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A MAGAZINE OF NEIGHBORLINESS
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PRICE FIVE CENTS

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JANUARY 18, 1914

13

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'THE

TWO ADDRESSES ON THE PUBLIC
· SCHOOL SITUATION*·

easiest thing in the world is to
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ask: "What is the matter with the
··
public ,schools?" From the standpoint of people who think they
bow, the public schools are all wrong; and
meanwhile ·they go on making men and
women, and saying little. We must find out
tonight what
is wrong with
the school considered as an
absolute, not an
ideal, institution. The only
critic w o r t h
listening to is
the one who
has a remedy.
When I went
to a college
convention recently I learned
that the trouble with the
school systems
lay with the
_ school convention
th
the fault of the grammar
e grammar schools blamed it on
Schools, and the primary schools
ergarten. When I went home I
t!nl dergarten teacher and said to
would n 't be you 'for anything.
the
bottom of the whole wrono'1 SY 5tem." Well, I visited th:
~and. th e children were pretenc.~ : • and then soldiers-all but
c:fl.Ud wouldn't play at all until
- IC .1n were all through: then • e
h
~~ve and a soldier. Later in
'°1 1& on Harold's mother; she
It •-·hjnst exactly like his grandMU er's
"d
Jllat~r .. s 1 e. " Now youo know
1t cet h>\ ;th the public schools.
'
l have O d of gr'.1-ndmother or
lllned tha Harold Just as he is.

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t I w o111n l1Pth:, T' h,::'.l,o-h,

A

FORWARD STEP WHICH HAS BEEN
SUCCESSFULLY TAKEN IN
FITCHBURG.

By Margaret Slattery.
teaches him the same thing for many years.
It says, "Never mind how you get there: get
there!" Until the world learns that this is
only one-half the problem it will never be at
peace with its brothers. (Applause.) It
came to me. at last that I was not to teach
arithmetic to Jimmy, but I was to teach
Jimmy arithmetic. Jimmy is the centre,
arithmetic is only a tool. His studies are all
tools, with which he is to earn more than a
livelihood-a living a'1d a life.
I was in a school recently where the principal said to me of a new teacher, "I don't
know what I am going to do with her. This
is the third time ··today· that she has asked
for permission to open a window, because
the children are hot. She knows she must
not open windows; it interferes with our expensive heating system." Well, teachers
must obey systems, but if I had an expensive
heating system on one hand and forty-fivt
flushed little faces on the other, I shouia
open that window-for the sake of forty-five
children's welfare. The child must come -.before the system.
You can turn spools of thread out by system, but you can't children. The rights or
the· child must be realized and recognized.
Not that Jimmy is to be allowed to stand on
his head in the middle of the aisle-but he
is to have his chance. I am thinking now
of the real Jimmy. His teacher said to me,
"I can't stand Jimmy; there isn't anything
he doesn't do; he must go." "Well," I said,
OUR HEART'S CRY.

In the public school we coi::e the
nearest to our ideals of democracy.
There all our children receive according to their need and capacity and
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"wait till I see Jimmy's mother." ~o I went
up to the tenement where Jimmy lived, and
got acquainted with his mother. It's funny
how different both mothers and teachers are
when you get to know them. And yet I
know women who dare to give their children
for a whole year into the care of a woman
they have never seen. · I heard two boys
talking recently. "She wants to see my
mother," said one. "Aw," answered the
other, ""I'd have my mother write her a note.
She'll never keep me in again in good skat•
ing weather!" "No good," answered the
first; "she and my mother belong to the
same club, an·d chum around together all the
time." When the teacher and the mother
"chum around together all the time" the
boy can't go very far wrong.
Well, I said to Jimmy's mother, "I've come
to talk to you about Jimmy." "Have you?"
she answered. "Say, ain't he great, thg,_ugh ?"
I nearly fell off my chair. And then sne told
me that Jimmy's father had deserted her before her baby was bcrn, and that Jimmy
got up at four o'clock every morning to help
the milkman distribute mil,_._ that at noon
he got washings for her and t~k them back,
and after school ·had a n~spaper route.
Next day I said to his teacher, "Say, ain't
Jimmy great?"-and when I had told her
about him she agreed with me. We kept
Jimmy, and as this wasn't in a book, he
wasn't good forever after. But sometimes
when I watched him and thought of all he
did, I realized that if Jimmy was to play
at all he had to play in school hours. Today
Jimmy is a fine, gentlemanly, Christian fel•
low behind a counter, and is waiting to get
married until he can finish putting his little
sister through high school_ so she can sup 0
port their mother. I would rather have
· some share in helping a boy like that than to
· have helped make any C. whose name fills
1n
the newspapers. We can get along without
one, but not without the other. We have to
have Jimmy! (Applause.) It seems to me
that the welfare work of the public schools,
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the fault of the grammar
welfare.
"'° rammar schools blamed it on children'ssystem. The child must come before the
chools, and the primary schools
You can turn spools of thread out by syse:arten. When I went home I
tem, but you can't children. The rights ot
ergarten teacher, i:t:rd said to
the· child must be realized and recognized .
ouldn't be you for anything. Not that Jimmy is to be allowed to- stand on
e bottom of the whole wrong
his head in the middle of the aisle--but he
system." Well, I visited the
is to have his c)lance. I am thinking now
nd the children were pretendof the real .Jimmy. His teacher said to me,
es, and then soldiers-all b~t " I can't stand Jimmy; there isn't anything
old wouldn't play at all until
he ·doesn't do; he must go." "Well," I said,
dren were all through: then he
a dove and a soldier. Later ln
Iled on Harold's mother; she
OUR HEART'S CRY.
,y is just exactly like his grandfather's side." Now you know
In the public school we come the
matter with the public schools.
nearest to our ideals of democracy.
't get hold of grandmother . or
There all our children receive accordr have Harold ju-st as he is.
ing to their need and capacity and
ed that I would better begin
without regard to their worth or
and take hif: as far as it is
merit. As brothers and sisters .in one
Harold to go, and make out of
gre.a t family they receive from the
est possible Harold. When I
community as a father some of the
m the Normal School I knew
richest gifts that money and ability ·
y note-book told me just what
and devotion can - estow. All that is
b
do, and what I should do then,
asked of them is that they make the
. result would be. The trouble .
most of it .and recognize the source
my did the things, and I did
from which it comes and p:i.y for it in
old to do, but the results didn't
the coin of good citizenship.
ce a teacher taught reading,
Our cry as a people, unto the God
arithmetic; now she does
of our fathers, is that the day may be
om washing the children's faces
hastened when in the interest of the
oes for them. The finest and
state all its citizens of all ages and
in the world is to be a teacher,
both sexes may be given an equal op,
ception of being a mother, and if
portunity_ to earn a living and make a
ing to be of any use in the world
life just as we now give the children
"l>e one or the other. '
an equal opportunity to get an educa& ~ once who could not spell. My
tion and develop their powers. May we
was to get that boy up to 100 per
su jealously guard and intelligently
~lling, and one day I accomplished
:promote the welfare of our public
that afternoon I discovered written
schools thttt they will be able to give
C111r the words he had spelled correctus the boys and girls who will later
inorning. Then I realized that I had
be the men and women wlio will help
that boy that the essential thing is to
to usher in the days of greater democper cent., and if you have to lie to
racy toward which we are all looking
't matter. And the whole world
and yearning.
GEORGE W. COLEMAN.
1s· at a

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es and the questions and answers
M!riam Allen de Ford.

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anCl arter SCilOO! ·n au a ilt:""1!"'!'_'1!· ,v~•~•
Next day I said to his teacher, " $Y, ain't
Jimmy great?"'-and when I had told her
about him she agreed with me. We ke:pt
Jimmy, and as this wasn't in a book, he
wasn't good forever after. But sometimes
when I watched him and thought of all he
did, I realized that if Jimmy was to play
at all he had to play in school hours. Today
Jimmy is a fine, gentlemanlY, Christian fe"llow behind a counter, and is waiting to get
married until he can finish putting his little
sister through high school so sh_,• can Sup0
p
port their mother. I would rather ·have
some share in helping a boy like that than to
have helped make any· man whose name fills
the newspapers. We can get along without
one, but not without the other. We have to
have Jimmy! (Applause.) It seems to me
that the welfare work of the public schools,
carried on in this fashion, should be the
work most eagerly looked forward to by the
teacher who sees below the surface.
Take Selma. Selma arrived from Finland,
the daughter of a drunken father and an
ignorant mother. She went to school the
first day with her hair tied with a string,
and in a borrowed dress. I remember the
day she said to me, "I can read : I can read
'most anything! " Last June I saw Selma
when she was graduated from the grammar
school. She had made her dress herself;
she had earned her shoes by doing extra
laundry work for a Normal School girl; she
had the largest and freshest of hair-ribbons.
The children were in the music room, and
they were having their favorite pieces played
to them for the last time. And Selma
wanted, when her turn came, the andante
movement from the Fifth Symphony! And:
this was a girl who ·had come from a tworoom tenement, in which lived her family of
five, and three boarders. There she sat,
nwde ..by the -public school. You can see her
now, working as a capable stenographer in
Fitchburg.
The public school every day in your city
and every city. ·is doing that thing, and I
(Continued on Page 4.)

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FORD HALL FOLKS

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THE QUESTIONS
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teachE ~~:~
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way
sonali_i-· '.;
·more ~a.-=father\° ..

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'is go1l ,

exper~;;~
spark~··-:.,
of be-:t,l .·
Wh ~-.
tled
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studi
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1893
·and
were
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ness - ']':? ~unbe."l'r;·:._
:able , , ·
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and ,(''··_··
distr :.--.{,
meet:,; ·:5
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Q: So long as the school committee has
the authority to apply the gag rule, how can
we expect the best results from the teachers?
A (Mrs. FitzGerald): I hope they do not
consider they have the . right any longer. A
bill was put t hrough the L egislature last
year which very definitely modified that rule.
Q (Mrs. Solomon): What do you think of
the great number of boys and girls who
would like to go to High School whose parents cannot afford to send them?
A (Miss Slattery ): I truly believe that
increasing the age limit, while it would be
hard on the parents at first. would give the
children a much better chance. If children
from 14 -to 18 have shorter hours, they can
attend the evening High Schools.
Q: In the case of Selma. wnat becom~s
of eugenics?
A (Miss Slattery): I believe it is a sin
for a man to bring into the world a child
who must suffer for his wrong-doing; but I
believe it is possible for human nature. to
rise above any handicap you can put upon
it. (Applause.)
Q: How soon shall we be educated up to
the social centre ideal in the schools?
.
A (Miss Slattery): I don't know, but I
know that if we can create public sentiment
it will come 25 years sooner than if we cannot.
Q: Would not economics as taught from.
the present-day standpoint be opposed by the
present authorities?
A (Mrs. FitzGerald): I must ask you to
ask the present authorities. I hold no brief
for them.
,, Q: What is your attitude toward the ac.~ tion of the Board of Education in Chicago
barring the teaching of sex hygiene?
A (Miss Slattery): I don't believe in the
teaching of sex hygiene in the public
schools. :vrost teachers are not qualified to
teach it. The thing to do is to teach the
mothers what to say. I know, moreover,
that knowledge alone does not save.
Q: What effect will it have on democracy
when the Roman Catholic -Church fulfils the
{ ,yithdrawal of its children from the public
schools?
~ l:v[rs. FitzGerald) :
I think the with-

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A (i\'Ir. Coleman): I think we can all answer that. (Applause.)
Q: Do you advocate in the publi c- schools
the giving of meals to poor children?
A (:\Iiss Slatter:i'.): I don't see how
Jimm v can do arithmetic if he hasn't had
any b':·eakfast. But I should iike to get the
parents where they were able to feed their
own children. (Applause. ) (:Mrs. FitzGerald ) : I think there is the further question of
young children who must have so-mething
between breakfast and lunch. · The thing
proposed in Boston is to sell good food at
cost to the children, so that they will not buy
trash with their pennies.
·
Q: Do you not both think there would be
a demand for evening High Schools on five
instead of three evenings of the ~week?
A (Miss Slattery and Mrs. FitzGe:rnld) :
Yes!
Q (Mr. .Sackmary): Do you not think
that municipal dance halls are becoming an
absolute necessity?
A (Miss Slattery): I can't answer with
authority, but I think the time has come
to make every other kind of dance hall an
impossibility.
Q: What is your. attitude toward manual
training in the schools, and at what grade
should it start?
A (Miss Slattery): I do not know just
where it should begin, but for manual training, most certainly yes.
Q: Should not something be done for
older people. who might be very useful citizens if they could get more education?
A (Mrs. FitzGerald): I believe that
something ought to be done, and is being
done.
Q: Should industrial education be compulsory in our schools?
A (Miss Slattery): · I doubt it, if parents
d·o not choose to have their children take it.
But it would be useful for every child.
Q: If science is the foundation of industrial education, do you approve of abolishing the scientific kindergarten education?
A (Miss Slattery): I don't think we
know enough about the other method yet.
Q: Don't yo u think that a good deal of
school inefficiency is due to a lack of co-

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School period each sex should have a.
teacher of the same sex.
Q: What do you think of the Montessori
system?
A (.Miss Slattery): I think it has a great.
deal of promise in it, making the abnormai
child r;.ormal and helping the normal child ..
How far it will work in America I do not
The i
know.
meetini
Q: -Can a man be educated in the evening schools at three nights a week for 20 ·
in the l
weeks a vear?
asm m:
A (M i~s Slattery): It seems to me that.,
did tra
it should be fiye nights a week fo r 40 weeks
board J
a year.
temper~
Q (Miss -Crawford) : Do you agree with
the exc
Professor Earle Barnes that teachers should.
meeting
be both men and women, and married men.
second ;
and women?
excitem,
A (Miss Slattery) : I don't care if they- '
we mak
are married, so long as they are womanly,
tees.
j
women and manly men, with an interest in:There,
a human child.
"first ci
Q:, Don't you think the child should beeligible :
given the choice of what and when he should
group u:
be taught?
list clos,
A (Mrs. FitzGerald): The great thing is.
not when and what to teach, but how to~:~-· In add
teach. A choice must be left to the· higherour reg,
schools, but the child's tastes should be conother bli
sidered.
lives in 1
Q: Isn't a good deal of our trouble in sosight to
ciety due to the fact that our leaders havebut he 1,
bee~ tmined 1n the public schools intellectfish and
ually and not emotionally?
RobinSO!j.
A (Miss Slattery): Yes. We have got toWho alw:
have our emotions trained or we are one- ·
the floor·
sided.
:\fr. Co:
Q: Do you not think that the military ✓
of our th1
sentiment in young boys, -as shown in theplatform,
Scout movement, is very harmful?
the balco:
A (Miss Slattery): I don't believe that
the chair
boys will ever get over the desire to be soldom mis~
diers, and I don 't think it hurts them.
.
get Miss
Q: What do you think about school gartell Us SOI
dens, particularly in large cities?
-,Mexican r
~
J!i_ght.
A ( Miss Slattery ) : I think they are fine-splendid in every way.
Q: Have you thought out a plan of demThat wi
ocratic social training, in which children can
day ni ght
enjoy the learning of social occupations?
CoJeznan i
A (Miss Slattery) : Yes, but it woul
llatne. ho1
Je,,, in on,
take a whole speech to give it.
Ja!Ues.
Q: Isn't · it true that a disproportionatemeasure of money is spent on the High
.
Schools, so that the burden is being borne
~\'\'ouldn'1
11 a p1
the poor man for the benefit of the man who
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has more'?
,
.
-'«-tter,• ?
A Dfrs. FitzGerald l : I don't believe we
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th; social centre ideal in the schools'/
Q: What is your_attitude toward manual
A (Miss Slattery): I don't know, but I
know that if we can create public sentiment training in the schools, and at what grade
should it start?
it will come 25 years sooner than if we canA (Miss Slattery): I do not know just
not.
where it should begin, but for manual trainQ: Would not economics as taught from
the present-day standpoint be opposed by the ing, most certainly yes.
Q : Should not something - e done for
b
present authorities?
older people who might be very useful citiA (Mrs. FitzGerald): I must ask you to
.ask the present authorities. I hold no brief zens if they could get more education?
A (Mrs. FitzGerald): I believe that
for them.
Q: What is your attitude toward the ac- semething ought to be done, and is being
tion of the Board of Education in Chicago done.
Q: Should industrial education be combarring the teaching of sex hygiene?
pulsory in our schools?
A (Miss Slattery): I don't believe in the
A (Miss Slattery): I doubt it, if parents
teaching of sex hygiene in the public
it.
schools. Most teachers are not qualified to do not choose to have their children take _
But it would be useful for every child.
teach it. The thing to do is to teach the
Q: If science is the foundation of indusmothers what to say. I know, moreover,
trial education, do you approve of abolishthat knowledge alone does not save.
ing the scientific kindergarten education?
Q: What effect will it have on democracy
A (Miss Slattery): I don't think we
when the Roman Catholic Church fulfils the
withdrawal of its children from the public · know enough about the other method yet.
Q: Don't you think that a good deal of
schools?
A (Mrs. FitzGerald): I think the with- school inefficiency is due to a lack of cooperation on the part of the parents?
drawal of any large number of children
A (Miss Slattery): Yes; many parents
would - e very unfortunate, ·but I don't beb
do not know or care to know about their
lieve that this is ever going to happen in
children. We are working definitely now to
any such general way.
·
encourage their interest.
Q: Do you favor a national child labor
Q : What is your attitude toward the
law?
work of the correspondence schools?
A (Miss Slattery): Yes, 5ir! (Applause.)
A: I think it is fine, especially for young
Q (Mrs. Blanchard): Last summer the
Woman's Club of Dorchester had- Dr. Evan-· fellows who have to leave school early.
Q: I had charge last year of some boys'
geline Young talk on sex hygiene to mothers
clubs in New York City. and found that out
and daughters. Why could not that:- be done
of one group of thirteen in middle adolin High Schools?
·
escence only one had had sex instruction
A (Miss Slattery ): I think if fhe parents
desire it, it can be done, but J 'Should "want from his father. Is it absolutely against the
to be sure that the doctor w~ a woman be- best principles of education to give a talk
of that kind to the boys in groups?
fore she was a physician.
A (Miss Slattery): No, not at all-the
Q (Miss Rolgolsky) : What would you do
with children whose parents are hopelessly group instruction by a group leader can be
done-very well, indeed. It is more intimate
incompetent to teach sex hygiene?
A (Miss Slattery): I would help the par- and definite than class instruction.
Q (Mrs. Hoffman ): Do you believe in
ent beco~e competent. If that is absolutely
district representation on the school comimpossible, then the teacher must do it.
Q (Mrs. Sullivan) : If Boston must have .,mittee?
A (Mrs. FitzGerald): I suppose you
portable schools, whose furnaces let out coal
mean ward representation. No, I think the
gas, should not the older children be put in
old committee of 24 (now it would be 26)
· them?
A (Mrs. FitzGerald): I am glad to say was .too big.
Q: Do you agree with Dr. Henderson that
that there are fewer portables in use this
year than last. They are not fit for any there should be men teachers for girls and
women for boys, all through the schools?
children or any teacher.
A (Miss Slattery): No, I think it would
Q: Isn't it a shame to take children out
be a great mistake. I think during the High
of school at an early age to work?

ually and not emotionally?
A (Miss Slattery): Yes. We have got to
have our emotions trained or we are onesided.
Q: Do you not think that the military
sentiment in young -boys, as shown in theScout movement, is very harmful?
A (Miss Slattery): I don't believe that
boys will ever 11;et over the desire to be soldiers, and I don't think it h1
1rts them.
Q: What do you think about school gardens, particularly in large cities?
·
A (Miss -Slattery) : I think they are fine
-splendid in every way.
Q: Have you thought out a J}lan of democratic social training, in which children can
enjoy the learning of social occupations?
A (Miss Slattery) : Yes, but. it would
take a whole speech to give it.
Q: Isn't it true that a disproportionatE,
measure of money ·is spent on the High
Schools, so that the burden is being borne by
the poor man for the benefit of the man whohas more?
A (Mrs. FitzGerald): I don't believe we
spend too much on our Higb Schools, but
that we don't spend enough on our grade
schools.
Q: How many should be on the school
committee?
A (lVIrs. FitzGerald): As I said, I should
like about nine for a city of this size.
Q: What is the comparative merit of the
Parent-Teachers' Association and the welfare teacher?
A (l\iiss Slatter y): The welfare teacher ·
must be at th e head of the Parent-Teachers'
Association.
Q (Mr. Foster): Don't you think the cooperative educational plan of Fitchburg and
Gary is a good thing for Jimmy ?
A (Miss Slatter y): Yes, I think it is the.
best solution we .have so far.
Q (-Same): Would lengthening the school
year and possibly the school hours increase
the educational value to the child?
A (Miss Slattery): At our school we
have a six-hour section, three hours' academic, three manual; and this summer we
are going to have a full summer session and
see how it will work.
Great thoughts come to us only when we
are on the heights, but they soon die if they
are not taken down into the valley an<l put
to work among men.

n::su a.uu.

.1.u.uo.u

\,,,U..il

1H:~
a

a.::,

Robinso.Q is a quiet, little, ~
who always_ sits in the cen
the floor and often asks a ~
llr. Cosgrove, the other or
of our three blind men, has o
platform, but of late has ta
the balcony at the end of th
the chairman 's right hand.
dom misses asking a questi,
get Miss Crawford to write
tell us something of the awfu
Mexican mine that · deprived h
sight.

*

*

*

That was a good Irish pro~
cbly night with Slattery, Fr
Coleman all figuring in it. . h
name, however, I was agam
1ew in one of the recent West

' rallies.

*

*

*

*

*

*

Wouldn't you have liked very
been a · pupil under a teache
Slattery? It would seem tha
'.make anything interesting and

I have asked Mr. W. H . Fe
bome and office address is 41
•~enue, Boston, to help me as
m .my personal relations _ with
who attend Ford Hall. I wish,
you would let him know of a
cases or illness, accident or tro1
IOit among our regular attenda1
want advice of any sort, and de
Which way to turn for it, seek o·
ler and he will help . YOU all he
Fll6ter Will be deligh ted to help
can be found on the platform a.
miti.t, and their telephone numb,
.BaT, 4899-W. I want to see a ,
IIODal relationship growing up b,
Of -:18 who feel so disposed.

*
,,
*
.I sup~ose the chorus is getting

.J,

lead

Us

in the singing of our new
and Goldberg

~ by Schnittkind

*
*
*
Set~ Sonday afternoon I- visited
~4

•

•

trien:' HouseMr. Davis showed w:
on Salem street
~ As

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-

the different rooms amon,
~sses and clubs we found :
- hive -for the making of go

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j

FORD . HALL . FOLKS
· sex should have a.
:ex.
think of the Montessori
I •think it has a great .
.t, making the abnormai
'!lping the normal child •.
rk in America I do not

be educated in the eveee nights a week for 20 ·
) : It seems to me that.
;hts a week for 40 weeks

:d) : Do you agree with
.rnes that teachers should.
women, and married men.
y): I don't care if they
Jug as they are womanly.
· men, with an interest in..

think the child should be·
f what and when he should
,rald) : The great thing is.
rhat to teach, but how to
roust be left to the higher!hild's tastes should be conJd deal of our trouble in sofact that our leaders h:ive·
the public schools intellectmotionallY?
ery): Yes. We have got to
ons trained or we are onenot think that the military
oung .b oys, as shown in the
.t, is very harmful?
ttery): I don't believe that
get over the desire to be soln't think it hurts them.
~ you think about school garrly in large cities?
tterY): I think they are fine
~very way.
JU thought out a plan of demcraining, in which children can
·ning of social occupations?
lattery): Yes, but it would
speech to give it.
t true that a disproportionate
money is spent on the High
,at the burden is being borne bY
. for the benefit of the man who
itzGerald) : I don't believe we
on our High Schools, but
..• ~) P n enough on our grade
l, r
t uch

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE THE TOPIC
AT THE FOLKS MEETING.

AS IT LOOKS TO ME
By

GEORGE

W:

COLEMAN,

Director of the Ford Hall Meetings

The first session of the Ford Hall town
meeting fully met our expectations, · bothin the number· present and in the entiiusiasm manifested. It can be made a splendid training-school and a fine soundingboard for public opinion. :dr. Foster, as
temporary chairman, brought us through
the excitement and confusion of the first
meeting in very creditable fashion. At the
second meeting we shall experience all the
excitements and anxieties of an election as
we make our choice of officers and cqmmittees.
There are now one hundred and fifty
"first citizens" on the roll.
Others are
eligible to be counted among this elect
group until the meeting votes to call the
list closed.

zens. It made us realize how little most
people know of the grand good things that
are going on quietly but continuously right
in the heart even • of our most congested
districts.

*

"

A Denver friend of mine sent me, the
other day, a long editorial from the :Yews
of that city, urging the advantages of an
open forum like Ford Hall. It was very
complimentary to our work here but ga·
me something of a shock (of very brief
duration, however,) when it went on to say
that Daniel Sharp Ford had left me half a
million dollars to s·pend as I pleased in the
interest of the working people of Boston.
I wish that were a prophecy of what some
millionaire will do some day.

'l:
)

J. Adams Puffer, who will be remembered for an excellent talk he once gave at
the Ford Hall }Ieetings on '"The Boy and
the Gang," is to be the speaker at the Folks
:.\Ieeting next Sunday, his topic being "How
to Help a Boy Find Himself." _ Mr. Puffer
is a breezy personality with humorous enthusiasm over boys and their problems. He
has written a number of books . on ' vocational guidance, and will be sure to give
us ·✓ an inspiring half hour. The Folk.;;
::\Ieetings, held down stairs in Kingsley
Hall at 3.30 every third Sunday, are open
to all who are inte:.:ested to come. But if
you want to stay and have supper with us
;(25 cents) drop a line to ~iss Crawford,
Room , 707, Ford Building, by next Thursday.

!·

(.

,

•

THE BOSS BOSSED.

Says a paragraph taken from the Boston
Traveler one day last week:
'" George W. Coleman mav be the 'boss'. at
the
meetings,
*
*
*
*
*
" Surve y, a weekly 'townFord Hall recently Mr.· but at the first
meeting'
Coleman learned
A rec ent issue of the
In addition to Mr. Bodfish we have among
that he could be otherwise. During a heated
our regular attendants at Ford Hall two magazine publishe d in :--Jew York, printed a
espe cially debate, Mr. Coleman rose and submitted a
other blind men. Mr. Simon Robinson, who hundred hymns and tunes
lives in the West End, has only enough eye- adapted to just such a meeting as ours. - motion. 'You're out of order,' shouted Chairman ·wmiam Horton Foster, and with a
sight to distinguish between light and dark, Miss Crawford was one · of the committee
mumbled, 'I beg your pardon,' :::vrr. Coleman
but he looks just as cheerful as Mi': Bod- that helped to compile this collection. It
subsided into his chair."
fish and can laugh as heartily-as I can. will be of the greatest value in helping
Robinso!). is a quiet, little, gray-haired man along the kind of meetings that we all bewho always sits in the central section on lieve in so strongly.
THE GOOD CITIZEN.
the floor an-d often asks a question.
"The first requisite of a good citizen,"
Mr. Cosgrove, the other one in the group
PROF. ALBION W. SMALL ON OUR
says Theodore Roosevelt, "is that he shall be
of our three blind men, has often sat on the
PLATFORM.
able and willing to pull his own weight;
Platform. but of late has taken a seat in
Dean Small of the University of Chicago, that he shall not be a mere passenger, but
the balcony at the end of the front row on
who will speak to us next Sunday evening shail do his share in the work that each
the chairman's right hand. Cosgrove selgeneration of us finds ready to hand; and
dom misses asking a question. We must on "The Strength and Weakness of Social- furthermore, that in doing his work, he shall
ism," has written a novel, "Between Eras,"
Pl Miss Crawford to write him up and
that is well worth looking up. The So- show not only the capacity for sturdy selftell 11a something of the awful tragedy in a
cialists, of course, have not accepted the help, but also self-respecting regard for the
mine that deprived him of his eyebook whole-heartedly, but they have cared rights of others."
enough about it to give it liberal space in
*
*
*
It is a wise employer that can tell the dif"naat v.·as 3: good Irish program last Sun- their various publications, ;3.nd it is generference between loyalty and servility.
ally conceded that the •
Socialist-author has
~ 7 llight With Slattery, FitzGerald and
done his cause a great deal of service in
11 all figuring in it. In · spite of my
this piece of fiction. Dr. Small is a Baphowever, I was ao-ain taken for a
la one or the recent vVest End politi-cal . tist of the Baptists; he is, also, a warm
Other Meeting-s
friend . and close comrade of Prof. Zueblin.
A good combination.
Lowell Institute, Huntington Hall, Mon•
*
*
day, Jan. 19, 5 P. M., America and France in
"t You ha\·e liked very well to have
Why be so impatient? If you wanted to
Contact in the Past, by Fernand BaldenJIUpU under a teacher like Miss
Francisco and found that the only
fllillllln? · It would seem that she could go to San that city was five days late, would sperger. ;.vlonday, Jan. 19, and Thursday,
train for
Jan. 22, S P. M., The Man Behind the Vote,
l1thing interesting and worth while.
you wait or would you walk? Many of us in
by Graham Wallas. Tuesday, Jan. 20 and
•
*
*
our journey toward our port of Success are
Friday, .Jan. 23, S P. M., Sound Analysis, by
• &sked ::\Ir. w. H. Foster, whose compelled to obey train schedules.
Dayton C. Miller.
.d Office address is 41 Huntington
Public Library. '!'hnrsdav . .Tan. 1 :'i. ~ P. 0vr..

....

:S..°ican

\

r

--·-

! military

vn in the\ieve that
fto be so1Lem.

!chm:il garY are fin e-

a.n of dem1.ildren can
!)atfons?
it would

•

oportionate
Fthe High
1g borne by
te roan who

*

*

the s_
chool

1 I should
rid,
~

..

:fare teacher
~nt-Teacbers'
I

I

think the CO·
itchburg and

y?
1in1) it is the ·
f· . .
flg the school
our.. increase
ild?
school we
~ hours' aca·
, summer we
1 session and
r

r

i·

I
only

Mr. Cosgrove, the other one in the group
of our three blind men, bas often sat on the
platform, but of late has taken a seat in
the balcony at the end of the front row on
the chairman' s :ight hand. . Cosgrove seldom misses askmg a question. We roust
get Miss Cra~ford to write him up and
tell us something of the awful tragedy in a
»eXican mine that deprived him of his eye-

*

PROF.

ALBION W. SMALL
PLATFORM.

ON

OUR

*

Wouldn't you have liked very well to have
been _a pupil under a teacher like Miss
Slattery? It v.:ould s~em that she co~ld
make anything mterestmg and worth while.

tbelieve we
lchools, . but
1 our grade

I

UJC .,.- --

Dean Small of the University of Chicago,
who will speak to us next Sunday evening
on "The Strength ·and Weakness of Socialism," has written a novel, " Between Eras,"
that is well worth looking up. The Socialists, of course, have not accepted the
book whole-heartedly, but they have cared
enough about it to give it liberal space in
alght.
*
*
*
their various publications, and it is generThat was a good Irish program last Sun- ally conceded that the Socialist-author has
day night with Slattery, FitzGerald and
done his cause a great deal of service in
Coleman all figuring in it. In · spite of my
this piece of . fiction. Dr. -Small is a Bapname. however, I was again taken for a tist of the Baptists; he is, also, a warm
Jew in one of the recent West End political . friend . and close comrade of Prof. Zueblin.
JS]lles.
A good combination.

l

size.
merit of the
nd the wel•

·•

when we
10n die if theY
alley and put

*

*

7 f have asked Mr. W . H. Foster, whose
Jaome and office address is 41 Huntington
aTenue;. Boston, to help me as best he can
1a.,my personal relations . with the people
,rbo attend Ford Hall. I wish, particularly,
J'OII. would let him know of any serious
cues o! illness, accident or trouble of any
a,rt among our regular attendants. If you
want advice of any sort, and do not know
wbfch way to turn for it, seek out Mr. Fostel' and he will help · you all he can. Mrs:
J!'oater will be deligh ted to help too. They
all be found on the platform any Sunday
ldlht. and their telephone number is Back
Ba)-. 4899-W. I want to see a closer per...i relationship growing up between all
_ l • who feel so disposed.
e
i"'
*
*
*
1· Appose the chorus is getting ready to
1111 in the singing of our new hymn and
lae by Schnittkind and Goldberg.

Why be so impatient? If you wanted to
go to San Francisco and found that the only
train for that city was five days late, would
you wait or would you walk? Many of us in
our journey toward our port of Success are
compelled to obey train schedules.

Ford Hall Folks
Edited by Thomas Dreier.

P

UBLISH,t)D weekly by the Ford
Hall Associates, whose work
is to create, assemble, and
'listribute ideas that will help
men and institutions grow more
h elpful in serving society, and which
will promote "peace on earth, good
will to ward men." It is the official
publication of the Ford Hall Meetings, ~
are held, under the direction lle'f'" George W. Coleman, every
Sunday eYening during the months of
Oct ober to May, in Ford Hall, Ashburton Place, Boston, Massachusetts.
All hufiness communications should
be sent t.o Miss Mary C. Crawford,
Treas urer Ford Building, Boston,
and ,all comm uni ~ations intended for
the editor to The Thomas Dreier Service, ·u niversity Pres.s, Cambrid-ge,
Mass. Subscription Price: $1.50 for
26 numbers.

··=.....

*

*

*

Sunday afternoon I visited the Civic
House on Salem street with a few
: As Mr. Davis showed us about
the different rooms among the vases and clubs we found it a veriv.e .for the making of good citi-

-~

.1 ue
nrst requi site of a good citizen,"
says Theodore Roosevelt, "is that he shall be
able and willing to pull his own weight;
that he shall not be a mere passenger, but
shall do bis share in the work that each
generation of us finds ready to hand; and
furthermore, that in doing bis work, he shall
show not only the capacity for sturdy selfhelp, - ut also self-respecting regard for the
b
rights of others."

It is a wise employer that can tell the difference between loyalty and servility.

Other Meeting-s
Lowell Institute, Huntington Hall, Monday, Jan. 19, 5 P . M., America and France in
Contact in the Past, by Fernand Baldensperger. Monday, Jan. 19, and Thursday,
Jan. 22, S P . M., The Man Behind the Vote,
by Graham Wallas. Tuesday, Jan. 20 and
Friday, Jan. 23, S P . M., Sound Analysis, by
Dayton C. Miller.
·
Public Li brar y, Thursday, Jan. 15, S P. M.,
Rome, by Cora Stanwood Coob. Sunday,
J a n. 25, 3.30 P. M., The Stage of Today, by
Frank W. C. Hersey.
Sunday Commons, Huntington Chambers
Hall, Sunday, Jan. 25, 3.30 P . M., Dr. Charles
Fleischer, lea der.
School of Social Science, Monday, Jan. 19.
7.30 P . M., American Literature and Dollars, by Abraham Cahan. 10 cents.

STATESMEN'S MEETING
At w!Jich )Jrs. 0 . H . P. Belmont will preside,
aud Sen. Cla111>, Sen. Ken;\~
on and Sen. Thomas
will spe:1 k. Tremont Tem1,Ie,

Saturday, January 24, at 8 P. M.
Re~erved seats, 25 cents to $1.00 now on sale at
the hall.

ADVERTISING
A space of fhis . size-one inch high and
two and one-half inches wide-can be had
for advertising purposes for one dollar per
issue. For information regarding advertis- .
ing apply to Jacob London, Room 707, Ford
Building, Boston, Mass.

. ' .i

•

·a~z -~- ,;~:; --:-'.f11,·: \'):: _ ,:
rn~
~": _

/

-1.

ir

:-\{st_

,_

FORD HALL FOLKS

4
THE STORY OF SARA A. SMITH.

, fi/ 1:J
f
~J¼1tJ'cU-i' , v

A FORWARD STEP.

By Mary C. Crawford.

(Continued from Page 1.)
don't care what is wrong with it while it is
doing that thing. In order to do that kind
of welfare work, the Board of Education of
Fitchburg finally gave me every afternoon in
the week to go around to the children's
homes asking parents to let their children go
to school longer. What these children need
is a friend to stand - y them. The thing I
b
am pleading for is that there shall be put
into every school section and then into every
school building a welfare teacher, who shall
do individual welfare work and supervise all
the welfare work done by the school during
the evenings and on Saturday and Sunday.
The public schools are public buildings, and
we have a right to use them.
Can we do all this? No, not now. But
everything has to have a beginning. The
other day a little girl told me that she
wanted to be a concert pianist, and soon
after her mother complained to me that she
couldn't get Edith to practise half an hour a
day. Don't laugh at her-you are just like
her. Last summer I was watching two little fellows trying to chin a bar. Every time
they would fall back they would say, "Not
quite." "You'll never do that," said a · big
girl who was watching them. The six-yearold answered for both of them: "We wasn't
tryin' to touch it; we was just reachin' up."
It is a long, long way that man and woman
have -come; but they have come all the way
by just reaching up. And wherever a hand
reaches up, God is reaching down. He can't
reach any hand that is folded, ·b ut He can
touch any hand that is uplifted as far as it
will go. Education is the removal of limitations; and the welfare teacher is the one
who can help remove them.

Twice this season Miss Sara A. Smith
has officiated as hostess at the Sunday afternoon gatherings of the Ford Hall Folks,
showing in this capacity the executive ability and cheerful spirit of co-operation we
have all learned to admire in her. Perhaps
her terms of service as secretary and treasurer of the Cambridge Socialist Party
trained her to be an especially effective
member of the Folks. :Or perhaps it was
the practice of brotherliness at the Ford
Ha!! 1Vketings which fitted her to do valu-able work for the Socialists. Certainly she
was a member of the Ford Hall congregation first, having been constantly of our
number since that evening when Lincoln
-Steffens was the speaker on our platform
some three or four seasons ago.
Miss Smith was brought up a Congregationalist and from her early childhood had
been wont, as a member of a Cambridge
church, to "do good" to the poor; like many
other Christian folk she interpreted that
saying, "the poor ye have always with
you," as a text in which Christ set the seal
of approval upon the state of poverty. Consequently her faith was roughly shaken,
when, in the course of her business experience, she saw large numbers of able-bodied
men displaced by the introduction of machinery and realized heart-breakingly that
many of these discharged workers would
never find another jo::>. Poverty so brought
about is NOT the Lord's will, she decided:
there must be something wrong with a . society so mal-adjusted as ours-and something wrong, too, with a church which
counsels submission to such injustice. So,
when on a certain winter evening that she
had set out to go to church, she followed
instead a motley crowd trooping up over A FUNDAMENTAL DIFFICULTY IN THE
WAY OF IMPROVING BOSTON
Beacon Hill and found herself at a Ford
SCHOOLS.
Hall Meeting. Great was her joy. Naturally she came again and again, having disBy Susan W. FitzGerald.
covered at last a place wherP the problems
AM not going to suggest any very defithat troubled her were intelligently voiced
nite remedies. It seems to me that the
if not adequately answered.
fundamental difficulty with our schools
Not yet, however, did she become a Sois the same thing that is the fundacialist. When business called her to the
South for a couple of years it was still the mental difficulty with so much of our common life-the fact that democracy is more
message of the Ford Hall Meetings and
that alone which she painstakingly sought common in speech than in practice, and that
the lesson we have got to learn is not to say
out in the home papers. "For_ Hall was
d
the only thing in Boston for which I was that ·d emocracy is an overworked word, but
lonely," she says, "and the happiest even- to learn that it is an underworked thing.
We often say that our schools are the training of my week was Monday ·night when
I could read in the Boston papers the va- ing places for democracy. They ought to be;
and the one advantage they have in the
ried accounts of the Meeting which you had
smaller cities is that it is easier for them, soheld here the night before."
cially at least, to be more democratic.
It was while still in the South that Miss
It would be better for our schools and for
Smith first heard Debs speak. This was in
March, 1911. Then returning to Boston us all if socially the schools were more democratic in Boston today. Of course the
and her beloved :vreetings at Ford Hall, she
schools cannot be the same in all districts,
agonized with us here over the Lawrence
but
we could
strike, and soon after that joined the So- tinTI ifl10 e!,-.hn l"'llc- feel th at in each school sec- ~
t
.,.,...,,,11,.-~ ,.,.,,f-ha,...o rl tno-otl,o-,• +1"'1o

I

-·-1

with this. I hope the time will come when
there will be an organized group in each
district whose office shall be to present the
community's point of view.
Our s·c hools must be more democratic in
administration. If our schools are to educate our citizens, they must do it by practice, as well as by ·precept. Many of us have
watched with interest the adoption of selfgovernment in colleges and preparatory
schools. Of course we can't expect to do the
same thing entirely in the lower schools, yet
much in this line could be done. I think we
must soon come here as elsewhere to some
form of what we might call faculty government of the schools-some· scheme by which
the teacher shall have more influence in the
administration of our schools, so that problems may be settled by those who have to
meet them.
We must, lastly, face the question of political democracy in our schools.
Two
things make our schools less democratic than
they should be. First, there should be a
larger school co=ittee, in order that more
points of view may be represented. There
should be a committee of seven or nine at
least, three of them women. Second, our
present way of nominating members for the .
school committee is not democratic. The
present campaign has shown us that this is
true of other public offices also. I hope that
the requirement for 5000 certified names on
the nomination paper will be so changed that
it may be possible to put a candidate in the
field who does not have a large and well-organized political body behind him.
(Applause.) To keep the schools out of politics
it must be possible for candidates to run for
the school committee without this political
affiliation.
Let the machinery drop more and more
out of sight, so that to the end we desire, we
can devote the best of our strength.

I..

1

Fools are all right, if one doesn't get too
many of them together in the same place.
As an old saying has it, "Ropes get entangled when goats are tied to the same post."
Let us not misjudge the quiet, self-contained man, and let us not fail to remember
that it is ever the empty wagon which makes
the most noise.

l

Friends Who Are Coming _

lj

Jan. 18-Bisho·p Charles Williams of Micha
igan, "Why I Work for the Single Tax,"
Jan. 25-Dr. Albion Woodbury Small of
Chicago University, "The Strength and
\Veakness of Socialism."
Feb. 1-Alexander Irvine of New York.
Feb. 8-Prof. Edward A. Steiner, "The
Inter-National Mind and the Inter-Racial
-• ''

I

rnr-

other Christian folk she interpr eted t.tlat
saying, "the poor ye have always with
you," as a text in which Christ set the seal
of approval upon the state of poverty. Consequently her faith was roughly shaken,
when, in the. course of her business experience, she saw large numbers of able-bodied
men displaced by the introduction of machinery and realized heart0 breakingly that
many of these discharged workers would
never find another jo:>. Poverty so brought
about is NOT the Lord's will, she decided;
there must be something wrong with a . society so mal-adjusted as ours-and something wrong, too, with a church which
counsels submission to such injustice. So,
when on a certain winter evening that she
had set out to go to church, she followed
instead a motley crowd trooping up over
Beacon Hill and found herself at a Ford
Hall Meeting. Great was her joy. Naturally she came again and again, having discovered at last a place wherP the problems
that troubled her were intelligently voiced
if not adequately answered.
Not yet, however, did she become a Socialist. When business called her to the
South for a couple of years it was still the
message of the Ford Hall Meetings and
that alone which she painstakingly sought
out in the home papers. "Ford Hall was
the only thing in Bos ton for which I was
lonely," she says, "and the happiest evening of my week was Monday ·night when
I could read in the Boston papers the varied accounts of the Meeting which you had
held here the night before."
It was while still in the South that Miss
Smith first heard Debs speak. This was in
· March, 1911. Then returning to Boston
and her beloved :\1:eetings at Ford Hall, she
agonized with us here over the Lawrence
strike, and soon after that joined the Socialist party.
Even today, though, she
works harder to make her friends converts
to the Ford Hall idea than to Socialism.
Perhaps she thinks the former will lead
others, just as it led her, into the latter.
In any event she proselytizes zealously and
continuously · for us. "And at the Folks
dinner last spring," she declares proudly,
"there were present no less than twentyfive people whom I personally had led to
know and to love the Ford Hall Meetings."

•
...

Isn't it queer how hard some of us are
fighting today against having forced upon us
that which yesterday we were sure we could
not live without?
The greatest social center is not the great
structure of stone and steel, but it is the
Efficient Man and Efficient Woman-the one
who does the little things better.

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her. Last summer I was watching two little fellows trying to chin a bar. Every time
they would fall back they would say, " Not
quite." "You'll never do that," said a big
girl who was watching them. The six-yearold answered for both of them: "We wasn't
try in' to touch it; we was just reachin' up."
It is a long, long way that man and woman
have come; but they have come all the way
by just reaching up. And wherever a hand
reaches up, God is reaching down. He can't
reach any hand that is folded, but He can
touch any hand that is uplifted as far as it
will go. Education is the removal of limitations ; and the welfare teacher is the one
who can help remove them.
A FUNDAMENTAL DIFFICULTY IN THE
WAY OF IMPROVING BOSTON
SCHOOLS.

By Susan

W.

FitzGerald.

AM not going fo suggest any very definite remedies. It seems to me that the
fundamental difficulty with our schools
is the same thing that is the fundamental difficulty with so much of our common life-the fact that democracy is more
common in speech than in practice, and that
the lesson we have got to learn is not to say
that democracy is an overworked word, but
to learn that it is an underworked thing.
We often say that our schools are the training places for democracy. They ought to be;
and the one advantage they have in the
smaller cities is that it is easier for them, socially at least, to be more democratic.
It would be better for our schools and for
us all if socially the schools were more democratic in Boston today. Of course the
schools cannot be the same in all districts,
but if we could feel that in each school section the schools really gathered together the
whole of the young life and taught them to
work together and think together and pull
together, we should be well satisfied. I don't
know whether we can look to the happy
time when that will be true in all parts of
Boston. There is nothing more damaging to
our public schools than the growth of the
private schools, which always stand for separation.
Our schools must be made democratic educationally, and for this the people in our
schools must be in close touch with the
homes from which the children come. One
of the things which would be a practical help
would be some way in which the parents and
the neighborhood could come into closer
touch with the authorities in the schools and
make them see. what seems to the parents
a help to the children. Vocational schools
.and everything that is a departure from the
. 9ld line of .strict academic--training helps

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should be a committee of seven or_ nine at
least, three of them women. Second, our
present way of nominating members for- the
school ·committee is not democratic. The
present campaign has shown us that this is
true of other public offices also. I hope that
the requirement for 5000 certified names on
the nomination paper will be so changed that
it may be possible to put a candidate in the
field who does not have a large and well-organized political body behind him.
(Applause. ) To keep the schools out of politics
it must be possible for candidates to run for
the school committee without this political
affiliation.
Let the machinery drop more and more
out of sight, so that to the end we desire, we
can devote the best of our strength.
Fools are all right, if one doesn't get too
many of them together in the same place.
As an old saying has it, "Ropes get entangled when goats are tied to the same post."

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Let us not misjudge the quiet, self-contained man, and let us not fail to r~member
that it is ever the empty wagon which makes
the most noise.

I

Friends Who Are Coming .

lj

Jan. 18-Bisho·p Charles Williams of Micha
igan, "Why I Work for the Sin,g le Tax,"
Jan. 25-Dr. Albion Woodbury Small of
Chicago University, "The Strength and
vVeakness of Socialism."
Feb. 1-Alexander Irvine of New York.
Feb. 8-Prof. Edward A. Steiner, "The
Inter-National Mind and the Inter-Racial
Heart."
Feb. 15-Symposium, "Breeding Men."
Speakers to be announced.
Feb. 22--Charles Brandon Booth, "The
Case for the Prisoner."
March 1-Leslie Willis Sprague of Chicago.
March 8-Symposium, on "Journalism."
A. J. Philpott of the Boston Globe and others
to be announced.
March 15-Rev. Harry Ward, "The Challenge of Socialism to Christianity."
March 22-Rev. Frank O. Hall of New
York, "The Moral Law."
March 29-John Cowper Powys of England, " The Economic Aspects of Woman
Suffrage."
A.p ril 5-Mary Church Terrell, "Uncle
Sam and the Sons of Ham."
April 12-Dr. Thomas C. Hall of· New
York.
April 19-Prof. Walter Rauschenbusch.
;-;--

E. L. Grimes CompaRy, P r i n t e r s . ~

122

Pearl Street, Boston, Mass.

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