Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-07-20
COLUMBUS MILL
SCHOOL HELD As
MODEL BY j. s.
How Georgia City Is Caring for
Cotton Factory Children Told
in Government Pamphlet.

,
cotton mills is the story embodied in
a pamphlet published by the United
States Department of Education,
copies Of which were circulated in
Atlanta yesterday.
How the boys and girls of the mills
themselves work against going to
school, rendering doubly hard the
problem before the public, is a pitt
full note of the story.
They call their school in Columbus
the dinner toters' school," because
even during their school days they
must work, taking hot lunches to
their parents, brothers, sisters, and
others who work in the mills.
Must Take Parents Lunch.
The pamphlet tells of this custom
= revealing something of the life of the
cotton mill child. 1t says:
The long intermission in the mid
die of the day is necessary that the
children may take the lunches to the
mills. Many Of the mills are some
distance from the school-some more
than a mile away. Most of the chill
dren, therefore, walk more than two
miles during the noon hour. Be
sides. they are compelled to wait 20
or 30 minutes for the operatives to
eat their dinners before taking the
baskets back
Some children earn several dol
lars each week by carrying such
baskets to mill operatives. The price
usually paid for taking lunch to one
person for a week is 25 cents, and
children often take lunches to sew
eral persons"
The booklet was prepared by Ro-
land B. Daniel and was published
by the Department of Education as
the description Of an admirable sys-
tenn. 1t deals not only with the mill
children, but with the boys and girls
who are more fortunate, showing
how the Columbus scheme Of educa-
ton is variable, being adapted to
meet the demands that come with a
mixed population so as to care alike
for the two classes. p. ?. Claxton,
Federal Commissioner of Education,
says in the foreword to the book:
Columbus was one of the first Of
this country's cities to work out GER
tain phases of this problem Z of
adaptation"
The Columbus schools effect indus
trial training for all children, but a
training varied according to the class
from which the children come.
Call of Mills Strong.
The writer, Mr.. Hill. laments the
fact that "the call Of the mills is
strong"
while the prescribed course for
the mill children contemplates seven
years. few continue after the fifth or
sixth year" he wrote. Not more
than l per cent finish this school and
pursue their studies further"
In all lines of work, academic and
Industrial the aim of the school for
mill operatives is to better living con-
ditions n little among the people for
whom ID was organized That is the
only hope. In the beginning the ad-
vocates of this type of school thought
that many of the mill children might
be induced to continue in school and
do more advanced work, especially
along vocational lines. In this re-
spect the school has been a disap-
pointment TO some
I'VE are seldom able to induce pu-
pills to finish even the limited course
offered in this school," writes Mr..
Daniel. Our best hope is that we
may better living conditions little"
Toward the end, the school has been
made a sort of social center. The
school is in session the entire year
around, and pupils are promoted quar-
terly, that the children will not drift
away, as it is feared they would
surely do in the case OF a three
months vacation. Teachers do social
work, visiting the sick, distributing
certain charity, obtaining means Of
operation for the physically defective,
arranging for social evenings, foster
ing organizations among the older
people, and dealing in like activities.
Summing up the work of the school,
the writer says:
while this school has done good
work and its benefits have been felt
we are sure the weakest point in it is
not being able to hold the children
long enough to receive its full benefits
An enforced attendance law would
aid very materially in this respect"
Industrial Work Taught.
Along with the three Rs the mill
children are trained in industrial
branches, being taught woodworking
and gardening. The girls are given
work in basket making, sewing, cook
Ing, poultry raising and gardening
In its scheme of adaptation, the
city has an altogether different school
for other children. The regular
grade work is done, and in the ira
ditional high school a year and a
half of industrial work, manual
training for the boys and domestic
science for the girls is given.
Another variation comes when the
curriculum OF the negro SC0OOlS are
worked out. There is industrial ed
ucation for negroes in the public
school, but different from that sup
piled the white children. The Co
tumbus method is altogether one Of
adaptation.
The difference lies in the fact that
the negroes receive more of the
training, going into more branches
Of manual labor, and taking it
throughout the school course. AL
most every branch of work with the
hands is offered them. OF this work
the booklet says:
Pupils who remain in the schools
long enough to complete the course
receive in compensation for their
.abor upon leaving school about
twice what they would receive for
unskilled labor such as they would
be able to render without such train
ing. 1t is often the case that one of
these boys is able to earn 81 day
at the age of II when his father,
without such preparation, receives
s1.25 for unskilled labor.
High School in Scheme.
The book, being altogether treat
Sc on industrial education in Co
rumbus, is given over largely to
description of the courses in the Co
.umbus Industrial High School, the
pride of the city's scheme of educa
ion The school besides its aCa-