Evening star., 1952-08-26
Why They Col in the Front -Out the Back
By Miriom ottenbero

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School for Girls was sudden but not
unexpected.
For months, welfare officials had been
sounding the alarm publicly while pri-
vately keeping their fingers crossed.
They drew some comfort from the fact
that the superintendent, who had been
imported into the trouble-ridden insti-
tuition last March, appeared to be
maintaining order. At least there had
been no riots, and q program to keep
the girls occupied was gradually taking
shape.
Their public warnings stemmed from
budeetary scramble that left them in
this position:
At $3.50 pm. last Friday, one matron
or supervisor was in sole charge Of AZ
notoriously delinquent girls. Among
them were dope addict, q girl confined
for grand larceny and robbery and
several "come-on" girls in q badger
game.
The lone supervisor. Mrs. Edna Tins
ley. already had had one upsetting
experience. She had taken the girls
outside after supper to play ball and
three Of them had walked away. She
saw them 60 but she couldn't leave the
others. There was nothing to do but
report their departure to police.
At ISIS, she sent the remaining girls to
their third-hoor rooms. She was with
them. according to her later report,
when the doorbell rang. She ran down
the three flights and found two girls
demanding admittance to visit. She
told them to go away.
On the third floor. meanwhile, the
girls were hanging out the, window to
see what was going on. They watched
one of the would-be visitors climbing
fire escape to their floor.
With one girl banging for admittance.
another on the fire escape and AZ ram
bunctious inmates on her hands. Mrs.
Tinsley called the police. That did it.
For the next half-hour, light bulbs,
chairs and anything else movable came
hurtling down the stairs on the police
men. Eight girls got away and five Of
them were recaptured. It took 20 DO
Lcemen to subdue the rioters.
Before police arrived, Mrs. Tinsley
was alone in the old building with the
rioters. She was one of the trained su-
pervisors brought in last December when
the Welfare Department. acting on q
highly critical survey by special COM
mittee, was making top-to-bottom
changes in the staff.
For years riots have rocked the Dis
trictS only institution for colored girls
over IL. Last October, score of police
men were called in to Quen riot among
% inmates. There were two matrons
on duty at that time. Last February,
an argument between a matron and an
inmate over whether a window shade
should be UP or down developed into a
minor riot with $500 damage. There
were enough attendants on hand that
time to quiet the disturbance.
Why Mrs. Tinsley was alone-there-
by creating an invitation to riots
simply explained. The. Welfare Board
tried and failed to get $78 900 out of the
last Congress.
The Welfare Board wanted the $78, 900
because of a problem it knew it would
face last June. For years. teen-age girls
with minor delinquency problems-tru-
ancy, diSobeying parents, staying out too
late-had been sent to Croome Settle
ment School at Croome, Md. This school
was closing. The Welfare Board, with
the responsibility of placing these girls
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the training school under its new name
ored Girls. It asked Congress for $78,-
900 to open and stan two more build
ings on the training school reservation
on Loughboro road. It proposed to in
crease the capacity Of the school from
IS to so girls.
The Welfare Department failed to get
the money. Meanwhile. the girls were
pouring in from Croorne. Obviously.
these girls who needed only a little
training and regular living to be re-
turned to their homes could not be
housed with seriously delinquent girls
who would be in women's reformatory
if only they were year or two older.
So, despite the fact that the Welfare
Department had only enough money to
supervise girls in one building, sec
ond building was opened to house the
Croome girls. That meant splitting
the supervisory staff in half. There
were two n1atrons on duty Friday night,
but the other matron was down the
road with her II chalges. The 5000
would have meant-in addition to food
for the girls-14 more attendants and
an outside guard.
The Welfare Board, lacking the $78,-
600, has set a fat maximum Of IS girls.
If girl commits crime for which the
training school Is the only answer, she
can be admitted only by releasing an
other girl. Welfare officials say this
has made the girls defiant - in the
school and in the community. They
know that an offense that might send
them to prison for long term If they
were older. now means only a few
months in the training school-and they
can walk away without much trouble.
Tangible evidence Of the treadmin
that takes girls in the front door and
lets others out the back came yester-
day. Three girls were residing at the
Receiving Home for Children, awaiting
Juvenile Court action for newly COM
mitted offenses. All of them. according
to Acting Welfare Director Donald
Brewer, had been released from the