Americanization 
 
 A Preliminary Bulletin Outlining 
 Americanization Plans of the University of Wisconsin 
 
 UNIVERSITY EXTENSION DIVISION 
 The University of Wisconsin 
 MADISON 
 
 BULLETIN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN 
 Serial No. 973. General Series No. 757. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 What is Americanization 3 
 
 Agencies of Americanization in Wisconsin 5 
 
 Americanization Work at University of Wisconsir 6 
 
 Milwaukee Course for Teachers 7 
 
 Racine Naturalization Course 8 
 
 University Summer School 9 
 
 State-wide Naturalization Course 10 
 
 Information Bureau 11 
 
 Lectures on Americanization 11 
 
 Loose Leaf Courses 11 
 
 Package Library 12 
 
 Visual Instruction . 12 
 
 Community Music and Drama 12 
 
 r 
 
 
 FOREWORD 
 
 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin 
 established a chair in Americanization at the University 
 at their meeting in August, 1918. The work was affil- 
 iated both with the College of Letters and Science and 
 the University Extension Division. Mr. Don D. Les- 
 cohier was appointed Associate Professor of Economics 
 in charge of the Americanization Work. 
 
 f 
 
Jnaio 
 
 3 ^^-' 
 
 , ..,„ .., 
 
 ' ' f - / 1 I 
 
 Mi(i 1 f an :! 
 
 Americanization. What is it? 
 
 Americanization in the United States, and Canadian- 
 ization in Canada, differ fundamentally in their spirit, 
 method, and purpose from the efforts of Germany to 
 Germanize Poland, Schleswig-Holstein, and Alsace-Lor- 
 raine ; of Austria to Austrianize the Czechs and Croats ; 
 and of Turkey to suppress the nationalism of the Ar- 
 menians. The Central Powers tried to crush the national 
 cultures and customs of peoples over whom they had 
 acquired power by force of arms. They continually sub- 
 jected these peoples to the efforts of conquerors who 
 sought to suppress the language and traditions that had 
 obtained in the acquired territories, and to compel the 
 use of the language, government, and culture of the 
 conqueror. 
 
 Americanization has nothing in common with such 
 » efforts as these. It is an effort to assist the alien among 
 jas to understand, appreciate, and partake of the best 
 ^in American life and thought. It is an effort to provide 
 ^ facilities that will enable him to become an integral 
 part of America and its life. It is a movement to help 
 him share the privileges and benefits that a democracy 
 offers to its people, and to fit him for his responsibilities 
 as a citizen in a democratic commonwealth. It aims to 
 help him know our national life ; to help him make our 
 traditions, heroes, and ideals his; to inspire in him a 
 love for America and what it stands for ; to win his heart 
 to the things we love. 
 
 But Americanization is more than this. It is as neces- 
 sary for Americans to understand the peoples who have 
 come to them from foreign lands as for those peoples to 
 
 [ 3 ] 
 
 4 
 
become acquainted with America. Every people whose 
 feet have pressed our soil has brought to us traditions, 
 customs, capacities, ideals, and personal qualities which 
 are of inestimable value to America. Each race or na- 
 tionality, when it first came to our shores, had to start 
 at the bottom of the economic ladder. Each one’s 
 capacity was undervalued hy the American during the 
 early years of its migration to America, because it had to 
 rely principally upon common labor for a livelihood 
 while it was learning our language and customs and 
 fitting itself into our national life. The indifference and 
 hardly-disguised contempt which a large number of 
 Americans felt toward the Italian or the Slav during 
 the twenty-five years from 1890 to the outbreak of the ^ 
 war, was experienced in earlier years by the Irishman, 
 and in many parts of the country, by the German, 
 Scandinavian, and Belgian. It is as necessary to help 
 the American understand the newcomer and appreciate 
 the contribution which he will make to our national life, 
 as to help the immigrant understand the American. 
 
 There is another point which Americans must be 
 taught to remember. Every alien who comes to i 
 America comes here because he believes that America 
 is a better place to live than his homeland. He comes 
 here hopefully, expectantly, eagerly. He comes here 
 in a receptive mood. The only reason that alien prop- 
 aganda has been able to retain a hold on part of the 
 immigrants, has been that we have failed to provide 
 them with proper educational, industrial, and social 
 opportunities to become a real part of our life. They 
 have not found us responsive, and their enthusiasm has 
 been chilled. They have concluded that we did not 
 care about them. Americanization must teach the 
 American to value the people who have come to us, 
 and cause him to assist the alien to enter into the privi- 
 leges and duties of America’s adopted sons. 
 
 [ 4 ] 
 
Americanization is, then, a process of education, of 
 mutual understanding, of growing together. It cannot 
 be accomplished by any one agency. The public schools 
 can reach some of the adults; the Y. M. and Y. W. G. 
 A., the social settlements, the welfare work of em- 
 ployers, have important parts to play; while the re- 
 search work and training of leaders in the university 
 are necessary to provide specialized knowledge and 
 leadership. Improvements in labor conditions, in land 
 laws, in the housing of the poor, and in methods of 
 labor distribution are as important as any of the edu- 
 cational work. They will remove many of the immi- 
 grant’s causes of bitterness. Community and social 
 centers; women’s and civic clubs; and the aroused in- 
 terest of churches, parochial schools, fraternal orders, 
 and companies engaged in land colonization are all 
 essential to the task. In a word, Americanization is a 
 process of mental and spiritual reconstruction — if we 
 can use the word spiritual in a non-religious sense — 
 which must be accomplished by a multitude of forces 
 in our national life. The essential thing now is that 
 those forces be wisely directed so that they may accom- 
 plish the needed result, rather than produce evil results 
 by their misdirected though well-intentioned efforts. 
 
 Agencies of Americanization in Wisconsin 
 
 There are a number of agencies in Wisconsin which 
 are seriously concerned about this matter of American- 
 ization. The State Council of Defense and many of the 
 County Councils started committees at work, and the 
 persons whom they have interested will continue to be the 
 leaders in Americanization in many communities even 
 after the councils terminate their organization. Some 
 of the County Councils, such as those in Milwaukee and 
 La Crosse counties, have already achieved notable re- 
 
suits. The State Superintendent of Education, the 
 State Board of Vocational Education, and many local 
 school boards have taken definite steps to promote true 
 citizenship. Infiuential employers, the Milwaukee Asso- 
 ciation of Commerce, and a number of other commercial 
 organizations in the state have put themselves behind it. 
 The question of Americanization is entering into the 
 plans of those interested in land settlement in Wiscon- 
 sin, and of the League to Enforce Peace. The social 
 settlements have been trying harder than ever to reach 
 their immediate neighborhoods. The women’s clubs of 
 the state have stimulated the work in various communi- 
 ties and established many classes for the training of 
 foreign women. 
 
 The University, in its Americanization work, recog- 
 nizes the existence and the usefulness of every one of 
 these lines of activity. It has no desire to supplant or 
 to interefere with any of them. It believes that it has 
 a distinct field of usefulness in Americanization, that 
 the University can assist many of the other agencies to 
 increase their effectiveness, and can carry on certain 
 work which none of them would undertake. The Uni- 
 versity has a distinct field of usefulness because it is a 
 university, and its purpose is to perform those functions 
 which belong to a university rather than those which 
 belong to other organizations. It is through the three 
 avenues of research, advice, and education, that the 
 University hopes to perform its part in the work of 
 Americanization. 
 
 Americanization Work of the University 
 
 The University function in Americanization work is 
 not an administrative function. 
 
 Seven principal projects are already under way: A 
 teacher ’s course to be given in Milwaukee to begin about 
 

 A 
 
 f 
 
©cintinu^tion 
 
 #chcnjl of OtittE^nsi^tp 
 
 U 
 
 AoA cxym/ileted fAe ‘Sow^ m ^€wic &iucatl(m ^ ‘^kyrei^-Acm 
 c^e/'exi ^<xm/ of ^uAlic SdueaUcn of i/w cit^ -o/ .^^^acme, 
 
 ‘Wi^coriUn, and u Ac AAc ^cmAd ad a man i^oAi^ied 
 
 Ac Ae ccnnc a WlAi^n AAc AAnUed Af taAed . 
 
 Se vern Ahid cAa 
 
 
 -/9- 
 
 ni RECTOR OF CONTINUATION SCHOOLS 
 
 SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS 
 
 PKESlDEiNT or BOARD OF INDUSIRIAL EDUCATION 
 
 ^Ac ^uremi a/ JfaAuraU^aAAcyn Aad examined AA c akme named S^/i/iheemA 
 ^DT ^Ui^andAl^ and ecrnctim In fAc ^-re^oin^ rcccmmendaAAcn. 
 
 A9 ‘ 
 
 CHIEF NATUR.AL1ZATI0N EXAMINER 
 
February fifteenth and run ten weeks; the preparation 
 of and induction into citizenship of four hundred 
 eighty -two candidates for naturalization at Racine; a 
 summer session course in Americanization to be given 
 at the University; a state-wide system of training can- 
 didates for citizenship before they are accepted by the 
 naturalization court ; an Americanization information 
 bureau in the Extension Division of the University ; ad- 
 visory and lecture work in local communities ; and loose 
 leaf courses of study in English and citizenship. 
 
 1. Milwaukee Teacher^s Course. 
 
 The plan in the Milwaukee course is to provide train- 
 ing for teachers who will later be employed by the city 
 school board or by the vocational schools to teach Eng- 
 lish and citizenship to adult foreigners. The course 
 consists of thirty ■ two-hour sessions. The first fifteen 
 sessions will cover a study of the history and racial 
 composition of immigration into this country; the ef- 
 fects of immigration upon our civilization; conditions 
 in the homelands from which these immigrants have 
 come; the experiences which the immigrants have en- 
 countered in their entrance into our national 
 life ; their reactions toward America ; methods of or- 
 ganization and management of classes for adult 
 foreigners ; successful and unsuccessful methods in 
 teaching English to foreigners; and a presentation of 
 the process by which aliens are naturalized. Those at- 
 tending the course will all be instructed in methods of 
 using the moving picture and stereopticon machines, 
 folk music, and other agencies which facilitate such 
 work. 
 
 After the fifteenth session the course will be divided 
 into three sections. Each student will elect the section 
 he or she desires to enter. The subject of the first sec- 
 tion will be ‘‘Vocational English for Adults.’^ The 
 
second section will take up ^^The Teaching of English 
 to Foreign Women/’ The third section will cover ‘‘The 
 Teaching of Citizenship,” and will include an analysis 
 of what is essential to be taught in American history, 
 biography, and citizenship in fitting adults to enter our 
 social life. 
 
 A corps of teachers will be used in the teacher’s 
 course, each of whom will be a specialist in some feature 
 of the work, and all of whom will devote themselves to 
 the discussion of a selected list of topics which will be 
 assigned them. In other words, the course will not con- 
 sist of a series of more or less unrelated lectures ; but a 
 systematic, unified study of a carefully selected field of 
 information. 
 
 Racine Naturalization Course. 
 
 At Eacine there are four hundred eighty-two candi- 
 dates for naturalization. The head of the Americaniza- 
 tion work was called into conference by the Eacine 
 Vocational Schools and suggested a program of pro- 
 cedure which included the following : 
 
 a. A personal interview with each one of these peti- 
 tioners, to find out what instruction he needs to prepare 
 him properly for citizenship. 
 
 b. The enrollment of as many as possible of these 
 candidates in courses in English and citizenship which 
 will prepare them for naturalization. 
 
 c. Their graduation from such courses with a 
 diploma which they may present in court as evidence 
 of their preparation and then their induction into citi- 
 zenship in a community fete. 
 
 d. • A community banquet and a community pageant 
 at the time of their induction into citizenship, and the 
 induction of all young .men who have come to the age 
 of twenty-one years within the past six months, at the 
 same time. 
 
e. The formation of a Community Citizenship Com- 
 mittee to be composed of representa'^iyes of the natural- 
 ization court, school system, trade unions, manufac- 
 tures, etc., who would take charge of the (general work 
 in the city. 
 
 3, University Summer Session Course in American- 
 ization. 
 
 Arrangements have been made for a course in Amer- 
 icanization in the summer session. Professor Commons 
 will give his closely related course on industrial service, 
 and Professor Lescohier will give a lecture course on 
 Americanization which will bring together the best 
 available knowledge on the subject. This course has 
 the practical purpose of equipping teachers and social 
 workers, who attend the summer session, to do Ameri- 
 canization work more efficiently. One of the features 
 of the work at the summer session will be daily, two- 
 ^ hour conferences in which the students of Americaniza- 
 tion can meet for the discussion of the matters brought 
 up in the lectures and of the problems they have en- 
 ^ countered in their several communities. These confer- 
 ences are expected to be one of the most valuable 
 features of the course. They will bring together a con- 
 siderable number of persons who have practical expe- 
 rience in Americanization work and enable these people 
 to work out systematically solutions for the practical 
 difficulties they encounter in the work. The State 
 Board of Vocational Education is expected to request 
 each city which has vocational schools to pay at least 
 part of the expenses of teachers from those schools to 
 help them attend the Americanization course at the 
 University. The hearty support of the State Superin- 
 tendent of Public Instruction will be given in urging 
 teachers from the public schools to attend the course at 
 the summer session. 
 
It is believed that a large number of teachers and 
 social workers of practical experience from various 
 states will be assembled at this course, and that each at- 
 tendant will get the benefit of their combined expe- 
 rience. 
 
 4. State-wide Naturalization Course. 
 
 The head of the Americanization work, in coopera- 
 tion with the United States Bureau of Naturalization, 
 is working on a plan to prepare a course in English and 
 citizenship for naturalization purposes, and to arrange 
 for the use of such course all naturalization proceed- 
 ings in the state. The plan is as follows: When an 
 alien petitions for naturalization, the judge, in addi- 
 tion to notifying the United States Bureau of Naturali- 
 zation of such petition, will direct the alien to designat- 
 ed school authorities in the district. The Bureau of 
 Naturalization will notify such school authorities of 
 the petition so that they can, on their initiative, look 
 him up. The school authorities will be provided by the 
 University with a course of training which has been 
 approved by the Naturalization Bureau and by the 
 courts, and will then give the alien such training in 
 regular classes for that purpose. Upon completion of 
 the course he will receive a diploma similar to that 
 shown in the illustration in this bulletin. This diploma 
 is a form now in use at Racine. This diploma will con- 
 stitute evidence satisfactory to the court of the peti- 
 tioner’s fitness for naturalization, and the judge will 
 then omit any examination of the petitioner in court 
 except such as is necessary to test his renunciation of 
 the country of his birth and his pledge of loyalty to this 
 country. It is expected that this plan will also lead to 
 the inauguration of appropriate ceremonies of induction 
 into citizenship in each locality. 
 
 [ 10 ] 
 
5. Information Bureau. 
 
 We are also planning to develop in connection with 
 the Extension Service an Americanization Information 
 ^ Bureau which will keep the educators and other inter- 
 ested citizens informed upon the available literature on 
 the subject, answer their questions, and send a repre- 
 w sentative into communities to help them plan out the 
 solution of their local problems. 
 
 6. Lectures on Americanization. 
 
 The head of Americanization cannot accept invita- 
 tions to lecture through the state on the subject except 
 where such lectures are an essential part of local Amer- 
 icanization work. Whenever he does accept an invita- 
 tion to lecture, it is in a community which is serious- 
 ly planning Americanization work or is carrying it on, 
 and he always expects to hold a conference with a group 
 of interested citizens while in the community, to assist 
 them in working out or perfecting their Americaniza- 
 tion plans. 
 
 7. Loose Leaf Courses in English and Citizenship are 
 being prepared, in the University Extension Division, 
 #' for distribution. These courses are planned in such a 
 way that certain lessons can be selected which are par- 
 ticularly adapted, for instance, to a group of Polish 
 laborers. Another set could be used if it was a group 
 of Italian farmers who were going to attend the class; 
 or still another set for Greek confectioners. This wiU 
 enable the teachers to meet specific problems peculiar to 
 each community better than bound volumes. These 
 courses will be distributed, upon request, to the school 
 authorities or other, proper organizations who will use 
 them. 
 
 I t 11 ] 
 
 f 
 
Material Now Available in Extension Division 
 
 The University Extension Division has available three 
 classes of material whicl^ can be used to advantage at 
 once in the various communities of the state. 
 
 1. The package library service of the University Ex- 
 tension Division has compiled sets of bulletins, reports, ’ 
 and other pamphlet material v^hich will be lent to com- 
 munity centers, schools, clubs, or other organizations 
 or individuals in the state upon request. A considerable 
 amount of material on Americanization has been as-* 
 sembled. These may be obtained for use within the state 
 by addressing the University Extension Division. 
 
 2. The Visual Instruction Bureau has a number of 
 sets of slides and of motion picture films, with appro- 
 priate printed lectures, which are useful for Americani- 
 zation work. These may be obtained for use within the 
 state by writing to the University Extension Division. 
 
 3. The Bureau of Community Music and Drama can! 
 furnish programs of community music, sets of Victrolal 
 records, and advice and assistance with respect to com4 
 munity dramas, pageants, or other spectacles to further! 
 the Americanizing of the community. These may bi 
 obtained for use within the state by writing to the Uni^] 
 versity Extension Division. 
 
 Wisconsin is the first American University to establis] 
 a chair of Americanization. It is opening up a nevi 
 field in university work. The problems which confront; 
 the work are both large and intricate. Suggestions, crit 
 icisms, or inquiries from the citizens of the state whicbj 
 will enable us to direct and work in the wisest possibk' 
 manner and to the state’s best advantage, will always 
 be welcomed. 
 
 [ 12 ]