Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-04-23
Education of
Immigrants.


immigrant-built nation. All over the
country activities are in progress as
never before toward the solution of the
various problems connected with the
proper assimilation of aliens into our
life with as little damage and as great
good as possible at once to our fnsti-
tutions and the immigrants. In this
work various departments and bureaus
of the federal government are taking
a leading part, one of the most recent
phases of such activity being the work
of the division of immigrant education
of the bureau of education in seeking to
interest universities and colleges to
offer professional courses of training
for social service among immigrants.
Through the committee for immi-
grants in America the bureau learned
that as a result of an inquiry among
425 universities. colleges and special
educational institutions such as mis-
sionary training schools, it developed
that only fourteen such institutions
are offering special courses treating
the problems of immigration, and that
practically all of these confine their
work to an academic consideration.
giving little attention to the practical
side of the matter.
One of the first steps of the bureau
was to have prepared a syllabus sug-
costing in detail a course to be given
phase of social work for immigrants,
and also including photography for
more extended reading. The student
following the outline will be given an
ton, it's causes, the handicaps that the
newly arrived aliens are under, their
distribution, the surroundings that
they usually enter. their experiences
In various industries, their standards
of living. their education and the mo-
haf
listing immigration laws as well as dis
cussion of projected changes are also
included in the course, as are oppor-
tunities for service. Copies of this
err institutions of learning. and several
of them have already adopted the
course in full. while others will give
part of it.
In emphasizing the Importance of
training leaders for immigration work
the bureau of education points out
that there are numerous phases to
such work and that in practically all
the special fields there is dearth of
properly equipped workers. Reports
to the bureau show that in some local
tiles evening school classes for for
eigners have actually been abandoned
because principals and teachers pos
sesstng the special training for the
work were not available.
In addition to the new work looking
to the creation of immigration spe-
cialists through colleges the bureau of
education is carrying on an extensive
campaign in the America first" move
ment-and all season Americanization
movement which is to a large extent
an outgrowth of the celebration of
special Americanization days in GER
tain localities for several years past.
AS q feature of this movement the
bureaus division of immigration edu-
cation had prepared an America first"
poster with explanatory text calling
on foreigners in eight languages to
learn English, attend night school and
become citizens in order to secure bet
ter opportunities and stations in life
and to make better America.
At first these posters were placed
only in public buildings and sent to
school superintendent, but soon a