The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-08-29

Fifty years OF neglect have engen-
dered conditions which the newborn
zeal Of southern whites, armed with
all the wisdom which modern social
science can furnish, will be hard put
70 to combat. And alas! the south
had first to forge her own weapons,
nay, even to build the forge. In all
The south there was no training school
for social workers, few social experts,
few libraries of social science. The
single library of Columbia university
contains more valuable books than are
owned by all the colleges of the south
put together.
So the first thing was to train lead
ers, ali the way from district nurses
to sanitary engineers. The new south
is daring. 1t not only contemplated a
school for social workers whose fac
ulty Of white experts should teach in
a negro department as well as in
classes of their own people, but it
dreamed Of rallying seven religious de-
nominations to the support of the
training school. The dream has come
true. The American Interchurch Col.
lege for Religious and Social Work
ers opens its doors on the 14th of
January. The negro department,
opened on the fiftieth anniversary Of
the proclamation of emancipation, has
been in operation almost a year. The
school has astutely sat itself down In
the shadow of Vanderbilt university
and Peabody college Draining school
for normal teachers) in order to es-
tablish a cooperative triad, nc n
of the colleges duplicating the ad-
vantages of the other two, students Of
one passing freely to lectures in the
others. Since the negro department
is situated at a little distance land al
sc because negro students In the south
do not go to a white college,, profes-
sors and social experts from the north
will repeat their addresses at Nash
vile Institute for Negro Christian
Workers.
Economy is achieved by this happy
arrangement. Each Of the seven CO
operating denominations will eventu-
ally have its own training-school on
lAC SdAnpuog DdAldlh6 ohN ONhAh6 NAOA
own halls and giving at their own ex-
pense all instruction in denomina-
tional doctrine, polity and methods,
while the Interchurch college pro
vides a faculty to give all courses
which can be taken in common by all
the students. This amounts to about
four-fifths of the whole curriculum.
The social service library, already
opened, will be at the command of
all, and a chapel, gymnasium and ad-
ministration building for common use.
No such audacious system of church
cooperation has yet been launched in
America, nor do l know its parallel
anywhere. 1t is estimated hat the
maintenance of seven distinct denomi-
national schools with seven distinct
faculties would require an annual out
lay of $105, 900. Yet the seven, to-
gether with the training schools main
tanned by the Y. NJ. c. A. and Y. w.
c.. A. can be handled comparatively for
$4,000 a year. The saving is actual,
too, for the demand for social work
ers of every sort is SO strong through
out the south that the denominations
would be compelled to build indepen-
IDENTIFY had it not been for the Inter
church college. The south is full
Of the raw material for social work,
college men and women who want
only expert training to make the finest
kind of Instruments. The south needs
not imported northern experts, but
home-bred workers who know their
ground.-Mary Bronson HART in
Washington ID. c. Star.