JUNE 1925
THE UNITED AMERICAN
Page Twenty-eight
AN AMERICANIZATION REVIEW FROM
CLEVELAND
(Continued from Page Twenty-Five)
instruction for adult groups. A special training course
to teachers was offered to those who were just entering
the field of Elementary Adult Education.
The International Institute of the Y. W. C. A.
presented a program for the year which represented
the union of two fields of social work — that involving
individuals in their adjustment to social environment
and that involving groups for the conservation of social
values. The Institute conducted English classes during
the year with an average of forty-seven sessions per
week. Considerable educational promotion was also
carried on through club organization. One such club
was composed of two hundred and five members repre
senting twenty-one nationalities. The International
Institute was instrumental on many occasions in
furnishing foreign talent at social functions interna
tional in character.
The enrollment in one hundred and two Naturaliza
tion classes at the Citizens’ Bureau reached four
thousand seven hundred and one; over eight hundred
more than were enrolled in 1923. The tendenecy toward
more immediate Naturalization was greatly stimulated
by the eisacfement of the Quota Immigration Law of July
1st, under the provisions of which, preferences were
accorded to relatives of American Citizens who desired
to emigrate to the United States. The total number
of individuals served was thirty-two thousand and
forty, an increase of five thousand five hundred and
forty-three over the number assisted during the
previous fiscal year.
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RANSOM’S REFORMATION
A few years ago there was a shiftless colored boy named
Ransom Blake, who, after being caught in a number of petty
delinquencies, was at last sentenced to a short term in the
penitentiary, where he was set to learn a trade. On the day
of his return home he met a friendly white acquaintance,
who asked:
“Well, what did they put you at in the prison, Ranse?”
“Dey started in to make an honest boy out’n me, sah.”
“That’s good, Ranse, and I hope they succeeded?”
“They did, sah.”
“And how did they teach you to be honest?”
“Dey done put me in the shoe shop, sah, nailin’ pasteboard
onter shoes fo’ leather soles, sah.”—Tit-Bits.
Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thy
heart be glad when he is overthrown. — Proverbs of Solomon.
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*
Promulgation of recent rulings from the Bureau
of Naturalization, became a source of much irritation
and confusion in local Naturalization procedure. A
ruling by the Comissioner early in August of the year
requiring applicants for a First’ Paper to furnish a
Certificate of Arrival before its issuance, was
challenged by the Citizens’ Bureau in an action brought
by an immigrant by the name of James Sajo at the
Common Pleas Court. The Court held in its published
opinion that the ruling of the Department of Labor
was unfair, unnecessary and in direct conflict with
the Naturalization Act of Congress. This ruling was
later observed in many other Naturalization Courts.
♦
the Western Reserve Chapter of the D. A. R. assisted
in meeting the expenses of the refreshments and sending
delegates each time to act as hostesses. The programs
were of excellent quality, some of them really artistic.
The following national groups presented programs on
assigned evenings: the Czecks; Slovenians; Slovaks;
Croations; and the Poles.
A number of agencies other than those already
mentioned, during the year took a very active interest
in the city’s work with its foreign speaking residents.
Some assisted with the financial support of institutions
doing special types of work; others provided entertain
ments and concerts in which the; foreign speaking
people were invited to active participation. Among
such agencies should be listed the following: The Moses
Cleveland Chapter of the D. A. R., the Y. M. C. A.,
the Settlement House, and the Welfare Department
of the City Administration.
| SAVE
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EARN
*
The annual celebration of the Graduation exercises
was held at Luna Park on last July fourth. Fully
five thousand attended the exercises and listened to
the program after which about two hundred and fifty
took part in the city pageant, “Spirit of America,”
presented by the city in cooperation with the Federa
tion of Womens Clubs at Wade Park in the evening.
Perhaps one of the outstanding features of the
year’s work among the adult foreign speaking people
residents of the city was the series of entertainments
presented at the Broadway Branch of the Public
Library. Twelve such entertainments were held on
Tuesday evenings during the early part of the year;
eight of these were followed by an informal reception
in the reading rooms. The American Committee of
The Northwestern National Bank
Portland
Oregon
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Morrison Street, Sixth to Broadway
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