Analysis of expenditures and discussion of budgets immediate- ly leads to many questions. How are the Neighborhood Houses supported? How can they increase budgets when necessary? What methods are used to raise money? The survey sought data to make an analysis of sources of support. Conclusions are pic- tured in Chart 7. In 25 Neighborhood Houses the bulk $179,- 000 out of $382,500, their total support, came from Presby- terian agencies—synods, presbyteries and presbyterial societies, churches and the Board of National Missions. A comparison of this chart with Chart 6, Composition of Boards of Directors, is significant. It reveals the relationship between support and administrative responsibility. Many of the individuals who gave large amounts which made up the $75,000 listed under ‘Indi- vidual Gifts” were Presbyterians, contributing directly to the Cen- ter; $67,000 was received from house revenues and the local community; three Centers receive a total of $19,000 from Com- munity Chests; joint administration with another mission board brings $3,500 from another denomination in one Center; $39,000 listed “various other sources,” includes interest on invested funds, balance from the previous year, special subscriptions and other- wise unclassified receipts. But three houses were operating on large endowments. Two depended chiefly on large gifts from a small number of donors. Three received considerable sums from the Community Chest. The rest depended principally on Pres- byterian funds. The amount of support received from the imme- diate locality and Neighborhood House constituency varied wide- ly according to the Center’s age, the economic condition of the constituency, and the policies of the staff. The $67,000 secured from the local community represented returns from local drives, house and club dues, public baths and clinics. Study of the indi- vidual budgets revealed the fact that out of 25 Neighborhood Houses, only 7 were receiving more than $1,000 from the local community. Of these 7, the revenue of one was chiefly depend- ent on a clinic, another on the long established local church, not on general Neighborhood House activities, and a third on public baths and employment bureau fees. One of the cardinal prin- ciples of a Neighborhood House—to work with people not for people—is involved in this problem of source of income. A self- supporting Neighborhood House should be the goal. Does it seem a farcry? Five of the houses receiving the most from their constituencies are from 15 to 30 years old. Self-support requires [ 41] a gradual process of education, but it is not impossible. One director told that a senior boys’ club turned over thousands of dollars annually. Part was expended for their own interest and a part for the Center’s needs. This did not happen. It repre- sented twelve years of careful training under the supervision of a forward-looking director. The men of the neighborhood did not consider that house “a charity place for kids.” Other houses were struggling to break down an “everything free for all policy,” which had proved pauperizing to the community and had devel- oped little or no sense of responsibility among the Neighborhood House people. Fees scaled to meet the capacity of the individual, house membership and local drives, continued and gradual edu- cation focused toward self-support, demand the serious considera- tion of every worker. The experience of Gary Neighborhood House in raising money in the larger community through appeal letters at special times of the year, through key people in the local churches, through cooperation with the steel company, through constant publicity, has been very successful. Since only one house studied was jointly administered with another denomination no facts or conclusions on the value of interdenominational cooperation are warranted. It might be well to experiment further in this direction. Certainly few projects lend themselves more readily to interdenominational team work than the Neighborhood House with its lack of emphasis on creed and dogma. The increasing number of Community Chests often brings up the question, “shall a Neighborhood House secure its budget or part of its budget through the chest?” That a Neighborhood House might cooperate in a Community Chest is not inconceivable and in some cities may be advisable. Three Centers already receive a portion of their budgets from community funds. The advantages and disadvantages of co- operation will have to be weighed carefully in each community and determined by the policies of the individual chest. In 1920 only 25 Young Women’s Christian Associations were participat- ing in chests, in 1924 the number participating had increased to 180. The pitfalls and values of participation, though pointed out from the Association standpoint in “Light on Finance” are instructive for the Neighborhood House too. It will be well for any Center operating in a town or city with a community fund to give serious consideration to cooperation for a part of its budget. Frank W. Persons expresses the purpose of the Community Chest: [ 42 ] “Tf in your city the directors of the community fund can be made harmoniously representative of the interest of the givers and of the participating agencies; if your city is really one community, not broken up into two or more rival sections; if there is a notable community spirit and an absence of racial, religious, social, and com- mercial cliques; then this concentration of financial responsibility will find conditions which should favor the attaining of the advantages and the avoiding of the difficulties. “We should recognize the fact that no social agency exists for the purpose of adding to its own power and prestige, but for the purpose of contributing to human welfare. I predict that in the future the social agency that tries to stand alone, uncooperative in its point of view, individualistic in its actions, will atrophy and die.” RECORDS AND REPORTS HEN we ask for money, we need convincing facts and fig- ures which demonstrate that expenditures are wisely made. . . . Lo provide us with the necessary equipment, someone must dig into records, make careful analyses and comparative studies and put the material into usable form. The men and women who are absorbed in teaching, healing, advising, helping, move swiftly from one pressing demand to another. They furnish us with vivid human narratives which reach the heart and stir the imagination, but we need supporting facts to supplement them. Financial re- sponse is ultimately dependent upon faith in the judgment of an agency’s management.”* The importance of adequate records in every Neighborhood House cannot be overestimated. In the organization and man- agement of every business, writes Herbert Hoover, “statistical and fact information play an important part. In proportion as this information is promptly received and accurately compiled the business will tend to prosper and the organization to function smoothly. Short sighted policies in this respect have frequently resulted in financial loss.” This holds true even more strikingly in a Neighborhood House where the loss may be not merely a financial supporter but a human life lived inadequately instead of abundantly. Records for the sake of records are useless, but *Tolman Lee, Funds and Friends. P. 76. Le4+oe] they help to crystallize the thinking of the club leader, give a basis for planning future programs, and supply information for comparative studies upon which generalization and recommenda- tions for the individual Center and the whole movement may be based. Annual or quarterly financial statements and daily records of group enrollments and attendances are kept consistently in all houses. Chicago Presbytery has an excellent, concise blank for this purpose. Few, however, file club and class programs or cur- ricula. Woodland Center has instituted a simple method of recording what actually takes place during the club period. Samples are included among suggested record forms (page 99). By filing these in a loose leaf note-book, one for each group, a complete record of the club’s activities is always on hand. Such concrete information not only gives a new worker a sound basis for planning a club program, but affords an opportunity for a director to keep in touch with the progress of the club, though unable to be present at each meeting. It also requires that the club leader define his methods and objectives and evaluate results. Most houses kept a card catalogue of all individuals connected with the house. This data should contain name, address, date of birth, Neighborhood House affiliations, church membership, em- ployment and nationality of every person in anyway connected with the center. A few centers kept nothing of this sort, could not state accurately the number of persons the house reached without comparing all club rolls, had no way of checking the extent of any one individual’s utilization of the house resources, or of comparing complete house enrollments from one year to another. Another card catalogue which fifteen houses find ex- tremely useful is a file by families. Data contained on the family card should include, in addition to the family name and address, the name, date of birth, occupation or school, church membership and house affiliations of each member of the household, and con- nections with other social and religious agencies. Also, the card should include the minimum of information required by the local Social Service Register, if there be one. From this card one can see at a glance how far the Neighborhood House is reaching the entire family, what other influences are going into the home, and which workers are in touch with the family. Even this simple card catalogue will be invaluable for cooperation with other agencies, a reliable source for statistical information, an Bis aa economical mailing list, and an essential for acquainting every new worker with the Neighborhood House constituency. An occasional house kept some report or simple form of case record for families, receiving special assistance or advice. Some residents’ sympathetic understanding of human troubles and long stay in one community have made their Neighborhood Houses trusted sources of information, advice and inspiration. ‘These workers often play an important role in shaping human destinies. Such relationships are not established overnight. Yet they may be wrecked in an hour by the departure of a resident, who has personally won the confidence of his neighbors. Unfortunately records of this service are not found in black and white. A min- ister on the eve of transferring to a distant parish remarked, “When my successor comes, he will have to start in with our families where I did. I have left no report of how I attemped to help some families in my congregation overcome their difficul- ties and problems.” In the Neighborhood Houses, as in the Churches, the fear of betraying the confidence of members, the lack of secretarial assistance, and always the pressing urgency of appointments, meetings and unexpected interruptions have stood in the way of recording one of the biggest contributions any worker makes to his people. This is poor economy! In view of the appalling labor turnover of our staff, would it not be worth while to keep some simple notation of family histories, and the role the Neighborhood House has played so that one worker may commence where the last one left off with reliable data as a basis for an intelligent diagnosis of a family situation, with full knowledge of methods already pursued to determine satisfac- torily new procedure for a formation of a future plan for the family or individual concerned? Thus far no successful method for keeping in touch with Neighborhood House alumni has been evolved. A systematic “follow up” might help to connect ex-club members with Pres- byterian agencies near their new homes. If we could devise some means of continued communication, many times alumni estimates of the Neighborhood House in retrospect, whether from a dis- tance or from residence in the community, might prove valuable advice to the worker. “The law of life is change”—change also seems to be the law of the Neighborhood House! Change in workers, change in con- stituency, change in surrounding community, all these result in [ 45. ] change of program of activities. Changes of programs may go around in a cycle, one staff member after another trying and dis- carding methods already found unsatisfactory, or each change may be a successive and ever advancing step determined by care- ful weighing and evaluating of previous experiments. Sound evaluations require records of past experience, community surveys, financial reports, accurate enrollments, details of programs, and personality studies. PUBLICIEY PUBLICITY and finances also go hand in hand. Financial support depends on publicity of one kind or another. Publicity among the local constituency is carried on through posters, local and foreign language press, electric signs on the building, a house paper, and appeal and informational letters. Most houses interpret their purpose to their neighbors in person- al visits. All depend largely on the local members to do their advertising. One house finds its own athletic teams its best publicity. But for a supporting constituency an active policy is necessary. Many centers send their staff to speak at Presbyterian gather- ings. Personal letters and appeals; snapshots; monthly, quarter- ly and printed annual reports, and house papers are sent to pros- pective donors and interested agencies. Church bulletins and newspapers are used to keep the work before the public. Church extension luncheons, addressed by staff workers, and entertaining guests at the settlement residence at a time when they may get acquainted with the staff and visit Neighborhood House activities, are ways of interesting people in the work. Some Centers have used the questionable method of “exhibiting our product,” occa- sionally with success. On the whole, sending boys and girls, even young men and women to give testimonials before a group of “Uptown Folk” is unwise from the point of view of the child, contrary to accepted educational theories, and defeats the very purpose of the Neighborhood House. However, dramatics and pageants presented by Neighborhood House children for a larger community, have been extremely successful in interpreting immigrant backgrounds to our American Lab. populations and in bringing a better understanding between na- tive and foreign-born. The week before Christmas Jan Hus House presented “an Evening with the Czecho-Slovaks” at Aeo- lian Hall. The first part of the program pictured a Czech wed- ding festival, the latter half a manger scene with Czech carols and all the curious peasant Christmas rites and traditions. ‘This charmingly exquisite and colorful glimpse of an immigrant’s back- ground established a strong bond of sympathy in that audience of influential Americans and Czechs. Dramatics, festivals, and con- certs on a smaller scale have filled the same need in other places. There are untold possibilities in publicity of this kind. The public and supporting constituency should be kept con- stantly informed, and a way must be found to do this. Facts pictorially presented, intelligent, reliable statements of returns for Neighborhood House service rendered, must be continually set forth in letters, posters, and the press and by word of mouth. Business houses have discovered that lapses in advertising causes an immediate falling off in trade which a sudden spurt of publi- city will not recover. One large social work organization in New York City has a rule—“at least one publicity article a week in a widely circulated daily paper.” Religious agencies are inclined to consider advertising “for commercial use only.” Dr. Hess of the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce declares that “ad- vertising is educating.” Educating the public to see how it can make life richer in the fundamental values of living through the Neighborhood House is one of the distinct functions of each Center. ACTIVITIES THE program of a Neighborhood House does not lend itself readily to scientific analysis or statistical evaluations. As Mr. Holden writes, “It is often difficult for the outsider to discover what is the real underlying source of concern to the settlement worker. ‘The reasons for the difference are the complexity of the activities themselves as well as the fact that what is often the most apparent to an observer is not necessarily the most funda- mental.” Here, again, one confronts the intangible. Larne) The place of group activities in the program of the Neighbor- hood House as a means of religious education is clearly discussed by Miss Klyver of Teachers College: “Religious education should provide opportunity for the fullest realization of the child’s present resources; it should liberate and guide present capacities: it should select and direct experiences in order to attain a desired change-growth. Religious education is a process of development. and involves learning from experience, modifying actions because of experience and using the results of past and present experience in solving future problems and directing sub- sequent experience. Growth is a characteristic of life; it is a con- tinuous process, leading ever into the future. Like a familiar de- finition of education—religious education aims to ‘make men want the right things, and to make them better able so to control the forces of nature and themselves that they can satisfy these wants. We have to make use of nature, to cooperate with each other, and to improve ourselves”* Stated in terms of comparative values religious educa- tion is ‘socially organized desire that certain desires rather than others should control human life.’** “Probably most of us would agree upon this statement of the purpose of religious education: that it is intended to promote by means of planned experiences which have been selected because of their ultimate value in character development, the continuous growth of children into complete social adjustment in a universal brother- hood based on the ideals and teachings of Jesus. “If it is in the relationships of individuals that religion func- tions; if religious education is to be accomplished through character and conduct changes on the basis of higher values, then there must be provided in the environment opportunity for growth in attitudes, habits, standards, and consequently for real character and conduct changes. “In the experiences of living together children learn the values of life and reconstruct their experiences by means of their judgment upon these values. ‘The particular function of religious education is to provide situations in which the individual will grow in the ability to reconstruct his experiences on the basis of the highest values of life. It is not the function of religious education to introduce any new value, but rather to operate on or within all values and apprecia- tions. In other words, religious education has to do with one’s at- titude toward life, or toward the things of life. “A group of Jewish girls came into a neighborhood house as a club early last fall. From the very beginning they refused to take *E. L. Thorndike, Education (1912) p. 11. **G. A. Coe, Psychology of Religion, p. 67. [482] part in any of the general activities of the house and persisted in call- ing the Italian girls of the same age, in another club—Dagoes. They were uncooperative and seemed unresponsive to anything done with or for them. Early in February two of them had a serious quarrel which threatened to split the club. ‘This provided an opportunity for a number of discussions concerning their attitudes toward each other and toward other club groups in the neighborhood house. ‘There was a gradual change in their attitude and at the end of March they voted to use their club dues in giving a party for this same group of Italian girls, although they had, earlier in the year, felt that they must use all of this money in paying for an outing for themselves. Thus in their experience together and in their judgment of these ex- periences they were beginning through a change in attitude a very real social adjustment. “In modern life the group is perhaps the chief means through which the individual expresses his desires and strives to reach the fulfillment of his interests. Any group is made up of persons act- ing together for some common end. From the point of view of activity the group is not merely a number of persons, but these persons in relation to each other and to other persons and groups outside. There is then in any group activity a series of relations and a con- tinuous adjustment. Group responses are complex means by which the needs and purposes of the individual members (the real ends of life and effort) are achieved. The group must be viewed clearly as a means of achieving something, not as an end desirable in itself. With these meanings of group, and group activity in mind, there is infinitely more to group activity than speaking the symbol glibly, en- rolling a given number of active children or adults under a leader, putting them in a room together, and leaving the outcome to chance. “The development of a group necessitates not only working with the group, but also with each individual in it. The attitudes of members of the group toward each other, toward the leader as a member of the group, and toward the total environment contain the elements of growth in the attitudes, habits and standards which make for “conscious, progressive social adjustment.’ Such relationships within and without the group are the essential qualities of group activity. “The character and kinds of relationships between individuals and groups are, from our definition of religious education with its aim of continuous growth (through planned experiences) into com- plete social adjustment, essential qualities of religious education. A child, or an older person, cannot achieve growth in relationships, cannot make a progressive social adjustment unless he is a member of a group of his own age, in which he has an opportunity for active participation, expression and the judging of his interests. [ 49 ] “Tf we accept these concepts of religious education and of group — activity, each with its essential quality found in relationships, then — must we not agree that, in the particular type of controlled environ- ment provided by the neighborhood house, group activity is really the best means of religious education? In fact, how, without group activity (planned experiences selected because of their ultimate values in character development) based on the observed needs of specific groups can we expect to achieve any of the objectives of a real re- ligious education? “The task of religious education is to give the child an actual religious experience at each stage in his development. ‘This is to be accomplished by means of carefully planned and graded experience which will include skill, knowledge and appreciations found valuable in carrying on the activities of real religious life and related to the activities themselves. If the purpose of the neighborhood house is to furnish aid in the selection and promotion of experience of the largest life values, then the neighborhood house must include in its program, not only the essential facts, principles and processes found useful in the daily contacts of life, but also the activities required in these contacts. ‘The program will include not only the ideas and skills which are essential to the pupils’ growing experience, but it will also include the purposeful activities or enterprise in which the child shares as a member of a social group.’’* Fair judgment of the achievement of an individual group could only be reached after frequent observations of club meet- ings over an extended period and the application to individual club members of tests for character transformation, which to the writer’s knowledge are not available. A sound estimate of a program for group activities as a successful response to neighbor- hood needs could only be made after an exhaustive study of each community. Yet, the study did reveal certain facts. Group activities are the major emphasis of the Neighborhood House. There were approximately one thousand stated groups listed in the winter programs of the thirty Centers. In addition, most houses have traditional high spots in the year’s calendar, such as Italian Men’s Club Dance at Welcome Hall, Father and Son Banquet at Chris- topher House and children’s dramatics at Christ Church House. Although these were visited occasionally, no study was made of them. Observations were confined chiefly to the stated organized group activities. *Proceedings of Conference on Neighborhood House Work. Miss Faye Klyver: Opportunities for Religious Education in Group Activities. [ 50 ] The frequency of occurrence and types of stated group activi- ties was discovered. The results are given in Chart 8. In- adequate equipment while the new building was under construc- tion forced one Center to abandon boys’ work for 1924 and 1925, hence only twenty-nine Centers are listed as conducting boys’ clubs. Religious services included an organized church or infor- mal religious services, Sunday schools, young people’s discussion and worship periods, and vesper services. Other activities not listed in the chart but found occasionally were: savings bank, em- ployment bureaus, lunch counters, gardens, laundry, junior church and immigrant aid service. All groups were divided into three classes: first, Highly or- ganized groups with definite enrollment and officers, example, self-governing clubs. Second, Semi-organized groups with a defi- nite enrollment, but no officers, a class group, example, kinder- garten. Third, Unorganized, no group organization at all, ex- ample, clinic, playground. An analysis of these by sex is shown in Table No. 2. The abandonment by two houses of all gymnasium activities for boys, while their new buildings were under construction, may account for the small number (only seventy-six) of semi-organ- ized activities for men. Boys and men are interested in club or- TABLE II Group ACTIVITIES BY ORGANIZATION AND SEX Type of Organization of Group Female Highly Organized .. Semi-Organized Unorganized tin. re). oO Era Te Se SES lo Value’ ot CHART 8 [ 52 ] Activities Thirty Presbyterian Neighborhood Houses 1924+-192sS Activities Houses 1 Girls Clubs 30 2 Boys Clubs 29 3, Athletics or Gym. 22 LU ee 4) DViBTS: 22 Se 5 SundaySchools 21 as 6 Domestic Science 2) 7 Womens Groups 20 8 Kindergartens 18 9 Library 7 a 10 Musiclnstruction (7 11 RetigiousServices 16 Pap AM Ce en GTO 9 MensGroups 16 a 3 Primary Groups 14 Pee 4 Story Hour ee is Playgrounds 9 Ti i6 Mixed Clubs 9 17 ChristianEndeavor 9 18 FolkuSocial Dancing 8 Be Ae see i9 English ecivics 8 TT 20 Industrial Art 7 [a The bars indicate the 1 Art Classes & Rae number of Neighborhood 2 Dramatis 6 Si Seay eat eae 93 Clinics 5 Be ea the activities listed. 24 Public Bath 4 25 Movies:repuiar 4 Jal ) 26 Foreipn Language Classes 5; i 27 Day Nursery 3 i! ee EE EEE eV ganization per se, but girls do not organize so readily. Hence, girls’ club leaders have fallen back on the class group, such as the sewing class, the cooking class, the art class. The efficacy of such a program cannot be judged without knowing the community and the interests and backgrounds of the girls. Perhaps the schools offer no household arts training. Maybe a group of young busi- ness women about to be married have requested domestic science training. Then these classes in the Neighborhood House are a good thing. Yet the very fact that self-government is a difficult achievement in a girls’ group, shows a distinct need for it. Are girls’ groups affording as much training for citizenship as the highly organized boys’ groups? How are they helping girls soon to confront the perplexities of the business or industrial world? Will young women vote more intelligently at national and muni- cipal elections because they have attended a club at a Neighbor- hood House? In addition to the rudiments of housekeeping, what philosophy of life is the Neighborhood House giving to the young woman soon to establish her own home? Are young women receiving the sort of training which will fit them to take a place of leadership in their communities? Next, an attempt was made to examine group programs in relationship to standard national organizations, the public school, other Neighborhood House activities and the immigrants’ own background. The extent to which well known organization curricula are followed is shown in Chart No. 9. Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts are most widely used, with young people’s Christian Endeavor, Girl Reserve, Campfire, Bluebirds and Woodcraft League fol- lowing in the order listed. Even when the program of a national organization has been adopted it is often used with considerable variation. A more detailed analysis of club programs used, revealed that in 990 stated activities, 215 (22 per cent) were following stand- ard curricula. These included standard Sunday school materials, Westminster Guild study books, Scouting, Campfire, Girl Re- serve, Woodcraft, Mayflower, Junior Citizenship, music courses, and prescribed public school curricula, where English classes, kindergartens, recreation and gymnasium periods were conducted in cooperation with the Board of Education or by public school teachers. Intermediate girls groups are particularly successful fol- lowing the Girl Reserves, Campfire, and Girl Scout material. The [ 53 ] CHART 9 National Organizations in Twenty-nine Presbyterian Neighborhood Houses Houses B EE Ct ee ey. 5 eee Bluebirds 2 a Wood-craft League i Le The bars indicate the number of Neighborhood Houses making use of the national organizations listed — Y.P.S.C.E. equals Young People’s Society Christian Endeavor. [58 choice between these three depended considerably upon the city director of the national organization and the adaptability of the program to suit the individual group. One Center had developed its own girls’ department curriculum. The honors suggested were a synthesis of honors that were given in outlines of these national organizations, with additions, especially suited to the neighborhood girls. An outline of these honors was given each club leader and the members at the beginning of the year. The honors were classified as physical, educational, social and spiritual and one meeting a month was devoted to each division. The group decided in advance which particular honor or honors would be worked for at the next meeting. One month, the first meeting was devoted to a health talk by a representative from the dis- trict health center; the club next went to the Metropolitan Mu- seum of Art to look up costume designs for a play to be presented later; at a third meeting younger sisters were taken on a hike, the members of the older club acting as hostesses; at a fourth meeting the club decided to learn a well known hymn, individual reports were given on the circumstances under which the hymn was written and the biography of the author. In addition a short business meeting, sometimes a simple service of worship, and a period of games was usually a part of each club period. Where the honors are based upon careful study of the group needs and interests, this plan has proved very successful. It also avoids the danger of following a national organization program too closely for the best interest of the group. It should be kept in mind, however, that real advantages are derived from the help and supervision of the national and local executives of these organizations. The feeling, that the Neigh- borhood House group is a part of a national movement, is often an incentive to the club members to attain a high degree of excel- lence. The Mayflower Program, published by the Pilgrim Press, and the Junior Citizen, published by the Abingdon Press, were widely used for primary and younger junior girls and boys re- spectively. These programs are especially well adapted for the use of volunteers and untrained leaders. The remaining 775 (78 per cent) activities followed programs worked out by the leader or the group—or sometimes by both. In cases where the club leader was using the project method, the last plan was usually followed. The club, with the leader acting [ 55 ] as adviser or “referee,” developed its own program out of the experience and interest of club members. ‘The responsibility of planning was a worth while activity in itself. To determine ona course of action, to consider the relative needs of different fields of service, to contemplate the interests and desires of the other club members, to evaluate the merits of suggested programs, to see the necessity for subordinating purely individual wishes—all these are required before a satisfactory program for the entire group is reached. One director always had each club appoint a program committee for the following meeting. During the week she met with the committee, advised with them, pointed out the advantages of a well balanced club hour—neither all play nor all work. When the club arrived, the committee chairman took charge of the entire hour with very little “coaching” from the Director. Boys and girls of ten years old managed their own club meetings in this way and did so admirably! Unless the club leader is very skilled, there are two dangers in this method. One, that she will dominate the group thinking, not allow enough initiative, and not give the group a chance to make a decision, see it through and reap or suffer the consequences. A second danger is that the club may be given too much leeway before it is capable of planning really purposeful action. If this occurs, programs are apt to be given up entirely to aimless recrea- tion, too often the program leads nowhere, the club seems futile and ambitious members soon drop out. Many Neighborhood House club members, themselves, have little background for planning their own programs and frequent- ly are not just sure what they do want to do—beyond playing basket ball and coming to the house. Often part time workers— students and volunteers—are not able to devote the time neces- sary and have not had experience in the use of project method. To overcome this difficulty, a number of Centers are using a combina- tion of project method and formal programs in clubs. A formal program which allows plenty of room for individual choice and time to follow out particular projects, the group may desire in connection with it, gives the group a starting point, that to it 1S concrete, and offers a consecutive and progressive plan, which may be related to the Sunday school, day school, or other clubs in the Center, and gives the leader a well worked out foundation for more elaborate programizing. A brief summary of the types of programs used may be help- [ 56 ] ful. Kindergarten groups, for the most part, followed the courses prescribed by the kindergarten training school, from which the teacher had graduated. In one or two places, as for instance in the Erie Neighborhood House, the kindergarten was operated by the public school. This kindergarten is another example of the pioneer function of the Neighborhood House. When the Center was first started, a kindergarten was opened for the Russian pre- school age children of the district. After sixteen years, the school board became sufficiently aware of the need for a kindergarten in the district to furnish a teacher. Within another year, an addi- tion to the school building made it possible for the kindergarten to be housed at the school, and supported entirely by city taxes. Primary age children usually met in large groups of twenty to forty for games and story periods. The Christopher House Doll Club where the children divided into “families,” impersonated the characters of a home and learned home making by playing “house” was a popular afternoon period for youthful Polish neighbors. The informal dramatization of simple stories, which called for Christian attitudes, loyalties and responses to the daily experiences of the child’s world, were the most popular method of teaching the six to ten year old groups in many Centers. Junior age (ten to twelve years old) boys and girls met sepa- rately, if in small groups, and followed standard curricula or programs arranged by the leaders. Larger groups had a kind of continuation Daily Vacation Bible School, week day school of reli- gion, or playground periods in the gymnasium and out of doors. More intermediate groups used standard national programs than any other one age group. At this age, boys and girls met separately, and began to seriously assume responsibility for self- government. Many leaders looked upon self-government, as a definite part of the club program, and did not consider it merely a means to an end. This training in self-government had been further carried out in a few Centers through a Junior House Council, composed of representatives from the younger clubs of the house. These youthful councils were given some minor au- thority in maintaining general Neighborhood House discipline and were represented on the Senior House Council. Senior clubs, those having members between sixteen and twen- ty years of age, were self-governing for the most part. The young men’s groups were largely concerned with athletic events —basket ball, baseball, track and bowling contests occupied much [57] of their time. Several of the largest Centers had adopted the policy of having gymnasium periods separate from the regu- lar club meeting. This allows a more economical use of the gymnasium and the time of the physical education instructor, gives an adequate opportunity for practical lessons of good sportsman- ship, fair play, team work, and loyalty learned in competitive group games, without encroaching on the club period, where seri- ous discussions and debates, management of the club business, and contact with Christian leaders are helping to build character. The olders girls’ groups, also, were self-governing, though perhaps to a lesser degree. Some had their regular periods in the gymnasium, their own basket ball teams, folk dancing classes, or formal calisthenics. Many met as supper groups, coming directly from the mill or office to the Neighborhood House. Committees of the young women cooked and planned the meal on a limited budget.’ The evening was given over to a social “set-together,” informal discussions, special classes or lectures. The leader met with the girls during the entire period and usu- ally exerted her influence through personal friendship with the members, rather than through planned discussions. Dramatics were a popular activity with senior clubs of both sexes. A few senior clubs were mixed groups. This was the exception rather than the rule, except for Young Peoples’ Socie- ties and Sunday Evening Tea Hours, which were ordinarily at- tended by young men and women. Adult groups for women included kindergarten mothers’ groups, dress making, nursing, English classes, lectures, and after- noon prayer meetings. The Housekeepers Club at Westminster House was the largest women’s club visited. Old and young women met together, dividing into smaller circles for work. A brief outline of a part of their program in one year included: “‘Pic- nic at Fort Erie in June; surprise birthday party for the head worker with presentation of picture for the women’s club-room; study of ‘The Twelve Greatest Women in America’; Christmas sale of clothing and fancy work, including sewing, embroidery, knitting, crocheting, weaving, millinery and tailoring . .. In order to relieve the necessity of planning hand work for ninety women each Thursday afternoon, the headworker suggested a play day once a month. She was met with the answer, ‘Don’t announce the day ahead or you’ll have a small meeting. We don’t want to play, we come to work.” These women furnish the fancy wares for [ 58 ] the Christmas and Easter sales, while the more substantial gar- ments are sold at reasonable prices to the members of the club throughout the season. ‘Though there are certain eventful occa- sions which they celebrate in song and dance and in fun galore they come primarily to the club to work. The work of the club was greatly facilitated through the devotion and volunteer ser- vice of eight women of Westminster Church.” Men’s groups included organizations of older boys who had grown up in the house and had become capable of independent administration; nationality lodges, with little real connection with the Neighborhood House; citizenship classes; and one or two community improvement associations. Several of the citizenship classes were accomplishing a splendid piece of interpretive work. In addition to helping men meet the requirements for citizenship examinations, they offered a chance for neighbors to form friend- ships, a common meeting place for many nationalities, a social hour at the end of the class period, and an easy avenue of ap- proach to the understanding of American customs and institu- tions. The Mount Elliott Improvement Association was composed of men living in the Mount Elliott district. The annual mem- bership was $2.00 a year. The Neighborhood House provided a meeting place and the Director acted in an advisory capacity, secured legal advice and recommended ways and means for ob- taining civic improvements. A trolley line from the district “to town,” improved service thereon, paved streets and other local reforms were secured within a short time through the efforts of the Association. Here again, is an example of a group learning the lessons of citizenship “by doing.” A group of men, unfami- liar with our institutions will derive as much from such efforts, as the community will profit by the new developments resulting. The members of the Mount Elliott Improvement Association were enthusiastic about “boosting the neighborhood.” Such an organization may be the answer to the problem of men’s work in the Neighborhood House. Most of the communities surrounding Neighborhood Houses still have room for further improvements! Among the strictly religious activities of the Centers studied were Sunday schools, week day schools of religion, organized churches, holding services in one or more languages, Christian Endeavor Societies, Daily Vacation Bible Schools, services of wor- [ 59 ] ship, young peoples’ discussion groups, children’s Sunday after- noon story hours, “Mothers meetings,” and Bible stories told through stereopticon or moving pictures. The organized churches were either the remains of old, es- tablished congregations, which had preceded the Neighborhood House, added to by new members from the district, or fairly young church organizations, sometimes with their own, some- times with provisional sessions. Several churches had Italian pastors and services conducted in the native tongue. “Mother’s meetings” were also often conducted in the immigrant language, and usually took the place of church services for women who could not leave home at the time of the regular morning or eve- ning service for preaching and worship. With a few exceptions, where some splendid original religious education programs were being developed particularly for chil- dren of foreign parentage, the Sunday schools were using stan- dard lesson materials, issued by the different denominations. Neighborhood House Sunday schools are an excellent laboratory to develop religious education projects for the immigrant child. More houses could make a unique contribution in this particular field of religious education, if experimental work could be fos- tered, in cooperation with university departments of religious edu- cation, and the results correlated for the benefit of other workers. In New York City, the Religious Education Department of Teachers College has helped the Neighborhood House very con- structively in this respect. The increase of week day schools of religion throughout the country as a whole has been paralleled in the Neighborhood Houses. Gary and other cities have a city plan for religious education. Here, the Community House cooperated with the Board of Religious Education by providing a meeting place for the group. In several cities, where no civic provision was made, a school of week day religion was the chief feature for primary and junior age boys and girls. Some of these schools were using standard materials, published by the Abingdon and Westminster Presses. Others were developing their own. Daily Vacation Bible Schools follow the Daily Vacation Bible Schools Associa- tion program rather closely. For the last few years the Pres- byterian Board of Christian Education has been publishing lesson materials, which have been used quite widely in Neighborhood Houses. Some have preferred to develop their own programs, [ 60 ] in order to correlate them with the winter program. A few have allowed particular classes within the groups to carry on their own projects. One group of twelve year old girls had a course in the “Care and Feeding of Infants,”? with many practical demon- strations by the mining company nurse, instead of the usual hand- work, which they had had for several years and were tired of. Another group, Scouts, met with the rest of the school for the opening service of worship, then spent the handcraft period work- ing out a Scout project for their advanced tests. Some of the less conventional religious services are worth noting. A Children’s Hour, held at five o’clock Sunday after- noons in front of a glowing log fire, commenced with a short service of worship followed by a story hour. The children had a share in planning the opening service, and thus learned the ele- ments of worship. Hymns and prayers that they liked and could understand were used. The story material was closely connected with the theme for the day and related to the experience of the child. The boys and girls took an active part in the program, repeating the prayers, retelling and discussing the story, thereby making the experience their own. No service more reverent, more religious, more carefully suited to the child was found any- where. The young peoples’ groups, meeting late Sunday afternoons, followed by “tea” and social hours, were the scene of vital reli- gious discussions. Staff workers, ministers, prominent citizens and club members led discussions on a wide variety of subjects— music, literature, art and religion. In one center special musical numbers were introduced. At the “tea” hour informal discussion of the afternoon’s topic frequently continued. Many personal religious problems, first aroused on Sunday afternoons, were later thought through in individual conferences with staff members. Nine Neighborhood Houses have made some attempt to cor- relate their program with the public school program, through the kindergarten, citizenship, and household art classes, or a city recreation department which directs physical education both at the Center and the public school. For the most part no exhaustive analyses of the public school curricula have been made as a basis for programizing in the Neighborhood House. There is room for progress in this direction. Eleven Centers are making an endeavor to unify their club programs into a Neighborhood House curriculum which provides [ 61 ] graded opportunities special for each age and sex. So far, this has been achieved only by departments or within a group of re- lated clubs. For instance, the athletic schedule of a boys’ depart- ment will include all house basket ball teams, or all the boys’ clubs of a Center are related in one general program. A few houses have related their week day curriculum to the Sunday school, but, in many cases, so many club children are not Sunday school members, this is impractical. The survey also tried to reveal the progress Neighborhood Houses had made in conserving the alien’s heritage of art, litera- ture, music and drama. Jan Hus and Howell House are out- standing examples of this, possibly because they reach Czechs a group particularly determined to preserve its national traditions, and partly because the ove nationality predominates in each Cen- ter. Folk dancing, drama, national singing clubs, foreign language services, foreign language schools, and supplying a meeting place for nationality lodges are all ways used to give the immigrant scope for group life. In these ways immigrant backgrounds are interpreted to the aliens’ children and to native Americans. Out of the 990 stated activities reported only 106 were conserving foreign culture im any way. Extent of Conservation of Foreign Culture No. of Houses Have no groups conserving foreign culture in any way . 9 Have one group conserving foreign culture. . . . . 6 Have two to five groups conserving foreign culture . 8 5 Have six to ten groups conserving foreign culture . Have over ten groups conserving foreign culture. . . 2 More and more we are getting away from the self-satisfied and blind one hundred per cent Americanism chatter and are real- izing that America loses one of the chief contributions of her alien residents if she makes no recognition of immigrant back- grounds. An appreciation of the arts of each nation as sympa- thetic as this interpretation of Polish music needs to be cultivated in the Neighborhood House: “The glory of Poland is in its music. It is just as necessary to the daily life. . . of the peddler. . . the goose-girl. . . the wander- ing violinist . . . the tailor. . . the blacksmith . . . and the chil- dren . . . as is the bread that they eat... . In it is the history, now gay, now tragic, of a race that has faced every misfortune that human beings can suffer. . . . There are certain emotions in the Slav race which can be expressed. only in the minor chords. . . . The minor is [ 62 ] not necessarily a soft sadness—it may express a reverie of wonder, a wonder at the immensity of things. . . . Civilization may in time do away with the simpler arts of men, but the spirit of these songs will live on, heritages of the Polish nation;?* An equally sympathetic understanding of the arts of what- ever race or nationality she meets must be in the equipment of each Neighborhood House worker. Otherwise we cannot hope for a perfect blending of the finest new and old world traits. Some of the unique features of Neighborhood Houses are worth mentioning. For example, The Russian and Greek language schools organized by nationality workers at Sea and Land House have been a potent factor in reaching Greek and Russian parents enlisting their interest in Russian and Greek Community Eve- nings, where foreign lecturers, musicians, and entertainers have taken part. Asa result, Sea and Land has become in a small way a center of Russian and Greek life on the lower East Side. The Music Department of Howell Neighborhood House with its sympathetic use of the musical heritage of the Slav, brings joy to many a homesick Czech parent. Czech children are learning to know and love the songs their parents sang on the village green in the homeland. The department presents a rare collection of charming Slavic folk songs, sung by people who love them, to American audiences from time to time and thereby conserves one of the choicest gifts the Slav brings to America. The Clinic at Dodge House, conducted in cooperation with Harper Hospital and the Community Chest of Detroit of- fers medical and surgical care to a district surprisingly unequipped in this respect. The Labor Temple School, “an effort to provide culture for those otherwise deprived of it,” conducts a wide range of lectures and term courses for working people. The winter curriculum listed lectures on psychology, economics, science, mu- sic and, the history of art, drama, and literature. Some houses fostered such activities in their infancy as a separate department and later launched them into the world as independent enterprises. In some cases, after demonstrating the value of specific projects, other agencies better fitted to support and direct them were encouraged to take them over. There are playgrounds, social settlements, a music settlement, a diet kitchen, health centers, district nursing, public school, citizenship classes, and a Jaw and order association which can trace their beginnings *E. P. Kelley. Folk Songs of Many Peoples. [ 63 ] to a Neighborhood House. Olivet Institute in Chicago, one of the oldest Neighborhood Houses in the country, has a varied offspring—two playgrounds, a tuberculosis sanitarium, and a home for orphans, convalescents, and the aged. The summer program in the Neighborhood House consists of daily vacation school, hikes, and outings, and, as soon as the Center can afford it, a summer camp or home in the country 1s added to the equipment. In large cities houses have also co- operated with “Fresh Air Funds” which send children to private homes. Use is also made of Scout and Christian Association Camps. Several presbyteries have one camp owned by presby- tery and used by all affiliated institutions. As no visits were made while summer work was in progress, this report will not dwell on or include recommendations for summer work, except to sug- gest that camp councillors and directors keep in touch with the Camp Directors Association and its Spring training camps. It is well known that in every Center some group activities are much more closely connected with the house than others. Some merely use the Neighborhood House for a convenient meeting place; a few are directed by outside organizations; others have complete independence but are keenly interested in the entire program of the center; other groups, especially children’s are planned by the Neighborhood House staff. Just what rela- tionship 960 groups studied had to the Neighborhood House is revealed in the following statistics: Organization Having Primary Administrative Responsibility for Group Number ‘Phe!:Group »' Directs \ Teselfi (Sc healed nena meen a ‘Lhe Neighborhood ‘House Directs’ a1, sue ile iean vena ea The: Community Directs 0/1 (40) iu ovat aaethn, ae ema The Lown or City (Directs "ai. 7. Ware Ale Cia nnn aa Local Churches»; Direct: (Siti suite y aint we teks ence ty Ne nA Other Arencies Direction cts lcm OWES Nn WS The 103 listed “group directs itself” were self-governing. They are older young people’s clubs, nationality lodges, churches, foreign choral societies, and adult clubs which meet at the Neigh- borhood House, but are independent of its direction, as long as they maintain law and order. These groups frequently came under the influence of the Center, knew the staff well, and often made a real contribution to the house. A Serbian Choral Society has met at one Center regularly for ten years to practice for its [ 64 ] concerts. The singers, many of them near neighbors, have come to know the staff intimately, understand the spirit of the house, and express their appreciation constantly in many ways. At Christmas time the Society has always made a generous gift to the house. Out of the 760 groups administered by the Neighborhood House, 41 were jointly administered, in cooperation with other organizations; 21 were directed by organizations of the commu- nity; 36 by the city—for example, the Board of Health directed city clinics, the Board of Education supervised citizenship classes; For instance, a music school partially supported and administered by the Chromatic Society of the city, was placed under the head- ing “other agencies direct.” These figures, show that Neighbor- hood Houses maintain supervision and direction of most activities meeting in their buildings. Where the Neighborhood House is not primarily responsible for the direction of the group, hos- pitality, friendly interest and cooperation of the staff has won many friends for the Neighborhood House out of the group. An analysis of group activities by age revealed that the largest number of activities (Chart 10) reached the intermediate age. The one hundred and seventy-two children’s groups in- cluded clubs and classes ranging from Primary to Intermediate age, not highly graded by ages. These are not included in the _ pictorial bars of the chart. Also the sixteen groups composed of Seniors and Adults were not represented on the chart. We may also conclude that so far the Neighborhood House has made its chief approach through the children of the immi- grant community. Eighteen houses had kindergarten groups. When the public school provides adequate kindergarten training in the district, this is not necessary but there are still many Boards of Education which have not met this need. If children are cared for in a public school kindergarten, a game and story hour with simple dramatizations has proved one of the most popular types of activi- ties after school hours. Children who have attended a Center ever since kindergarten age have absorbed the spirit of the house grad- ually and make dependable and valuable older club members. With few exceptions, groups were graded as closely as leadership and space permited. The finer the subdivision, the better provided an esprit de corps is not sacrificed by having the group too small. [ 65 ] CuHart 10 OG Stated Activities byAge Groups | Thirty Presbyterian Neighborhood Houses Inter mediate D6 Ae y LGe ae iy the Berea) ee *172 Other Children’s groups: mixed ages. 16 Senior and Adutit: mixed This chart shows the age groups which the Neighborhood Houses are reaching through stated activities, i.e., out of 990 stated activities checked, 26 are for kindergarten age only. The 172 children’s groups; mixed ages usually were ungraded and so were not included in the above. [ 66 ] “The task of religious education is to give the child an actual religious eperience at each stage in his development.”* Like the non-sectarian settlement, the adult work in the Neighborhood House is weak. So far the foreign language church has proved a more successful approach than the Neigh- borhood House. The immigrant parent is difficult to reach. Usu- ally there is a language barrier, which is soon broken down in the case of children who attend public schools. The women stay close to their homes, often send the children “out to buy,” and almost never go off their own block, and so seldom hear English spoken. The men have to learn English, if they wish to secure any but unskilled work. But English, picked up around the wharves or in the mill, is usually distorted and has so much of the mother tongue grafted into it, that it is not a very satisfactory connecting link. Then, too, warnings, he has received from friends in the old country, often make the new immigrant wary of American ways and institutions for some time after his arrival. A third reason, for this failure to reach the adult immigrant, is that not enough time and thought have been given to planning activities, which are suited to “grown up” interests. There has been too little utilization of the immigrant’s background as a starting point. Often the immigrant has been treated too much like a child, and occasionally the immigrant himself has considered the Neignbor hood House simply a combination play house and school for his children, not realizing that he could make a real contribution to its life and that it, in turn, could serve his interests. Some of the most successful adult groups meeting at the Neighborhood House were entirely managed by the groups themselves. At Gary, Italian and Hungarian Lodges held regu- lar meetings at the Neighborhood Houses, a Serbian Choral So- ciety has met for years at Christopher House. At Garibaldi Institute, a large group of young Italian men, originally organ- ized outside the Center, met at the Institute regularly and wel- comed the advisory leadership of one of the staff. *Neighborhood House Conference Proceedings. Miss Faye Klyver—Opportunities for Religious Education in Group Activities. [ 67 | VISITING THE Neighborhood House functions in three ways—commu- nity cooperation and organization, discussed briefly in an earlier section; group activities, the major emphasis just considered in some detail; and lastly “family visiting,” “personal service,” “calling” or whatever the work with families or individuals is called. In this realm the Neighborhood House has one of its greatest chances to be effective. Some realized this from the first; others have been too harried by the daily round of clubs and classes; too swamped by the ever multiplying details of administration, money raising and emergency calls, to develop any technique for this service to its members. A brief summary of how the houses are carrying on this form of work will be enlightening, though not especially encouraging. It was found that five Centers had no plan for visiting, calls being made when a crisis in the home of a club member demand- ed; in one Center visits are made by the Russian pastor and staft worker; another Center divided the list of families among the staff according to residence or nationality, the staff member was then held responsible for these families’ spiritual, mental and physical welfare; three Centers conducted an annual or semi-an- nual canvass of all members, following up the problems then dis- covered; three Centers had the leaders of each department call on the members, that is, the girls’ worker called on the girls or the kindergartner called in the homes of kindergarten children; thir- teen Centers assigned the major responsibilitv for visiting to ove person on the staff, she being also held responsible for any case work done. This visitor was frequently assisted by the girls’ worker or kindergartner. Occasionally the head worker did all the home visiting. Kindergarten mothers are usually called upon quite regularly, for this is considered one of the kindergartner’s duties. It will be seen from this summary that no one method has been evolved. The largest number had adopted the method of having some [ 68 J one person in charge of the visiting. One Center has em- ployed a trained case worker in this position. The danger of hav- ing one person in charge is that her knowledge and understanding of a family situation may not be passed on to the boys’ worker, kindergartner, head resident, or other staff member also con- cerned with the family’s problems. Within the house, some method of sharing information and having concerted action by the staff in meeting a family problem must be assured. On the other hand, having one person in charge of this department has distinct advantages. For example, it prevents two or three workers’ run- ning in and out of a maladjusted home bringing conflicting ad- vice to a distraught, confused parent. It also may be a satistac- tory means of developing cooperation with local social agencies. Having one staff member act as “liaison officer” between the Cen- ter and other agencies in the district, has often made possible a more unified approach to the needs of the neighborhood, every Neighborhood House requires at least one staff member with a thorough understanding of the case work method. “It would be ideal, if a trained case worker could be employed by each N eigh- borhood House to recognize family problems and sift out those maladjustments to life so serious as to require the services of a family agency.”* Where this is not possible, one member of the staff at least should make it her business to obtain a continuing and growing appreciation and understanding of case work through contacts with case workers, membership on district case committees and reading, such as Carl de Schweintz’s “The Art of Helping People Out of Trouble,” Miss Richmond’s “What is Social Case Work,” and the magazine, “The Family.” Furthermore, if a Center is to attempt the delicate task of readjusting and developing human lives, some system of record- ing these attempts must be found, otherwise the family or indi- vidual will become the victim of oft repeated experiments and the endless questionings of a succession of workers. Suggestions for a family card have been given, and a sample form will be found on another page. A brief history might advisably be kept for families requiring special care and adjustments. Such a his- tory would contain facts about the makeup of the family, address, nationality, church connection, employment, specific health con- ditions, agencies interested, a brief summary of problems pre- *Helen Hanchette: The Modern View in Family Social Work—Proceedings of Conference on Neighborhood House Work. [ 69 ] sented, a chronological statement of calls, their purpose and re- sult, and at regular intervals a summing up of what has been ac- complished, and a statement of a future plan for the family. It is worth noting that the Neighborhood House does not consider itself a relief agency, that is, a dispenser of food, cloth- ing and money, and with few exceptions relief is not a part of Neighborhood House programs. This is wise. For where relief is necessary, the need arises not as the result of a sudden emerg- ency but with many and long standing causes. Therefore, the Neighborhood House is sensible when it puts to work in these homes the technique of the family case work society. Possibly a word of caution should be given in this respect. It was found that some workers still considered material relief the primary function of the family case work agency and that that need was usually the one basis for seeking such an agency’s co- operation. - Relief is not the sole aim and purpose of family societies. In Cleveland but one-fifth to one-fourth of the fami- lies entrusted to the care of the Associated Charities receive mate- rial aid. A large district of the New York Charity Organization Society reported that only 33 per cent of the families under care in a given month received financial assistance. The family agency knows the resources of the community intimately and is fitted to offer guidance in health, behavior, unemployment, marital, psy- chiatric, illegitimacy, guardianship, and similar problems that may arise in any home. To seek the family agency’s cooperation only for relief is to disregard one of the most influential and useful sources of information and skilled leadership in the community. Necessity for knowing more about the individual environment of its club and class members is another teason for the N eighbor- hood House to give serious consideration to its contacts in the home. Effective group work can never be accomplished if the leader is dealing with individuals with little regard for their en- vironment. One boys’ worker, when asked about some of his club members, remarked, “Oh! I know my boys in the gym, that’s enough! I take it for granted that their home influences are bad.” Anyone who has known the strong, fine influences for family solidarity, good citizenship, thrift, and so on in many im- migrant homes will rise in protest. On the contrary club leaders were found building their programs on the valuable contributions of the boy’s home, school, and “gang.” To do this means study- ing the child in all his relationships, home, school, church, club [ 70 ] and playground. Subjecting an individual to wholesome influ- ences without a thorough understanding of his problems, even beyond his own understanding of them, will not help, in the most intelligent way, to strenghten his good traits and eliminate his weak ones. A thorough understanding of the child’s environ- ment often reveals quite a different child from the one observed in a class. A program in which the parents are cooperating will be more far reaching and lasting. The deep seated causes for ab- normalities and delinquency are often discovered in a visit to the home or in a chat with the school teachers. Unfortunately too many club leaders are not in a position either from lack of train- ing or time to delve into this kind of fact. Therefore, the Neigh- borhood House which provides a family visitor who is the go-be- tween for social agencies, the school, the home, and the other workers of the Center, can render a peculiarly effective service. In this field of service lies one of the greatest opportunities of the Neighborhood House. Many individuals not taking part in group activities may be reached; many families whose straits are not yet dire enough to demand the attention of the family social work society may be helped to adjust their difficulties; the neighborhood’s confidence in a Center gives it an entre to many acute family situations; group work without a thorough under- standing of the background of each individual making up the group can never achieve its fullest effectiveness. For these reas- ons the Neighborhood House should make family visiting a more definite and carefully thought-out part of its program, and in so doing keep in mind the technique that family social work societies have evolved from long and conscientiously recorded experience in this fundamental phase of the “art of helping.” STAFF B ESIDES the opportunity to render valuable and necessary service,” Mrs. Florence Taylor writes, “these are the points the prospective worker takes into consideration when deciding what field of work she will enter. She wishes to know what special training is required, what experience if any is necssary, whether the hours of work allow sufficient time for rest, recreation and study, whether the salaries are large enough to permit freedom Rae from constant financial worry, and whether there is opportunity for properly prepared workers to advance to positions of greater. responsibility if they prove themselves capable of handling them.”* These same questions are also being asked by those engaging or training prospective workers. The experience of the thirty Neighborhood Houses summarized here may give some light on this important aspect of the Neighborhood House movement. The staff of a Neighborhood House may be divided into three groups, according to basis of employment: full time work- ers, part time workers, and volunteers. Most of this report will be devoted to full time workers. However, a few conclusions and recommendations about part time and volunteer workers should be cited. The problem of the volunteer, and the word problem is used intentionally, for the volunteer has too long been considered a problem, bothers every head worker. If the volunteer is a prob- lem, it is more often the fault of the staff. Careful supervision, a worthwhile job, work suited to the ability and interest of the volunteer, increase of responsibility, as he proves capable, and the opportunity to feel a vital part in the whole task, will develop a splendid volunteer worker. The paid staff can see that this training is given. Little use of volunteer assistance was revealed in some Cen- ters. Others used volunteers extensively. How does one find volunteer workers? was an oft repeated question. Therefore a study of the sources from which 278 volunteers were secured in twelve Centers was made. The results suggest that volunteers are not always found, but are cultivated and trained: Source of Securing Volunteers Number Affiliated Churches or Women’s Societies. . . . . . . 88 Students an Draining: AN /i//qb Waive in akan ened A eae 70 Trained Neighborhood House members. . . . . . . 59 Parger)) Commaninity: Voi Meni esa Orpen anne Himes Reacher sa en tian aN LLnL ne: Unie ven Amn Naa Friends) of) ithe iStatk i) gui idle? sia The 59 trained members of the Neighborhood Houses are older young people, and men and women of the community, who have grown up in the clubs and classes and received their train- ing from staff members. A. nineteen year old Italian Scout *Taylor: Survey of Standards for Women Workers, page 12. Paes leader derives much more from that experience than from play- ing forward on a basket ball team. A young Czech woman will learn more teaching a Sunday school class of primary children than she will as a member of a choral club, that is, of course, if adequate supervision is provided. Even though the task is not quite so perfectly performed as it might be by an “uptown” vol- unteer, the leader is “learning by doing.” One of the greatest contributions a Neighborhood House can make to a community is by training local leadership in this way. The use of a supervised volunteer staff permits the expansion of a Neighborhood House program. One worker can meet only a limited number of clubs a week. It is a physical impossibility to lead two clubs at once. A director, however, can supervise several clubs led by volunteers in one evening and arrange con- ferences with the leaders during the week. An increase in the number of clubs supervised is possible under such a plan and the limits of a program are less rigid than when the girls’ worker for instance, tries to lead clubs herself. Unless an unheard of expansion in budgets occurs, Neighbor- hood Houses will always depend on volunteer leadership. This need not be deplored. The volunteer brings a rich outside ex- perience to her task; has leisure time for supplementing her work at the Center, is an understanding interpreter of the Neighbor- hood House program to a wide circle of friends and contributors; makes a truly intelligent Board member. In short, the volunteer functions in many ways that the paid worker never could and is to be sought as an integral part of every Neighborhood House staff. The second group, part time workers, represented a great variety of bases of employment and duties. Some part time workers, especially those in residence, often did full time work. Others only came to the house a period a week—to teach a dress- making class or a music lesson. Many were employed for a definite number of hours to direct the work of a specific depart- ment. The director of physical education would frequently be in this group. For these reasons no generalizations as to their salaries, vacations or education and experience are of value. It is worth noting, however, that more and more Neighborhood Houses are hiring experts to give club groups technical training in specific lines. A girls’ worker cannot be a skilled club organ- izer and an equally good teacher of dressmaking, millinery, cook- [ 73 ] ing, dramatics and physical education. Therefore, many houses expect the girls’ club leader to organize and promote a club and develop the personal contacts with the members, employing a part time worker for a specific purpose. For example, one club had first a dressmaking teacher for eight weeks, and then a physi- cal education teacher, then a dramatics coach for another eight weeks to guide the club in specific projects—making dresses, a health demonstration, and a play. Results warrant the adoption of this principle. It has been used effectively in boys’ and adults? clubs also. This same plan may be used successfully with vol- unteers particularly gifted in one line. As with volunteers, the use of part time specialists permits, at a low cost, expansion of the number and variety of activities, carried by a relatively small full time staff. The third group of workers, and the one on which the success of the Neighborhood House depends, is the full time workers. Chart 11 shows the types of positions in Neighborhood Houses, by title of position and sex. While certain kinds of positions. such as kindergartner, visitor, assistant directors, this position usually included duties of head resident, are distinctly a woman’s field, it is unfortunate that more men are not employed and that salaries are inadequate to attract them. The small number of boys’ workers over against girls’ workers, though all Centers have boys’ and girls’ work, is a real handicap in the boys’ departments. Any classification of positions by titles is somewhat arbitrary. There is too little relationship between titles and duties. In one Center a director of girls’ work is in charge of the girls’ depart- ment, as the title would suggest. In another, she supervises all girls’ clubs and classes, leading several herself, and, in addition, directs the employment bureau, “keeps the Neighborhood House books,” teaches Sunday school, has general oversight of kinder- garten and nursery, and visits in the homes. Another worker, listed as religious education director, is superintendent of the Sunday school, acts as head resident, which includes hostess duties and full responsibility for housekeeping in the residence, directs girls’ activities, visits in the homes, and is the organist. A com- monly accepted terminology for Neighborhood House staff posi- tions would save confusion for executives, for those seeking posi- tions, and for training schools. The survey sought to discover what methods and agencies functioned to provide the personnel directing Neighborhood ia a Houses. Conclusions drawn from the following figures show that too many workers are still securing their positions in a haphazard way. Of eighty-five full time workers less than one-half (39, or 46 per cent) were put in touch with their work by organizations making some attempt at scientific placement. Of these, 6 secured their positions through placement bureaus, 7 through the Board of National Missions, 14 through the Church Extension Com- mittees of the local presbytery, and 12 were recommended by training schools, seminaries or colleges. The majority (46, or 54 per cent), “heard” of their positions through friends, relatives, local ministers, or made personal application to the Centers for employment. — The lack of any central clearing bureau for church positions 1s proving a serious handicap in securing the best available leader- ship. Inability to get at a vacancy is discouraging to the worker and sends her to other fields. Under the present conditions a girls’ worker in search of a position and not bound to a particular locality may communicate with any one of nine presbyterial or synodical executives, the Board of National Missions, or as many directors as there are Neighborhood Houses. The resulting waste of time and correspondence is obvious and meanwhile the best leadership is often attracted to other organizations, such as the Young Women’s Christian Association and the American Asso- ciation of Social Workers, whose placement methods are more effective. A central placement bureau for lay workers, with nationwide information about vacancies, in touch with the personnel of church workers, in cooperation with all departments of the Board of National Missions and local executives of synods and pres- byteries, would help to find the position best suited to a worker and the worker best suited to the position, not only in Neighbor- hood Houses but in all places where lay workers are employed, whether they be community workers, church visitors, religious education directors, or church secretaries. An analysis of eighty-three workers by age groups (Chart 12) showed that the Neighborhood House employed a group of young workers. Out of a total of 83, 13 were under twenty-five; 51 (61 per cent) were under thirty-five; 71 (85 per cent) were under forty-five. In the Protestant Episcopal church, the largest group of women workers was between the ages of forty-five and ay a CuHarrt 11 s) es Y 5 = 6 g CS? Y & = 5 i) YU x ae 82 Full Thirty Presbyterian Neighborhood. Houses | 149) —_ cet 8 = | WKORS F, oat 812 l WOO’ N19 $A09 iz ll a*}t * 081 I" 1431901 i }} Shoe 4:92 2-91 WOOS 3WV¥D SAOT JOO] punoiy =aas= I I SSMOH ALINONNOS ADAOd 40 SNVId WOOT il Cageed So oes es ed as Peay eee oe eee i [ Nu* 98 fF onr001 F—}— Sonate 31330 § 32110 ——- - ont ned tat VVAIUG § 217@Ad FE —f—-F re ad — = bad AI-OF *_0-S2 RYVAUGII YWoarwyoo aii * 4:16 VWH NOILGIDITY SUIL-01 JOVLS Batinlll§ [ 107 | Ol. ® 8-01 a | | 0.61 ¥ 0-21 m WoO’ ONIAI | | 2. WY HVS ! © =i GSI * S21 | WOO’ 434 fF +s.01%5.01 i Woos 7ISiw Oia) 0.04 0 2s 0'}I en ON pi .G} *_g- ” Set dd woot aie ff wodt'sia i WOdY ONIANI aaa VIi97tssu ee eed Wawa LM epee LB ¥ 20:6 Ly 401.8 +L 0 ¥ 9-6! * le NIH71EX py WOO’ PNINIG | wody aid WOOY 0345 WHISYNWA 1Y¥d [ 108 ] A Direcrory oF NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSES Conducted Under the Auspices of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. A. BUFFALO, NEW YORK WELCOME Hatt SociaL SETTLEMENT 404 Seneca Street, Buffalo, N. Y. Rev. William E, McLennan, Director (Address as above) Mr. William H. Gratwick, Chairman 814 Chamber of Commerce Building, Buffalo Auspices: First Presbyterian Church, Buffalo. Work was begun November 1894. Cost of building about $65,000. 4 full-time paid workers, 26 part-time workers, 16 volun- teers. Workers in residence, 4 paid and 2 volunteer. Annual Budget, $15,000. WESTMINSTER HouskE 424 Adams Street and 421 Monroe Street, Buffalo, N. Y. Mrs. Ida Lyman Grumiaux, Director (Address as above) Mr. Ulysses L. Candell, Chairman 642 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo Auspices: Westminster Presbyterian Church. Work was begun in 1894. Cost of building, $50,000. 2 full-time and 8 part-time paid workers; 80 volunteers. Workers in resi- dence, 3 full-time, 2 part-time paid workers and five volunteers. Annual budget, $19,603. BUTTE, MONTANA East SipE NEIGHBORHOOD HousE 732 East Galena Street, Butte, Montana Rev. Chester I. Meeker, Director (Address as above) Auspices: Department of City, Immigrant, and Industrial Work, Board of National Missions. Work was begun in 1920. Value of two renovated buildings, $15,000. 2 paid workers; 2 volunteer. Workers in residence, 2 paid and 1 volunteer. Annual budget, $6,500. [ 109 ] CASPIAN, MICHIGAN CAsPIAN COMMUNITY CENTER Caspian, Iron County, Michigan Mr. Walter M. Berry, Director (address as above) Auspices: Synod of Michigan with the cooperation of the Women’s Synodical Society. Work was begun in 1916. Entered present building October 27th, 1921. Cost of building $18,141. 2 paid workers, 18 volunteer (adult leaders). Workers in residence, 2 paid. Annual budget, $6,050. Plans of this model little building for a small com- munity may be had from the Department of City, Immigrant, and Industrial Work, Board of National Missions. CHICAGO, ILLINOIS O.LIvET INSTITUTE 444 Blackhawk Street, Chicago, III. Rev. Norman B. Barr, Director (address as above) Rev. Andrew C. Zenos, D. D., Chairman 834 Chalmers Place, Chicago Auspices: Independent incorporation but associated with the Pres- bytery of Chicago and its Church Extension Board. Work was begun in 1888. New building in process of erection to cost $500,000. ‘Two old church buildings and fourteen two and three story flat buildings now occupied. 20 full-time and 25 part-time paid workers. 350 volunteers, including all elected officers. Workers in residence, 20 paid and 3 volunteer. An- nual Budget, approximately, $75,000. HoweE.Lit NEIGHBORHOOD HousE 1831 South Racine Avenue, Chicago, III. Miss Gertrude Ray, Director (Address as above) Mr. W. Herbert Avery, Chairman 4904 Blackstone Avenue, Chicago, IIl. Auspices: ‘The Church Extension Board of the Presbytery of Chicago and the Women’s Presbyterial Society. Work was begun with a Kindergarten in 1905. Residence opened in 1910. ‘The present building, erected at a cost of $40,000, was entered 1913. 11 paid workers, 5 volunteers. Workers in residence, 9 paid and 5 volunteer. Annual Budget, $18,300. F210") CHRISTOPHER House SETTLEMENT 2507 Greenview Avenue, Chicago, III. Miss Ora B. Edmonds, Head Resident (Address as above) Mr. Selden F. White, Chairman 209 S. La Salle St., Chicago Auspices: ‘The first Church of Evanston. Work was begun about 1905. In present building 1918. Cost of Building $75,000. 14 paid workers; volunteer 30. Workers in residence, 13 paid and 1 volunteer. Annual Budget, $21,500. GARIBALDI INSTITUTE 1208 West Taylor Street, Chicago, III. Rev. Edwin Eells, Director (Address as above) E. A. Stedman, Chairman 15 North Wabash Ave., Chicago, II. Auspices: "The Church Extension Board of the Presbytery of Chicago. Work was begun in March, 1920. Cost of building approximately $10,800. Paid workers, 5 full-time and 6 part-time; volunteer 19. Workers in residence, 1 paid and 5 volunteer. Annual Budget, $12,000. JEFFERSON ParK CHURCH AND INSTITUTE 1246 West Adams Street, Chicago, Ill. Rev. Wm. J. Du Bourdieu, Director Mr. Geo. R. Hemingway, Chairman Auspices: Church Extension Board of Chicago Presbytery. Work was begun 1912. Value of building $60,000. 5 paid staff workers, 15 volunteer staff workers, 2 paid resident workers, 8 volunteer resident workers. Annual budget, $13,000. Larrp Community HouskE 1838 West Division Street, Chicago, Ill. Miss Aileen B. Jones, Director (Address as above) Mr. Frederick A. Watkins, Chairman 565 West Washington St., Chicago, III. Auspices: The Church Extension Board of the Presbytery of Chicago. Work was begun in September, 1923. Cost of Building $15,000. 3 paid workers; 2 volunteer. Workers in residence, 3 paid. Annual Budget, $6,000. Mee dbin) SAMARITAN Hous 2601 West Superior Street, Chicago, III. Laura A. Bergen, Deaconess (Address as above) Mr. George Falconer, Chairman 1910 Sunnyside Avenue, Chicago Auspices: Church Extension Board Presbytery of Chicago. Work was begun about 16 years ago. 3 full-time paid workers; 3 part-time paid workers; one volunteer. Workers in residence, two full-time paid workers. Annual Budget, $7,066. Cuicaco Heicuts CoMMuNITY CENTER 220 East 15th Street, Chicago Heights, Chicago, III. Miss Mary Barry, Director (Address as above) Work was begun in 1910. Cost of Building $20,000. 2 full-time paid workers; 4 part-time paid workers; 15 volunteers. Workers in residence, | full-time paid worker; 3 part-time paid workers. Annual Budget, $9,000. CLEVELAND, OHIO WoopLanp CENTER SETTLEMENT East 46th Street and Woodland Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio Mr. W. I. Newstetter, Director (Address as above) Rev. Joel B. Hayden, Chairman 13047 Cedar Road, Cleveland Auspices: ‘The Presbytery of Cleveland. Work was begun February, 1921, as a settlement with residence feature. A large reconstructed church building, with two gym- nasiums, is used jointly with the Woodland Ave. Presbyterian Church. 5 full-time and 43 part-time paid workers. 77 volun- teers. Workers in residence, 4 paid, 1 volunteer. Annual budget, $18,635. CLINTON, INDIANA Hitt Crest COMMUNITY CENTER 505 North 8th Street, Clinton, Indiana Rev. L. O. Brown, Supt. (Address as above) Rev. B. W. Tyler, Chairman 665 Poplar Street, Terre Haute, Indiana Auspices: ‘The Synod of Indiana. Work was begun in 1911. Cost of building, $32,000. 4 paid work- ers; volunteer, 14. Workers in residence 2 paid and 1 volunteer. Annual Budget, $5,655. Pek] DETROIT, MICHIGAN DELRAY PresBYTERIAN InsTITUTE AND NEIGHBORHOOD House 800 South Cotterell Street, Detroit, Michigan Miss Helen W. Crawley, Director (Address as above) Rev. Minot C. Morgan, Chairman 677 Parker Street, Detroit Auspices: Board of Church Extension of the Presbytery of Detroit. Work was begun January, 1922. Cost of Building, $50,000. 2 paid workers; 7 volunteer. Workers in residence, 2 paid. An- nual Budget, $7,100. Dopce Community HovusE 6215 Farr Avenue, Detroit, Michigan Rev. Ralph Cummins, Director (Address as above) Rev. Joseph A. Vance, D.D., Chairman 39 Edmund Place, Detroit Auspices: Governing Committee composed largely of representa- tives from First Presbyterian Church, Detroit. Work was begun in 1922. Initial investment, $40,000. (Includes two temporary buildings and lots.) 4 full-time paid workers; 8 part-time paid workers; 12 volunteer. Workers in residence, 3 paid. Annual Budget, $16,000. DUPONT, PENNSYLVANIA Dupont NEIGHBORHOOD HovusE 201 Simpson Street, Dupont, Pa. Mr. Harold C. Gammon, Director (Address as above) Miss Elizabeth Loveland, Acting Chairman 134 Maple Avenue, Kingston, Pa. Auspices: Women’s Missionary Society of Lackawanna Presbytery. Work was begun August Ist, 1922. Building is leased. 1 paid worker; 7 volunteer. Workers in residence, 1 paid and | volun- teer. Annual Budget, $4,800. EAST YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO East YOUNGSTOWN NEIGHBORHOOD HousE East Youngstown, Ohio Rev. Henry White, Chairman 836 Pennsylvania Avenue, Youngstown, Ohio Auspices: Joint Committee, representing the Presbytery of Mahon- ing, Synod of Ohio, affiliated Women’s Societies, and the Board of National Missions. Work established as a Neighborhood House, March Ist, 1925. First unit of new building project to cost about $40,000. 3 paid workers. Workers in residence, 2 paid. Annual budget, $7,500. PuLaa ] a a ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA NEIGHBORHOOD HousE 103 German Street, Erie, Penna. Mrs. Virginia Hunt, Director (Address as above) Mrs. James Blaine Turner, Chairman 347 West 21st Street, Erie, Penna. Auspices: Erie Presbyterial and Local Board. Work was begun in 1907 in small kindergarten. Cost of present building $20,000. 4 paid workers; 5 volunteer. Workers in residence, 1 paid. Annual Budget, approximately, $4,200. GARY, INDIANA Gary NEIGHBORHOOD HousE 1700 Adams Street, Gary, Indiana Rev. Harold R. Martin, Director (Address as above) Rev. B. W. Tyler, D. D., Chairman Terre Haute, Indiana Auspices: The Synod of Indiana, with the cooperation of the Women’s Synodical Society and the Board of National Missions. Work was begun in April, 1909. Cost of building and property $50,000. 11 paid workers; 3 volunteers. Workers in resi- dence, 5 paid and 3 volunteer. Annual Budget, $15,000. LACKAWANNA, NEW YORK Tue LAcKAWANNA FRIENDSHIP HousE 527 Ridge Road, Lackawanna, New York Rev. Harry W. Richmond, Director (Address as above) Rev. Wm. H. Leach, Chairman 2065 Bailey Avenue, Buffalo, New York Auspices: The Presbytery of Buffalo. Work was begun October, 1921. Cost of building $49,000. 3 paid workers; 11 volunteer. Workers in residence, 1 paid. An- nual Budget, $9,224. | f 114 ] MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN Catvary Community House 62 Eighth Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Miss Laura E. Dixon, Director (Address as above) Mr. F. W. Ells, Chairman 889 Summit Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Auspices: Board of Management, largely drawn from Calvary Presbyterian Church which originated the project. Sup- port comes from the Presbytery of Milwaukee, the Board of National Missions, from Calvary Church and other local sources. Work was begun in May, 1918. Rented quarters. New building will provide residence for workers. 2 paid workers. Annual Budget, $3,853. NEW YORK CITY Curist CHurcH HousE 336-344 West 36th Street, New York N. C. Roy, Director, (Address as above) Oliver C. Reynolds, Chairman 68 William St., Auspices: Brick Presbyterian Church. Work was begun in 1857. Cost of building, $400,000. 19 paid staff workers, 1 paid residence worker, 18 volunteer workers. Annual budget, $31,500. Sprinc StrEET NeIiGHBorHOooD House 244 Spring Street, New York Rev. Raymond P. Sanford, Chairman (Address as above ) Auspices: Part of Spring Street Social Settlement, Inc., which in- cludes Varick House. Work was begun in 1906. Cost of building, $250,000. 6 paid workers, 18 volunteer. Workers in residence, 3 paid; 8 volun- teer. Annual Budget, $13,000. NEIGHBORHOOD Houser oF THE AMERICAN ParIsH 324 Pleasant Avenue, New York Rey. J. Canfield Van Doren, Director Auspices:; The Church Extension Committee of the Presbytery of New York. Work was begun in 1911. Cost of building, $25,000. 12 paid workers, volunteer, 4. Workers in residence, 7 paid. Annual Budget, $10,985. Oy Lasor TEMPLE 239 East 14th Street, New York Rev. Edmund B. Chaffee, Director Rev. Thomas Guthrie Speers, Chairman of the Labor Temple Com- mittee, 47 University Place, N. Y. Auspices: The Church Extension Committee of the Presbytery of New York. Work was begun in 1910. New building now in process of erection to cost $700,000. 9 paid workers, 4 part-time fellowship stud- ent workers. Workers in residence, 6, 2 paid and 4 students. Annual Budget, $35,050. CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH NEIGHBORHOOD HouseE 422 West 57th Street, New York Miss Florence E. Clendenning, Director (Address as above) Mrs. George Crary, Chairman 770 Park Avenue, New York Auspices; Benevolent Society of the Central Presbyterian Church. Work was begun 1911. Cost of Building $35,000. 6 paid work- ers, 6 volunteers. Workers in residence, 2 paid and 4 volunteer. Annual Budget, $17,000. PORTLAND, OREGON Mewn’s Resort 4th & Burnside, Portland, Oregon Rev. Levi Johnson, Director (Address as above) Mr. J. E. Wheeler, Chairman The Telegram, Portland, Oregon Auspices: The First Presbyterian Church. Work was begun in 1895. Cost of building, $20,000. 3 paid workers and many volunteers. Workers in residence, 2 paid. Annual Budget, $5,000. SUMMIT, NEW JERSEY NEIGHBORHOOD HousE 511 Morris Avenue, Summit, New Jersey Miss Alice J. Cassidy, Director (Address as above) Rev. R. C. Brank, Chairman 52 Maple Street, Summit, N. J. Auspices: Central Presbyterian Church, Summit, N. J. Work was begun November, 1901. Cost of building, Circ. $18,000. 3 paid workers, 30 volunteers. Workers in residence 3 paid, 1 volunteer. Annual Budget, $6,000. [Lor SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA Porrero Hitt NeicHBoruoop House 953 De Haro Street, San Francisco, California Mr. W. J. Tanghe, Supt. (Address as above) Miss Julia Fraser, Chairman 2014 5th Avenue, Oakland, Calif. Auspices: A cooperative work on the part of ‘The American Baptist Home Mission Society, the Board of National Missions of the Presbyterian Church and the Women’s Synodical Society. Work begun 1908. Cooperation as above dates from June, 1922. Cost of building, including lots, $31,871. 3 paid workers full- time, 4 part-time, 11 volunteers. Workers in residence, 1 paid and 1 volunteer. Annual Budget, $9,600. a SUPPLEMENTARY LIST The following important projects generally qualify for this listing of Neighborhood Houses, excepting that the workers are not resident. ee BUFFALO, NEW YORK MemoriaL CHAPEL SociaL CENTER 155 Cedar Street, Buffalo, New York Miss Irene J. Graham, Director (Address as above ) Rev. Murray Shipley Howland, Chairman Auspices: Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church and the Synod of New York. Work was begun as Sunday School in 1857; as a social center, 1912. Cost of building $60,000. 7 paid workers and 6 music teachers. 45 volunteers. Annual Budget $10,000. =e CHICAGO, ILLINOIS PenieEL ComMMUNITY CENTER 1245 North Washtenaw Avenue, Chicago, Ill. Rev. David Bronstein, Director (Address as above) Mr. Carl E. Roth, Chairman 4610 Ravenswood Avenue, Chicago Auspices: Church Extension Board, Presbytery of Chicago. Work was begun in 1921. Cost of building, $25,000. 3 paid workers, 8 volunteer. No resident workers. Annual Budget, $8,000. Pah bys} BALTIMORE, MARYLAND EMMANUEL NEIGHBORHOOD HovusE 1523 East Lombard Street, Baltimore, Maryland Rev. Aaron J. Kligerman, Director (Address as above) Rev. John A. Nesbitt, Chairman Catonsville, Maryland Auspices: Board of National Missions, Sub-Department of Jewish Evangelization and the Executive Committee of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States. Work was begun in 1920. Building rented at $1,000 annually. 4 paid workers, 9 volunteer. Annual Budget, $10,500. NEWARK, NEW JERSEY BETHANY COMMUNITY CENTER 38 College Place and 155 Court Street, Newark, New Jersey Rev. E. S. Greenbaum, Director (Address as above) Dr. Alexander Cairns, Chairman 746 Ridge Street, Newark, New Jersey Auspices: Board of National Missions, Sub-Department of Jewish Evangelization. Work was begun in May, 1919. Cost of building, $65,000. 6 paid workers, 12 volunteer. Annual Budget, $12,500. eh ee | HOMES OF NEIGHBORLY SERVICE In Mexican Communities in the Southwest With the cooperation of the Board of National Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. Dr. Robert N. McLean, Associate Director, 406 Columbia Bldg., Los Angeles, Cal. BELVEDERE PARK SETTLEMENT 4360 Missouri Avenue, Belvedere, Cal. Miss Ethel McCormick, Director San Antonio HoME oF NEIGHBORLY SERVICE 1515 Lakeview Avenue, San Antonio, Texas Miss Bessie Sneed, Director Home or NEIGHBORLY SERVICE Azusa, Cal. (Vacant temporarily) Home or NEIGHBORLY SERVICE North 9th Avenue and Brighton Street, Brighton, Colorado Miss Patricia Salazar, Head-worker Home or NEIGHBORLY SERVICE 422 Duarte Street, Monrovia, Cal. Miss Ella G. Sharpe, Head-worker Home or NEIGHBORLY SERVICE 227 North High Avenue, Redlands, Cal. Miss Roxana Jackson, Head-worker Home or NEIGHBORLY SERVICE 558 North Mt. Vernon Avenue, San Bernardino, Cal. Miss Irma Laidlaw, Headworker. [ 119 ] LTT 1 1012 01232 0356