499 
 
 C6 C59 [ERICANIZATION 
 ""^ ^ )F CLEVELAND 
 
 ^^ HE first half year's work of the 
 ^ J Cleveland Americanization Com- 
 ^^^ mittee, being done without pre- 
 cedents to follow, has of necessity been 
 experimental. Having definitely in mind 
 the interpretation of America to the 
 foreign-born, and equally the interpre- 
 tation of foreign culture and character 
 to native-born Americans, the problem 
 has been to decide upon the methods of 
 work which would best produce imme- 
 diate and tangible results. 
 
 We have attempted above all things 
 to be practical, and have in every case 
 secured the advice and experienced 
 judgment of workers already in the 
 field, among whom the staff of the Cleve- 
 la^id- Public Library deserve special 
 mention. The Library branches in the 
 various foreign districts have more 
 points of contact with their neighbor- 
 hoods than any other existing agency, 
 and the advice and assistance of the 
 various branch librarians has been in- 
 valuable. 
 
 One of the most important steps in the 
 Americanization of the foreign -born is, 
 of course, the learning of the English 
 language. The Board of Education has 
 for years maintained evening schools for 
 this purpose, with results excellent so 
 far as attained, but touching only a 
 fraction of the need. Dr. Frank E.Spauld- 
 ing, Superintendent of Schools, at the 
 commencement of his term of office in 
 September, 1917, announced that it 
 would be one of his policies to make the 
 public schools just as effective an Amer- 
 icanization agency as possible. To this 
 
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 end he appointed Dr. A. W. Castle 
 as Supervisor of Educational Extension 
 to have general charge of Americaniza- 
 tion matters in the schools. The work 
 developed so rapidly that Dr. E. P. 
 Wiles was selected to be in immediate 
 charge thereof. In cooperation with 
 the School authorities in increasing the 
 number of these classes, we have at all 
 times found the school organization very 
 efficient. 
 
 Better preparation of teachers was 
 first secured by a Teachers Americani- 
 zation Institute held at the Normal 
 School in September, under the direc- 
 tion of Dr. Castle, and of Prof. R. 
 Moley, of the Western Reserve Universi- 
 ty, both being members of the Commit- 
 tee, Prof. Moley specializing in the 
 teaching of citizenship. 
 
 A new citizenship manual by Prof. 
 Moley will appear within a few days, 
 publication thereof being made by the 
 Cleveland Trust Company. This man- 
 ual will prove a valuable aid in Ameri- 
 canization. 
 
 We became convinced that classes 
 must be made more accessible; that the 
 foreign-born must not be asked to find a 
 class by hunting for it; but on the con- 
 trary that he must see a class directly in 
 his way, and must be made conscious 
 that through it lay his path to Oppor- 
 tunity. 
 
 We have therefore made it our busi- 
 ness to promote classes in English 
 through many agencies; advertising 
 broadly that whenever and wherever a 
 group of 15 or more can conveniently 
 meet, then and there a class will be 
 organized and a teacher provided. The 
 response to this invitation has been 
 quite as good as could be expected in 
 this short time, and while materially in- 
 creasing the attendance in the public 
 
 n. of, D. 
 
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evening schools, it has led to the forma- 
 tion of classes in libraries, social settle- 
 ments, churches, parochial schools, for- 
 eign halls, hotels, and factories, with 
 others about to form. Some of these 
 classes, although financed by the Com- 
 mittee, are under Dr. Castle's direction 
 and supervision, the teachers being ap- 
 pointed by him, so that their work con- 
 forms in all respects to the stalidards of 
 the Board of Education. Most of them 
 are finding, however, that it is best to 
 make their work continuous, and to 
 disregard the vacation intermissions of 
 the public schools. 
 
 Concerning the classes in factories, 
 various employers have expressed them- 
 selves as follows: — 
 
 Mr. Ernest Joseph, of the Joseph & 
 Feiss Company, who has considered this 
 problem during the last five years as a 
 part of the scientific management of his 
 shops says: 
 
 "A few years ago we had a number of 
 foreign men and women who could 
 speak no English. As a result there were 
 constantly recurring misunderstandings 
 between workers and their foremen. 
 Whenever any change in policy was 
 introduced it was impossible to get it 
 across to our foreign people. Interpret- 
 ers were used frequently with the usual 
 results where a third person has to be 
 called on. 
 
 "We realized the fact that our labor 
 turnover was affected seriously by this 
 inability to reach a number of our people 
 directly and that workers frequently 
 left with antagonism because of slight 
 misunderstandings due to a lack of a 
 common language. Accordingly we in- 
 stalled factory classes which were made 
 compulsory and after a few months the 
 rule was made that foremen must give 
 people a chance to practice English by 
 
patiently explaining matters in English 
 instead of speaking foreign languages. 
 
 "We have been able to secure telling 
 results in better cooperation of our 
 workers, more intelligent handling of 
 work and clearer understanding of 
 factory problems such as steadiness of 
 attendance. Altogether we can not 
 speak too enthusiastically of the actual 
 value in dollars and cents of English 
 classes in factories." 
 
 Mr. C. J. Abell, General Supt. of the 
 Cleveland Provision Company, has or- 
 ganized a class in his plant for the fol- 
 lowing reasons: 
 
 "Men having gained knowledge of 
 the English, can more readily under- 
 stand instructions, therefore facilitating 
 the work and permitting the foremen to 
 accomplish more work in a stated period. 
 
 "Our foreign employees having ob- 
 tained a thorough knowledge of the 
 English Language, must necessarily 
 thereby become imbued with the spirit of 
 Americanism and will necessarily there- 
 fore be more loyal to our concern." 
 
 A few factory executives contend that 
 because of the tense labor situation in 
 Cleveland, they are unwilling to ask 
 their men to join a class. This argu- 
 ment is answered by Mr. E. G. Green, 
 of the Ferry Cap & Screw Company, 
 who says: 
 
 "In regard to our factory class of 
 teaching foreigners English, would say 
 that we picked out those with whom we 
 had the most trouble and where we had 
 a 50% labor turnover, and since start- 
 ing the class of about 25 or 30 about 
 three months ago, not one has quit." 
 
 Mr. R. H. Seligman of the Federal 
 Knitting Mills Company writes the 
 following : 
 
 "I can only say that up to this time, 
 which means after a period of about six 
 
weeks, we are pleased at the progress 
 made. We succeeded in creating two 
 classes, mostly of people who did not 
 know any English at all, and were not 
 conscious previous to that time of the 
 value of the knowledge of our language. 
 It is mainly due to the efforts of the 
 teacher that it was possible to hold 
 the interest of all the people connected 
 with the night school. We can state, 
 today, that every one of these people, 
 without exception, can spell and read 
 English, and also that everyone is 
 very anxious to increase their knowl- 
 edge, and is a booster for the cause. 
 
 "This statement can be proven by the 
 following incident : Although our factory 
 was closed on Monday last on account of 
 the fuel order, a number of people found 
 their way to the factory at 5:30 that 
 afternoon, in order to attend their 
 nightly studies; but no school was held 
 on that day. Of course, this is too short 
 a time to judge the actual result of 
 education on the daily work of these 
 people, or the benefit our institution 
 would derive from same. Nevertheless 
 whichever the case might be, we are 
 gratified in the realization that we are 
 helping a number of people along in 
 making their struggle for existence 
 easier, by enabling them to speak our 
 language, and to become real American 
 citizens." 
 
 The Globe Machine & Stamping Com- 
 pany have already derived definite 
 results from their classes, which Mr. 
 C. L. Walters gives as follows: 
 
 "The direct benefits of the educational 
 work are already observable in the 
 ability of our employees to understand 
 more quickly and more intelligently the 
 instructions given to them by our fore- 
 men. Their handwriting on time cards 
 is more legible, too. Because of these 
 classes and the results which have been 
 
achieved, our foreign born employees 
 have increased their industrial efficiency 
 and consquently their earning power. 
 The economic benefit is, therefore, two- 
 fold. Both employer and employee 
 profit from the institution of such 
 classes in industrial plants. 
 
 "A more important consideration, 
 however, is the appreciation that the 
 men derive of American ideals, liberty 
 and democracy. Becoming familiar, as 
 they are, with the language of our 
 country the possibilities of a divided 
 allegiance are lessened and a true ap- 
 preciation of America is established." 
 
 Mr. Hugh Fullerton of the H. Black 
 Company writes as follows: 
 
 "I am glad to say that we are im- 
 mensely pleased with the result of our 
 experiment of teaching English to the 
 foreigners in our factory. We have not 
 secured as large a number as we should 
 have liked to secure. We feel that there 
 are a number of men and women in our 
 factory who ought to have the advantage 
 of this education, but the enthusiastic 
 response of those who have attended and 
 their interest has fully repaid us for the 
 effort we make and their time which 
 we lose. 
 
 "In several cases we can see a distinct 
 growth in the men and women who have 
 attended. They are better employees 
 and are going to be better citizens of 
 Cleveland." 
 
 Since the receipt of this letter several 
 of the H. Black Co., employees have in- 
 quired how to become citizens, and in 
 consequence a citizenship class has been 
 formed for them right in the factory. 
 
 The accessibility, lack of formality, 
 and convenience of these factory classes 
 has made it possible for many operatives 
 to take up the study of English who 
 would not otherwise have found time to 
 
do so, and this accounts in part at least 
 for the fact that although Chicago, 
 Detroit, Philadelphia and other cities 
 have less attendance this year than last, 
 Cleveland has an increase of over 800, 
 with an average daily attendance of 
 fifty per cent, against thirty-three per 
 cent in 1915. 
 
 Other activities undertaken by the 
 Committee are the Americanization In- 
 formation Bureau at the Old Court 
 House, which has interpreted the draft 
 and other war measures to non-English 
 speaking residents of the city, assisting 
 over 11,000 to fill out their question- 
 naires; three bureaus of information for 
 foreign-speaking women, at St. Clair, 
 Longwood, and Tremont Schools. The 
 object of these Bureaus is to furnish 
 a place for the foreign mother to go for 
 information as to the facilities available 
 to her in the city, and to mediate be- 
 tween the mother and the school where 
 there has been lack of understanding. 
 
 Citizenship classes for men have been 
 maintained as advanced English classes, 
 as heretofore, but a new development has 
 been in the formation, through the 
 Foreign auxiliaries of the Woman's 
 Suffrage Party, of citizenship classes for 
 women. There can be no doubt that 
 the homes from which these women 
 come will form an American center, 
 which must ultimately grow to include 
 their whole neighborhoods. 
 
 The Committee will be glad to assist 
 any person or organization to carry out 
 plans for the assimilation of all our 
 people into a unified country. 
 
 Appreciative notices are appearing in 
 various publications throughout the 
 
[jBRftRY OF CONGRESS 
 
 country, of the 
 Americanization 
 
 which has been r iiiiiinimiiii"i«' ■'■"•■"—" -__ j. 
 
 the hearty supp 014 573 bZS o 
 Advisory War Committee. 
 
 March 15, 1918. 
 
 CLEVELAND 
 AMERICANIZATION COMMITTEE 
 
 OF THE 
 MAYOR'S ADVISORY WAR BOARD 
 
 ROOM 226, CITY HALL 
 
 MAIN 6950 CENTRAL 1