The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-10-24
PHILANTHROPY TAUGHT AT NIGHT First School of the Kind for
 Social Workers IN NEW YORK CITY The Universities for a New Profession and What They Are Accomplish
 ing for Benefit of Those
 Who Need.
IN NEW YORK CITY
BY ORLANDO F. LEWIS.

l
 (Exclusive Service The Survey Press
 Bureau.)
 Have you ever been to night school? Have you ever been to a Night School ] of Philanthropy" The second question will be answered in the affirmative this winter by some 90 New York men and women who are attending the first night school of that kind ever established.
 The word philanthropy useo to mean gifts on large scale for large purposes. Another meaning of the word Is "the doing of good for the benent or those who are in need Eleven years ago there was established in the city Of New York a so-called School of Philanthropy under the auspices of the Charity organization society. In the goo1 oId days, ten years ago. people laughed at @he Idea that charity could be taught. Today 1t is seen that there are economical and efficient ways of helping the needy, just as there are economical and efficient ways of spending the citys money, or the money of life insurance policy holders, or the money of stockholders in large corpora tions. Indeed the New York School of Philanthropy and a score of other impor tant social movements, have taught the American public within ten years that philanthropy is a profession, which can be practiced in a skilled way or In an unsldl1ed way, and that there IS waste and overlapping and ignorance in the unskilled doer of good deeds, Just as there is in every occupation. That Is the es- sence Of the work of the four training schools in philanthropy which today are being successfully carried in New ard The New York school has nearly one hundred pupils during the winter and about seventy lecturers, each giving from one to several lectures. And, unlike most schools the lecturers are drawn right from active life to tell of their exper1- enees. For instance, the manager of an institution will come from his daily work the superintendent of a prison from his administration building, the settlement worker from the settlement in some crowded part of the city where his work is.
 In short, this training school in New York is similar to a medical school or law school in that 1t gives specialized training for definite profession. Students come from all over the country. And what is true of New York is practically true of all the schools of philanthropy. Their success is due partly to the fact that they are dealing constantly with vital present-day conditions and partly to the fact that they are applying effi- cient workers in field where the de- mand far exceeds the supply.
 Indeed the subject of "social justice is now coming to be recognized as a real and important calling. The 20th century will undoubtedly be regarded as the cen tury of social justice. just as the 18th century was the century of commercial otr inn rAot cial movements of today, like the cam paign against tuberculosis, child labor, the consumers league, the housing movement the movement for parks and playgrounds, are but the rorerunner5 of even greater movements for social jus tice that will develop during the next 100 years.
 To manage those movements requires specialists who are not lawyers, or doc tors, or college professors alone and may yet be any one of these. It requires trained students of social conditions who are wise executives, organizers, promot- CTS and to some extent prophets. Such products the schools of philanthropy are aiming to produce. The schools further more aim to train for all branches of so- cial work. They recognize that trained service is necessary in charitable soc1e- ties In hospitals, in institutions and other organizations.
 It is this fact that practically led to the establishment. as an experiment, of the first night school of philanthropy in New York city. which opened on October 5, under the auspices of the Charity Or ganization society This night school is exclusively for those who are engaged in social work during the day, but who wish to keep abreast of present-day con ditions and movements. Just as night school Is valuable for those who work during the day, so night training for those who engage in social work during the day time Is a natural need. The enroll ment of the school Is over fifty
 Of itself, the school is, of course. very small in comparison with the great edu- cational system of this country, but 1t Is large in significance for the future, for 1t means that the time will come when practically all social workers will feel 1t necessary to supplement their daily service by occasional evening courses in which the latest word In social work can be presented and discussed.