Evening star., 1934-04-24
SELF-HELP UNITS
|. DISPLAY TO OPEN
Roosevelt to 0fficiate at
Exhibit Later to Be Viewed
by Public.

President Roosevelt will officiate at
pm. today at the formal opening Of
joint public exhibition Of products
made by the various self-help groups
Of unemployed throughout the coun-
try as well as the activities Of the
subsistence homesteads which will be
held at the Commerce Department
Building.
The President is scheduled to make
q brief address and then the Chief
Executive, with Mrs. Roosevelt, Secre-
tary of the Interior Ickes and Harry
L. Hopkins, Federal Emergency Relief
administrator. will show the exhibits
to distinguished group of especially
invited guests. Owing to the limited
capacity Of the auditorium, only
members of the cabinet, members Of
Congress and other prominent officials
have been invited to this preview.
Admission is by card only.
Open to Public Later.
After today. the exhibit will be
open to the public through Saturday.
Like the exhibit of Public Works of
Art, the products are expected to
create widespread attention. They in
clude many ingenuously contriyed and
useful articles, ranging from furniture
! and rugs to shoes, tools and preserved
food. They are samples Of what these
cooperative groups Of unemployed
| make and exchange among themselves
in lieu of money to provide a major
portion of their livelihood.
Strictly speaking, the exhibition Is
| under the auspices of the division Of
subsistence homesteads Of the Interior
Department, the Tennessee Valley
Authority and the Committee on Self
Help of the Federal Emergency Relief
Administration. These activities rep
resent just another phase on the far
| flung front Of national recovery.
20 States Represented.
One of the most interesting exhibits
Is reproduction of a bed room and
living room typical of houses being
constructed for the Reedsville, w. Va,
Experimental Village. Many of the
articles we're furnished by the home
steaders and others who have received
self-help aid from the Emergency Re-
lief Administration.
The exhibits occupy two rooms ad-
jacent to the auditorium, the lobby
space leading to the auditorium and
a part of the auditorium itself. The
two rooms will be reproductions of the
West Virginia homes. There will be
two hand looms in operation to DEM
onstrate the type of weaving done at
Morgantown, w. Va, and Bridgeport,
Conn. Products from about 80 CO.
operatives in 20 States will be on dis
play.
BY April u, approximately 1870 self
help co-operatives had received Fed
eral grants totaling 745,274. These
grants-in-aid serve as working capital
and are not used as direct relief. In
some instances they are loans.
$4,000 Engaged.
As early as 1921. cooperative pro-
duction and barter associations were
developed by groups throughout the
country. These self-help groups made
brave attempt toward self-support
during the years Of the depression.
In November, 1888, the Joint Commit
tee on Self-Help was established. 1t
is composed of Jacob Baker, assistant
administrator of the Federal Emer-
gency Relief Administration, and DR..
M. l.. Wilson, director of the Subsist-
ence Homestead Division, Interior De-
partment. Miss Margaret M Gillies
is director in charge Of this work of
the Joint Committee
There are about $4,000 persons en-
gagged in some form Of employment
with self-help co-operatives at pres
ent. Many Of the groups have ambi-
tious plans for the future The Fed
eral Relief Administration will con-
tinue to grant them aid, Director
Hopkins said, as long as they can
show a substantial saving in direct
aid.