^^^iFd^Tv ec. 143 RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS A SECTION OF THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY LEE F. HANMER CLARENCE ARTHUR PERRY RS •F- Department of Recreation Russell Sage Foundation 130 East Twenty-second Street, New York City Price 25 cents 11-14-25 mm^ ,..„.., SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 1914 Conducted by the Department of Surveys and Exhibits, Russell Sage Foundation, Shelby M. Harrison, Director, E. G. Routzahn, Associate Director. The Schools of Springfield, Illinois. — Leonard P. Ayres, Ph.D., Director, Division of Education, Russell Sage Founda- tion. Recreation in Springfield, Illinois. — Lee F. Hanmer, Director, and Clarence Arthur Perry, Associate Director, Department of Recreation, Russell Sage Foundation. The Charities of Springfield, Illinois. — Francis H. McLean, General Secretary, American Association of Societies for Organizing Charity. Industrial Conditions in Springfield, Illinois. — Louise C. Odencrantz, Committee on Women's Work, and Zenas L. Potter, Department of Surveys and Exhibits, Russell Sage Foundation. City AND County Administration in Springfield, Illinois. — D. O. Decker, Department of Surveys and Exhibits, Russell Sage Foundation. Public Health in Springfield, Illinois. — Franz Schnei- der, Jr., Sanitarian, Department of Surveys and Exhibits, Russell Sage Foundation. The Correctional System of Springfield, Illinois. — Zenas L. Potter, Department of Surveys and Exhibits, Russell Sage Foundation. Management of Mental Deficiency, Insanity and Alco- holism IN Springfield, Illinois. — ^Walter L. Treadway, M.D., Assistant Surgeon, U.«S.: Public Health Service for Na- tional Committee for Mental. hygiene. Housing in Springfield, Illinois. — ^John Ihlder, Field Secretary, National Housing Association. G^ ^;\^^ RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS Copyright, 1914, by The Russell Sage Foundation PRESS OF WM. F. FELL CO. PHILADELPHIA FOREWORD This study of recreation conditions in Springfield, Illinois, was made by the Department of Recreation of the Russell Sage Foundation in co-operation with the Springfield Survey Committee. It is one sec- tion of a general social survey conducted by the De- partment of Surveys and Exhibits of the Founda- tion. The object has been to take into account the conditions under which the people live, the facilities for recreation available, both used and unused, the agencies at hand for providing recreation, and the recreational needs of the people; then to discover practical means of meeting these needs. It is hoped that the effect of the survey may be to arouse public consciousness with respect to the necessities, possi- bilities, and responsibilities that Springfield faces in helping its people, young and old, to make the best possible use of their play time. A plan of pro- cedure is suggested. 9" 9B fli WKt Courtesy of A. C. Slmiil.liu^ d- Broi Plan of Development Suggested for the Enos School Grounds TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Foreword v List of Illustrations ix List of Tables : xi I. Springfield — Its General Characteristics i 11. The Basis of Pubhc Concern in Recreation 5 III. The Homes 23 IV. The Schools 30 V. The Parks 60 VI. The Streets • 66 VII. The Library 68 VIII. The Museum 70 IX. Semi-Public Institutions 73 X. Commercial Amusements 80 XI. Athletics, Festivals, Pageants, and Public Celebrations 89 XII. A Recreation Program for the Future 97 Appendix 105 Index 127 Vll LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Plan of Development Suggested for the Enos School Grounds. . . Frontispiece Map of Springfield Showing Distribution of Population 2 Grit and Action 8 At the Turn in the Race 9 Play Gone Wrong 14 Boy Scouts Overcoming a Forest Difficulty 18 A Camp Fire Girls' Council 19 Springfield has a Wealth of Home Playground Possibilities 23 What Happens Without a Play Program 26 Parochial School Boys at Play. St. Mary's School 27 Organized Recess Play for the Girls. St. Mary's School 27 A Home Yard Play House in Springfield. A Good Suggestion 28 The Recreation Center vs. Street Loafing 31 Companionship under Wholesome Auspices 32 Louisville Neighborhood Celebrating Hallowe'en in the School House. ... 34 A Boys' Club at a Milwaukee Social Center 35 Good Social Center Space 39 The Springfield High School 42 Some of Springfield's Spacious School Yards 44-47 Proposed Plan for the Palmer School Grounds (insert) 48-49 Muddy Yards Hold the Children to the Walks at Play Time 49 A Summer Playground — Not in Springfield 51 One of the Amusements Confessed to by Springfield School Boys 52 Inexpensive, but Popular 53 Right Leadership Made Possible through Organized Play 54 What One City Has Done for School Athletics. The High School and Stadium at Tacoma, Washington 56 Another View of the Tacoma Stadium 57 Training in Alertness through Dodge Ball 58 Sunday Afternoon in Washington Park, Springfield 6 1 The Children's Corner in Washington Park 61 Early Spring in Lincoln Park, Springfield 63 In Lincoln Park. Some Play Apparatus 63 Play under Expert Leadership in a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Park 64 From the Porch of the Washington Park Field House 65 A Muddy Ball Ground, but Better than None 67 Making the Best of Existing Conditions 67 An Exhibit in the Natural History Museum 71 ix LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE The Chatterton and Its Surroundings 82 Two Springfield Theater Tickets and a Bit of the Program 84 Factory Park in Springfield 89 Public Provision for Athletics and Play in East Orange, New Jersey 90 An Occasion at the East Orange, New Jersey, Field 90 The Remington Typewriter Company Provides an Athletic Field for Its Employes 92 How Buffalo Celebrates May Day 93 The Pageant of Cape Cod 94 The Pageant of Darien, Connecticut 95 Group Jumping 109 Group Chinning no Group Running 1 10 Basketball Throw 117 All-up Relay 118 Shuttle Relay 119 Folk Dancing 1 19 LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 1. Forms of recreation reported by i,io8 elementary school boys for Easter vacation, 19 14 24 2. Forms of recreation reported by 1,167 elementary school girls for Easter vacation, 19 14 25 3. Amusements reported by 857 high school students from Christmas, 1913, to April 6, 1914, Springfield, Illinois 40 4. Attendance of high school students at motion-picture shows for 813 students in Springfield and for 1,400 students in four cities of Iowa 41 5. Play space available on Springfield school grounds, 1914 48 6. Areas of Springfield parks 60 7. Ratio of park space to population in 1 1 American cities 60 XI SPRINGFIELD— ITS GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS There are no hills in Springfield; the city's surface is for the most part as level as a floor. A couple of small streams appear in the outskirts but neither traverses the city, and with the excep- tion of the more plentiful distribution of large trees in its western half there is nothing in the city's geography of a nature to pro- duce districts of widely varying characteristics. The north-south diameter of Springfield is a little more than four miles and its east-west dimension about three miles. Within its somewhat jagged boundaries there is an area of over eight square miles. The streets run either north-south or east-west, the few exceptions being some of those which follow railway or trolley lines. In width the streets range from 40 to 80 feet and practically all blocks are bisected by alleys. Aside from the central part where the stores, offices, and public buildings are crowded together there are no large sections, except on the outskirts, wholly devoid of dwelling houses. The six important railway lines which enter the city have their stations and freight houses in separate districts, and the various factories are surrounded by residential districts. The apartment house has just begun to appear but tenements are not yet numerous. Outside of the downtown district most families enjoy a yard. True, nearly two-thirds of the population live east of the central north-south line (Third Street), but more than half of the city's area is also east of this line. Few house sites even in this more crowded half are smaller than 40 x 150 feet and most of them are larger. Congestion of population is not a factor in the recrea- tional life of Springfield. It is a city of homes. Over 80 per cent of its people are white and of native birth. The growing predominance of persons of native birth and parent- age is attested by the fact that the proportion of white persons I I THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY The Springfield Survey, Springfield, Illinois, 1914 5ri STKJEf • • • • ••••• • • • • • • ••••' >••• ••••• >••• ••••••• >••« ••••••• .• ••• •••••• ••••••• Z.ZlIIIaa ••••••••• r«** •••••• >••• •••••• )••••• ••••••• >••••• •••••< •• ••••••••••• •••••• ••••••••• • ••••••• ••••• ••• iii: ••• • ••••o»« •«••• ••• •••• ••••• •••••••••• ••• ??::::::: ::•: ••••• • • •••• ••••••••••••••••• ••••••••• •••••• ••«;•»: 51!!! >••••••••••• ss;;***s!!ij!! • • •••••••••• •••• 'l^ MOAfROE ST.- ••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••• ( I • •• • I • •• • I • •• • I • •• • > • • • • • I • •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ••• • • • •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••••• ••••• ••• • ••••• >•••••• • •• •• )••••••••••• ••••• >••••••••••• ••••• •••••••• ••••• ••••••• ••••••< • ••••••• ••••••••• "ADAMS ST. >••••• ••••••• •• •••• •• •••• ••••••••• ••••••••• • ••••••••••••••• •••< ••••••••••••••• •••( * ••••••••••••••• m m » >** ••••••< ••••••••••••••• ••••••••••••••• «» ••••••••••••••• ** ••••••• •••••• ••••• ** ••••••• •••• •»•••. •■•■••• •• ••••••• •••••••••• •••••• IZ,,««» >••••••• • • • •••••••••• «« ••••••• •••••••••• •••••••••• •• ••••••• •••••••••• a a ••••••• ••••• • • • • • • • • • • >••••• :;;::• •••• •••••••• • • • A • • • • • • y \ ^ I •• •••• ;^*/VZ SiHVe.>D£'l, ~k Distribution of Population, Springfield, Illinois, by Enumeration Districts, United States Census, 1910 Each Spot Represents 20 Persons RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD of native parentage is increasing while conversely the ratio of those of foreign or mixed parentage is decreasing. In the decade 1900-10 the proportion of Negroes in the total population de- creased from about 6.5 per cent to 5.7 per cent. Of the 7,000 foreigners in the city in 19 10 over 2,000 came from the British Isles, a few more than that number from Germany, and some- what more than 1,000 from Russia. Nearly two-thirds of Springfield's immigrants are of the races of northern and western Europe. These people are sturdy and assimilable. Within four miles of the center of the city there are 17 bitumin- ous coal mines which give occupation to between two and three thousand of Springfield's male wage-earners. Within the city itself 170 or so manufacturing establishments, representing a wide variety of industries, give employment to about 3,000 additional men workers. As is indicated by the recent report of the United States Census, the miners and the factory workers constitute nearly one-third of the male working population. Men whose bodies are fatigued by the day's toil crave passive enjoyments during their free time. If the work is also attended with danger, as is the case with all underground occupations, they tend to seek excitants for jaded nerves. Accordingly Springfield is well provided with motion-picture shows, saloons, vaudeville performances, baseball games, and the other con- tests which allow large assemblages of spectators. In a city whose houses are unusually favorable to family life, housekeeping is of course the predominant occupation of the women. There is, however, the usual number of ofifices, stores, schools, telephone exchanges, and laundries, where women work; also a shoe factory and a large watch factory that give employ- ment to women. Here, as elsewhere, the presence of a con- siderable female element in industry brings about certain public recreation problems which are peculiar to this social condition. Sangamon County, in the center of which Springfield is sit- uated, is a plain so level that its highest point is only 230 feet above its lowest point, and between these points lies the width of the county. Its fertile soil produces annual crops of corn, oats, wheat, hay, and so forth, worth some $7,500,000. Springfield, its only city, is the county's natural shipping and shopping center, 3 THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY and similar trade relations also exist between the city and sec- tions to the north, west, and south of the county's limits. Being the capital of Illinois, Springfield is the host every now and then of large bodies of people brought in by the state fair, conventions, the assembling of the militia, and the meetings of the legislature. To entertain these groups hostelries have grown up which are in excess of the needs of the city during the intervals between these various occasions and which therefore are not likely to be at any time overscrupulous regarding the character of their patronage. The regular recurrence too of multitudes of visitors with money to spend and free from home restraint, has stimulated an abnormal development of the passive amusement agencies and those which pander to the senses and grosser appe- tites. II THE BASIS OF PUBLIC CONCERN IN RECREATION The cities which up to now have gone furthest in municipal care for recreation have been mainly those in which the excessive delinquency of children in certain well defined districts has called public attention to the external causes of viciousness. In these sections it was found that the congestion of population had squeezed out the spaces and opportunities for a normal play life and steps were consequently taken to supply the deficiencies. The movement for playgrounds thus originated became finally a movement for all sorts of recreation facilities under public auspices. But in Springfield the conditions that hamper play are not conspicuously present and, as a consequence, its public conscience has not been greatly burdened with recreation matters. Nevertheless, in this city just as in other communities, whether or not they show the plague spots peculiar to bigness, there occurs each year an appalling wreckage of human careers — appalling both because of its size and its preventability. Here are a few instances clipped from the columns of the local press : "Crazed by drink" is the explanation given by J T at the city prison for his shooting of his wife at their home . . . yesterday evening. . . Mrs. T , leading two of her children, ran to a neighbor's house and collapsed on the back porch. . . . Charging that her husband never worked and followed her from place to place living on her earnings, E T today filed suit for divorce. . . She left him to support her three small sons. . . An unsuccessful attempt to commit suicide by gas was made by a woman giving her name as Mrs. R at a rooming house yesterday morning. . . The woman came to the hotel Frida\ night in company with a man, registering as Mr. and Mrs. R . Saturday the man did not return. B T , stabbed in the neck in the rear of the saloon, . . . was improving today at hospital. Coroner C R today investigated the birth and death of a daughter to F R yesterday. The girl is but fourteen years 5 THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY old and unmarried. . . W L is held . . . on a charge of bastardy but it is probable an indictment charging rape will be returned ... by the grand jury. . . Mrs. B . . . charged that Y- sold her husband liquor with the result that he became a drunkard, lost his position, became a physical wreck, and finally, injured in mind and body, committed suicide. Mrs. M M . . . who . . . jumped from a second story window in a nude condition was given i8o days in the county jail. . . Two daughters of the woman will be cared for by the Humane Officer until her husband arrives. . . The woman will also probably be released if she promises to return to her husband. A Terrible Total Such items as these appearing from day to day fail after a time to make any impression. They are accepted as things which have to be. The incidents reported in the newspapers, however, are usually only those that get into the courts and they therefore constitute but a small fraction of all the casualties to character which are going on about us. The discharge of a mechanic for drunkenness may result in no violence to another's person or property and yet it may mark the end of a useful career, the beginning of a life of loafing. An immoral episode, growing out of an acquaintanceship begun at a dance hall, may not im- mediately plunge a young woman into public shame and yet be just as truly the principal cause of an irreparable breakdown in her subsequent family life. The boyish pilfering from a freight car may not result in quick arrest and yet be in reality the com- mencement of a career of thievery. The tiny drip, drip, drip of a faucet attracts little attention as you give it a casual glance, but collect the wastage for a week and the quantity of the loss will send you in haste for a plumber. And so it is with the number of the moral accidents which happen practically unnoticed in a year's time in a city like Springfield. If all the sons, daughters, husbands, and wives who in a single twelve months' period had suffered a serious disaster to character, either as victim or aggressor, could be gathered into one room and counted, then the citizens of Springfield would have no difficulty in realizing the enormousness of this portentous total. recreation in springfield The Effect of Environment Who is to blame for these accidents? Men and women are free moral agents, are they not? These are pertinent questions and they can best be answered by reference to some concrete cases. In most of the incidents cited above drunkenness played a part. Let us study one very common set of circumstances under which intemperate habits may be contracted. Billiards is an extraordinarily attractive game. Scientific, unusually free from the factor of chance, it offers the player un limited opportunities for the improvement of his ability to judge spaces, coordinate the muscles, and exercise persistence of en- deavor. The green felt, the shining balls, and the straight hand- liking cue all please the senses. Being played indoors, by day or artificial light, the recreation afforded by billiards and pool is at all times independent of the weather, and it is an especial boon to the worker during the long winter evenings when out- side sports are not so regularly available. Furthermore, these are eminently sociable games drawing together persons of similar ages and tastes and allowing all the delights of jest and witticism to animate the spirits while the play is going on. But in Springfield, just as is the case in most other cities, the opportunity to play billiards is almost everywhere linked with powerful temptations to use alcoholic beverages. Of the 60 holders of billiard and pool licenses 36 also hold licenses enabling them to have saloons on the same premises. The young men who frequent these pool rooms cannot escape the odors from the bar room, the contagion of custom, or the compulsion of a hospi- tality that is none the less powerful because it takes the form of alcoholic refreshment. What are the causal factors in the cases of the young men who, first entering these pool and billiard rooms solely for the purpose of play, gradually form habits which lead them finally into hope- less inebriety? Obviously there is in every case, (i) a sad failure of will-power, supposing them all to be educated in the deleterious effects of alcohol, and (2) the influence of the environment. To inform and strengthen the wills of young people, Spring- field like most other communities nowadays is working ener- 7 THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY getically through home, school, and church. These traditional instrumentalities which influence individual character — the parents' counsel, the class-room instruction, the preaching from the pulpit — will always be necessary to human development, and Society must not only cherish them and keep them keen and efi^ective but increase their power in every possible way. And one such way is presented in a well-balanced scheme of public recreation. The agencies just mentioned work almost wholly by precept and example. Teachers and preachers urge boys and girls to imitate certain patterns of conduct but they give them few op- Publi :.ols Athletic L l\e\v York Cit\' Grit and Action portunities for developing the will-power required to hold im- petuous desires in check and keep their restless feet upon the line laid down. It takes grit to subordinate strong impulses and grit can be acquired only through action. Developing the ability to meet high standards, both moral and physical, in the face of all sorts of opposition, is one of the func- tions of modern athletics. Few fields of action in times of peace afford such relentless trials of a youth's soul as does the field of sport. For example, a race is being run. The supremacy of your school and the approbation of your mates depend upon 8 - RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD your winning. You are rounding a corner when your most dangerous competitor gradually comes up from behind. You grit your teeth and open the throttle wider. Lungs can do no more and hold out for the final dash. But the other fellow still comes on. The crowd and the judge's stand are far away. A seemingly unintentional backward shove of the elbow into his stomach or a careless swing to the side with your leg and you win ! Shall you do it? If through the influence of sound coaching a boy can be trained to the point where he will habitually resist such opportunities he has achieved a something which no learning .mm.'-ffmm Public Schools Athletic League, New York City At the Turn in the Race "The other fellow still comes on" can outweigh and upon which the highest degree can confer no further distinction. Likewise the lad who can force himself out upon the athletic field day after day while his mates are luxuriously idling, who can stick to the training regimen despite the temptations of dainty food and sociable drink, and who can drive his muscles to their utmost — such a youth has gained a self control, a character bul- wark, that will support him in all the stresses of life. What the properly administered gymnasium, playground, recreation center, 9 THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY or athletic field constantly furnishes are similar opportunities for exercising the will under conditions that develop power and control while at the same time guarding against overstrain and breakdown. But, returning to the case of the billiard-room habitue, the pulling power of the saloon is also a factor in his downfall. So that after society has done everything possible to strengthen moral stamina only half its task is done. It still has obHgations concerning the surroundings in which human beings work and play. Let us illustrate. "Safety First," a Municipal Obligation No machine is more visibly perilous, perhaps, than the revolv- ing saw. Yet year after year workmen who well know its terrible possibilities have suffered from its merciless lacerations. And until recently their employers have been able, in most of these cases, to escape any financial penalty for their injuries by merely alleging "contributory negligence" on the part of the workman. The very obviousness of the danger made it easier to place all the blame upon the careless operator. But now a, different practice is being increasingly followed in industrial establish- ments. All saws, cog wheels, and other machines whose working parts are dangerous are being covered and barriers are being placed around every hazardous locality. "Safety first," even though safety devices involve further outlay, is now the motto in every up-to-date factory. If corporations find it profitable to protect their employes from such dangers as the naked saw, how much clearer is the obligation resting upon Society to safe- guard its members from the more masked and less immediate perils lurking in the surroundings of otherwise wholesome amuse- ments. Intemperance Not the Only Evil The temptation to intemperance is not the only evil in the sur- roundings of the average commercially-managed billiard room. Often gambling operations hover in the proximity and sometimes the brothel is not far away. Moral hazards such as these menace each year in Springfield thousands of young men who are pursuing 10 RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD the pleasures of a game which in itself is as beneficial as it is enjoyable. Many parents already realize these dangers but as individuals they feel helpless. One Springfield father said, "I am much concerned about the influences that my sons are subjected to at 's" (a popular pool and biUiard parlor). "I do not want to seem to them to be narrow and unduly strict, and they do en- joy the game and the friends they meet there. But there is the bar right at hand and the temptation of the social drink, be- sides the usual bar-room jest and the vicious stories with their covert challenges to questionable adventures. I wish there was some other place for them that was attractive and at the same time safe, but there does not seem to be any." There are also public dance halls in Springfield where pass-out checks are given to the patrons which enable them to visit neigh- boring saloons during the progress of the evening's program as often as they desire. The young women in attendance may not only dance with partners who have been imbibing but, since introductions are not customarily required, they may at any time receive invitations from persons regarding whose irresponsible character and vicious habits they may be absolutely ignorant. To thousands of Springfield's young people dancing is a perfectly normal mode of social life, and the only feasible opportunity they have for enjoying it is now surrounded by moral pitfalls of the most dangerous and insidious character. The dissoluteness of the Mrs. R , or of the Mrs. M , mentioned in the quoted newspaper paragraphs, may not have originated, even remotely, in any of the dance halls, but that in some of the young people now flocking to them the fuses of licentiousness are being lighted by their incendiary influences cannot be doubted, and when later on the inevitable explosions take place the citizens of Springfield will not be able to avoid a share of the responsibility. Municipal Amusements The only way whereby a municipality can escape blame for such catastrophes is to offer adequate opportunities for the pur- suit of proper pleasures in surroundings which are free from con- taminating influences. Many cities have already prescribed for II THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY themselves such a task. Milwaukee, for example, has placed 25 of the finest type of pool and billiard tables in its public school buildings. Social dancing for young and old is taking place in over 200 school houses scattered throughout the country. It might at first seem that there were insurmountable material obstacles but experience teaches that there are, as a matter of fact, few school edifices in which it is impossible to equip several rooms, either in the basement or above, suitably for social and recreational uses. With modern movable furniture, ample lighting, attractive furnishings, gates to shut off unused floors or corridors, additional janitor service, and intelligent directors, any school board that has the mind to can successfully utilize the expensive but little-used property under its charge for the safe- guarding of a portion at least of the free-time activities of its people, young and old. Someone may say, '* If billiard playing and social dancing con- tribute to the downfall of young people, why afford opportunities for them in public school houses ? Why permit them to exist at all ?" Those who have given careful thought to these matters are not at all convinced that they should be banished, even if it were possible to do so. The feeling is rather that it is wrong and un- fair to the young people to allow so many of the intrinsically fine enjoyments of life to be associated with evil. Why not provide them so abundantly in irreproachable settings that they will automatically lose all their usefulness to the selfish and malign agencies now employing them as mere enticements? A Dangerous Defect in City Life The corrupt amusement resort, however, is only one of many environmental sources of evil found in the uncongested city. Back yards may be ever so ample, the parks easily accessible and equipped for play, and the woods not far off, and yet the city's scheme of life be utterly devoid of one of the main necessities of a healthy boy's existence. What happens when this need is not satisfied is shown in the following excerpts, also taken from Springfield newspapers in the past few months: Three boys at the county jail face a sentence. . . O J . . . is 13 years old, L A , 1 1 years old and P A , 12 RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 10 years. . . Friday evening the lads broke into the home of and stole a revolver, neckties, and other articles. Saturday morning they broke into the home and made way with several razors and a child's savings bank. They next went to the school house and after breaking up part of the furniture stole what small articles they wanted and set fire to the building. . . Outside . . . the three met , aged 10 years, and while the two A boys held her, the J boy attempted an assault, it is alleged. The child screamed that her mother was coming and the lads ran away. They were arrested . . . and at the jail . . . made a confession. What is the explanation? Are these just common thieves, bent on getting loot for their own selfish enjoyment? If so, why did they stop to break up furniture and then leave behind them such a lurid advertisement as a burning building? Why did they linger within the range of an imminent conflagration to attempt a personal assault? Larceny, burglary, arson, rape, all in one wild, resounding raid, — were such blustering bravos ever before encountered outside the pages of Scott, Dumas, or "The Red Terror of Roaring Gulch"? The report of the court proceedings in the next day's paper throws a still more penetrating light upon the home care, educa- tion, and psychology of these knickerbockered bandits. The lads plead guilty to the charges. . . Parents and friends seemingly deserted them as none were present. . . L A has previously served a sixteen months' sentence at for attempting to wreck a train. He is eleven years old. Wreck a train ! What under the heavens could an eleven-year- old child do with a stalled train ! Did he plan to go through it and invite the passengers — at the risk of having the daylight let through them — to pour their valuables into his pockets? Was the heart under his little shirt so thirsty for human blood that only a railroad catastrophe could satisfy it? Or was he blindly imitating the fascinating exploits of a ten-cent, paper-covered brand of hero who, in the recesses of some livery stable or lumber yard, had captured his hungry imagination? Bungling in the Matter of the Boy What did Society do to the lad who responded so wholeheart- edly to the inspiration of the dime novel? Confined him for one 13 14 RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD and one-third years with other boys of similar experience ! When we wish to diffuse knowledge we bring people together in con- ferences, congresses, and institutes so that the new facts can pass readily from one to another. Likewise in the intimate associa- tions of a reformatory the tricks brought in by each inmate gradually become the property of all the others. It is not strange then that after such a rich opportunity for learning, L A , in company with his brother and their chum, who for aught we know may have enjoyed similar educational privileges, should have been able to show so much versatility and proficiency in deeds of crime, and should have so promptly given evidence of the competency of his training. When these boys were brought before the juvenile court by a strong-armed officer of the law, no effort having been made pre- viously by the judge or probation officer to discover the real causes of their wrong-doing or the motives behind it, there was not one single kinsman, teacher, or friend at hand to raise a voice in their behalf or to show them a sign of human sympathy ! With this circumstance before you, reflect upon the kind of home life in which these lads must have grown up ! And guess how much sympathy and understanding usually met their toddling efforts to adjust themselves to life's complexities — a task that is sufficiently baffling even under the most favorable circum- stances. A Vital Need Springfield has not Met What need do such boys have that the dime novel meets and the city does not? Perhaps the qualities that find expression in the exploits described in these ten-cent thrillers will furnish the cue. Or take the deeds they suggest to their readers, the criminal deeds of the three boys cited above — what personal attributes do they display? Obviously the first quality is physical courage; next an ingenious matching of wits ; an eager following of a course of action in which surprises were probable if not certain; and finally the imitation of adult activities and the assumption of a freedom of initiative that is supposed to come with adulthood. These are the qualities of the huntsman, the trapper, the explorer, and the pioneer, all reinforced and covered by the irrepressible 15 THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY urge to hasten the process of growing up by anticipating the acts of the grownups. A boy without these quahties would be as backward as a race whose early members had shown no disposi- tion to rove, extend their hunting territory, or settle new lands. The satisfaction of these Impulses and Instincts, Implanted In his nature by the exigencies of primeval race-life, Is as requisite to the wellrounded development of his personality as exercise is to the growth of his muscles. But what Is there in the ordinary home and school life that calls for daring? What proper occasion Is there for the display of cunning and stratagem? What opportunity for matching human artifice against the forces of nature? What adventure can pos- sibly happen In the daily round of fetching coal and water and carrying books to school? Is it at all remarkable that some of the bolder and more enterprising of these youthful spirits should now and then revolt at the tameness of city civilization and war upon the Society which denies them the opportunities their natures crave? Is it not still easier of comprehension when one considers that In the outbreaks themselves the boys find a most satisfying outlet for these repressed Instincts? The evidence of a widespread fondness among boys for the incidents of primitive life is not confined to their addiction to dime novels or enthusiasm for Wild West shows, whether fur- nished by Buffalo Bill or the "movie " man. Their free everyday acts disclose persistent, though to be sure fumbling, efforts to find these things in their own modern habitats. During the course of this survey some i,ioo boys, ranging mainly from nine to fifteen years of age, wrote school essays upon "All the things I did last week," the week in question being one of vacation, beginning March 30. These little diaries afford most significant glimpses Into the facts of their daily lives. Here are some of the things they did, — those who were not obliged to go to work, to spade, to cut wood, to clean up the yard, or to do the hundred other tasks belonging to the house-cleaning period : made tents, shacks, log huts, or tree houses; camped out all night; cooked over outdoor fire; made and sailed rafts; played cowboys and Indians, civil war and " Robinson Crusoe " ; imitated the field telephone men; and played "Boy Scouts. " Boys to the number of 134 reported 16 RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD activities such as these. How many more wanted to do similar things but were prevented can only be conjectured. The sad facts are that the parents who have the sympathetic understanding of this sort of boyish needs, and the necessary will, intelligence, and means to meet them, are still in a decided minority. How many mothers are there who can complacently regard their ten-year-old's aspiration to be a Rob Roy or some other kind of a bandit instead of a gentleman? But because parents do not understand, cannot buy woodsman's outfits, and will not permit excursions into the neighboring wilds for any length of time — these facts do not relieve the boy from the drive ©f his instincts. Sometimes they get the better of his slowly forming, still plastic, notions of property rights, and then we read such items as this one, also from a Springfield newspaper: and C E , two youths, were arrested this morning charged with the theft of a tent and several robes from the M T company. How TO Meet It Fortunately for the future of American boyhood an organiza- tion has been formed whose activities afford to an unhoped-for de- gree a full, as well as wholesome, outlet for these early instincts. In the hike, the woodcraft, wig-wagging and wireless telegraphy, first care of wounded, and the many other ways of matching wits against nature involved in frontier life, the Boy Scout finds the kind of expression his primitive soul craves. The code of courtesy changes him from a brigand into a knight-errant with- out loss of zest. While the sanitary campaigns, street duty on parade, and other civic exercises all combine to prepare him for responsible, co-operative citizenship, at the same time they satisfy his impetuous desire to do the kinds of things adults do. Because scout patrols must recruit their members from more than one family only a body outside the family can organize them. Since scout activities range far from school house or yard the school board cannot well be responsible for them. But while the scout organization must needs be an independent administra- tive entity its work can be greatly furthered by the co-operation of the home, the school, and all citizens who are interested in 2 17 l8 tfi U -^ cSl fe O 19 THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY human welfare. No city now without a Boy Scout Council can claim that it is giving its boys a square deal. The importance of the similar role played in the girl's life by the Camp Fire Girls' organization should also here be presented. The home sex remained for so long submissive, quiet, and un- obtrusive that its own peculiar needs were not discovered and brought into the light. People forgot that during the long ages while the man roamed the hills in search of game the woman kept the fire burning in the hut and that her muscles and nervous system still respond emotionally to those primeval activities just as his do. They did not appreciate the necessity of having, in the midst of our changing home life, rites and ceremonies which would somehow preserve the romance and satisfaction of woman's age-long activities, and transplant them, not too precipitously, to the work of her new and larger place in the community scheme. There were, how^ever, those who felt these needs and who had the skill to invent an institution to meet them, and the product of their ingenuity and patience is taking its place alongside of the kindergarten, the school, and the home. Morality Purchasable On the bulletins of the New York City health department there appears this slogan, "Public health is purchasable. Within natural limitations a community can determine its own death rate." For the recreation propaganda this motto may well be paraphrased: "Private morality is improvable by public mea- sures. Righteousness can be raised by taxation. " This a com- munity can do by taking out of the environment of its people conditions that corrupt them and by putting into it the facilities required for the normal satisfaction of wholesome appetites and desires. Recreation and Self-Realization There is a still more constructive aspect to this subject. Rec- reation is so often accomplished through play that the two are commonly used as interchangeable terms. Broadly defined, play is doing the thing you very much want to do. True, work- ing at one's hobby may not always result in the upbuilding of 20 RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD bodily strength but under normal conditions it does have a vitalizing effect. Just as the repression of some strong impulse toward self-realization is debilitating, so its satisfaction is tonic. In every community there are individuals who possess latent abilities of a special order which through lack of opportunity they are prevented from exercising. There are young men with talents for drawing, for invention, for mimicry, for organization, who need only the privileges of a studio, a laboratory, a stage society, or a civic club to achieve distinction for themselves and their locality. There are girls with undiscovered voices, hidden social abilities, leanings toward letters, or a special taste for interior decoration which will be revealed to themselves and to their friends by the stimulus of a chorus, the management of a reception, a dramatic competition, or the dressing of a stage for amateur theatricals. Indeed there are few individuals without some special qualification whose employment means personal success, whose denial spells lifelong failure. Since exercising special abilities is ordinarily play for their possessor it frequently happens that enabling an adult to play is enabling him to keep on growing. The extension of such cultural opportunities to the public in general constitutes one of the most important phases of the rec- reation movement. Modern school buildings — and to a lesser degree, park field houses — contain meeting rooms, auditoriums, stages, pianos, shops, laboratories, drawing rooms, and gymna- siums wherein a wide range of cultural activities can be carried on. School houses can be made available for all the purposes mentioned above by employing special staffs to come on after the academic force has retired for the day. To establish social centers means to inaugurate a line of municipal action that tends not only to remove the waste of crime but to give that enrichment to community life which comes only through the complete self- realization of its individual members. Such an environment smiles upon genius. Community Art and Recreation Recreation as a factor in the art life of a community is but another phase of the constructive side of this subject. Passive 21 THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY amusements largely depend upon the performances of artists of one kind or another. Those who give pleasure by the skilful manipulation of the voice, musical instruments, the crayon, or the brush are themselves stimulated and their number increased by any measures which augment the number of occasions when their services are required. Start a large chorus and you increase the number who seek vocal instruction. Establish a series of concerts and new performers are attracted to town. Facilitate the rehearsals of a struggling amateur orchestra and you increase the musical assets of the community. Similar efforts with the other arts will have like results. Proof of the close relationship between public recreation and community art is already remarkably abundant. Through play- ground work, folk and esthetic dancing have been given a per- manent place in American life, while the annual play festival has developed an increasing demand for fantastic, picturesque, and historical representations in parades and outdoor scenes. In several cities beautiful, immense, epoch-marking pageants have been presented, which grew obviously out of the advanced forms of play life that had been promoted by the municipality. In a less conspicuous but more widely extended way a vast amount of stimulation to musicians, dramatic clubs, artists and art groups of all sorts has been given by the opening of public school build- ings after class hours for diverting, cultural, and social occasions. Any city which wishes to lay the foundations for a broad com- munity art development will achieve the greatest progress by first establishing a generous, far-reaching system of public recre- ation. 22 Ill THE HOMES The first factor to consider in a study of the recreation needs of a community is the homes of the people. What the city should do in a public way depends primarily upon how the people live. If the population is congested and the streets are crowded with traffic the city is called upon to do much more than would be the case if each family lived in a separate house and had a lawn and garden of its own. The type of dwelling is also an important factor. Is there opportunity within the homes for social gather- Springfield has a Wealth of Home Playground Possibilities ings of congenial groups or must the young people meet their friends on the street or in public amusement places? Whatever the home conditions are, unless positively vicious, the effort should be to direct the recreational activities toward the home, as much as possible, rather than away from it. It is true that the social life of young people, and of adults also, must include association with those outside of their own family group. But the family life stands first and work and play within the home is the foundation upon which to build. Fortunate indeed is the city in which the homes of the people are such as to make this to any great extent possible. 23 THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY Springfield is a city of homes. Its population is not only well dis- tributed, but the number of people per acre is comparatively low. The people live for the most part in detached houses with yards, and in some cases, gardens. This means opportunity for home recrea- tions ranging all the way from children's games, both indoor and outdoor, to social functions in the home, lawn parties, tennis, cro- quet, and so forth. This is true for a majority of the people at least. The great need is resources — a knowledge of things to do. Here appears a serious gap in Springfield's recreation equipment. The essays written by 2,275 grammar school children of the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades on "All the Things I Did Last Week" (Easter vacation) give striking evidence of the dearth of proper resources for play. The long and varied list of these re- ported forms of play given below, when analyzed, presents an interesting picture of the play life of Springfield's boys and girls. In the 1,108 essays written by boys, the following 40 forms of recreation were the ones most reported. The percentage of the total number taking part in each activity is indicated. TABLE I. FORMS OF RECREATION REPORTED BY I,I08 ELEMEN- TARY SCHOOL BOYS FOR EASTER VACATION, I914 Form of recreation Per cent of boys who reported Baseball 71.0 Motion-picture shows. . . . 27.6 Reading 23.1 Kite flying 21.8 Fishing 12.3 Boy Scout activities 10.9 Roller skating 9.2 Bicycling 6.9 Hide and seek 1 6.4 Tag 4.9 Cops and robbers 3.7 Marbles 2.2 Card playing 2.0 Sheep and wolf 1.8 Running races 1.7 Football 1.6 Throw the stick 1.2 Run sheep run .9 Hoop rolling .6 Duck on rock .5 Soldiers .5 Form of recreation Break thou the window light Ditch 'em Hare and hound Playing show Playing on cars Corn-cob fight Mumble peg Fire department Rock battle Bull in the ring Poison stick Revival meeting Bean bag Blind man's bufi^ Leap frog Baby in the hole Tap on the graveyard . . . Prisoners' base What is it like and why? . Per cent of boys who reported 24 RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD The 1,167 girls who wrote essays reported most frequently the 66 different forms of recreation listed below. In some cases the same game was mentioned under different names. TABLE 2. FORMS OF RECREATION REPORTED BY 1,167 ELEMEN- TARY SCHOOL GIRLS FOR EASTER VACATION, I914 Form of recreation Per cent of girls who reported Motion-picture shows. . Jumping rope Roller skating Hide and seek Playing ball Tag Camp Fire activities . . . Playing with dolls Jacks Playing house Playing school ■ . . Ten step Dancing Swinging Sheep and wolf Checkers Hide the thimble Farmer in the dell Drop the handkerchief. Bicycling Playing show Kite flying Indians and cowboys . . Playing with toys In and out the window. Football Dressing up as ladies . . Playing store Johnny run a mile Blind man's buff Dare base Bean bag Cat and dog Old witch Water, water, wild flower I spy Dodge ball Basket ball Post office Black man Playing church Kick the stick Tin-tin Ring around a rosy Milk man Spin the platter Making mud pies Croquet Run sheep run Fox and geese Leap frog Pussy wants a corner .... Cops and robbers Horse Parlor baseball Telling stories Mulberry bush Chalk the corner Captain ball Sheep in the pen My lady's chamber London Bridge Potsy Clap in and clap out . . . . Hare and hound Button, button Per cent of girls who reported At first glance this array of play activities would seem to indicate that Springfield children have a fairly extensive play repertoire, but the percentages tell a far different story. The only activity that engages the attention of any considerable 25 THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY number of boys is baseball (71 per cent), while motion-picture shows top the list for the girls (48.6 per cent) . The only activities reported by over 20 per cent of the boys were baseball, motion- picture shows, reading, and kite flying, while the old standard games that American boys have been brought up on, such as prisoners' base, leap frog, blind man's buff, bull in the ring, hare and hound, and duck on the rock are reported as played by less than half of i per cent of the grammar school boys. Most of these standard games were mentioned by only one-tenth of i per What Happens Without a Play Program Scene in a Springfield school yard cent, or about one boy in 1,000. It isn't fair to the boys of Springfield to starve their play life in this way. In the case of the girls, motion-picture shows, jumping the rope, roller skating, and hide and seek are the four most popular means of recreation. The standard games that should bring girls together in safe, happy, co-operative play, such as I spy, London Bridge, fox and geese, button button, and blind man's buff, are at the bottom of the list, indicating that they are played by com- paratively few girls. While the survey was in progress, the children were observed during the play periods on the school grounds. With the excep- 26 RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD tion of baseball and tag they seemed in most cases to be sadly lacking in knowledge of what to do. The boys ran about mis- Parochial School Boys at Play St. Mary's School, Springfield Organized Recess Play for the Girls St. Mary's School, Springfield cellaneously tripping, pulling, and pummelling each other, and the girls amused themselves by standing about in small groups 27 THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY or playing an improvised tag game which consisted chiefly of chasing each other and screaming. A remedy for this would of course be the teaching of games to the children during the play period and of selecting these games in such a way that they might be used both on the school grounds and in the home yards. A few of the schools are already doing this in a limited way, but it should be extended to all the schools, and no child should be long in the public schools without knowing a good number of the standard playground games that have been ^^^B JJ >^A ^^^^^Bm HB ^Vh \^ i ■ — 1 1 gd ■ ■jl ij^ifi 1 H ■ ^H^.i'^9 I^F v^^O^^^^^S m 1 A Home Yard Play House in Springfield. A Good Suggestion tried out and which endure because they meet the play needs of boys and girls. In the Teachers' Training School a number of these games are taught to the pupil teachers, but this work needs to be followed up by someone whose business it shall be to see that this knowledge, and more of the same sort, shall be used in its proper place in the school program. There are supervisors of drawing, music, and so forth ; why should there not be a supervisor of physical train- ing and play who would, as a part of his regular work, provide for the teaching of all the games that children should know, and organize the recess and after-school play activities? * * Since the above was written a supervisor has been appointed. See page 59. 28 RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD The responsibility does not, however, rest solely with the schools. Parents must give careful thought to plans for making their homes attractive to the children by providing opportunities and facilities for play and social life. It may not be conducive to comfort and quiet to have the neighbors' children playing in your back yard and to have your house used for neighborhood parties of various sorts; but young people are bound to come together somewhere and if the heme or the school or the church does not afford this opportunity the public amusement resort will certainly have their patronage. Is there any better picture of wholesome social life than that of the home in which parents unite with their children in extending hospitality to their boy and girl friends either by means of afternoon play in the back yard or the more formal evening social occasions within the home? Infinitely more is accomplished than simply avoiding the pitfalls of the city streets; a positive cultural training is secured and social standards are set which are quite as vital to a child's de- velopment as anything that the schools can give. 29 IV THE SCHOOLS Buildings During the months of February, March, and April of 19 14, 26 evening entertainments, lectures, or social gatherings were reported to have occurred in the public school houses of Spring- field. Only II out of its 20 school edifices, however, were used during this period for these purposes. Spread out among all the buildings this would make an average rate of about four occasions per building for the whole school year. Once every nine or ten wrecks, then, the school house here plays a part in the recreational life of its neighborhood. Howdoes Springfield, in this respect, compare with other cities? What amount of use for leisure time purposes constitutes the prevailing standard? The truth is no one can answer these ques- tions because school officials generally have not yet begun to record systematically the evening entertainments or meetings held in the edifices under their charge. Nearly one-tenth of New York City's public schools are used as recreation centers six evenings a week from October to April, while many others are used one or two nights a week for public lectures, night classes, and various other purposes. Chicago utilizes 24 schools two nights a week as social centers, while in others there are evening classes, political meetings, and miscellaneous activities. In over 200 American cities outcroppings of the social center idea are manifesting themselves in various sorts of evening activities, but in none of them is there any definite knowledge of the average amount of utilization per school which these activities are oc- casioning. In most of these cities a certain few schools of the system are being used more intensively than the others. These are locally known as social or recreation centers and their evening 30 RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD activities are maintained either by the board of education alone or in co-operation with a voluntary private group. Allentown, Pennsylvania, a city of the same size as Spring- field, has two school centers, open three nights a week through the winter, which are managed by the local playground associa- tion with some support also from the school board. Duluth, Minnesota; Superior, Wisconsin; Youngstown, Ohio; and the New Jersey cities of Bayonne, Elizabeth, Hoboken, and Passaic, places ranging from 40,000 to 80,000 in population, are other municipalities which have social centers in certain of their schools. New York City The Recreation Center vs. Street Loafing While in these cities the school centers are open from one to four evenings a week, their remaining buildings, excepting those with night classes, are used only for miscellaneous occasions and so it is not possible to say what the average utilization per building is. Springfield cannot claim a position among the leaders until it has at least some schools which are actually known as live social centers. An ideal plan would demand that a public school building con- tribute something at least once a week to each member of all the families which support it. To meet the several needs of such a variety of people with the least friction and the maximum of 31 THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY satisfaction it would probably be necessary to open some part of the building six nights a week. The administration of such an extensive program would require the services of a separate social center staff coming on duty, in part at least, immediately at the close of day classes and continuing (with an intermission for supper) until 10 or II o'clock in the evening. Alterations to the buildings and additional furnishings would also be demanded. While a plan of such scope has nowhere yet been realized and New York City Companionship under Wholesome Auspices is not immediately attainable anywhere, yet it is capable of gradual realization everywhere and every city ought to make a beginning at once in bringing it about. If there is any doubt about the authority of the Springfield board of education to maintain social center activities the Illinois school law should be revised so as to remove that obstacle. A first step that is now feasible in Springfield is that of opening every school house two nights a week. It can be achieved simply 32 RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD by following the policy the board of education has already wisely initiated; the policy, that is, of encouraging the formation of voluntary associations to work in co-operation with the schools. If skilfully directed these bodies could assume practically all of the burden of maintaining and conducting the social centers. Parents' and Neighborhood Organizations There could and should be a mothers' club or some other form of parent-teacher organization as well as a neighborhood improve- ment association connected with each of the elementary schools of the city. At present only ii or 12 schools have the help of such bodies and in many of these the work is done mainly by the principals and teachers. The methods by which these organiza- tions can be stimulated and still further developed are the fol- lowing : (a) Continue the policy of encouraging principals to become acquainted with their neighborhoods and to enlist the help of the leaders of the various groups within them. (b) Give systematic publicity to the doings of these organiza- tions and thus stir up a healthy rivalry among them. This might be accomplished in part by having reports read at each club meet- ing of the work being done by the groups connected with the other schools. (c) Bring about a federation of the various local organizations by having representatives from each group come together in a league having Its headquarters at the high school. (d) Give the neighborhood organizations more work to do. It might well be put up to the local groups to keep their school buildings open at least two nights a week. This could be ac- complished by efficient organization, working with volunteers, and developing self-supporting social center activities. In Louisville, Kentucky, five neighborhood groups are supporting school centers with no assistance from the school board but heat, light, and janitor service. In New York City, a similar body runs a center whose budget averages $100 a month. All members of the 19 clubs at this center pay dues ranging from 5 to 15 cents a week according to the opportunities offered. This money goes to the support of the work. Whenever a club gives an entertain- 3 33 34 35 THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY ment it turns 35 per cent of the net proceeds into the treasury. The balance of the budget is made up by private contributions. Some of the activities which can be easily fostered by these neighborhood organizations are the following: 1. Popular choruses, string orchestras, brass bands, banjo clubs, and other amateur musical organizations. Ordinarily these can be developed simply by offering a room in which to practice, helping to find suitable leaders, and bringing together the local musicians. 2. Basketball tournaments, folk dancing, and other indoor athletic activities. These should have the help and direction of the physical training department. 3. Maintain reading and quiet games rooms. The necessary periodicals and games could be largely secured through donations. 4. Promote young people's clubs of all sorts, dramatic, de- bating, literary, social, civic, and handicrafts. These will ordi- narily be glad to pay fees if self-government is encouraged. 5. Hold motion-picture shows. Organize and chaperone groups for social dances. Both of these should be a source of income. Reading rooms in many of the schools can be extended by a further development of the policy of library co-operation which has already been initiated. There are at present branch libraries in eight of the public schools, while three other schools have libraries of their own of considerable size and importance. These collections might be supplemented by donated periodicals and made more accessible to the public by opening the rooms in which they are kept one or more nights a week, under volunteer or paid supervision. The Lawrence School has an especially fine collection and a well-appointed library room which were donated to the school. At the present time its use is so limited that the janitor has to dust the room only once a week. A plan should certainly be worked out whereby this neighborhood asset could be more generally utilized. In the school motion-picture shows the program should be interspersed with contributions from the choruses, orchestras, banjo clubs, dramatic societies, and clubs connected with the 36 RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD center. Oftentimes the upper grades will be able to contribute a number. In this way variety and interest will be added to the program and the occasion will be not only a stimulus to the amateurs but serve to develop neighborhood solidarity as well. The administration * of the social center activities which have just been enumerated should be directed and stimulated and supervised from the superintendent's office, working directly through the principals and, in certain matters, through the physical training department. As in the past, principals should be made to feel that the de- velopment of neighborhood organizations is a regular part of their function and they should then be helped by continual sug- gestions regarding methods and be sufficiently relieved from teaching duties to be able to carry them out. They should be given to understand that their aim should be to get the neighbor- hood increasingly to assume the load in the social center work, their function being to steer the activities rather than to do the actual work of carrying them on. Experience shows that it is a wise social center policy to offer cultural opportunities to the different races separately. Only in this way can an appeal to race pride be made. The Negro people should have a certain night for their glee clubs, and the Germans, the Lithuanians, and the Italians should have their special nights for their respective folk dances, national songs, and several exercises in their own tongues. If these privileges are offered in the spirit of affording the various groups the special privileges to which their particular abilities entitle them instead of from a motive of segregation, the successful carrying out of the plan will be assured. Social Center Equipment The board of education can do a great deal to facilitate the social center work by making a few inexpensive alterations in various rooms and adding suitable equipm^ent. Practically all the schools have basement rooms that are capable of use for games, reading, club meetings, or some other recreative purpose. By * For suggestions of sources of program material see Appendix, Topic A, p. 105. 37 THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY repainting some of the walls and doors, installing screened lights, putting screens on the windows, and equipping with plain wooden chairs and tables and closets for storing materials, these rooms could be very readily and cheaply prepared for a much greater service than they are now rendering. Many of them are accessi- ble by basement entrances and could be used without entering other portions of the building. Where this is not the case, or where it was desired to use spaces upstairs, such parts of the build- ing as were not needed could be shut off by wooden gates or bar- riers hung across a corridor or stairway. Several class rooms in each building could be made available for evening social purposes by taking out the fixed desks and seats and installing movable furniture. Such action is in several hundred cities now justified by purely pedagogical reasons, al- though the greater utility of rooms thus equipped is ample war- rant for the substitution. If, however, the expense cannot be met the rooms can still be made utilizable by putting their present furniture upon strips i inch thick by 4 inches wide run- ning parallel with the aisles, thus making it possible to move the seats in sections out into the hall with little trouble. Sections of four or five seats are easily handled. The generous corridors possessed by most of the Springfield schools are admirably adapted for small dances, group games, folk dancing, and many other indoor diversions. Their useful- ness would be still further enhanced in certain instances b}^ pro- tecting the lights and windows with screens and furnishing small movable platforms. Every school should be provided with an assembly room as soon as possible. In some cities this need has been temporarily met by removing the wall between two class rooms and substi- tuting a sliding or folding partition. Such a space equipped with movable furniture would serve many uses. In Milwaukee the auditoriums in the school centers have level wood floors, high platforms, and screened windows and lights, and are equipped with plain wooden chairs bound together in fours by a plank nailed beneath their bottoms, basketball standards and baskets, flame tungsten lights, motion-picture machines and booths, slid- ing curtains, and accessible dressing rooms. Besides the regular 38 RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD school purposes such rooms serve for indoor baseball and basket- ball, dancing, motion-picture and dramatic performances, and all sorts of evening occasions. Any city that wants to do so can provide these accommodations for the use of its citizens. Good Social Center Space New auditorium at the Palmer School, Springfield School Entertainments Literary and social gatherings and exhibitions arranged by the teachers might very well be integrated with the social center activities outlined above. The provision of these entertainments might be considered the teachers' share in this community work, but as neighborhood groups developed and became equipped for work the teachers might gradually turn over to them this re- sponsibility also. The High School On April 6, 1914, the students of the Springfield high school furnished detailed information regarding their outside amuse- ments. The total number of cards filled out by the boys was 398, by the girls 459. 39 THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY TABLE 3. — AMUSEMENTS REPORTED BY 857 HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM CHRISTMAS, I9I3, TO APRIL 6, I9I4, SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS Motion-picture shows Students who attended Total number of attendances Average number of times per week per individual attending Theaters Students who attended Attendances by students with member of family Attendances alone or with one not a member of family Average number of performances per individual . Students over half of whose attendances were with member of family Students over half of whose attendances were alone or with person not a member of family Dances Students who attended dances Attendances at private houses Attendances at hotel Attendances at academy or hall Home parties ^ Students in whose homes parties for young people were held Attendances at such parties Boys Girls 355 9,637 409 8.454 1.9 1-5 341 1,196 386 1,729 3,876 14.9 2.584 II. I 74 179 250 188 161 222 412 159 515 441 144 552 154 366 240 717 a The figures relating to home parties are for the entire winter, 1913-14, A comparison of the amusement habits of Springfield high school students with those of the young people in several Iowa high schools is made possible by a study made by Professor Irving King, of the University of Iowa, and published in the March, 1914, number of The School Review. The Iowa ques- tionnaires numbered over 1,400 and were filled out in the high schools of Iowa City, Dubuque, Burlington, and Ottumwa. The figures on motion-picture attendance for the two sets of students are shown in Table 4. From these figures it will be seen that 41 per cent of the Spring- field boys attend the "movies" seven or more times a month, as opposed to 30 per cent in Iowa. Likewise 31 per cent of the Springfield girls show an equal frequency of attendance as com- pared with 21 per cent of those in Iowa. The table apparently 40 RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD demonstrates that the "movie" habit is stronger in Springfield than it is in Iowa. TABLE 4. ATTENDANCE OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AT MOTION- PICTURE SHOWS FOR 813 STUDENTS IN SPRINGFIELD AND FOR 1,400 STUDENTS IN FOUR CITIES OF lOWA^^ Boys Girls Attendances per month Springfield Four Iowa cities Springfield Four Iowa cities Num- ber Per cent Num- ber Per cent Num- ber Per cent Num- ber Per cent 16 or more 10 and less than 16 7 and less than 10 4 and less than 7 39 61 56 67 92 59 10 16 15 18 25 16 53 71 57 185 153 91 9 12 9 30 25 15 27 47 59 98 132 76 6 II 13 23 30 17 43 64 63 197 265 176 5 8 8 24 33 22 I and less than 4. ... None or less than i Total . 374 100 610 100 439 100 808 100 a Of 398 Springfield boys and 459 Springfield girls who filled out cards, 24 boys and 20 girls did not report as to attendance at motion-picture shows. In the Iowa study the pupils did not report the actual number of attendances in a specified period, but estimated their current practice. The results in the above tables may be summarized as follows : (a) Practically all of the high school students attend the movies. (b) Of the boys, 86 per cent, and of the girls, 84 per cent, attend the theater. The boys who attend average about once a week and the girls go almost as frequently. (c) The majority of the visits to the theater are not made, in the case of either sex, with any other member of the family. (d) Social dancing is indulged in by 40 per cent of the boys and 48 per cent of the girls. A large number of the dances they attend are held in hotels. (e) In 61 per cent of the boys' homes and in 48 per cent of the girls' homes parties for young people are not often held. Because the high school authorities have discouraged dancing in the high school the young people are holding many of the 41 THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY parties in places beyond the control of either teachers or parents. The newspapers tell of sorority dances held in the Leland Hotel, and the figures in Table 3 give further evidence of the fact that a large number of the students are resorting to hotels for their dancing opportunities. The parents of Springfield may well ask themselves whether it is a desirable thing for any large number of their young people to be forming the habit of dancing in places where open bars are not far distant and where the environment permits unusual freedom. In view of the general tendency to The Springfield High School A social center possibility hold social affairs outside of the home is it not incumbent upon the high school authorities to formulate and carry out a positive and constructive policy regarding the social and recreational life of the high school students? Finally, then, both for the sake of creating a more effective community support for this institution and to meet the now neg- lected athletic and social needs of the students a strong "wider use" policy should be carried out at the high school. If a new building is erected it should be equipped with movable furniture 42 RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD and suitable gymnasium facilities, and have a large, well-arranged auditorium on the main floor with a motion-picture booth. In the administration of this building a plan should be carried out which would soon make the high school the headquarters of the federated parent-teacher organizations. The auditorium should be available for meetings of large civic bodies and dis- cussions concerning municipal affairs. Here might also well be developed large choruses with a city-wide membership, high-class lecture courses, and amateur theatricals, and in time, a municipal or loan art gallery such as that at the Richmond, Indiana, High School or the Washington Irving High School in New York City. The finals of the indoor athletic tournaments between the ele- mentary or intermediate schools could take place in the high school gymnasium, and here also provision should be made for the social affairs, dances, and reunions of the high school societies. Yards Few cities have school yards that can compare in area with those of Springfield. The average size per school, exclusive of Pryor, is 101,519 square feet, or 2.33 acres. The gross area for the 19 schools is 1,928,868 square feet, or 44.3 acres. The total free space for these schools is 1,727,146 square feet, or 231 square feet per pupil for the entire city. The school with the largest amount of open space is Enos with 259,470 square feet, or 541 square feet per pupil. The smallest is the Teachers' Training School with 23,199 square feet, or 100 square feet per pupil. This is ample to give space for a great variety of school-yard games and still allow certain areas to be set aside for flowers, shrubs, grass, and trees. Several cities have placed 30 square feet per child as the minimum requirement for school playgrounds. Submitted with this report is a plan of development suggested for each school yard. The plans for the Enos and Palmer schools which are illustrated in detail in the printed report, are typical of the others; each plan, however, has been worked out to con- form to local needs and conditions. The drawings for the Enos and Palmer plans were made for use In this report by A. B. Home, of A. G. Spalding and Brothers. 43 Edwards Bunn ti- \ 1 ^ \ 1 % \ ■■ MM 'M 1 _- J mm lies Some of Springfield's Spacious School Yards 44 i^ - ^ j __,..,..— ^~«HB V Hj ^yp^ Plfp^ biU'!r£ ll]jl.l] ^!*^." •lai ajK fc#' ■"*«yri 1 '*--- '. • .-^ <■ ■ . '•■ ->..-,; ^'Iv- :•■'-' ■■ ,■ ■■■■if"- Enos Stuart Harvard Park Some of Springfield's Spacious School Yards 45 Mi \J Vi., W^'kM>^ j^Hini i\ i ib" 'WBR ri Feitshans Hay Du Bois Some of Springfield's Spacious School Yards 46 Ridgeley Lawrence McClernand Some of Springfield's Spacious School Yards 47 THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY The areas of the different school sites are as follows: TABLE 5. — PLAY SPACE AVAILABLE ON SPRINGFIELD SCHOOL GROUNDS, 1 9 14 School Bunn Converse Dubois Douglas Edwards Enos Feitshans Harvard Park Hay High School lies Lawrence Lincoln Matheny McClernand Palmer Pryor (site temporary) Ridgely Stuart Teachers' Training. . . Pupils in average enroll- ment 386 340 406 392 350 480 380 134 378 981 445 525 390 254 290 353 386 516 233 Total 7,619 Area in square feet of Entire site 142,390 105,350 119,111 54,950 50,400 270,000 96,000 76,788 83,412 150,250 91,520 115,200 73,840 65,772 48,000 102,400 143,500 108,800 31,185 1,928,868 Free space 133,754 97,250 110,755 48,057 36,800 259,470 86,346 72,630 75,177 127,250 83,445 103,680 61,200 55,317 41,850 83,946 126,900 100,120 23,199 1,727,146 Free space per pupil 347 286 273 123 105 541 227 542 199 130 188 197 157 218 144 238 329 194 100 227 The surfacing in most of the school yards is very poor. Very few have a good sod covering and the play areas in practically all of them are in wretched condition during a large part of the year. The soil is such that in early spring and late fall the grounds can be little used on account of the mud, and in dry times the dust is extremely bad. These conditions make it difficult to keep the buildings clean, and render the grounds practically useless for play. The mud scraper is at present an indispensable piece of school-yard equipment in Springfield. The accompanying picture of the Converse School shows how the children are compelled, during the muddy seasons, to confine their recess play to the concrete or brick walks around the school building. 48 I of A. G. Spaidding b- Bros. Plan for Palmer School Grounds RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD In order to utilize adequately the splendid school-yard space that Springfield possesses, steps should be taken at once to de- velop a good sod on the areas so designated in the plans submitted, and to resurface certain spaces that are used intensively for play. The park board has made substantial progress in this matter on some of its play spaces and is now making further experiments, the results of which the board will be glad to make available to the school authorities. The co-operation of the general super- intendent and the chief engineer of the park board should be sought in this matter. The soil In Springfield presents peculiar n \^^%i r j uM ^ - f' Bn r '^U ^K^^ urn L fegm^ 1 h M y 1 1 u 1 • y^ ^^«'^m ..-,--* •'"-^^^^^M^ i 1 i m 1 .— ,. ^^^M ■ '"^^Z A ..... r/.-«M ^mwmstt H ■ IHHI ■1 Muddy Yards Hold the Children to the Walks at Play Time Converse School, Springfield problems in surfacing and must be worked out by local experi- menting. It was discovered with great surprise that these spacious school yards were used only during the recess periods, and that after school hours, on Saturdays, and during the long summer vacation the grounds for the most part lie idle while the children play in the streets or trespass upon private property frequently to the great annoyance of the owners. Some of the principals permit their boys to play on the school grounds for a time after school, while they themselves are still in the building, but this is only incidental. In two cases the janitors have taken pity on the boys and by arrangement with the principals made it possible for 4 49 THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY them to play on the grounds while they are there in the late afternoon. Provision should be made at each school for the free use of these grounds by placing a teacher or some competent person in charge after school hours and on Saturday afternoons throughout the entire school year. When storrns prevent outdoor activities, the play rooms in the basement could be used. Here are facili- ties that largely meet the recreation needs of the children of grammar school age, if only a small amount of supervision and leadership is provided. The expense for such service would be $1.50 or $2.00 per school for each afternoon and $3.00 for Satur- days. It would go a long way toward solving the problem of playgrounds for grammar school children in Springfield. Most of the parochial schools also have good sized grounds which should be used in the same way. The school budget of New York City this year contains an item of $76,000 to provide for the after-school use of yards and basement play rooms. Teachers who have knowledge of play leadership are assigned to this work. They are paid $2.50 for taking charge of the after-school playgrounds from 3 to 5.30 p. m. It is folly to go to the expense of purchasing and equipping special playgrounds when ample school yards with the shelter, drinking water, and toilet facilities of the school plant are already available. Also, schools are supposed to be placed where they are most accessible to the children ; which is also one of the first requisites in locating public playgrounds. Only nine of the 20 public schools in the city have any play- ground equipment, and this is in every case limited. Although with good play leadership it is possible to carry on play activities without extensive equipment, nevertheless it is highly desirable that a few good pieces, such as seesaws, swings, slides, giant strides, volley ball outfits, and goals for basketball and soc- cer football be provided. This equipment should be so con- structed that it may be taken down and stored or locked as it stands when the play leader is not on the grounds. It is neither practical nor even desirable to fence school grounds in such a way as to prevent trespassing. Control of the equipment, as suggested above, is all that is necessary. 50 51 52 53 54 RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD The school yards of Springfield, properly laid out, equipped, and supervised, would provide at comparatively small cost, neighborhood play centers such as few cities have been able to secure even at great expense, and which would be of incalculable value to the children of the city. An excellent opportunity presents itself for Springfield, as the capital city, to set a high standard in this direction for the other cities of the state. Athletics for the grammar school boys of the city are practically unorganized. Most of the schools have baseball teams and some have basketball and football teams, but they are mostly in the hands of the boys themselves. There is no formal athletic organ- ization and adults have not taken an active interest in these matters with the boys, except that some of the school principals keep in touch with their baseball teams and the physical director of the Young Men's Christian Association has taken charge of most of the interschool basketball, the games being played at the Young Men's Christian Association gymnasium. The high school has an athletic association which is managed by a governing board consisting of faculty members and students. Through the volunteer service of a few men on the faculty the athletic activities of the high school have been exceptionally well guided and high standards of sportsmanship and athletic courtesy prevail. The school labors under a great handicap in having no athletic field or gymnasium. The state fair ground in the extreme north of the city is used for outdoor games, and the state armory is secured, usually with difficulty, for indoor meets. The annual indoor games were held during the time of the recreation survey and opportunity was thus afforded for observing the administration of such affairs as well as the practice periods preliminary to the meet. The handling of the events and the spirit of the whole occasion were of a high order. Similar advantages ought to be provided for the grammar school boys. The need has been for a director of physical training and play in the Springfield schools who shall take the lead in organiz- ing a grammar school athletic league and be primarily responsible for it. He should also give such help as is needed in the high school athletics. At least 35 American cities now have school organizations of this kind in which class athletics and athletic 55 56 57 58 RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD badge tests have been incorporated with a view to encouraging participation by all the pupils rather than by the select few. In this way the evils of specialization and excessive training are overcome.* Most of the grammar school grounds if properly developed would serve for athletic practice as well as other forms of play, but there should be at least one large school athletic field centrally located where the high school students could practice and where inter-school tournaments and meets of all kinds could be held. If this field could be located adjacent to the site for a new central high school, and the school building be so constructed as to pro- vide ample bathing, toilet, and dressing room facilities, great economy and convenience would result. One outfit of such equipment could well serve both the school and the athletic field, thus reducing by one-half this item of expense. There are practically no athletics for the girls either in the high or elementary schools, except that the school board has an ar- rangement with the Young Women's Christian Association for taking groups of high school girls at stated times for gymnastics and games. Athletic activities properly selected to meet their needs should be made possible for the girls as well as for the boys. This should be a part of the task assigned to the director of physical training and play.f At the time of the recreation survey these needs were brought to the attention of the superintendent of schools. The report of the school survey concurred on this point. It is gratifying to learn that within the last few weeks Dr. Earl H. Hand, a physical training, athletic, and playground expert, has been engaged for this work. * For details of this plan see Appendix, Topic B, p. 105. t See Appendix, Topic C, p. 112, for details concerning athletics for girls. 59 V THE PARKS Springfield has nine parks with a total area of 446.5 acres. The parks and their respective areas are: TABLE 6. AREAS OF SPRINGFIELD PARKS Park Area in acres Washington 150.5 120.0 Lincoln 92.0 60.0 Bergen lies 10.5 6.0 4.0 2-5 I.O Forest East Side ... .... Enos Factory , Total 446.5 This provides one acre of public park for every 131 inhabitants. The rating of some of the other cities of the United States in this respect is as follows : TABLE 7.- -RATIO OF PARK SPACE TO POPULATION IN 1 1 AMERICAN CITIES City Inhabitants per acre of park space 60 Los Angeles 81 Minneapolis 104 244 251 298 300 310 366 404 493 Baltimore St Louis . San Francisco Philadelphia Boston Detroit Buffalo . . Chicago 60 Sunday Afternoon in Washington Park, Springfield The Children's Corner in Washington Park, Springfield 6l THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY The parks of Springfield are under a district board of trustees of seven members, which is a body separate from and independent of the municipaUty. It secures its funds by direct taxation and is not responsible to the city for its expenditures. The budget for the fiscal year ending May 31, 19 13, was: Park maintenance $36,680.75 Park improvements 21,587.68 New sites 11,350.70 Boulevards 19,481.67 General 6,368.29 Total $95,469.09 The board's district includes considerable territory outside the city limits. Washington and Bunn Parks are only partly within the city proper. In fact, all the parks except four small ones. Forest, lies, Enos, and Factory, are on the extreme borders of the city, and are therefore not as accessible as might be desired. The transportation facilities are, however, good and the parks are much used. Few cities have more beautiful parks than Sprmgfield, and the park board has still higher standards toward which it is working. At the time of this survey the board was employing one of the ablest landscape architects in the country to aid in extensive plans of reconstruction and extension. A new park site has been secured in the eastern part of the city near the Matheny School and Is to be developed In part as a model playground for children. In the territory midway between the new park site mentioned above and Bunn Park on the south there is great need for another new park. A considerable Negro population in that section would be greatly helped by the estab- lishment of a public park in their part of the city. One park under the district board Is entirely outside the city limits. It is the new Bergen Park, located about one-half mile east of the city, and as yet has no street car service. Unusually fine field houses have been provided In Lincoln and Washington Parks which serve well not only for the accommoda- tion of picnic parties but for evening social occasions of various kinds. A caretaker with his family lives In each of these field houses and exercises careful supervision over the premises at all 62 Early Spring in Lincoln Park, Springfield The field house on the hill In Lincoln Park, Springfield Some play apparatus among the trees 63 El*" ,Ji.|tt||::: MM-' f 64 RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD times. These field houses are open during the entire year. If operated on a practical basis they might well be made to yield a substantial income, thus cutting maintenance expenses. The extensive use of the parks by the people is the only way in which dividends may be realized on the capital invested in them. The park board is improving and extending its facilities. It is not in a position, however, to organize and promote their use by the public and to provide play leadership on its equipped i i B W" U S^WHIisS li^lfliWBl^^rsiM ^« J^ From the Porch of the Washington Park Field House play spaces and athletic fields. The board looks to the school authorities for co-operation in this work which is regarded by its members as primarily of an educational character. This situa- tion offers a splendid opportunity for team work between the park board and the school board ; one providing the space and equipment and the other the promotion, play leadership, and supervision of activities. A joint committee might well be formed to deal with all matters touching upon this co-operative relation. 65 VI THE STREETS Streets always have been and probably always will be centers for play and social life. In some cities where the cost of land for playgrounds is exceedingly high (there are instances where land has been purchased at over $1,000,000 per acre for playgrounds) the municipal authorities have closed certain cross streets after 3 p. m. for use as playgrounds. These closed streets become real neighborhood centers, even to the extent of "block parties" being held in them by the adults of the neighborhood. When these closed sections are asphalt paved they are used extensively for roller skating. Springfield does not, with its ample school grounds, park spaces, and home grounds, face the necessity of such intensive use of streets. But the fact remains that the streets are much used for play, and, with school grounds closed after school hours and school buildings practically unused for recreational and social purposes, the youth of the city are forced to resort to the streets and the commercial amusement places for their afternoon and evening recreations. A visitor to the city cannot but be impressed by the unusually large numbers of young people from twelve to twenty-two years of age drifting up and down the "downtown" streets in the evening. Standing at the corner of Fifth and Monroe Streets for a space of thirty minutes (7.45 to 8.15) on the evening of April first, two investigators counted 462 girls and 813 boys, a total of 1,275 young people, passing that point in the few minutes indicated. This was a perfectly normal evening; in fact it seemed that the number on the streets was below the average if anything. No city can afford to have its young people spending their evenings in this way. The responsibility rests squarely with the homes, the schools, and the churches, and not to meet it means 66 RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD disaster. By encouraging and making possible the coming to- gether of these young people in their own neighborhoods in recrea- tion and social centers, in parties, socials, and entertainments, Spiingfield ^ Muddy Ball Ground, but Better than None Springfield Making the Best of Existing Conditions and in clubs— musical, social, dramatic, and civic — the dangers of the downtown streets can be lessened and a positive aid to culture, refinement, and right living can be provided. 67 VII THE LIBRARY Anyone who has ever enjoyed a good book does not need to be told that a public library is a recreational institution. The Lin- coln Library building is centrally located and, from the stand- point of the traditional hours open to the public, is apparently rendering a satisfactory service. It has a children's room and special attention is given to their needs. So far, however, there is no trained story-teller on the library staff. Such a person would make a desirable addition and could accomplish a great deal by way of reaching a larger circle of little people and in- stilling in them a love of narrative and good books. At present no record of visitors to the children's department is kept. For the administrative purpose of being able to analyze more in- timately the results of the stafif work it would seem that such a record should be kept. In the basement of the building there are two well equipped meeting rooms. It was said that many local organizations held their meetings in these rooms, but no record of their names or the amount of service rendered them is kept. It was reported that some of the organizations, such as the story tellers' club of the Teachers' Association, and the Women's Club, which formerly met in the library, are now meeting in the Young Women's Christian Association building. The removal of these organiza- tions raises the question as to their reasons for leaving. It may be that these would not, if known, cast any reflection upon the library management. Possibly the fact that the library club rooms are closed at 9 o'clock in the evening is the particular reason. If this early closing hour is seriously mitigating against the larger use of these available accommodations it would perhaps be well for the board of directors to consider the advisability of arranging to keep them open until a later hour, especially on club meeting nights. 68 RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD The library is wisely making additions of German, French, and Italian works. The policy of offering immigrants books in their own tongues is now followed in many other enterprising libraries and could well be extended in Springfield by the addition of new books in the above mentioned languages as well as others in Lithuanian and any other foreign tongue for which there is a real demand In its extension work the library is now furnishing deposits of books to the telephone exchange, the Illinois Watch Factory, a shoe factory, and two laundries. This is a very commendable service and should be extended as rapidly as means permit, and the facts regarding this service should be given publicity to the end that adequate public support for the library may be secured. The most important part of this extension work is that con- nected with the schools. Collections averaging over 300 books each have been placed in eight public schools and one parochial school. Plans are now on foot to start two additional branch libraries this coming fall. Such collections should eventually be found in all the public schools of the city. Through co-opera- tion with some of the parent-teacher or other neighborhood organizations arrangements might be worked out in the course of time by which these collections would serve as nuclei of local branch libraries which would be open not only during school hours but for a while in the evening under the supervision of responsible persons. Grand Rapids has branch libraries in six public school build- ings which are kept open from noon until 9.30 p. m. each day under the charge of trained librarians. By this arrangement the public library is brought nearer to the home and the distribution of books is facilitated by the school children carrying books home to their families. The superintendent of schools in Grand Rapids is ex-officio a member of the library board. No doubt the co-operation between the public school system and the library in Springfield would also be facilitated if the board of library direc- tors would voluntarily make an arrangement whereby the super- intendent of schools became a member of their board. With wider popular use the library would probably receive more ample financial support from the tax payers. 69 VIII THE MUSEUM Springfield has an unusual resource for recreation-education in the State Museum of Natural History. Although inade- quately housed and further handicapped by insufficient funds, the museum under its able curator, Dr. A. R. Crook, offers to the people of Springfield facilities for most enjoyable and profitable use of free time. The museum was established in 1851 and has since been com- bined with the State Historical Library. It occupies the second floor front of the State Arsenal, but is so limited for space that only a part of the extensive collection of specimens can be mounted and made available to the public. Many valuable specimens are of necessity packed away and placed in storage. There is urgent need for a suitable building, which thus far the legislature has failed to provide. Some money has been spent for plans, but here the matter seems to rest. Illustrated lectures under the auspices of the museum were given in 19 10 upon such topics as Big Game in Alaska, An Ascent of Mt. Blanc, and How the Earth is Known to be Millions of Years Old, but recently the small appropriation needed for this has also been denied. The curator has exceptional ability in mounting and display- ing the specimens. The displays, even in the present cramped quarters, rival in attractiveness those of the leading museums of the world. The accompanying illustration of the Red Deer exhibit suggests how well this work has been done. The present collection is valued at $110,000, and it could be greatly increased at practically no expense if only there were a suitable building for it. Several large and valuable collections may be had as gifts as soon as adequate quarters are provided. Dr. Crook is desirous of making the museum of use to the schools in teaching natural history, both by providing accommodations 70 1 1 f BH^^^Ira ...Si ^ >^^'\^_,,, .fj,: .,:. . _^. , -■-t-.-l-^fata'S^ 1 1 Mas^^^'''^^''^''m^^m 9 1:3 w p OJ s c >< o o ??. H (/) C J (1> re Tl hJ ci; ^ .2 '^ v> H -ii < u t ) 0) y. j:: P -M o u ^ O 75-77, 78, 97, loi [ Young Women's Christian Associa- I tion, 59, 68, 77 133 RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION PUBLICATIONS THE PITTSBURGH SURVEY Published in Six Volumes EDITED BY PAUL U. KELLOGG " The most significant piece of investigation the country has seen/'— American Magazine. THE PITTSBURGH DISTRICT [Civic Conditions] ^3, EDWARD T. DEVINE, ROBERT A. WOODS. ALLEN T. BURNS FRANK F WTWr SHELBY M. HARRISON. FLORENCE LATTIMORE. LIiIaT NORm^d ^t^r^' Social and saiif tary experience in a score of cities focused upon one ; studies iJ^^tt R "%?/^ '^^"'^^fn^J^r ^,r^^""^^"^ ^"^ °f ^^^^^"t movements for advance. 8vo, 576 pages; 104 full-page illustrations. Postpaid, $2.70 WAGE-EARNING PITTSBURGH % PAUL U. KELLOGG, JOHN R. COMMONS. FLORENCE KELLEY. PETER ROBERTS R. R. WRIGHT. JAMES FORBES, and others. ^'-'^^ 1 i>. :.r^'nU^^^^I^ tmique only in the extent to whicli industrial tendencies which nWnfT^- ^ everywhere have here had the opportunity to give tangible proof of their real character and their inevitable goal. 8vo, 600 pages; 128 full-page illustrations. Postpaid, $2.72 WOMEN AND THE TRADES 'Bv ELIZABETH BEARDSLEY BUTLER citI^^Pa7i^^T^^ ^V^^i °^ *^^ women-employing trades in an American S7;v ff ff '^^ 'i r* °"^^ ^ ^'^^^ workshop: it is many workshops, and in many of these workshops women stand beside the men. t^ » "o m 8vo, 440 pages; 2d ed.; 40 fuU-page illustrations. Postpaid, $1 72 WORK-ACCIDENTS AND THE LAW ' ■By CRYSTAL EASTMAN .t^hll^'V^U 7^^V*«^^^^' fi^^ hundred industrial wage-earners were killed ^VrhlnJ '" Allegheny County, Pa. A book of broken lives as well as of machmes gone wrong, which has constructively influenced the workmen°s compensation movement throughout the United States. workmen s 8vo. 350 pages; 38 fuU-page illustrations. Postpaid, $J 72 HOMESTEAD: THE HOUSEHOLDS OF A MILL TOWN Sy MARGARET F. BYINGTON thLTrnlr?h '^r^'' ^^^'^^^f^^^^^^' J^omcn as home makers, and children in thetr l^owth, of what underhes the drive and clang of our industrial progress 8vo, 3J0 pages; 41 fuU-page illustrations. Postpaid, $J.70 THE STEEL WORKERS "By JOHN A. FITCH A study of the men who make steel by one who lived among them A graphic, authentic setting forth of the terms of work under The fargIS em ployer of labor in America today. largest cm- 8vo, 350 pages; 39 full-pag e illustrations. Postpaid, $1.73 PHOTOGRAPHS BY LEWIS W. HINE. DRA WINGS BY JOSEPH STELLA SURVEY ASSOCIATES, Inc. PUBLISHERS FOR THE RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION 105 East 22d Street, New York Pamphlets Published by the Department of Recreation, Russell Sage Foundation As the prices indicate, these pamphlets are not sold for profit. The small charge is made for the purpose of helping to meet the cost of printing and post- age, thus enabling the Department to put out a larger number of publications than it otherwise could with its allotted funds. General Recreation No. Pricb Rec. 76. Exercise and Rest. Gulick. 7 pp 05 Rec. 136. Sources of Information on Recreation. Hanmer and Knight. 27 pp 10 Rec. 143. Recreation in Springfield, 111.; a section of the Springfield Survey. Hanmer and Perry. 142 PP 25 Athletics Rec. 140. Group Athletics for Boys. (Bulletin) 02 Rec. 141. Group Athletics for Girls. (Bulletin) 02 Festivals and Celebrations Rec. 53. May Day Celebrations. Burchenal. 14 pp 05 Rec. 114. Celebration of the Fourth of July by Means of Pageantry. Langdon. 55 pp 15 Rec. 129. Independence Day Legislation and Celebration Suggestions. Hanmer. 36 pp 10 Folk Dancing Rec. 118. Folk Dancing. Gulick. 26 pp 05 Wider Use of the School Plant. Rec. 119. Sources of Speakers and Topics for Public Lec- tures in School Buildings. Perry. 36 pp 05 Rec. 125. How to Start Social Centers. Perry. 28 pp... .10 Rec. 135. TheSocial'Centersof 1912-13. Perry. 8 pp. . . .05 Rec. 137. The Real Snag in Social Center Extension. Perry. 8 pp 05 Rec. 138. The High School as a Social Center. Perry. 22 PP 10 Rec. 142. The School as a Factor in Neighborhood Develop- ment. Perry. 8 pp 05