Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-03-16
FROM A WOMAN'S POINT OF VIEW

ment which is commanding more dt,
tention and respect daily, 1t IS inter
esting to note the part women are TAX
ing in this effort to uplift and better
conditions among the lower classes Of
humanity. Jane Adams and her Hull
House is probably the best known ex-
ample. Seventeen years ago Jane
Adams settled in Chicago's Ghetto.
According to Graham Taylor, in an ar
ticle on whittier the Settlement
Movement Tends" he states that Miss
Adams divides the motive which con-
stitutes the subjective" pressure to-
ward social settlements" into three
great lines: 'Ths first contains the de-
sire to make the entire social organism
democratic, to extend democracy be-
yond it's political expression; the sec
ond lis the impulse to share the race
life and to bring as much as possible
of social energy and the accumulation
of civilization to those portions Of the
race which have little: the third
springs from a certain renaissance of
Christianity, a movement toward dts
early humanitarian aspects" In ac-
cordance with these motives the Hull
House articles of incorporation de-
scribe it's aim thus: 1.-THE o. fect for
which it is formed is to provide a cen-
ter of higher civic and social life, to
/ initiate and maintain educational and
philanthropic enterprises and to inves-
tigate and improve conditions in the
industrial districts Of Chicago"
An interesting development related,
is that of a tendency toward ex-
clusively individual residence and work
! in the midst of industrial populations.
! An example given as typical OF this,
| is "charningly' simple, personal and
successful achievement of woman
in Chicago, who ten years ago, moved
into such a district all alone, and made
her home in rented rooms like any
other neighbor. In these private quar-
tiers she made space for a kindergarten.
| Strong and tender grew the neighborly
relation between her and those whose
race and faith were seldom kindred to
her own. So permanent and appre-
ciated have become the personal ties
naturally formed, that SHE has built a
| house of her own in the chosen neigh
borhocd which counts her as one of its
| longtime residents. No name or fea-
ture indicates any public function of
this private dwelling. 1t differs from
the humble llcrnes next door and
around the corner only by being a hit
tie larger, having some garden space
and modestly showing a taste for
/ beauty"
| Most encouraging. tho, is the fact
that this is no isolated instance, for
investigation shows that an impulse
kindred to that Of the settlement move
ment, is moving not only single lives,
but also families and small groups OF
friends to do likewise, in ways so quiet
and unconstitutional that they happily
escape all notoriety.
In our own community, earnest
women are at work striving to allie
viate suffering and better the condi-
the poorer residence section, cores
ponding, in a lesser degree, to the
slums of the larger cities. The work
of alternating suffering comes under
the supervision cf the Associated Char
tiles; but an equally important work be-
ing conducted, is that taken up by the
Industrial School, at which the child
rem from homes where the parents
themselves have not time to devote to
their development in the art of sew
ing, ETC., are taught to make both use
full garments and pretty trifles for
themselves, and incidentally are I'M
der discipline which teaches all the
little courtesies which make people
agreeable to one another.
In, in
the matter of remembering that which
there is no need to remember. and
which it were better to- forget? An
incident related to us not long ago,
would seem to prove the truth of an
affirmative answer. 1t was the story
of a couple who started married life
in extremely poor circumstances. The
man was money maker, however,
and his wife was a bright, intelligent
girl. and fit helpmate for him. so II
came to pass that they removed from
the little town where they lived as lad
! and lass, and, as the years passed,
accumulated money, which brought
not only Injuries but posltlon.
The man accepted his prosperity
with a glad heart, seeing no reason
Wf1y a. numDl6 UeS llliliA5 'iiooAA AAe.1
his enjoyment Of that which he had
honestly earned. But a memory OF her
early life torlnented the woman, the
memory Of the fact that she had once
been a hired girl. She was fine wo-
man, too, and cultured, but she let
that fault of remembering mar her
character so that she became an I'M
happy, morbid woman. Evidently she
could not recognize that there is no
disgrace in honest work, and that there
are some among hired girls who In the
test or true wolnanhood rank superior
to their mistresses. At any rate, this
woman was so possessed of the fear
that her friends. would remember how
she had once been "menial,' so-called,
that she turned their friendship to dis
like by her constrained manner. and
even those who had liked her best and
been most kind to her in those early
days, could see nothing but the, sour
side to her nature, and developed a
corresponding antipathy. In marked
contrast to her attitude was that of
her husband, a frank, open-hearted,
good fellow, WHO delighted in nothing
more than to sit down with an old