GIFT OF No. Rec.135 " Price, 5 cents Creating a Broader Interest in Drama in a Boston Evening Center THE SOCIAL CENTERS OF 1912-13 By Clarence Arthur Perry / i The facts set forth herein were gathered by means of a post- card questionnaire sent to 788 superintendents of schools. The returns, when checked off with the data furnished by our clipping service and other reports, were found to represent practically all of the cities which had definite undertakings of a social center character. Of the results secured, those which may be compared with the figures published for the previous season are as follows : 1911-12 1912-13 Cities reporting some paid workers 44 *7i Cities in which Board of Education pro- vided heat, light and janitor service .... 72 *i26 Expenditures reported $139,535 *$324,575 It will be observed that while the number of cities reporting paid workers has not quite doubled, the amount of the expendi- tures reported is nearly two and a half times as great as it was in 1911-12. That is, in places where the movement has got started its rate of growth is higher than the rate at which it spreads to * In order to make these figures more justly comparable cities reporting only one line of activity (see page 3) have been excluded in this table. 12-13-25 V 1 X Al /:>:.::: : .-. ". new localities".** It's* "actual results are more effective in getting public support than the words of its most enthusiastic champions. The seventy-one *cities which reported some paid workers in carrying on evening activities other than those of the regular night school were as follows : Cities with California paid workers LOS Angeles Santa Rosa Colorado Denver Pueblo Connecticut Stamford Waterbury Illinois Chicago Evanston, Dist. 76 Oak Park Ottawa Rockford Indiana Crawfordsville Gary Mishawaka Iowa Burlington Des Moines Sioux City Kansas Leavenworth Kentucky Louisville Louisiana New Orleans Maryland Baltimore Massachusetts Boston Cambridge Chicopee Dedham Gardner Maiden Natick Winchester Worcester Michigan Detroit Grand Rapids Kalamazoo Pontiac Minnesota Minneapolis Red Wing St. Paul New Jersey Bloomfield East Orange Elizabeth Englewood Jersey City Montclair New Brunswick Passaic Paterson Trenton New York Buffalo Geneva New York Niagara Falls Rochester Saugerties Schenectady Watertown North Dakota Grand Forks Ohio Canton Cincinnati Columbus Hamilton Youngstown Pennsylvania Philadelphia Pittsburgh Reading Rhode Island Newport West Virginia Wheeling Wisconsin Kenosha Milwaukee Oshkosh Superior West Allis New information In the hope of obtaining more information than we were able to publish last year regarding the kinds of activities being carried on in social centers, the first question in our inquiry was devoted to this subject. Nine lines of activities were submitted and the superintendents were asked to enter in the appropriate spaces the number of schools engaged in each. Because of the labor involved, information was not requested as to the number of times a week such schools were open for the activities with which they were credited. The lines of evening activities, not a part of night-school work * The cities included in the above list reported at least two lines of activi- ties (see classification on following page). The following also reported paid workers, but only one line of work: Bridgeport and Middletown, Conn.; Kokomo, Ind.; Methuen, Mass.; Winona, Minn.; Lincoln, Neb. 2 or limited to pupils, which were reported, together* with the total number of buildings hi which they were carried on, are as follows : Schools 1 Public lectures and entertainments (not school exercises) . . 981 2 Adult clubs, societies or associations (not solely teachers) meeting in school rooms 706 3 Open meetings for the adult discussion of local problems . . 496 4 Athletics, calisthenics, indoor active games or folk dancing 474 5 Club work among young people 369 6 Reading or quiet-games room 198 7 Social dancing for old or young 190 8 Singing classes, orchestras, or other musical organizations not limited to pupils 174 9 Handicraft or domestic-science classes not a part of evening- school work 153 Lines of activity How Boston Evening Centers Attract Girls These results show the kinds of evening privileges which were afforded in 207 cities last whiter. They tell nothing as to the amount of each activity in any of the buildings included in these totals. How many, for example, of the 474 buildings reporting athletics had them only twice during the entire season and how many offered this privilege four tunes a week is not known. The total number of workers engaged in carrying on the above The staff activities cannot be stated. Some cities said "many," several ofworkcrs gave a number that was obviously too large, while others gave no figure at all. The paid workers reported by the cities listed on page 2 totaled 1927. A conservative estimate, based upon such evidence as the returns afforded, would place the number of vol- unteer workers at 1500. So that, in the 207 cities reporting 3 305775 The Detroit Corporation Counsel Inspiring an Interest in Civic Affairs Political Use Miscella- neous occasions activities, it may be conjectured that there were over 3000 persons engaged in conducting them. The board of education furnished the heat and light in 167 of the 172 cities which reported on this point, and in 142 of these the janitor service also was provided by the board. Balloting during elections was held in 529 schoolhouses, and 259 buildings were used for registering voters. Political meetings or rallies to the number of 481 took place in school edifices. Motion picture entertainments were given in school buildings on 626 occasions. The exhibits held in school buildings numbered 302, of which 175 were devoted to art and manual training subjects, 76 were held in the interest of physical welfare, and the remainder were of a miscellaneous character. To the question as to how many buildings were, by their patrons, called "social centers," "recreation centers," etc., 89 cities re- plied, reporting on 330 buildings. The following table shows the number of schools designated under the various names : Title Social Centers Recreation Centers Civic Centers Social and Recreation Centers Social and Civic Centers Evening Centers School Centers Community Centers Total . 'No. of schools ..181 89 25 17 7 4 4 3 330 It might be thought that the total number of buildings shown The number in the last table represented the number of school centers in the center* not United States during the season of 1912-13. Unfortunately this known total cannot be given such significance. One of the cities whose "10 social centers" were included hi this number reported, under the head of activities, that the buildings were used only for public meetings, lectures and entertainments, twice a month. Another city's card showed 4 schoolhouses affording athletic, reading- room and public discussion privileges and 2 having club work, The reason social dancing, singing classes and adult societies, all the build- ings being open five nights a week, and yet it reported no social centers. Between these two extremes there were many other cases exhibiting similar disparities in the amount of use and the manner of applying the name "social" or "recreation" center. A New York School Providing an Evening Environment 5 Defining 1 a Current usage varies so greatly that neither of these names can be taken as an index of amount, or even kinds, of activity. This report, therefore, does not show the number of the social centers last season in the United States. Before an enumeration of social centers can be made, two social center things will have to be provided: (i) A definition of them that will serve as a criterion, and (2) data corresponding to the terms of the definition. But a standard center cannot be set up arbitrarily. A definition that would serve as a measuring unit must be based upon achievements rather than ideals. Consequently the data will have to be obtained first. In attempting to forecast what facts would be needed in for- mulating a norm two categories, at least, may be safely put for- ward: (i) the kinds of activities, and (2) their frequency of oc- currence. The necessity of the first is obvious and the second becomes equally clear when it is seen what incongruities would result without it. If frequency were not regarded, the city just mentioned which reported "10 social centers" open twice a month would appear in the same class with a municipality maintaining ^activities six nights a week a manifest injustice. The very word "center," in this connection, implies activity that not only takes place regularly but also frequently. If a daily record were kept in each schoolhouse of all the oc- casions occurring after 6 p.m., information would soon be avail- able upon which a social center definition could be based. Many buildings enjoy a miscellaneous use which probably totals larger than the school authorities suspect, while others commonly re- garded as having a high degree of utilization are, in reality, comparatively little used. Until more extensive and detailed records are kept the school officials themselves will not be in a position to determine what degree of wider use has been attained in their school plants. Such information, properly tabulated and interpreted, would form interesting material for the superinten- dent's report and give the community a better idea of the social dividends they were receiving from their school investments. But statistics alone, no matter how accurate and definite they become, will never indicate more than the material aspects of social center activity. To convey their richer significance, they will always require the cooperation of the imagination. Ten 6 A record of evening: use needed Looking: beyond the figures ^bare-kneed lads, catapulting and ricochetting between' basket- ball hoops, while tenscore more of cheering, exulting, cat-calling humans look on; two dozen bloomered misses stepping and swaying with the beat of a mellow folk rhythm such scenes as these represent an amount of human happiness that is not re- vealed by an inventory of the buildings in which they are occurring. One group of struggling musicians converted into an orchestra through the opportunity to meet in a kindergarten plus two Lith- uanian cooking clubs learning American ways equal a sum that is beyond ordinary arithmetic. The Fortnightly Musical Club Entertaining a Cleveland Neighborhood When neighbors meet on their own common premises and talk over frankly the service they are getting from their public servants there is a quickening of the civic pulse. But it is not expressed by the sum of the buildings in which these meetings take place. , Centers of individual growth and refinement, of civism and social integration, that is what these places are, and no system of numerals can ever be devised that will convey an adequate notion of the vitalizing influences which radiate from them. We can count them and classify their activities, but the results, if they are to u get over" their real meaning, must arouse pictures of living things in the reader's mind. 7 How to Start Social Centers (No. Rec.125) By Clarence Arthur Perry A pamphlet treating in detailed manner the various problems connected with the initiation of social center work in a com- munity. The different stages of development are fully discussed, as shown by the following TABLE OF CONTENTS GETTING THE IDEA Some of the difficulties The significance of leadership in play Function of the social center What must be added to a school system The prime reason for state-supported schools How to impress the school authorities. ORGANIZING THE PROMOTING AGENCY Selecting the organization Cooperating bodies The federation. TAKING UP THE MATTER WITH THE SCHOOL BOARD Method of approach Preparation for and conduct of the hearing Conditions which may prevent favorable action. REMOVING THE LEGAL OBSTACLES Committee on legislation Drafting the bill The essential provisions Sources of information Pushing the bill. CREATING PUBLIC SENTIMENT The press the chief agency The publicity committee Special writers The public meeting Giving publicity to speeches The lecturer The neighborhood mass-meeting The church Using the motion picture Printed matter Getting ammunition through a study of the facts. THE DEMONSTRATION A typical demonstration Instructing the volunteers Steps in getting up a demonstration The workers Raising the money. ACTIVITIES POSSIBLE IN THE ORDINARY SCHOOL BUILDING In the classroom Kindergarten and basement Assembly hall and gymnasium Programs Information about indoor games. BEGINNINGS OF PERMANENT SOCIAL CENTERS Actual working arrangements between boards and associations. ADAPTING THE SCHOOL BUILDING Fixing the basement Baths The classroom Movable desks Getting an assembly hall Utilizing the attic The corridor. WHAT A SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS CAN Do TO DEVELOP SOCIAL CENTERS WITHOUT AN APPROPRIATION A guiding principle Liberal regulations Getting outside bodies to use the building Labor unions Discussion of community problems Political meetings Stimulating artistic^ culture Or- ganizing public lectures and entertainments Expanding the regular school activities Getting recreation leaders The time and energy. APPENDICES A. A Successful Campaign for a Model School Building. B. Essential Provisions of the New York State Social Center Law. C. Bulletin of Neighborhood Activities, Evanston, 111. 39 PAGES PRICE, 10 CENTS DEPARTMENT OF RECREATION RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION 130 East 22nd Street, New York City Gaylord Bros. Makers Syracuse, N. Y. PAT. JAN. 21 ,1908 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY BERKELEY * *rom which borrowed. ***e stamped below.