The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-10-16
SERIES OF LECTURES
 TO BE CONDUCTED.
 BY CATHOLIC WOMEN

i Two meetings held last Saturday
 at the Catholic Community House
 mark the progress made during the
 past seven years in the development | of orga anized Catholic charities in the
 state of Connecticut The members | of the staff of the Diocesan Bureau | of Social Service in Hartford and the
 members of the staff of each of the | five branch bureaus met at II o'clock last Saturday morning There were 1 present 23 full-time workers, com
 ing from Hartford, New Haven, New
 London and Waterbury and including l the staff of the local Catholic Charit- 1 able Bureau.
 Rev. Matthew J. Judge. diocesan director of charities. opened the the growth of the work in the state
 and stating some of the main reasons for the need of organized Catholic charities Father Judge referred to
 the opening of the local Catholic
 Charitable Bureau in January, 1916,
 with one small office and with Miss
 Marguerite Boylan as the only
 worker for period of 8 months. While this bureau had been pre-
 ceded by others in. the larger cities
 such as Boston and Chicago, still it
 is generally conceded that this bur eau was the first central Catholic
 bureau in the United States establish
 ed for the purpose of carrying on a general program of social service in community as the older bureaus
 were all IeSlT1GLeu to some one two phases of charitable endeavor. The Catholic Charitable Bureau of Bridgeport, on the other hand, pro- posed to carry on general social ser vice. Its rapid development has
 been proof of the need of such a bur eau in the city.
 The success of the Bridgeport bur- eau led to the opening of a similar bureau in New Haven three years later. Then in 1920 Bishop Milan put the work on a diocesan basis by establishing the Diocesan Bureau of Social Service in Hartford, with head quarters at PA Main street, appoint ing Rev. Matthew J. Judge, then director of the local bureau, as Dio- cesan Director of Charities. and choos- ing Miss Boylan, then executive sec ecutive scretary of the diocesan of flee.
 The business of the meeting was two-fold, a discussion of the scope and policies of the Girls Welfare work conducted by the bureau and re- port of the results attained this year in the community houses in Hartford, New Haven, New London and Water bury.
 The local Catholic Community House. which is the oldest, reported the most comprehensive program. The present enrolment in the classes is approximately 400. This will be further enlarged as the Literary, Choral and Dramatic clubs are or Sdn1ZSO during .LIe next 1eW weeks, and as new classes are opened. Regis lra tion in all of the current classes is closed, there being only a few va cancies in the Monday evening class in typewriting and business English. The classes now being conducted at the Catholic Community House in clude dressmaking, millinery, basket ry, typeWriting, stenography, business English, business arithmetic, home nursing. first aid, applied art, cook ing and social service. Four educa tiona1 clubs will form another fea- ture of the program.
 At 2:3O in the afternoon there was a joint meeting of the county and local chairmen of the Connecticut Council of Catholic Women and of the special committee on summer l camps for girls. Five counties were | repI Iesented at the meeting;
 The Connecticut Council of Cath | olic Women now numbers about 5,oo0 l members and there is strong rivalry | between the various counties in the | matter of membership and achieve | ment The delegates from the various counties will wear each a distinctive color the annual convention in Hartford on Nov. II this year, Fa1f- field County choosing green as the symbol of fertility and apostoliclty, the county in which the seed of Cath olic social service was first planted.
 The Bridgeport Council of Catholic Women reported on their plans for be given this fall and winter. the names of speakers and dates of lec- lures to be ready for publication within a few days. This course will be given under the joint auspices of ,he local Council of Catholic Women and Catholic Men.
 4 special meeting of the Bridge port Council of Catholic Women will oe held at the Catholic Community House on Friday evening, October | Eth, at which Dr. Susan Sheridan will speak. Miss Sheridan is very | )opular in New Haven as a speaker }n literary subjects. It will be a rare reat to the people of Bridgeport to De able to hear her on this occasion.