The Washington herald., 1912-09-08

Europe. She came 70 know the work
intimately Of Arnold Toyuhee and Lon
don's Toynbse HAIL She. was thinking.
reaAing. making notes Of pregnant
phrases Of the worlds social thinkers-
Then she came to Chicago. and With
Miss Ellen Gates starr she started Hull
House, People called II at nrst Amer
ica's Toynbee Hail. To-day II 10 reccg-
nized a perhaps the model social sstfle-
ment Of the world One departure was
q mems settlement only; Miss Adams
made hers . work for women a. well.
For years q photograph Of roynbee Hall
stood on them antei In the Old sitting
room Of the nrst building Of the Chicago
plant
That original old brick house. the Hull
mansion, stood on South Halsted Street
with q lot Of dflapidated wooden cot
tages all around II. Butler Hall was
added a. . wing running forward to the
sidewalk line. Then the children's build
ing was added as a north wing. and
where the lilac bushes used OF stand. II
now the street court to the largest In
little boys used to play marbles In the
mud of that front yard. Now the plant
covers two blocks
It was after ten years at Hull House
that Miss Adams work came to be
well known to the nation The world
now knows well the ofices that have
been given her. her presidency OF the
National Conference of Charities and
Correction and the like. but there are
lot of things Of fundamental importance
which she has done that the world knows
little of.
Family Work.
For instance. she has re-estahlished a
multitude of fathers and mothers In the
respect Of their children. Foreign fami-
lies come to American cities and the
adaptable children readily adopt the, nav
ways The older people cling to the
habits of home. which often make them
the butt Of ignorant Americans The
children see others make fun Of their
parents and become ashamed Of them
and scornful. They refuse their advice.
become careless Of the claims OF home.
and the happiness OF the family is gone
dustrial museum. After few ytars II
came to occupy the entire building with
It's shops. These are looms where ths
old -counsry women spin Cases contain
samples Of work loaned by the neighbor
women. The woodcarvfng and metal
work Of the fathers were put on show az
Hull House. When the children saw
these things were worth while. that they
might not get their fathers and mothers
a lob, but they were works Of art worthy
to 70 on display. they were no longer
ashamed to be called foreign-oorn. and
they began TO give their parents their
need of respect. Many homes thus have
been reunited in that Nineteenth Ward:
It's a simple thing. But II Is just BY
such thoughtfulness and fnventiveness.
and from such beginnings. that all the
great activities of Hull House have de-
yeloped. The very first thing that the
ladies Of the house did when they moved
down there in 1859 was to make II clear
that they merely wanted to be friendly
with the neighbors- The neighbors did
not see just why these ladies wanted TO
be friends, but they had been called on.
and they put on their best and returned
the call, and no one knew Just what
might happen when guests and hostess
sat opposite each other in the old man
sion About the first club the house had
was not a club at all, but German
evening. to which the women came with
their knitting and the men with their
long tasselled pipes
Mothers who had to work asked the
Hull House workers to Keep. the baby
for the day." and thus the Day Nursery
came. In very similar manners came
the Ice and Pure MIR Distribution. the
tuberculosis Cottage. the Penny Savings
Bank, the Working Peoples Social Sci
ence Club. the Boys Club. the Mems
Club. the woman's Club. the Jane Club.
the Coffee House, the Theater. and 50
en- The italian people have their an
nual Mardi Gras, the Irish have their ST
Patrick's Cotilfon. the Greeks give the
dramas Of Sophocles.
Great Versatility.
Miss Adams argues the child-en-the-
stage problem publicly with Augustus
Thomas, the playwright. She appears on
the vaudeville stage, after much hesita-
ton. IL by that means she might get the
ears of persons whom she wished TO
reach with the message she has to de-
liver She went after the penny-in-the-
slot machines. Three hundred of the
nickel machines" she says. were taken
out of Chicago in one month-and taken
to Kansas City, She helped Chicago to
get her fourteen small parks, each with
a dance hall where young people may
dance after working hours. With the
OF druggists. we de-
stroyed." she says, 2,oo.ooo improper
and suggestive post cards in year"
And now, having ben asked why she
has Joined the third party. she saws:
Because the programme 1t has outlined
contains all the things / have been
lighting for more than a decade. a
minimum wage, old-age pension. child
labor. equal suffrage. protection OF
women IN the fnduStrieS lHeic
are many Of Mr.. Roosevelt's views with
which I do not agree. He says and does
things which do not meet my approval.
but ! overlook these things because OF
the program Of social work subscribed
to by this convention. - do not
think the new party will have behind 1t
the whole influence Of women every
where. particularly those who ask for
the suffrage. 49, There will be women
like myself, whose first thought Is social
work. and there will perhaps align
themselves as I have because the new
party offers q complete programme. and
not bit here and q bit there. as do the
platforms of the other parties"
Thus Miss Adams shows again that,
frst and always, she Is a social worker.
she has been true to the
purpose thus stated when Hull House
was founded:
ITO provide a center for q higher civic
and social life: to institute and maintain
and philanthropic enter
and to investigate and improve
the conditions in the industrial districts
Of Chicago"
No Going Back.
Ffum the Chicago Journal
Among the many basic weaknesses Of
socialism Is the fact that it Is reaction
airy, instead Of progressive. It is trying to
turn back the hands on the clock Of
evolution.