Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-11-12

Il N(NHY1 or Hull House,
i Chicago is a fire.
quent visitor to the National Capital,
and she has many supporters In the
dreams she entertains of having the
national government take up the
| ideals which she advocates. Certainly
the past twenty-five years have shown
such an advance in the progress of set
Element work that it does not seem OPP
timistic to hope that the government
I will take it under special supervision
as IT has other departments connected
with sociological development The
public has gradually lost that fine
scorn it formerly showed for "slum-
| ming and now the women who have
done yeoman service are honored for
their self-sacrifce and heroism.
1T has always seemed to me that
settlement work is the ideal occupa-
/ ton for a woman and for an Amer1-
can. said Miss Adams during re-
i cent visit I'VE have in this country
such rapidly increasing number of
i cultivated young people, mostly girls,
who have no natural outlet for Their
activities. They hear constantly OF
the great social reimbursement. but
/ they see no way to change conditions,
and their usefulness is depressing to
them and others Nearly all these young
i
collegiate training, European travel. an
/ exhaustive study Of economies. and yet
I they have the benumbing feeling of being
unable to help TO readjust things. even
slightly.
K K
Settlement work attracted the intel
ectual and sincere in England, and it was
logical that its meaning should appeal in
i pfry n 10
have distinct advantages over the Eng
lish. There are fewer poor people here
than in Great Britain: certainly there are
| fewer people who expect to remain poor,
| and none are strictly confined to certain
| districts. 1t has always seemed to me
| that our foreign element lends pic
turesaueness to our city life which we do
| not appreciate When We travel in Eu-
| rope we feel that we have missed great
1 deal IL we do not catch a glimpse of
I peasant life and customs In the rural
| parts. If those who are ennuieG would
! only stroll down the streets in all the big
| cities where foreigners reside they would
not feel the need Of a tour of the con-
/ tinent to get local color. In New York.
Chicago. Cleveland. st. Louis. the far
west, there are Bohemian. Italian and
Polish peasants, vainly striving to adjust
their lives to the life Of great. bustling
city. The struggle is so pathetic that 1t
seems a clarion call to help them. and
this really constitutes one of the urgent
appeals which settlement work makes on
the thoughtful and the cultured. That 1t
has attracted many workers argues
well for the future of our nation.
Apart from the high religious and
ethical feeling which makes the basis
for social work. it is so fascinating and
so complete in its experiences. II would
fiji so many empty hours and give such
stimulus to life for those who have
much leisure. There Is the study of the
i t., H. Rrct
third generations. study which really
deserves to have volumes written about
it. The Italian and Bohemian peasants
in Chicago, and I have no doubt in every
other CITY, still dress in the brightest or
colors Sundays and go and visit their
cousins. They go trampinE through the
city exactly as though they were treading
ploughed fields and they chat and laugh
with the abandon OF children. me sec
/ ond generation OF these same peasants
have, as rule. no holiday clothes. ard
they frown darkly on their kin. especially
| the kin just arrived from the other SIDE.
They forget or neglect TIE nospitaoIe
| habits which prevail among foreigners
| even OF the poorest and most ignorant
| type. The American poor. any social
| worker will bear witness. smothers all
| feelings Of hospitality under false pride.
| Inviting the Very poor and entertaining
! them and inspiring them also to enter
tain has been vital part of the work In
and about Hull House.
| 1T is sad but true how often the land
of promise which America Is pictured to
the European peasants turns out dead sea
fruit So many sad cases have come un-
der my eyes, cases when the sufferers
generally needed only heading TO become
useful and prosperous citizens. In the
beginnings of Hull House we had Italian.
German and Russian evenings. when we
! would get as many poor citizens of each
nationality and get some Of the high
class citizens of their own nationality
% come down and help us to enter
tain. We made feasts on the national
i holidays of these various people and
thus gained their confidence.
! The Italian evenings were delight
full, and We found many wealthy and
highly cultured Italian girls to help
prepare a program which appealed to
the eXiles. Gradually the Italians came
TO rs with petty lawsuits. tragic sur
vivals of the vendetta, with their
struggles with American dress. their
bad boys and their sick. The German
evenings. with their inspiring songs,
war strains and folk songs. and their
touching tales about the fatherland,
were also repaying. German women
who had themselves solved the great
enigma of getting along. or were the
who solved II, came to aid us and did
splendid work of ferreting out the very
poor among their country people.
There came among these poor Ger
mans a fine middle-aged woman who
had come to Chicago straight from
! the fields about Hanover. She had
been in Chicago for nearly two years.
and her occupation was TO carry water
up and down three flights of stairs in
order to wash the heavy flannel suits
Of iron foundry workers. She made
So cents a day and seemed completely
bewildered that she could do no bet
ter in a land where everybody was
supposed to be rich. This woman is
now living on a small farm with her
family and she has almost paid for
IT, She has cows. and raises vege-
tables and is prospecting In every
way She did not need charity. But
she did need neighborly help and sug-
gestion.
England claims the establishment of
the settlement movement In 1864. but In
this country II has just reached the