The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1883-11-21
Industrial Education for women.

At the Fifteenth Anniversary of the
women's Christian Association of Cleve-
land Mrs. ii. M. Ingham the Secretary, who
recently read paper at the Inter National
Conference at Boston, said that the most
pressing topic discussed there was the
need of industrial training for women. In
her review of the work she says;
The education of American girls, while
intellectually broad, is singularly deficient
in everything that would fiji them for per-
sonal independence. Neither at home nor
at school does the average girl thoroughly
learn anything that makes the earning of
her own livelihood a possible thing. The
consequence is that employment beaureaus
and benevolent societies are overwhelmed
by the necessities of multitudes of unskill-
ed, inefficient women, brought by one
means or another to want, and utterly help
less. Burdened beyond expression by this
weight of misery, the conference sent forth
an emphatic protest against this folly of
modern education, and its earnest appeal
for the practical training of every daugh-
ter, of rich or poor. But meanwhile there
are the victims of years of false education
to provide for, and more than all else the
associations desire to establish schools of
cooking, model laundries, sewing schools,
dressmaking schools, classes in bookkeep-
ing. typewriting, stenography, art classes,
etc, to train these helpless girls 10 inde-
pendent skill. This the Cleveland aesocia-
lion longs to do. But for this it needs,
first, new building and the necessary
appliances; and secondly, a greatly enlarg-
ed force of workers For these il makes its
appeal TO the generous in heart, blessed by
pecuniary means, or by time, skill, and
devotion"
There is scarcely day that the truth OF
the above is not forced upon our attention
Within an hour a dressmaker has said 70
us "We could use two more hands il we
could get those qualified to do good work
1t seems 10 be a question of good wages
and easy work rather than ability cheerful
application, and faithfulness TO the inter.
ests of the employer. When there is such
growing demand for skilled work OF
every kind itwould seem as though both
parents and young women would see the
desirability of ensuring future comfort and
Independence BY taking pains to learn,
and quickening their ambition to improve
and acquire skill in whatever they choose
W o0cPh may corn a AA'Sia-
hood, if circumstances demand or their
wishes incline to be self supporting. There
is so much false pride concerning the
earning Of money by women, for which
parents are to blame, and a great deal OF
the worlds misery results from this kind
| of education or lack of education. At the
International Conference the experience
of the representatives. in charitable associ
stions emphasized the fact that 1t ouly
works injury to offer pecuniary aid tc
those able to work. Yet very much of dis
tress and poverty is the direct result o.
inefiiciency, unwise expenditure of money
unskillful methods of work, and the shift
less habits of able bodied but indolent peo
pie. The ranks of pauperism and suffering
mus, be constantly recruited on account o
this deficiency in the early training.