Milford chronicle., 1920-07-02
SCHOOL TO OPEN FOR CAN
merry CHILDREN AT HOUSTON

The first summer school in Della
ware for berry-pickers and cannery
workers children will be opened at
Houston, Del, soon under the aus
/ pieces of the WOmens Council 90 Home
Missions One hundred and fifty chill
dren of foreign born women who
come out from Philadelphia, Baltimore
and other large cities to work in the
cannery at Houston will no longer
run Wild a danger to themselves and
the community, but will be carefully
trained and cared for.
In the morning school and kinder
garten will be conducted with day
nursery if such is found necessary.
Then a hot lunch will be served.
There will be supervised play in the
afternoons and in the evenings pro-
groms for the grown ups are cOntem-
plated.
Miss Harriet Chatell, of New York
City will be in charge for the WOm-
ems Council of Home Missions,
which consists of eleven denomina-
tional boards. She is an erpert in this
line of work The Council is CON
ducting these schools for cannery
workers children. which are an in
novation i'm the East. in New Jersey,
Delaware and Maryland. The first
one started in RivertOn, y. j., and is
immensely successful.
The necessity work of this kind was
shown by the world survey Of the In
terchurch World Movement, which
pointed out the fact that each sum
mer finds an army of migrant work
ers which follows in regular suquence
theberry picking. canning. and other
centers as the season advances.
Pastor Thomas c.. Davis of the
First Baptist Church here will have
the direction of the moral teaching,
and will assist in the starting of this
laudable movement i'm Delaware.
During the winter the migrant army
hibernates in cities. but the first
flush of summer finds them on the
march. While they work their dwell
ing places are wherever they can find
a place. Some Of the canneries sup
ply quarters for them, the best the
factory owners can afford to supply.
The problem of morality and care has
become greater as the years have
gone by.
Formerly the older children worked (
in the canneries, but the Child Labor I
Acts ended that and today the child /
is left to himself to find his own (
amusement during the work hours of Z
his parents, with the result that viii ,
lagos in the canning belt have at (
..,,,e Iao., alrnnst terrnrzed hv mnhs of l
half-wiId children. respecting nothing /
and fearing nothing.
Before the war Miss Lila Bell Ach
esOn of California found the same
problem in her own state. With her
sisters she solved it by providing a
rest place, lunch room and amuse-
ment for the women and children of
the berry pickers. When the need was
discovered in the East, she was call
ed here by the Council of Women for
Home Missions and she is now at the
RivertOn centre. The work there is
much like that at Houston, except
that a motor bus will collect the
in the morning and bring
them to the school.
Cooperation has been pledged by
the Gamers and farmers, all of whom
are more than willing to help solve
The problem but have been hindered
in the necessary work for lack Of
funds.
Following are the denominations
in the Council for Home
Missions: Baptist. Christian, Church
# Christ, Congregational, Evangelical
Association, Methodist Episcopal,
Protestant, Presbyterian in
D. S. A., Reformed in the U. s., Re
'ormed in America and United Pres
,yterian.