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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/24688-8.txt b/24688-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..310916c --- /dev/null +++ b/24688-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3453 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Making of a Trade School, by Mary Schenck Woolman + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Making of a Trade School + +Author: Mary Schenck Woolman + +Release Date: February 26, 2008 [EBook #24688] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAKING OF A TRADE SCHOOL *** + + + + +Produced by Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + + THE MAKING + OF A TRADE SCHOOL + + + _By_ MARY SCHENCK WOOLMAN + + _Director of Manhattan Trade School for Girls + Professor of Domestic Art, Teachers College, Columbia University_ + + + [Device] + + + WHITCOMB & BARROWS + 1910 + BOSTON + + + + + Copyright 1909 + By Teachers College + + + Thomas Todd Co., Printers + 14 Beacon Street + Boston + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PART PAGE + + I. ORGANIZATION AND WORK 1 + + II. REPRESENTATIVE PROBLEMS 38 + + III. EQUIPMENT AND SUPPORT 53 + + IV. OUTLINES AND DETAILED ACCOUNTS OF DEPARTMENT WORK 58 + + + + +THE MAKING OF A TRADE SCHOOL + + + + +PART I + +ORGANIZATION AND WORK + + +History + +The Manhattan Trade School for Girls began its work in November, 1902. +The building selected for the school was a large private house at 233 +West 14th Street, which was equipped like a factory and could +comfortably accommodate 100 pupils. Training was offered in a variety of +satisfactory trades which required the expert use of the needle, the +paste brush, and the foot and electric power sewing machines. + +Beginning with twenty pupils on its first day, it was but a few months +before the full 100 were on roll and others were applying. In +endeavoring to help all who desired instruction the building was soon +overcrowded. It thus became evident that, unless increased accommodation +was provided, the number already in attendance must be decreased and +others, anxious for the training, must be turned away. It was decided +that even though the enterprise was young the need was urgent, demanding +unusual exertion. It would therefore be wise to make every effort to +purchase more commodious quarters. In June, 1906, the school moved to a +fine business building at 209-213 East 23d Street, which could offer +daily instruction to about 500 girls. + +The movement owes its existence to the earnest study that a group of +women and men, interested in philanthropic, sociological, economic, and +educational work, gave to the condition of the working girl in New York +City. They were all intimately acquainted with the difficulties of the +situation. Early in the winter of 1902 this committee made a special +investigation of the workrooms of New York. They were but the more +convinced that (1) the wages of unskilled labor are declining; (2) while +there is a good opportunity for highly skilled labor, the supply is +inadequate; (3) the condition of the young, inexpert working girl must +be ameliorated by the speedy opening of a trade school for those who +have reached the age to obtain working papers; (4) if public instruction +could not immediately undertake the organization of such a school, then +private initiative must do it, even though it must depend for its +support upon voluntary contributions. The result was that an extreme +effort was put forth and the following November the first trade school +in America, for girls of fourteen years of age, was begun. + +The first Board of Administrators, composed largely of members of the +original committee of investigators, was as follows: + +President, Miss Virginia Potter; Vice-Presidents, Dr. Felix Adler, Mr. +John Graham Brooks, Mrs. Theodore Hellman, Mrs. Anna Garlin Spencer, +Mrs. Henry Ollesheimer; Treasurer, Mr. J. G. Phelps Stokes; Secretary, +Mr. John L. Eliot; Assistant Secretary, Miss Louise B. Lockwood; +Director, Professor Mary Schenck Woolman. + + +Purpose and Scope + +The immediate purpose of the school was to train the youngest and +poorest wage-earners to be self-supporting as quickly as possible. It +was decided to help the industrial workers rather than the commercial +and professional, as the last two are already to some extent provided +for in education. The function of the school was, therefore, that of the +Short-Time Trade School, which would provide the girl who must go to +work the moment she can obtain her working papers (about fourteen years +of age) with an enlightened apprenticeship in some productive +occupation. Such training cannot be obtained satisfactorily in the +market. The immature workers are present there in such large numbers +that they complicate the industrial problem by their poverty and +inability, and thus tend to lower the wage. Jane Addams, of Hull House, +Chicago, says these untrained girls "enter industry at its most painful +point, where the trades are already so overcrowded and subdivided that +there remains in them very little education for the worker." The school +purposed to give its help at this very point. + +Trade, on its side, is eager to have skilled women directly fitted for +its workrooms, but finds them hard to obtain. The school's duty was to +discover the way to meet this wish of the employers of labor. It is true +that the utilitarian and industrial education offered by public and +private instruction has benefited the home and society, but such +training has not met the problem of adequately fitting for specific +employments the young worker who has but a few months to spare. The lack +in this instruction has been in specific trade application and +flexibility as to method, artistic needs, and mechanical devices. These +points are essential to place the girl in immediate touch with her +workroom. + +Therefore the Manhattan Trade School assumed the responsibility of +providing an economic instruction in the practical work of various +trades, thus supplying them with capable assistants. Hence its purpose +differed not only from the more general instruction of the usual +technical institution, but also from those schools which offered +specific training in one trade (such as dressmaking), in that it (1) +offered help to the youngest wage-earners, (2) gave the choice among +many trades, and (3) held the firm conviction that the adequate +preparation of successful workers requires more factors of instruction +than the training for skill alone. The ideals of the school were the +following: (1) to train a girl that she may become self-supporting; (2) +to furnish a training which shall enable the worker to shift from one +occupation to another allied occupation, _i. e._, elasticity; (3) to +train a girl to understand her relation to her employer, to her +fellow-worker, and to her product; (4) to train a girl to value health +and to know how to keep and improve it; (5) to train a girl to utilize +her former education in such necessary business processes as belong to +her workroom; (6) to develop a better woman while making a successful +worker; (7) to teach the community at large how best to accomplish such +training, _i. e._, to serve as a model whose advice and help would +facilitate the founding of the best kind of schools for the lowest rank +of women workers. + +In other words, the Manhattan Trade School aimed to find a way (1) to +improve the worker, physically, mentally, morally, and financially; (2) +to better the conditions of labor in the workroom; (3) to raise the +character of the industries and the conditions of the homes, and (4) to +show that such education could be practically undertaken by public +instruction. The four aims are really one, for the better workers should +improve the product, make higher wages, react advantageously on the +industrial situation and on the home, and the course of instruction +formulated to accomplish this end would help in the further introduction +of such training. + +It was not expected that immature girls of fourteen or fifteen years of +age would, immediately on entering the market, make large salaries or be +broad-minded citizens. The hope was to give them a foundation which +would enable them to adapt themselves to situations best fitted to their +abilities and to make possible a steady advance toward better +occupations, wages, and living. In order to do this, each girl on +entering the school must be regarded as having capacity for some special +occupation. This aptitude must be discovered that she may be placed +where she can attain her highest efficiency as rapidly as possible. She +must be treated individually, not as one of a class. Her own efforts +must be awakened, her handicaps, such as inadequate health and +unadaptable education, must be removed, and her training proceed in a +way to give her possession of her powers. + + +Conditions among the Workers + +The conditions of life among many of the wage-earners of New York City +are, briefly stated, as follows: Thousands of families are so poor that +the children must go to work the moment the compulsory school years are +over. In 1897, 14,900 boys and girls dropped from the fifth school +grade, most of them going to work from necessity more or less pressing. +To rise to important positions in factories, workrooms, or department +stores will require a practical combination of any needed craft with the +ability to utilize their school education in rapid deductions, business +letters, accounts, and trade transactions. The public school offers such +children a general education which will be completed in the eighth +grade, but the majority leave before that time. For varying reasons, +such as their foreign birth, irregular attendance, the impossibility of +much personal attention in the crowded classes of a great city, poor +conditions of health, and the desire of the pupils to escape the routine +of school as soon as the law will allow, the greater number of them, who +go early into trade, have not had a satisfactory education for helping +them in their working life. Year after year are they found wanting, and +yet young workers still come from the schools at fourteen with poor +health, little available hand skill, unprepared to write business +letters or to express themselves clearly either by tongue or pen, +uninterested in the daily news except in personal or tragic events, +unaware of municipal conditions affecting them, ignorant of the simple +terms of business life, and with their arithmetic unavailable for use, +even in the simple fundamental processes when complicated with details +of trade. The mechanical processes, therefore, which they do know are +now useless unless they can first think out the problem. + +These boys and girls have no regret at leaving the schools, and are, as +a rule, glad to get to work. The tragedy of life, however, begins when +they become wage-earners, for they are only fitted for unskilled and +poorly paid positions. A little fourteen-year-old girl finds it +difficult to obtain a satisfactory occupation in the teeming workrooms +of New York. She, or some member of her family, eagerly searches the +advertising sheet of one of the daily papers. Most of the "Wants" are +entirely beyond her crude powers to supply. An unskilled worker is +perhaps desired in some business house, but the applicant finds that +hundreds of other girls are flocking to obtain the same position, and +her chance is too remote for hope. Or perhaps, after weary days of +wandering about from place to place, she is recommended to the boss of +some shop, and finds herself in the midst of machines which rush forward +at 4,000 or more stitches a minute. She assists a busy worker on men's +shirts, her duty being to pin parts together, to finish off, or to run +errands. From early morning to late afternoon, with an interval for +lunch, she must be ready to lend a hand. She can get at best but $2.50 +or $3.00 per week. No rise is possible in this shop unless she can work +well on a machine. Her fellow-workers are too busy to teach her, for +each moment's pause means reduction in their little wage. Perhaps she +does persist and finally can control a machine. By learning to do one +thing rapidly she can obtain a better wage, but two or even more years +in trade often pass before she can earn five dollars a week. After +several seasons spent in doing the same process thousands of times, her +desire for new work becomes deadened, and she is afraid to attempt +anything different from her one set task. She usually refuses to try +more advanced work, even if offered a good salary while she is learning, +for she has lost her ability to push ahead. + +In general, it may be said that the untrained girl has to take the best +place she can find, without reference to her ability, her physical +condition, or her inclination. The most desirable trades are seldom open +to her, for they require workers of experience, or, at least, those who +have had recognized instruction. Even if a green girl enters a skilled +trade, she cannot rise easily in it, and is apt to be dropped out at the +first slack season. The sort of positions open to her have usually +little future, as they are isolated occupations that do not lead to more +advanced work. Illustrations of these employments are wrapping braid, +sorting silk, running errands, tying fringe, taking out and putting in +buttons in a laundry, dipping candy, assorting lamps, making cigarettes, +tending a machine, and tying up packages. These young, unskilled girls +wander from one of these occupations to another; their salaries, never +running high, rise and fall according to the need felt for the worker, +and not because her increasing ability is a factor in her trade life. +After several years spent in the market, she is little better off than +at her entrance. + + +Some Difficulties of Organization + +It was to relieve this serious situation that the Manhattan Trade School +was founded. It began its work in the face of great discouragements. +Employers were prejudiced against such instruction, for girls trained in +former technical schools had not given satisfaction in the workrooms. +The parents of the pupils felt that they could not sacrifice themselves +further than the end of the compulsory school years, but must then send +their children into wage-earning positions. It was impossible to obtain +state or municipal aid, and it was known that the experiment must be +costly, for: (1) A trade school must be open all the year for day +classes, and for night work when needed (schools usually are open from +eight to ten months). (2) The work must be done on correct materials, +which are often expensive and perishable; but pupils are too poor to +provide them, therefore the school must plan to do so. (3) The +supervisors must be well educated, with a broad-minded view of industry, +capable of original thought, and having a practical knowledge of trade +requirement (women of such caliber can always command the best +salaries). The teachers and forewomen also must combine teaching ability +with competence in their workrooms; but as the market wishes a similar +class of service and gives excellent wages to obtain it, the school must +offer a like or even a larger amount. (4) Teachers of highly skilled +industries are expert, usually, in but the one occupation, such as straw +hat making by electric machine or jewelry box making; consequently, even +if the student body is small, the teaching force can seldom be reduced +without cutting off an entire department or a trade. A trade school +differs from the high school in this particular, for in the latter, when +necessary, two or more academic subjects can be taught by the same +instructor. + +Another difficulty confronting the school at the beginning was, that +while numerous occupations in New York are open to women, there was +reason to think that some of these were not well adapted to them. Little +was known at that time of the trades offering opportunities for good +wages, steady rise to better positions, satisfactory sanitary +conditions, and moderate hours of labor; of the physical effect of many +of the popular occupations; of the specific requirements of each kind of +employment; of the effect of the working girls in their workrooms and in +their homes; of their health and how to improve it; of the needs and +wishes of the employers; of the relation of the Trade Union to trade +instruction, and of labor legislation already operative or which should +be furthered. Before deciding on courses of instruction in the Manhattan +Trade School some accurate knowledge of these facts had to be obtained. + + +Selection of Trades + +The selection of definite trades was made after five months of +investigation in the factories, workrooms, and department stores of New +York City. In general, it can be said of the occupations chosen that +they employ large numbers of women; require expert workers; training for +them is difficult to obtain; there is chance within them for rise to +better positions; the wages are good, and favorable conditions, both +physical and moral, prevail in the workrooms. Some trades employing +women were rejected, as they failed to meet necessary requirements, +while others were not chosen, as there was little chance in them to rise +on account of men's trades intervening. Slack seasons occurring in many +otherwise good employments were considered, and plans were made whereby +the worker could be enabled to shift to another allied trade when her +own was slack. If a girl gains complete control of her tool she can +adapt herself to other occupations in which it is used with less +difficulty than she can change to a trade requiring another tool. +Women's industries, to a great extent, center around the skilled use of +a few tools. These tools were selected as centers of the school +activities, and the connected trades were radiated from them. The most +skilled occupations were found to require the use of the sewing machine, +foot and electric power, the paint brush, the paste brush, and the +needle. Statistics show that teaching the use of this last tool will +affect over one-half of the women wage-earners of New York, of whom +there are at least 370,000. In addition to the general scheme of fitting +a worker so that she may take up another allied occupation in slack +seasons, specific training for this purpose is given to those students +who choose trades where the busy season is short and of frequent +recurrence. + + +Trade Courses + +The curriculum includes instruction in the following trades; the courses +are short and the teaching is in trade lines: + + I. Use of electric power sewing machines. + + 1. General Operating--(cheaper variety of work--seasonal; fair + wages. Better grade of work--year round, fair and good wages, + piece or week work): Shirtwaists, children's dresses (cloth and + cotton), boys' waists, infants' wear, children's clothing, + women's underwear, fancy petticoats, kimonos and dressing + sacques. + + 2. Special Machines--(seasonal to year round work, depending on kind + and demand, wages good): Lace stitch, hemstitching, buttonhole, + embroidery (hand and Bonnaz), and scalloping. + + 3. Dressmaking Operating--(year round, wages good): Lingerie, fancy + waists and suits. + + 4. Straw Sewing--(excellent wages for a short season, but the worker + can then return to good wages in general operating): Women's and + men's hats. + + II. Use of the needle and foot power sewing machines. + + 1. Dress and Garment Making--(seasons nine to eleven months, and + fair to good wages): Uniforms and aprons, white work and simple + white embroidery, gymnasium and swimming suits (wholesale and + custom), lingerie, dress embroidery, dressmaking (plain and + fancy). + + 2. Millinery--(short seasonal work, low wages, difficult for the + average young worker to rise): Trimmings and frame making. + + 3. Lampshade and Candleshade Making--(seasonal work, fair pay). This + trade supplements the Millinery. + + III. Use of paste and glue: 1. Sample mounting (virtually year work, + fair wages). 2. Sample book covers, labeling, tissue paper + novelties and decorations (seasonal and year round work, good + wages). 3. Novelty work (year round work, changed within workroom + to meet demand, wages good). 4. Jewelry and silverware case + making (year round work, wages good). + + IV. Use of brush and pencil (year round work, good wages): Special + elementary art trades, perforating and stamping, costume + sketching, photograph and slide retouching. + + _Note._ Year round work, in general, includes a holiday of longer or + shorter duration, usually without pay. + + +Entrance Plans + +The school is open throughout the year in order to train girls whenever +they come--the summer months being slack in most trades are especially +desirable for instruction. The tuition is free, and in cases of extreme +necessity a committee gives Students' Aid, in proportion to the need. +Entrance to day classes for girls who are from fourteen to seventeen +years of age and who can show their working papers or be able to produce +documentary evidence of age, if under sixteen, can occur any week. + +Each girl who enters, after selecting her trade, is given a typewritten +paper showing the possible steps of advance in her chosen course. She +takes this home in order that the family may know what is before her. +She can by special effort or by outside study lessen the length of her +training. The first month in the school is a test time. If the girl +shows the needed qualities she is allowed to continue. + +During the month of trial her instructors decide what she needs and if +her chosen trade is the best for her. The right is reserved to make a +complete change if her health will not stand the one she desires, if she +has no ability for it, or if she gives evidence of special talent in +another direction. + + +Industrial Intelligence + +Every student has, as a part of her trade education, such academic work, +art, and physical training as seems necessary; when she passes certain +standards she is then allowed to devote full time to her selected +occupation. It is not possible for a worker who has skill with the hand +and no education to back it up to rise far in her trade. There is many a +tragedy in the market of the woman whose poor early education prevented +her from getting ahead. Accurate expression, whether oral or written, +the use of arithmetic in simple trade transactions or detailed accounts, +the ability to grasp the important factors in any situation and then to +go to work without waste of time or motion, are required for positions +of trust and for supervision in any workroom. It was soon discovered +that the girls entering the school know arithmetic in an abstract way, +but are at sea when asked to meet the ordinary trade problems. They are +inaccurate in reading and copying; they cannot write a letter of +application, conduct correspondence, make out checks, or keep simple +accounts. They are ignorant of the laws already made which concern them +and of their own relation to future laws. They have no ideals in their +trade life. They need to see the relation of their chosen trade to the +country, of their work to their employer's success, the effect they may +have in bringing about a better feeling between the employer and the +wage-earner. A practical, immediately available business education is +absolutely essential to make workwomen of executive ability. Therefore +specific trade instruction in arithmetic, English, history, geography, +and civics was planned to supplement and enrich the trade courses. + +Steady progress has been made in determining the kind of cultural trade +instruction which will best assist such young wage-earners. A new field +in practical education had to be opened, and subject matter which could +be of service in the workrooms selected from it. The many trades of the +school had to be studied in order to know their needs. The work has +grown more valuable each year and has proved itself to be a truly +necessary part of the curriculum. A concrete evidence of its worth is +the fact that many of the girls in slack seasons have taken clerical +positions and have been complimented on their grasp of the subject, +their orderliness, their ability to think, and their reliability. +Naturally all departments unite to develop character in the students, +but the Academic Department feels this to be a special aim. Pleasure in +the subject of instruction, followed by mental and moral improvement, +has indicated clearly that the academic dullness which is shown at +entrance comes frequently from lack of motive in former studies. The +interest is all the more encouraging as there are many handicaps in the +teaching, for the students enter at any time, are graded by the trades +they select, and are placed in the market as quickly as possible; hence +the work cannot be uniform in its advance. Nor is the academic work a +help to the girls in their business life only, for such subjects as the +keeping of accounts, the consideration of the cost of living, and the +value and price of materials are of direct use also in home life. + + +Trade Art Instruction + +Courses in Trade Art were also organized as a fundamental part of the +instruction. Each trade has its own art, and the school has tried to +adapt the work in the studios to each different occupation. It +recognizes that the art applied in dressmaking differs from that in +millinery, and this again from that required for decorating jewelry +boxes and calendars. It consequently offers each student the kind of +elementary art training needed in her trade. The time is too short to +develop designers, but it does help a girl to be more exact, +resourceful, and useful in her workroom, and often enables her to make a +higher wage. A worker who can place trimming, adapt designs to new +purposes, stamp patterns, draw copies of garments, and combine color +attractively is especially desirable in her chosen employment. + + +Health + +The young wage-earner of New York is much handicapped by her poor +physical condition; heredity, poor habits of life, and unsanitary homes +show their effects upon her. The girls who come to the school are young +enough to remedy many of their defects. In a few months they will be in +positions demanding eight or more hours a day, in which they must +strain every nerve and bend all of their energies to meet the standard +brought about by trade competition. The Physical Department of the +school studies the health of each girl and trains her to care adequately +for it. The specific treatment needed by some of the students takes them +many hours a week from their department work. While this has its +disadvantages, it is felt to be more important to improve the physical +condition than to develop skill alone when the health is too poor to +stand the strain of exacting positions. It is often difficult at first +to persuade parents that such close attention to health is necessary. +The results, however, in the majority of cases have proved the wisdom of +this procedure. + +Immediately after entering the school and being assigned to a department +each girl must report to the school physician. Beginning with the family +history, a complete record of all the important events relating to her +physical life is taken. She is closely questioned as to all bodily +functions, and a careful record is kept of irregularities. Eyes, ears, +teeth, nose, throat, and feet are likewise examined, and measurements +are taken of height, weight, and the principal expansions. After the +examination, instruction as to treatment is given, if any is needed. + +The work in the gymnasium has three purposes: invigorative, reactive, +and corrective. Every girl who is not restricted on account of physical +defects takes the prescribed gymnastic work. Nor has this a physical +effect only, for through the active games such qualities as judgment and +accuracy, self-control, and the harmonious working with others are +developed. Slow, uncertain, vague movements denote lack of mental +quickness and strength. Motor activity, rightly directed, leads to poise +of mind as well as of body. These girls live mostly in crowded +localities of the city, where free exercise is unknown. The school aims, +as far as possible, to supply the lack of wholesome outdoor life and +give joyous active exercise. Talks on hygiene are a regular part of the +work and aim: (1) to give each girl a knowledge of her body and of its +functions which will enable her to care for her health in an intelligent +manner; (2) to show her the relation of food and its preparation to her +physical condition; (3) to establish in her mind ideals of correct +living which can be made practical in her surroundings; and (4), +recognizing the right and desire of every girl for amusement, to create +a love for wholesome and simple pleasures that will take the place of +the too strenuous and often unwise recreations which tend to undermine +the health of the girl who works. + + +The Lunchroom and the Cooking Classes + +From the opening of the school, hot soup, hot chocolate, or cold milk +had been served daily, at two cents a cup, to those wishing to +supplement the cold lunch which they had brought from their homes. The +teachers also had an opportunity of buying a simple, hot meal which was +prepared by one of their number, assisted by students who aided in the +preparation, serving, and clearing away. At first the average girl felt +she could not give much time to her trade training, consequently such +time had to be devoted to making her able to command a living wage. The +hope, however, that in the future the opportunity would come for +offering increased domestic training was never forgotten. The opening at +the school of a temporary workroom for unemployed women during the +financial stress of 1908 provided them with regular work and pay. It was +advisable also to serve nourishing lunches daily to these underfed +workers. There was already a simple lunchroom in the basement of the +school, containing such bare necessities as plain tables on horses, long +wooden benches, a gas stove with four burners, a few cooking utensils, +and a closet filled with inexpensive china. The complete cost of +equipment had been $300. + +The school was now, however, face to face with the need to feed daily +more than 500 people--teachers, workers, and students--and yet no +additional money could be spent for equipment. The necessity was so +great, however, that in addition to the usual lunches a hot, nourishing +meal was given daily to the hundred workers in the temporary workroom, +for which they paid one-half of the price of materials. + +With this inauguration of regular cooking it seemed especially desirable +to take the opportunity of training at least some of the students in the +selection, care, and preparation of food. The majority of these girls +will be the mothers of the next generation, and yet they know nothing of +food values or food preparation. This is evident from the daily lunches +they bring and from their discussions in the class on hygiene. On the +other hand, girls who can remain but a few months in the school have a +serious need to face, that of self-support, for the wage for unskilled +girls ($3.00) is not sufficient to live on with decency. The physical, +mental, and moral future of these young girls demands that they should +be able to make more than this pittance. In the few months during which +the majority are in attendance both a trade training and a knowledge of +cooking cannot be given, therefore the former must take the precedence. +The school has been able to prove, however, that girls educated there +can command a fair wage in trade, but that a longer time given to this +training will enable them to obtain better positions and salaries. Hence +an increasing number have been willing to remain longer, giving even a +year or more to preparation. It was with this latter class that the time +was ripe to offer some training in lunchroom cookery which could teach +them what could be procured at low prices and yet be nourishing; how to +prepare food at home, and how to use the hot table often found in an +up-to-date factory. For this purpose, therefore, some simple additional +equipment was installed and a daily menu was offered, comprising +inexpensive, attractive, wholesome dishes, at the lowest possible cost. +Many of the students care for so little variety in food that all of the +necessary elements for building strong, healthy bodies are not supplied, +hence they are under-nourished. They require encouragement to even try +the food which is essential for improving their physical condition. The +girls have taken great interest in their lunchroom cookery. They +appreciate the inexpensive menus and admire the simple table +decorations. Gradually they have given up spending their few pennies +for poor fruit, cake, or candy at some cheap shop, and now purchase +nourishing dishes cooked by the students at the school. + +The cooking course connects directly with the talks on hygiene. The plan +of work is the following: (1) Twenty girls are chosen at one time. These +work in two groups of ten each, and for six weeks have daily one-hour +lessons. This gives them thirty lessons, which is almost equivalent to +what the public school offers in a year, but, being concentrated into +daily work and practical use in the lunchroom, is of equal, if not +greater, efficacy. (2) The students set the tables, cook a definite part +of the lunch, dish the articles, prepare the counters, sell the various +dishes, keep and report sales, and clear the counters afterward. The +groups alternate in order that preparing food, watching its progress, +and taking it from the stove may be done by all with a minimum loss of +time from their trade instruction. (3) The selection of girls to take +the course is made from (_a_) those who can remain long enough in the +school to combine trade training with the simple cooking course, (_b_) +those who have such poor health that a knowledge of what to eat and how +to cook it is the first consideration, and (_c_) those who are already +little housekeepers in their homes, as their mothers are incapacitated +or dead. + +After several months of experience it was felt that the six weeks of +constant practice was well worth while. More elaborate courses of +cookery would demand a more thorough kitchen equipment, entailing much +expense, and would require students to remain a longer time in school. +With the present arrangement they learn the most important cooking +processes in a very practical way, and discuss the relation of food to +themselves and to their families. + + +Trade Orders + +The handwork in the various departments falls into three grades: 1. +Practice work, which not being up to the standard is ripped up and used +again. 2. Seconds; fair work, not quite up to the school standard for +trade work. This is sold at cost to the students or to needy +institutions. 3. Trade work; up to the standard. This is sold to the +trade or to private customers at regular market prices. This feature of +the school work, entailing, as it does, the taking of many varieties of +orders from the outside factories and workrooms, has proved itself to be +an important educational factor. After six years of experience in +utilizing orders from the outside workrooms, it can be said that this +part of the instruction serves the following purposes: (1) It provides +the students with adequate experience on classes of material used in the +best workrooms; these girls could not purchase such materials and the +school could not afford to buy them for practice. (2) The ordinary +conditions in both the wholesale and the custom trade are thus made a +fundamental part of the instruction. Reality of this kind helps the +supervisors to judge the product from its trade value (amateur work will +thus be rejected), and the teaching from the kind of workers turned out. +Through the business relation the students quickly feel the necessity +of good finish, rapid work, and responsibility to deliver on time. (3) +The orders bring in a money return and thus aid the school in the +expense for material. (4) The businesslike appearance of the shops at +work on the orders and the experience trade has had with the product +have increased the confidence of employers of labor in the ability of +the school to train practical workers for the trades. The school is +constantly urged by trade to increase its order work, but its +unfaltering policy is to take only the amount needed for educational +purposes. (5) The business organization and management required in the +adequate conduct of a large order department can itself be utilized for +educational purposes, and has its value for training students who show +promise of becoming good stock clerks. + +Trade workers are employed in the business shops connected with the +various departments. These assistants have proved their value in making +the best utilization of the order work. They facilitate the completion +of the work on time and help train the girls to feel responsible for +their share of it. As the students work slowly at first, and as their +hours in the shops are interrupted by other studies, the trade workers, +when necessary, continue with or complete the articles while the girls +are absent. They make possible the tradelike organization of the shops, +for each one has around her her own little groups of assistants, and she +teaches them while she also works. Constant repetition of the same +process ceases, after a time, to be valuable to a student, hence her +time must not be wasted by too simple work or by unnecessary details. +It often happens also that an article may require expert work in its +completion which the students cannot yet do; the trade workers select +for each girl the process which will be of value to her, and then do the +work the students cannot do or should not do. + +The following lists will show the class of orders which have been +demanded by trade and turned out by the school: + + _Operating Department Orders_: 1. Trade Work: Ribbon run on webbing + for suspenders, infants' dresses--eight different styles, + children's aprons--two different styles, hemstitching and + embroidery for yokes, ruffling--hem and hemstitched, faggoting. + + 2. Individual Custom Orders: Dressing sacques, aprons (kitchen, + gingham, and work), gymnasium suits, waists, children's dresses, + corset covers, drawers, skirts and chemise, sheets, pillowslips, + curtains, straw hats, fancy petticoats, kimonos, handkerchiefs, + fancy neckwear, infants' outfits, boys' waists, quilting, + hemstitching by yard, silk waists and dresses hemstitched, + tucking by yard, waists, collars, cuffs, and cloth embroidered, + initials on linen and monograms on saddle cloths, ruffling by + yard. + + 3. Order Work for Other Departments: Dressmaking: Machine work on + nightgowns, corset covers, drawers, combination suits, petticoats, + kimonos, gymnasium bloomers, swimming suits, buttonholes, + hemstitching on silk skirts, dresses, waists; Bonnaz embroidery on + dresses, waists. Millinery: Veils hemstitched. Art: Pencil and + brush cases. Office: Coats and overalls for janitors employed in + school. + + _Dressmaking Department Orders_: Aprons, petticoats, maids' dresses; + machine-made underwear; collars and neckwear; nurses' uniforms; + swimming, bathing, and gymnasium suits; children's and baby + clothes; fine handmade underwear; plain shirtwaists, fine waists, + afternoon gowns, street suits, evening gowns, cloth suits + tailored. + + _Pasting and Novelty Orders_: Mounting suspender webbing, mounting + corset samples, pasting suspender tabs and sockets, case making. + Desk sets, lampshades, and candleshades. + + _Art Department Orders_: 1. Trade Order Work: Stamping, perforating, + coloring fashion plates, stencil cutting. + + 2. Custom Work: Stenciling curtains, scarfs, table covers, sofa + pillows; designing patterns for embroidery for table covers, + doilies, bags, buttons, shirtwaists, skirts, parasols, and + chiffon scarfs. + + 3. Order Work for Other Departments: Decorating book covers, desk + sets, boxes, dress trimmings--panels, lapels, vests; collars and + cuffs, insertions for hand and machine; banding for hats, letters, + monograms: designs for doilies, scarfs, curtains, work-bags. + + +PLACEMENT BUREAU + +From the first the school made some provision for placing its pupils +satisfactorily in the trades for which they are trained. Originally the +heads of departments attended to it, each for her own students, but as +the school grew and the department work increased this method ceased to +be practical. An arrangement was made, therefore, with the Alliance +Employment Bureau to place the girls of the Manhattan Trade School when +they were ready to leave the school or whenever they applied for help +thereafter. This was a most helpful connection when the work was +beginning, but it was understood that when the school reached the point +in its development where the volume of business was great enough, and +other conditions warranted it, a Placement Bureau should be opened in +the school itself. This long-cherished idea went into operation in +October, 1908, when a Placement Secretary was engaged and the school +bureau was opened. This plan has already proved advantageous. In the +first place a bureau so situated can, by keeping in constant touch with +the departments, obtain intimate and detailed information about the +character, the work, the special aptitudes, and the physique of each +girl. Such data are extremely valuable in making wise placements, but +are difficult of access for an outside agency. In the second place such +a school bureau, open to graduates, tends to bring them occasionally to +it, and thus strengthens their interest in and loyalty to the school by +giving a practical reality to their connection with it. + + +Aims + +The aims and working plans of the Placement Bureau are the following: +(1) To secure suitable positions for girls leaving the school--those +forced out by poverty as well as those who have really completed their +courses. The problem is to get the square peg into the square hole, and +it is solved by having a very intimate knowledge of each peg, and by +knowing of as large a variety of holes as possible from which to choose. +(2) To be a means of connection and communication between the school and +the trades, on the one hand, and the school and its former pupils on the +other. (3) To gather data about trade conditions that shall be helpful +to the several departments, or in deciding school policies. (4) To build +up a series of records that shall be of general sociological value as +well as of immediate use for school purposes. + + +Kinds and Methods of Work + +In connection with the placement itself there are four lines of +activity: + +1. _Interviews_ in the office, when girls come in to apply for +positions, and when employers ask for workers. Much valuable data as to +the experiences of the girls who have been some time in the trade have +been gathered in this way. In the case of the employer, if he is not +already familiar with the school, an effort is made to induce him (or +her) to go through it. + +2. _Trade Visits_ of investigation. It is the policy of the Bureau not +to place a girl in any establishment until it has been visited, unless +it is one already well known to the school, in which case the visit may +follow instead of preceding the placement. These visits are often made +upon the request of employers or in response to advertisements, if, as +sometimes happens, a girl wishes to be placed and the employers already +known do not need additional help. + +3. "_Following up._" After the girls are placed it is necessary to keep +track of them. In order to do this satisfactorily, blanks have been +printed in two different forms, one for the employer and the other for +the worker. The former asks about the quality of the girl's work +(whether it is satisfactory, and if not, why not) and about her wages. +The latter asks the girl to report on her work, wages, and shop +conditions. By this system the Placement Secretary is able to keep in +close touch with the students who have been placed, and to hear and act +upon complaints from either employer or girl with a promptness that +often has the result of establishing the worker in a "good" place or, +occasionally, rescuing her from a poor one. Employers are almost +uniformly prompt and courteous in returning the reports, and all but a +very small percentage of the students are equally responsive. In cases +where a girl is not heard from, the Students' Aid Secretary makes a +personal visit to her home. + +4. _Keeping of Records._ Card catalogues are kept, giving the full data +obtainable in each case: (1) for girls applying for positions; (2) for +girls placed; (3) for employers visited; (4) for employers applying or +worth investigating, but not yet visited. All data from employers and +girls which have been obtained from the blanks before mentioned or from +other sources are recorded on the cards. + +The Placement Bureau, in addition to its specific work, performs certain +services for the general benefit of the school. Data are obtained as to +the conditions of work and wage in certain trades and the length of +training advisable in others. Advice from the trade is often needed in +one or another of the departments, and through the Bureau's acquaintance +with employers, managers, or foremen and forewomen, it is able to +ascertain and report their expert opinion. It is also possible to induce +some of these busy people to come and view the problem in the light of +conditions at the school as well as in their own business. + + +General Results + +Although the Placement Bureau is still in its infancy, some results may +be recorded. It is already in touch with some 700 employers, about 550 +having been personally visited. The table below gives the facts as to +placements in former years, and may be interesting for comparison. + +GIRLS PLACED AND REPORTED UPON + + --------------------+-------------+-------------+--------+ + | By Self or | By Alliance | | + | School. | Employment | Total. | + | | Bureau. | | + --------------------+-------------+-------------+--------+ + | | | | + 1902 | 0 | 0 | 0 | + | | | | + 1903 | 39 | 7 | 46 | + | | | | + 1904 | 52 | 36 | 88 | + | | | | + 1905 | 29 | 61 | 90 | + | | | | + 1906 | 22 | 81 | 103 | + | | | | + 1907 | 10 | 77 | 87 | + | | | | + 1908 | 119 | 39 | 158 | + | | | | + 1909 By school | 157 | 1 | 158 | + | | | | + +-------------+-------------+--------+ + | | | | + | 428 | 302 | 730 | + | | | | + --------------------+-------------+-------------+--------+ + +This refers merely to the original or first placement of a girl. The +total of _re_-placements for 1909 was an additional 230, including those +of many former pupils who had heretofore placed themselves or been +placed by the Alliance Employment Bureau. + +The crucial question of wages is one that is extremely difficult to deal +with in brief. The accompanying table gives a very general statement as +to the range of wages obtained by graduates and the future possibilities +in their trades, and read in the light of the comment below it is as +specifically accurate as any "summary" can be. + + ---------------+--------------------------+--------------+---------------- + Trade. | Wages When | After Two to | Future + | First Placed. | Five Years. | Possibilities. + ---------------+------------+-------------+--------------+---------------- + | 1903 | 1909 | | + | | | | + Dressmaking | $3 to $5 | $4 to $6 | $6 to $13 | $25 or own + | | | | establishment + | | | | + Millinery | 2.50 to 4 | 4 | 5 to 15 | 12 to 25 or own + | | | | establishment + | | | | + Operating | 3 to 6 | 4 to 11 | 6 to 25 | 15 to 40 + | | | | + Novelty | 4 to 5 | 4 to 9[A] | 6 to 11 | 18 to 25 + | | | | + ---------------+------------+-------------+--------------+---------------- + | | | | + Art since 1907 | 5 to 8 | 4 to 7 | 7 to 15 | 20 to 30 + | | | | + ---------------+------------+-------------+--------------+---------------- + +The column for 1909 shows that at last a minimum wage of $4.00 has been +established for all the trades named, even Millinery. There are +exceptions, but they are almost always due to some special disability on +the part of the girl, and do not fairly affect a statement regarding the +wage for girls of normal capacity, who have done satisfactory work +during their course. The small percentage of pupils who fall below $4.00 +for their initial wage are those who either did not complete the school +course, or who did poor work, or who are subnormal mentally or +handicapped physically, or can work only an eight-hour day because they +are under sixteen. It is true that when they are obliged to start on +piece-work instead of a week-wage their earnings may fall below our +minimum for a short time, but the first week or two is in that case not +usually a fair test of the girl's training or ability. Some little time +is necessary for the readjustment involved in the change from school to +workroom, and especially for attaining the "speed" necessary to earn a +fair wage on trade piece-rates. The compensating advantage is that when +she does begin to "make good" her improvement is usually registered in +her earnings more quickly and accurately than it would be by the safe +but slowly advancing "week-work." If after two weeks, however, the girl +is earning less than $4.00, and thinks she "never can make out there," +she is given an opportunity to change her place. But very often there is +a sudden jump in earnings after ten days or so, as the girl gains +confidence and speed. (One pupil earned $3.97 her first week on +buttonholes, and over $7.00 the second.) Another point to be considered +in connection with the wage is the length of the season and the duration +of any one place. The comparatively steady work and regular, if small, +advance in the dressmaking, for instance, will often counterbalance the +larger week-wage or piece-work earnings of the trades where the season +is short or the positions of uncertain duration. + +On the "rate of advance" in wage the Bureau is as yet too young to make +any general statements. + + +Students' Aid + +On account of the extreme poverty in the families of many of the +students, some system of aid has always been necessary. The manner of +giving it has changed, however, that it may be free from all tendency to +pauperize or to deprive the recipient of self-respecting effort. At +first it took the form of a scholarship, paid at the school every week, +in equal amounts, to each student. A few months' experience, however, +showed that it would be better to require a month's apprenticeship +without pay. If after that the girl was allowed to continue her course, +she was given a dollar a week during her second month. Each month +thereafter the amount was increased according to the skill and good +spirit which were evident in her work. The maximum amount a student +could receive in one year was $100. + +Early in the second year it became clear that a still more radical +change was advisable, and a plan was adopted whereby the need of the +girl's family became the only basis upon which money was given. A +committee was formed, whose membership was composed principally of +workers from the leading social settlements. Each applicant for aid was +referred to the member of the committee living nearest her home. An +investigation was made by the settlement worker, and aid was given in +proportion to the necessity, varying in amount from car fare to the +equivalent of a small wage. The girl went weekly to the settlement for +the money. In this way the aid was separated as far as possible from the +school atmosphere, and it was made clear to the girls and their +families that the money was in no sense pay for work. As indicative of +this change in viewpoint, the term "Scholarship" was replaced by that of +"Students' Aid." In addition to its other advantages, the new method +reduced the cost for aid to less than one-half of its original +proportion. + +Since this time the aim has been always the same--to aid the girl +handicapped by poverty so that she might prepare herself for efficient +wage-earning. A member of the school staff is secretary of the Students' +Aid Committee, and she knows personally every applicant wishing aid, and +makes the initial visits and investigations. This plan has proved +advantageous in making a closer connection between the school and the +home, and in securing a more uniform standard of relief. + +The Students' Aid Committee consists at present of representatives from +sixteen settlements, who meet twice a month to discuss and decide upon +the merit of each applicant. If aid is granted, the girl is assigned to +the settlement nearest her home and goes there weekly for her money. An +envelope showing the amount due the girl is sent from the school to the +settlement worker, and on this is indicated any absence or tardiness. It +is one of the duties of the member of the committee to inquire the +reasons for any irregularity in attendance, and, if necessary, to report +to the parent. In addition, each settlement worker renders valuable +service by giving friendly oversight to the girls and families in her +group, by doing as much for their welfare as time will allow, and by +reporting any unusual conditions to the Students' Aid Secretary. + +Students are at times sent to the school for instruction with a request +for aid from some charitable institution, church, hospital, school, or +settlement which knows and is interested in the family; but, in general, +a girl needing financial help comes without such recommendations, and +consequently a more thorough investigation of the case is necessary. +Inquiry is always made at first of the Charity Organization Society, in +order to learn whether her family has received or is receiving other +relief. The "trial month" without aid gives time for the gathering of +facts about the family, and for a test of the girl's ability and +character. Aid is never promised to a girl before her admission. + +A useful method has been worked out for determining the amount of aid +which may be given in any one case. The total amount of the family +income is obtained, and from it are deducted the fixed expenses for +rent, insurance, and car fare. From the remainder the per capita income +is found which must provide for all other expenses, that is, for each +person's share of food, clothing, light, fuel, medicine, and all +incidentals. It was estimated that a family could not maintain a decent +standard of living on a per capita income of less than $1.50 a week. +Although each case is considered on its merits, aid is almost always +given when the per capita income is less than $1.50; in some special +cases it is granted when the income exceeds this amount. The following +table shows the income of the seventy-eight families that were being +aided by the school on June 3, 1909. + + ------------------+-------------------- + Weekly per Capita | Number of Families. + Income. | + ------------------+-------------------- + | + $ .00 to $ .49 | 16 + | + .50 to .99 | 26 + | + 1.00 to 1.49 | 20 + | + 1.50 to 1.99 | 10 + | + 2.00 to 2.49 | 3 + | + 2.50 to 2.99 | 1 + | + 3.00 to 3.49 | 2 + | + ------------------+-------------------- + +Relief given by charitable institutions has not been included in this +income. + +Each girl receiving aid is told the reason for its bestowal in such a +way that she will neither look upon it as money earned nor feel +humiliated as a recipient of charity, but will understand that it should +mean for her an opportunity to obtain a good education. It therefore is +incumbent upon her to show a realization of its value by becoming a +responsible and earnest worker. Students receiving such assistance are +expected to attend regularly, unless for excellent reasons, and the +reports from their departments must be satisfactory in regard to their +work, attitude, and effort. If a girl varies from this standard and, +after talking with her or with one of her parents, no improvement +follows, the aid may be suspended or withdrawn. Improving circumstances +in a family occasionally make it possible to decrease or even to give up +the aid. On the other hand, it is often found necessary to ask +additional assistance from special philanthropic sources when the need +is very great. + + +Night Classes + +Night continuation classes are a part of the aim of the school. They +have offered training in expert parts of the Operating, Dressmaking, +Novelty, Millinery, and Art trades. The classes were well attended, the +work successful, and continued application for the renewal of the +instruction has been received. This class of education requires the most +skilled teachers and is consequently expensive. Lack of money to conduct +both the day and the night work adequately has made it necessary to +close the night classes temporarily. There is every reason to hope, +however, that they will be reopened in the near future, with still +greater facilities for teaching the advanced parts of the trades. + + +Student Government + +The Student Council concerns itself with the government of the school, +the aim being to place it as far as possible in the hands of the +students. It also assists in developing their sense of responsibility. +The Council is composed of representatives elected from each class, who +have been chosen for their executive ability and good character. They +meet once a week with one of the supervisors to discuss questions of +general school discipline and regulations. Each member is responsible +for maintaining order in her class when it is not under other +supervision, for settling disputes among the girls, and for reporting +disobedience to school laws. + + +Graduate and Department Clubs + +Some form of alumnæ association has been in existence since the end of +the first school year. This important phase of the Trade School work is +now thoroughly organized, and gains for us the warm coöperation of those +who have benefited by the instruction. The Graduate Association includes +those who have received the certificate of the school; the department +clubs, however, are more democratic, and admit to membership any girl +who has been in attendance. These associations work together for the +benefit of the school. They hold frequent business as well as social +meetings. They plan definite ways for getting in touch with Manhattan +Trade School girls who are just entering trade, in order to help them to +adjust themselves to their work and to increase in them loyalty and +responsibility to the school; for improving themselves and working girls +in general by discussing topics of interest concerning their trades, and +by giving entertainments which are of real interest and value. They have +carried out schemes for adding to the general finances of the school or +for obtaining money for special objects, such as shower baths for the +gymnasium. They have given several suppers to bring the faculty and +former students together, in order to discuss informally trade and +school matters. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[A] This maximum is not in paste or glue work, but in the silk lampshade +trade. + + + + +PART II + +REPRESENTATIVE PROBLEMS[B] + + +The organizing of a girls' trade school in any given locality +necessitates the meeting of many problems of a serious nature. Some of +these appear immediately and require consideration before a satisfactory +curriculum can be developed, but most of them are hydra-headed, and one +phase is no sooner settled than another arises. Attention must be given +to them whenever they come if any progress is to be made in solving the +question of the broadest and yet most practical education for the girl +who must earn her living in trade. These problems are so connected with +the keenest yet most obscure social and industrial questions of the day +on one hand, and, on the other, with the future of the race, that they +are often very puzzling. Some of them can never be entirely settled, +though they can be temporarily adjusted to immediate needs. The +following are selected as representative. + + +Direct Trade Training + +Many schools of a domestic or technical nature have been opened in the +United States, but the instruction in them is for the home or for +educational purposes rather than for business. The trades, if they are +represented at all in these schools, are general in character, covering +often many branches of an industry in a short series of lessons, and +not having the particular subdivisions and special equipment which are +found at present in the regular market. Employers of labor have not been +favorably impressed with the practical usefulness of the graduates in +their workrooms. As the sole reason for the existence of the Manhattan +Trade School is to meet this requirement of employers, and therefore to +develop a better class of wage-earners directly adapted to trade needs, +the instruction must be in accord with methods in the shops and +factories of New York City. Such specific trade education for +fourteen-year-old girls was new, and therefore the problem of +organization had to be faced for the first time in America. Careful +study of the workrooms and the industrial conditions of New York City +was essential before the aims or the curriculum could be decided upon +and the school could be opened for instruction. Furthermore, if the +training is to be kept up to date this study of trade conditions must +not cease, and readjustments of the curriculum must equal the changes +taking place in the outside workrooms. Consequently these problems must +be met repeatedly. + + +Need of Preliminary Training + +On beginning the trade courses at the school a difficulty was discovered +immediately which brought home the truth of the complaint made by trade +that young workers are utterly incompetent. The students coming to the +school were allowed by law to enter trade, as they had met all +requirements for obtaining their working papers, but they were not found +to have sufficient foundation to begin the first simple steps at the +school without some preliminary training. The defects which were +especially evident were: (1) lack of sufficient skill with the hand; (2) +inability to utilize their public school academic work in practical +trade problems; (3) dullness in taking orders and in thinking clearly of +the needs which arise; (4) absence of ideals; and (5) need of knowledge +of the laws of health and how to apply them. Preliminary, elementary +instruction in all of these subjects had, therefore, to be organized and +given to the entering students before they could begin upon their true +trade work. Such instruction is and will continue to be necessary unless +the public elementary school arranges to give, between the fifth and +eighth grades, a more satisfactory preparation to those who must earn +their living. The Manhattan Trade School has been obliged to give from +two to eight months to elementary branches of instruction alone. The +kind of work needed varies constantly with the condition of the +students. Every one requires some of it, but many must take months of +tutoring. Public instruction could readily give the practical academic +work which the school has organized. Such instruction would not only +directly help the pupils who must leave early to work, but would lay a +good foundation for the vocational education which is being planned for +the early years of the public secondary schools. + + +Vocational Training + +As the courses at the Manhattan Trade School developed, an intermediate +phase between the preparatory work and the direct trade training took +definite shape. This middle ground partakes in many ways of trade +processes and lays a good foundation for shop work. It utilizes the +early education, gives point to it, awakens in the student enthusiasm +for her chosen trade, and shows her that it is worth her while to work +hard if she would succeed. It takes from four to eight months, according +to the student's ability to meet the requirements. Public instruction +could also develop this intermediate field to advantage for those who, +not wishing to enter the regular high school course, would be glad to +avail themselves of further practical education. Such occupations for +women as cooking, sewing, garment and dressmaking, millinery, laundry +work, home nursing, household administration, care of children, novelty +work, electric power operating, salesmanship, and other interesting +activities can well be offered in Vocational Education. As the student +in her chosen field plans, considers expenses, and contrives to utilize +her material she gains skill, adaptability, judgment, and the true basis +of criticism. The world's work interests her as its meaning becomes +clear through her own experiences, and she begins to see ways to better +her condition and to be a factor in the improvement of her home. She +appreciates the value of her early education, and finds it worth while +to think clearly and to act wisely; she listens to instructions, asks +sensible directions, and goes to work without waste of time. The +elementary and intermediate training just described, which the school +found it must give preparatory to its real trade instruction, has proved +advantageous as an introduction, for the student can now quickly adapt +herself to the work in the school shops, as she possesses the foundation +qualities needed to make the best worker. She has to begin at the +simplest trade work, to be sure, but can rise as rapidly as she shows +ability. She has been carefully watched by her instructors and turned +gradually in the direction best fitted to her. + + +Trade Shops + +Offering courses in many varieties of trade work exactly as they are +found in a city like New York has many recurring difficulties, as has +been before stated. The constant and rapid adaptations to fashion, the +new mechanical devices introduced, and the labor situations are factors +to be considered. The management must be ready at a moment's notice to +change, increase, or drop work according to the demands of a fickle +market. It would seem, therefore, that at present the problems of the +school trade shops are of too serious and unsettled a character for +adequate solution by public instruction as at present organized, for (1) +it would be difficult to persuade the mass of taxpayers that added tax +rates are advisable for beginning a continually altering form of +education which has not yet commended itself to all employers or to all +wage-earners, and which must be more or less expensive; (2) the usual +public school committee man knows little of trade conditions, and would +probably be averse to allowing a school the freedom to change at will +its course of study and even the very trades it teaches; yet, on the +other hand, if the trade school must wait for board action before +altering its plans, it would prejudice the value of its instruction, +which must be flexible if it would train its students directly for the +market; (3) the impossibility of obtaining its teachers from the usual +"waiting list" and the difficulties attending the selection of a +satisfactory teaching force. + +The possibilities for offering highly specialized, skilled work are +great, but the poverty of the students limits their time at the day +school. To help all girls who work, and who wish to get ahead, night +classes have been organized from time to time, and during the day also +temporary instruction is offered to any one who has a slack time in her +trade. As the school is organized into trade shops, with the same +specialization as in the market, a student can enter or be placed from +almost any point. This increases its usefulness but complicates its +management. + + +Obtaining and Training Teachers + +As trade instruction is new in education, the normal schools have not +begun training teachers regularly for these positions, nor, indeed, are +they yet prepared to do so. The organizer of a trade school faces, +therefore, a serious difficulty in obtaining instructors who are +adequate to the task before them. + +The following trade teaching staff is needed: supervisors of the various +trades; forewomen to direct the school shops; trade instructors to teach +the various groups of students the specialized processes; assistants to +attend to minor matters in the workrooms; art teachers, who have had +experience in designing for the various trades represented; academic +instructors who know the working world practically and can give the +students a training which, while helping them in their trades, will +broaden their knowledge of and sympathy in the world's work. All of +these teachers must not only have had experience in trade, but must +continually keep in touch with the methods of the outside market. +Unsuccessful trade workers, who often wish to teach, or teachers who +know nothing of the needs of trade workrooms, cannot adequately prepare +students for specific trade positions. Trade knows what it wants, is a +severe critic and an unsparing judge. The trade school, therefore, +cannot afford to rely on instructors who would be themselves +unsuccessful in the market, for the result would be certain failure in +the students. Such specific training requires exceptional knowledge in +its teaching force. The usual teacher of manual training knows too +little of the ways of the workrooms and is too theoretical in her +instruction to be trusted to train workers who must satisfy trade +demands. On the other hand, the trade worker, good as she may be in her +specialty, seldom knows how to teach. She can drive her group of +workers, but she cannot train the green hands to do more than work +quickly at one thing. She can make them work, but she cannot make them +better workers. When she has orders to turn out, her lifelong training +makes her think of the rapid completion of the articles rather than the +careful development of the students who are making them. If she is not +watched she will choose the girl to do a piece of work who can do it +well and quickly (but who does not need this experience), rather than +the one who should do it in order to have practice in it. + +The problem is to find a way to unite the good teacher and the +successful worker. Such a combination appears at rare intervals. At the +present time the teacher who can adequately prepare young workers for +trade has to be taught while she is herself teaching. She may be chosen +from either the industrial or the educational field, if she has certain +qualities of mind and spirit, but she must now make up the points she +lacks, be it experience in trade or ability to teach. Supervisors need +special insight and capability, as they are called upon to investigate a +new and difficult field, to select from it the subjects needed, and +after that to organize education of a most practical kind. They combine +the duties of school principal, teacher, forewoman, factory +superintendent, and business manager. They must be willing to give +themselves to the cause, as they are responsible for the conduct of +their departments throughout the year, at night as well as during the +day, at least until they can train some one to whom they can delegate +some of their responsibility. They need a broad, cultural education and, +at the same time, interest and knowledge of the industrial problems of +the time, as well as experience in their particular trade. They must +have sympathy with the working people and their lives. It is evident +that such women are hard to find, and when found or when trained are in +demand by other institutions or in business life, in which places they +can command high salaries. All efficient trade teachers also are equally +in demand in workrooms, hence the school must compete with good business +salaries in place of the usual underpay of educational institutions. + +In addition to the trade teachers, practical instructors in healthful +living and special secretaries needing social knowledge of various kinds +are also essential in the modern trade school for girls. Their training +adds to the director's responsibilities, for no one at present has the +knowledge and experience necessary. + +The many problems connected with obtaining an adequate teaching staff +seem at present to have but one solution, _i. e._, the school has to be +its own training school for its faculty to a greater or less extent. One +source of assistant teachers has been found in students who have made +good in trade. Pupils of fair education who show skill and executive +ability in their department work and who later succeed in their trade +positions have already proved helpful when brought back to the school. +Such girls know the courses of instruction, their needs and +difficulties, and also the outside workroom demands. If they are given +some hints in methods of teaching, their success is greater. European +trade schools for girls have drawn many of the best teachers from the +student body and have organized teachers' training classes for them. A +course of regular training for trade pupil teachers should be given +later in American training schools to meet this situation. + + +Courses of Study + +As the changes about to occur in the market must be recognized and +inserted in the curriculum in time for the students to be prepared for +the new work when they are placed, set courses of study cannot be +followed without endangering the practical value of the teaching. +Furthermore, the pupils must be advanced as they show ability, and their +different characteristics should have consideration; hence the work must +be sufficiently flexible and adaptable to allow for increasing one kind +of training and decreasing another, in order to develop a girl's best +ability. It is not the trade courses only which should be fitted to the +need, but the trade-art, trade-academic, and physical education must +also shift and introduce needed material as quickly as would the market +grasp at new plans for the workrooms. Nor is it sufficient that the +curriculum should adapt itself merely to training girls for trade +positions. It is never to be forgotten that these students are to be +made into higher grade workers and citizens, and that the greater number +of them will marry. In general, it can be said that woman's entrance +into industry is more or less temporary in that it is apt to precede or +to follow marriage, and, as a rule, is not continuous. Good citizenship +for these young wage-earners should mean the better home as well as the +broader views of industrial life. The inserting into an already too +brief training the important factors for making the better home-keeper +requires study of the ethics and economics of home and social life in +addition to the study of the industrial situation, and places continuous +problems before the faculty. + + +Investigations + +In order to be in vital touch with the practical needs and changes of +the market, special investigations of trade have been and are +continually conducted by the faculty of the school. Effort is made by +them also to keep in close contact with industrial and social +organizations of workers in settlements, clubs, societies, and unions, +that all phases of the wage-earner's life, pleasures, aims, and needs, +may be appreciated. The pupils in attendance are studied to know their +conditions of health, their tendencies, their needs, their improvement. +After their entry into trade they are kept in touch with the school +through the Placement Bureau, clubs, graduate associations, and also by +visits from the school's investigator, in order to note the effect of +their training on their self-support, their workrooms, and their homes. +Groups of trained and untrained girls are compared, that differences and +benefits may be noted and the true situation may be clearly understood. + +That the essentials of this class of education might be grasped as far +as possible, the director of the school made a six months' investigation +of the professional schools for girls on the continent of Europe. This +study was made after the Manhattan Trade School had been organized and +was running successfully. The problems were then well in hand, and +advantage could be taken the better of differing standpoints. In some +European countries such practical instruction has been established for +half a century. Each country has organized the work according to its own +view of woman's position in industrial and domestic life. Many aspects +of the problem can therefore be studied and various courses of +instruction consulted. This investigation covered three interesting +fields. First, the organization of the schools, including the equipment; +the teachers and their training; the budget; the order work; the +relation of the school to employers; the placing of the girls in +positions; the wages; the schemes for financial aid, and the work of the +alumnæ associations. Second, the trades taught and the courses of +instruction; the general education required at entrance and that given +as an integral part of trade; the trade-art courses; the housekeeping +and training of servants; the development of ideas of better living and +the training for responsibility in home and trade life. Third, the +visiting of workrooms employing women; the obtaining information on the +effect of trade schools; the students' usefulness and ability to +advance, and a survey of the crafts conducted in the homes of the +people. + + +Trade Order Administration + +A trade school must do its skilled handwork in the fashion of the day +and on correct materials, yet the students are too poor to work for +themselves. A school budget cannot supply such large quantities of +valuable materials unless it can get some return for them. The school +shop in each department, where orders both private and custom are taken, +has proved advantageous, but involves great problems of administration: +(1) the actual business methods and management connected with the +invoices, sales, and delivery of goods; (2) the obtaining of orders +needed and of the quantity desirable; (3) the taking of custom orders, +fitting the customer, and delivery of orders on time; (4) a satisfactory +apportionment of the order work so that the students may profit by it +and not be expected to continue it after they have had sufficient +experience of one kind, or if they are not yet able to do the elaborate +work involved; (5) the finding of operatives who will do what the +students cannot or should not do; (6) the expense involved in employing +workers at trade prices and for shorter hours; (7) the cost of articles, +and other details which are involved in entering into competition with +trade. It may be stated that no trade school should underbid the market, +but should charge the full prices and expect to give equivalent returns. +A trade school cannot afford to be an amateur supported by a +philanthropic public, but must have a recognized business standard. + + +Placement + +Problems of varied kinds meet the school in placing its students. Each +new enactment of child labor or industrial laws has its influence. Even +a good law will sometimes have a temporary serious effect in lowering +wages or turning capable girls out of satisfactory positions. Care must +be exercised that students are not placed where there is a possibility +of running counter to the best interests of labor. The desire to place +each pupil where she can develop to her highest condition requires +continual knowledge of the market needs and of the characteristics of +the many girls. Records of students entering, studying, and placed, the +kinds of positions open, and industrial and labor information must be +kept up to date, yet such data are often hard to secure. + + +Trade Union Attitude + +An important question that is always before a trade school is the effect +the instruction may have on the working people. It is difficult for one +not continually in the midst of the pressure of the actual trade to +know the many ways that thoughtless advance in trade teaching may react +to the disadvantage of the very ones that the school wishes to help. +Injury may be done by preparing too many for certain occupations, +filling places where a strike is on, replacing well-paid positions with +trade school girls at a less price, placing the girls at too small a +wage for their skill, doing order work at too low a price or when a +strike is on, considering too closely the fitting of a worker for the +employer's benefit rather than for the broadening of her own life, and +like thoughtless actions. The difficulties of the situation are great +and the solution frequently obscure, but a fair-minded school must be in +touch with the effort the working woman herself has inaugurated to +better her condition. The apparently unnecessary suspicion with which +the laboring class regards the organization of trade instruction would +have foundation if no thought were given to the trade conditions as the +working girl sees them. A trade school for fourteen-year-old girls need +not make a point of their immediate entrance into unions, but it should +consider the subject simply and wisely in all its bearings, that the +students may know the full aims and advantages of coöperation as well as +the point of view and many difficulties of the employers. + + +Contact with Trade + +The faculty of a trade school needs the coöperation and assistance of +the working people and the employers of labor. Only through intimate +interrelation with them can the best and most practical results be +obtained. Auxiliaries and committees of employers and of wage-earners; +visits of the staff of the school to trade, and of employers, forewomen, +and workers to the school; the carrying out of orders for workrooms and +assisting them at busy seasons, are some of the ways by which the +Manhattan Trade School has tried to gain the help of the busy industrial +world. + + +Problems of Financial Aid + +The aid given to enable the poorest students to attend the school has +brought its own questions, such as: the danger of pauperizing the +recipients; the methods of selecting the beneficiaries; the best way to +give the weekly aid; the development of a spirit of earnest work and +regular attendance in the girls thus aided; the stimulation of a desire +to return some equivalent in special helpfulness to the Manhattan Trade +School or to its students, and the eliminating of this philanthropic +effort from any apparent relation to school work. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[B] In order to explain these problems, it will be necessary to repeat +some of the data in Part I. + + + + +PART III + +EQUIPMENT AND SUPPORT + + +Housing and Equipment + +The first home of the Manhattan Trade School was a large four-story and +basement dwelling house, for which a rental of $2,100 per annum was +paid. The initial permanent equipment and first temporary stock provided +for one hundred students, and cost $9,500. This amount was utilized +principally for the furnishing of special rooms for electric power +operating; for sewing; for dressmaking; for millinery; for pasting; and +for the more general equipment of offices, academic and art rooms, a +kitchen, and a lunch room. The following lists show the range of +expenses for furnishing the main workrooms with necessary equipment: + +GARMENT OR DRESSMAKING WORKROOM + + Sewing machines, each $18.00 to $70.00 + Work, cutting, and ironing tables, each 6.00 to 20.00 upward + Electric irons, each 7.75 + Gas stove (necessary when electric irons are + not used), each 2.00 upward + Cheval glass, each 20.00 to 100.00 upward + Chairs, each .50 to 3.00 upward + Exhibition, stock closets, cabinets, and + chests of drawers, each 10.00 to 100.00 upward + Fitting stands, each 2.00 to 30.00 upward + Fitting room (a curtained alcove), each 10.00 upward + Fitting room (a furnished room), each 100.00 upward + Dress forms, per dozen 30.00 upward + Waist forms, per dozen 6.00 upward + Sleeve forms, pair 1.00 to 1.50 upward + Lockers, per running foot 3.00 to 8.00 upward + +A room for twenty workers may be plainly furnished at a cost of $300 to +$500. If a large number of expensive sewing machines are desired, the +estimates must be increased by several hundred dollars. The Manhattan +Trade School has forty foot-power machines of the kinds most in use in +the workrooms of New York. + +The equipping of a workroom for electric power operating, including +general and special machines, motor, cutting and work tables, cabinets +and chairs, will be considerably more expensive than the one for garment +making. In the latter, one sewing machine can be used by several +workers, but in electric operating each worker must have her own +machine. The electric motor adds also to the expense. The minimum cost +of equipping a shop for twenty workers would be $1,000 to $1,500. The +necessary equipment would be as follows: + +ELECTRIC OPERATING WORKROOM + + Plain sewing machines in rows, per head $22.50 upward + Troughs for work between the rows and tables for the + machines (per every two machines) 10.00 + Special machines (two needle, embroidery, lace stitch, + buttonhole, straw sewing, and the like), + each according to kind 35.00 to 125.00 + Motor, each 140.00 upward + Electric cutter, each 25.00 upward + Cabinets, tables, chairs, and irons, see above + +The Manhattan Trade School has fifty-five plain electric sewing machines +and thirty-two special machines, as follows: three buttonhole, one +two-needle, one binding, one zigzag, five hemstitching, five tucker, +four Bonnaz, one braider, one hand embroidery, one scalloping, nine +straw sewing. + +In workrooms conducting trades which use paste, gum, and glue, the +following special equipment is required: + + Glue pots, gas, each $7.50 upward + Glue pots, electric, each 21.75 upward + Hand cutter, each 50.00 upward + Cabinets, tables, chairs, see above + +The cost of equipping a shop would be from $200 to $400. + +Special machines for perforating designs or for pleating materials are +often needed in teaching the garment trades. Wholesale prices can +usually be obtained when the order is large. Dealers have also shown +themselves willing to sell their machines at low prices, to loan them, +and even to give them to a school which has proved its ability to train +good workers. + +When it was appreciated that the original quarters of the school were +too limited, the Board of Administrators went to work with great +enthusiasm and in a few months collected the requisite money and bought +a large business loft building at 209-213 East 23d Street, at an expense +of $175,000. To put it in order for work cost $5,000 in addition. The +former equipment was used and $5,000 more was spent for such needed +items as: machines, $3,200; motor, $352; perforating machine, $38; +additional master clocks, $233; chairs and tables, $850. The school is +furnished in a simple, businesslike manner, the equipment merely +reproducing good workroom requirements, _i. e._, essentials only. + +The budget for the first year, 1902-1903, was $22,094.16, of which the +salaries for teachers took about one-half and the rent and maintenance +covered the other half. During this year there were 113 students +admitted. In 1908-1909, after six years of rapid growth, the educational +budget is $49,000, or more than double the original, of which the +salaries are $38,806; the supplies, $1,710; printing and publishing, +$600; maintenance, $9,900. At the beginning of 1908 there were 254 +students in the school; 689 were registered during the year, making a +total of 943 girls, being almost nine times the number in attendance +during the first year. + + +The Support + +The Manhattan Trade School has depended for its support entirely upon +voluntary contributions. There have been few large donations and the +donors represent all classes of the community--patrons of and workers in +sociological, economic, philanthropic, and educational fields, employers +of labor, and auxiliaries of many kinds of workers organized for special +purposes. The most significant help, perhaps, and the largest in +proportion to its income, has been that of the wage-earners +themselves--not only the girl who has benefited by the instruction, but +the general mass of women workers. These women, knowing the difficulties +in their own struggle to rise, have shown themselves willing to set +apart weekly a small sum to help young girls to attain quickly +efficiency through systematic training. The auxiliaries of wage-earners +are a mainstay of the school on account of their helpful enthusiasm, +their practical suggestions, their interest in girls trained there, and +their regular subscriptions on which the Board of Administrators can +depend. + + + + +PART IV + +OUTLINES AND DETAILED ACCOUNTS OF DEPARTMENT WORK + + +The Faculty and Staff + +The original staff of the Manhattan Trade School, 1902-1903, consisted +of a Director, an Executive Secretary, 4 supervisors (Operating, +Dressmaking, Pasting, and Art), 5 instructors and forewomen, 4 or 5 +assistants and occasional workers, a janitor, and 2 cleaners. The +present staff, 1909-1910, consists of (1) _Office Administration_, 11: +Director, Executive Secretary, Assistant Secretary, 2 Stenographers +(office and placement), Placement Secretary, Investigator, Business +Clerk, Buyer, and 2 Assistants (records, telephone, etc.). (2) _Teaching +Force, Supervisors, and Assistant Supervisors_, 7: Dressmaking, +Dressmaking workroom, Electric Operating, Millinery, Novelty, Physical +Education, Art. _Instructors, Teachers, and Forewomen_, 11: Academic, 2; +Dressmaking, 3; Operating, 5; Art, 1. _Assistants_, 14: Dressmaking, 7; +Novelty, 3; Operating, 1; Physical Education, 2; Art, 1. (3) _Doctor._ +(4) _Care of Building_, 7: Engineer, Janitor, Machinist, Cleaners 2, +Elevator boy, and Night watchman. + + +ADMINISTRATION + +Admission Requirements + +I. Age: fourteen to seventeen years. The law requires a child to remain +in public school until fourteen. The Manhattan Trade School has found +that under fourteen a girl is too immature to specialize in trade work, +and that over seventeen most girls are too mature to fit into the work +planned for the majority of the class. + +II. Public School Grade: 5-A or above. The subject matter of 5-A grade +or its equivalent is required by the state before a child can leave to +work. If for illness or other good cause a girl has not made this grade, +she is admitted to the Trade School with special permission of principal +of last school attended, and, while studying her trade, the necessary +amount of schooling is made up to her by special classes and coaching. +The Board of Health recognizes this substitute. + +Grade of girls admitted since beginning is shown in following table: + +GRADE UPON LEAVING SCHOOL + + -----+-------+-------+-------+---------+--------+----------+------- + | Below | Fifth | Sixth | Seventh | Eighth | Graduate | High + | Fifth | Grade | Grade | Grade | Grade | Per | School + | Grade | Per | Per | Per | Per | cent. | Per + | Per | cent. | cent. | cent. | cent. | | cent. + | cent. | | | | | | + -----+-------+-------+-------+---------+--------+----------+------- + | | | | | | | + 1902 | 8 | 19 | 35 | 26 | 2 | 10 | 0 + | | | | | | | + 1903 | 11 | 18 | 19 | 29 | 6 | 15 | 2 + | | | | | | | + 1904 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 25 | 16 | 25 | 2 + | | | | | | | + 1905 | 7 | 15 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 19 | 4 + | | | | | | | + 1906 | 8 | 16 | 20 | 23 | 17 | 13 | 3 + | | | | | | | + 1907 | 7 | 10 | 25 | 23 | 15 | 18 | 2 + | | | | | | | + 1908 | 4 | 15 | 26 | 20 | 13 | 16 | 6 + | | | | | | | + -----+-------+-------+-------+---------+--------+----------+------- + +During 1908, 143 older women were admitted to a special workroom opened +for the "unemployed." + +III. Filing of working papers is required of girls under sixteen. + +1. No girl under sixteen can work in New York unless she has an +Employment Certificate issued by the Board of Health, and then only from +8 A.M. to 5 P.M., or for eight hours daily. + +2. The public school last attended by the girl is responsible for her +until she is sixteen, or has her working papers, or is dismissed to +another school. If dismissed to Manhattan Trade School her attendance +there cannot be made compulsory, and she may attend a few days and then +leave and work illegally. Our facilities for following up such cases are +limited. With her working papers on file we know she is not evading the +law, and can dismiss her to work if she is not a success in trade lines +of training. + +3. Exceptions: Lack of proper birth record, on account of foreign birth +or failure to make record of it by officials, may prevent the obtaining +of an Employment Certificate. A special provision is made by the Board +of Health in such cases, and, pending adjustment, the girl is admitted +upon notice of date of future issuance. + +IV. Reference: Some reliable person's name is required of each applying +student, in order to have some one to communicate with in case of +difficulty of any kind. + +V. Application in person: Each girl fills out an application blank +giving name, address, and birthplace of self, father, and mother, public +school attendance, previous trade experience, if any, trade desired, +reference. This must be written at the school, for the manner in which +it is done is a large part of test for admission. + + +Times of Admission + +The school year begins in July, but a girl is admitted any Monday when +there is a vacancy in the department she wishes to enter. The following +table gives record of yearly admission: + + -------------------------+-------- + | + Nov. 2, 1902 (first day) | 20 + | + Rest of 1902 | 93 + | + 1903 | 139 + | + 1904 | 193 + | + 1905 | 239 + | + 1906 | 328 + | + 1907 | 433 + | + 1908 | 689 + | + 1909 | 517 + | + |-------- + | + Total | 2,651 + | + -------------------------+-------- + +Some of these students did not remain long enough to take a thorough +training, for home demands made even a small wage imperative, and the +girl had to join the ranks of earners ill prepared. Some were not +adapted to trade conditions, and soon fell out by the way. Many +persisted until they took more than the average twelve months' course, +and went into business at a proportionately higher wage. + + +Records + +I. Attendance: 1. Daily, Monday to Friday inclusive. The factory method +of time cards punched by a clock upon entrance and leaving has been +adopted as being most exact, businesslike, and time saving. It registers +the exact time when rung, and so indicates tardiness as well as absence. + +2. Weekly. A small filing card ruled for fifty-two weeks summarizes the +daily record of time cards and requires the marking attendance only once +a week. This file is subdivided into departments and again into classes, +so that the statistics of enrollment are easily gathered. + +II. Individual records: 1. Upon admission a record card is started for +each girl, no matter how long she may attend. This contains (1) the data +given upon the application blank copied in detail; (2) Student Aid, if +given, amount, date, and remarks. + +2. Upon leaving, entries are made on the same card of (1) date and cause +of leaving; (2) record in different departments--Art, Academic, Trade, +and Health; (3) certificate--kind, record, date. This is not granted +until the pupil has proved satisfactory in her trade both in the school +and in business; (4) Trade Record--upon the reverse side of the card is +the "record in trade after leaving school," with columns for date, +employer, kind of work, wages, remarks. This is kept up by the Placement +Secretary by frequent visits and letters, and gives the basis for many +valuable deductions as to the practical results of the training. + +III. Other records kept in departments are (1) Student Aid: application +and information; (2) Health: examinations upon entrance and future +reëxaminations; (3) Department: records of each girl as she passes from +class to class, such as "attitude," speed, and skill. + + +Length of Year + +The school is in session forty-eight weeks each year, four weeks being +given up to one-week vacations at Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July, and +Labor Day. The summer session is the beginning of the regular work, and +not a unit for summer training. No one is admitted for the summer only, +as the time is too short for real trade standards to be approached. + + +Tuition + +The tuition is absolutely free. The Manhattan Trade School aims to reach +the poorest girl who has little chance to advance rapidly unless some +one gives her a lift. In order to do this most effectively it is +sometimes necessary to assist her. (See the report of the Student Aid +Work.) + + +Choice of Trade + +A girl upon application can select the trade into which she wishes to +go. If after a month's trial she proves competent, she is allowed to +continue; if not, she is advised to change to another department or to +seek employment in work not taught at the Trade School. If a girl has no +choice of trade because of ignorance of possibilities, she is shown the +kinds taught and given a chance to make a selection. If then she is +undecided, she is advised to take what seems best adapted to the time +she can spend and the type of girl she appears to be. + + +Business Management + +However simple a school is, some bookkeeping is necessary, and when with +the running of the school is combined the management of trade order +supplies and receipts the problem becomes very complicated. (See Trade +Order Work.) + +I. General: A system of up-to-date bookkeeping of General Ledger, +Invoice Book, and Daily Exhibit, with details worked out in Petty Cash +and Maintenance Books, has been adopted. These few simple books so +distribute accounts of expense and receipts that one can soon see the +standing of the whole school or of a single department. All bookkeeping +is centralized in one office, except the taking of orders and the +details of filling them, which must be in the hands of the department +concerned. + +II. Departmental: 1. Requisition blanks for purchases made. 2. Order +blank and duplicate for order given by customer. 3. Time slips, wherever +possible, to get exact record of time value of work done. 4. Material +slips, to keep account of what has gone into any orders. 5. Final +billing, to give data for bills sent out from main office and duplicate +filed there for final records. + + +THE POWER MACHINE OPERATING DEPARTMENT + +Aim + +To train girls to work on sewing machines run by electric power and to +put a thinker behind every machine as its operator. The department hopes +by awakening intelligent interest in the tool, _i. e._, the machine, to +kindle ambition in the workers. It is only through the intelligent use +of the tool and consequent love of work which follows that we can look +forward to supplying the skilled machine workers of the future. This +training must be given while the girls are in the formative period, to +develop habits of thought and action which will counteract the bad +effects upon the worker that follow division and subdivision of work, +with consequent subdivision of ability, which takes place in all +factories today. When a pupil has been thoroughly trained in the +intelligent use of her tool, when she has learned to construct complete +garments, if she is then, through force of circumstances such as modern +production entails, compelled to carry out one process on the machine +indefinitely, or to make one part of a garment, she still holds the +balance of power in being prepared to do something else when opportunity +or necessity demands. + + +General Steps in Training + +I. A pupil must be given a short time to adjust herself to the workshop +environment, consequently she is put first at some simple work, such as +ripping or cutting up old garments. This gives her freedom while using +her hands to look about the workroom and to get accustomed to the sight +as well as to the sound of machines in action. + +II. The pupil is taught to control the power by which the machine is +run, and is then given an intelligent understanding of the mechanism of +the machine or machines she is to operate. + +III. The pupil then begins her regular course of work, and her feeling +of responsibility of the value of _time_ is awakened--that is, her +seconds, minutes, and hours, days, weeks, and months are now important +factors in her life, and they may be used for good or evil. In the +language of the department, time may be spent wisely or foolishly, and, +while studying at the Manhattan Trade School, seven hours out of every +day of the girl's life is given over to productive work and should be +accounted for. The department has developed its own plan of time +payments, which is much like the piece-work system employed in trade. +Through its rewards for time well spent it makes the fact real to the +pupils, as no form of punishment could do, that wasted time is gone +forever. + +The department is divided into five classes, three of which must be +taken to make an all-round operator, namely: Elementary, two months' +course; Intermediate, four months' course; Advanced, six months' course. +In trade, salaries for such positions range from $5 to $15. The other +two classes train specialists on the electric machines, special machines +of various kinds, straw-sewing machines. Special machine work requires +from three months to one year in addition to the full course of +all-round operating. Salaries range from $6 to $30. An expert trade +worker is in charge of each class. + + _Course of Work_ + + Regular Operating Course: + + 1. Control of power--learning names and uses of parts of machines. + Making bags, clothes, and operator's equipment. + + 2. Straight and bias stitching, equal distance apart. + + 3. Spaced bias stitching from given measurements. + + 4. Making and turning square corners, stitching heavy edge for + tension practice. + + 5. Machine table apron, using former principles. This is used to + protect operator from shafting and oil. + + 6. Seams: Plain seam, plain and band seam; French seam; bag seam on + warp; bag seam, one warp and one bias; bag seam, two biases. + + 7. Hemming: Different sized hems turned by hand for correct + measurements; hems run through hemmer to learn use of attachment and + give speed; seams through hemmer--bag seam, flat fell. + + 8. Quilting: Following designs made by pupils in Art Department. + Practice for control of power, starting and stopping machine at + given point. + + 9. Banding: Straight and bias bands placed by measurement from + design made in Art Department. Practice for edge stitching, turning + corners, accuracy of measurement. + + 10. Advanced seams on cloth and silk: Flannel seam, slot seam, + umbrella seam. + + 11. Yokes made and put on: Round yokes--petticoats; round front and + straight back--drawers and petticoats; bias yokes--waists; shaped + yokes--aprons; round yokes--children's dresses; miter corner + yoke--dresses. + + 12. Tucking: Free hand tucking for accuracy in measuring and use of + rule; special tucking on length and widths of different materials to + give speed and skill in handling different fabrics. + + General Construction: Trade Stock and Order Work (See Order Work): + Infants' slips, children's underwear; children's rompers; children's + dresses; women's underwear; shirtwaists; aprons; house dresses; + fancy negligees. + + Special Machine Work: + + Buttonholes; tucking; two-needle work; hemstitching; Bonnaz + (Corneli) embroidery; machine hand embroidery, scalloping. Students + of special ability only are fitted to take this course. One girl in + fifteen has usually the requisite application and self-control to + operate a special machine successfully. Each machine is specialized, + _i. e._, does its own particular work and no other. Patient + attention to little things is required on the part of the operator + in order that good results may be produced. Such machines are + supposed to need only a hand behind them to guide the work. Our + experience has proved to us that good results are produced only when + intelligence and patience are factors. In the factories, machinists + keep the special machines in order, but the school aims to train the + operator to keep her own machine in good condition, thus saving her + valuable time. + +Bonnaz (Corneli) embroidery work offers excellent opportunities for +correlation with the Art Department. Both Bonnaz (Corneli) and machine +hand embroidery must be felt in the muscles before they can be carried +out on the material, therefore the work with the pencil in making +designs which are to be carried out on the machine is of first +importance. Free-hand designs must be made first in large, free +movements on the machine until the arm muscles are thoroughly familiar +with the curve, sweep, and feeling to be executed. After mastery of +movement and sweep are acquired, the same designs may be reduced in size +ten or twenty times and the pupil will still work them out in perfect +rhythm. After the mastery of movement is acquired, the cording, +braiding, and three-thread attachment work are easily learned by a pupil +who has the necessary mechanical sense. The course of Bonnaz (Corneli) +work covers: chain stitch, lettering, appliqué work, cording, braiding, +three-thread work. + +Machine hand embroidery should be given as a supplementary course to +Bonnaz (Corneli) embroidery. It gives excellent training in design and +color work. + +Special trade machine straw sewing should also be taken up after the +regular course in operating. It gives splendid exercise for quick +handling of material, but makes a poor foundation of itself on which to +build a painstaking, expert, all-round operator. Speed is the first +requisite in getting a hat properly shaped, as the straw braid is flying +through the machine at the rate of four thousand stitches a minute; +hence the general operating is given first to the pupil to train her in +the requisite neatness. As straw-sewing has long slack seasons, the +operator can during such times return to the regular operating. + + +DRESSMAKING DEPARTMENT + +Aim + +The aim of the Dressmaking Department is to train girls in the elements +of the dressmaking trade, in order to enable them to immediately secure +employment as improvers and finishers or as assistants on skirts, +waists, and sleeves, and to give them a preparation which will help them +eventually to rise to positions of skill and responsibility. The +training eliminates the errand girl and apprenticeship stages, and makes +possible a living wage at the start. The result is accomplished in from +nine to seventeen months, the time depending entirely upon the +capability of the girl, her physical condition, her application to her +work, her regularity of attendance, and her previous training. + + +Classes + +The department is divided into three sections: (1) The Elementary, which +consists of two classes for the teaching of simple sewing and machine +work. This section is rendered necessary by the poor preparation of the +students at the entrance. It would be not only practical but desirable +for elementary public and industrial schools so to train their students +that they could omit this part of the Manhattan Trade School course. (2) +The Vocational. This section also includes two classes. The work is +tradelike in character, but much time has to be given to developing +right habits of work as well as to learning specific kinds of handwork. +The public secondary schools could offer this section to advantage, and +through it train pupils for a better knowledge of the home or for future +livelihood. (3) The Trade Section. This is a business shop, which +reproduces trade conditions as nearly as possible and is subdivided into +the same progressive divisions. Although the object is to work as trade +does, the educational aim is also prominent, and the course of training +has been planned with both ends in view. Order work plays an important +part in this section, for it makes possible the quantity and variety of +material necessary to supply the many repetitions of important phases of +dressmaking, the new views of old principles, and the elaborate costume +manufacturing which are needed in the training. It would be impossible +for a school to adequately deal with the many varieties of garments in +this trade without some equivalent for the order work. The use of models +or of practice material is not satisfactory on account of the great +difference between theoretical and practical knowledge in handling +valuable materials. A girl may learn to run fine tucks on cheesecloth, +but this will not enable her to do satisfactory hand-tucking on chiffon. +Neither is it a correct educational or economic principle to cut up +quantities of good material, which the students will look upon as +"rags," and then, after working on them, to throw them into a receptacle +for waste or sell them simply to get rid of them. To secure the best +results in any line of instruction there must be interest and +enthusiasm. The aim, therefore, must be definite and the results vital. +The work is planned to foster these higher qualities. The students +produce articles for a definite use; they are given a required time in +which the work should be completed; trade itself sets the standard of +judgment, and a definite relation exists between the work of all the +classes, so that old principles may be recognized when presented in new +forms. + + +Courses of Work + +I. Elementary Section. (1) Beginners' Class. First, a test is given each +girl when she enters which enables her instructor to judge of her +ability in sewing. It has been found necessary, in the majority of +cases, to teach all or the greater part of the following principles: the +use of sewing utensils, the making of the stitches, their application in +articles, and the running of the sewing machine. Hence the second step +has been a course of work covering the use of these needed principles, +each girl beginning at the point where she needs training. Third, the +final test. On the satisfactory completion of this very elementary +training a test is given to show a girl's ability to work, to think, and +to utilize ideas. If she is not yet fully prepared, further time is +spent in emphasizing the points she still requires. + +The work in the Beginners' Class is done upon articles which have a +trade value and which are sold to customers or to the students for about +the cost of the materials. The school furnishes the materials for all +elementary work, but the students must provide their own tools and keep +them in good condition. These include a thimble, needles, scissors, a +tape measure, an emery, and a white apron. + +Class instruction followed by individual criticism is the method of +teaching in the Elementary Section. Emphasis is placed upon the proper +use of the utensils, the position of the body, and the handling of the +work. Individual records are kept of the grade of work and of the time +taken to finish a problem. The course takes from two to three months to +complete, and the students are at work four and one-half hours per day. + + OUTLINE OF WORK IN BEGINNERS' CLASS + + 1. Stitches and special forms of sewing: Basting, running, + overhanding, overcasting, hemming, blind stitching, sewing on + buttons (two hole, four hole), buttonholes, featherstitching. + + 2. Seams: Plain; selvage and raw edges; French; felled; straight and + bias edges; overhanded. + + 3. Machine stitching: Straight seams and rows; hems; + facings--points; use of tucker. + + 4. Principles: Measuring, seams, hems, tucks, cutting by a thread; + matching stripes; turning and basting hems; making casing for + drawstrings; putting on band--by hand, by machine--one and two + pieces; setting strings into bands; finishing ends of hems; putting + on pockets--straight and shaped; plain placket; cutting bias strips; + piecing bias strips; facing curved and straight edges (armholes, + neck, waist, points); joining waist and skirt with bias facing; + making straight tucked ruffle; inserting ruffle under tuck on skirt; + ripping. + + 5. Articles used in the work (this list is changed at will and is + merely representative): Handwork--Pin cushion, bag, towel, white + apron with ruffle. Machine work--Belt, gingham apron oversleeves, + child's dress with waist, uniform apron. + + 6. Supplementary work: Shoe bags, silver cases, holders, bibs, silk + bags, darning bags, needle books, traveling cases, baby caps and + work of a similar character. + + 7. Materials used: Cotton, linen, silk. + +(2) Intermediate Class. The Beginners' Class gives most of its time to +hand sewing, the Intermediate Class emphasizes machine sewing. The work +is a repetition of the principles taught in the Beginners' Class, but is +presented in a different manner, with new applications. Orders are taken +from individuals or business houses for the garments which are made in +this course. The price is that of the trade. These orders furnish a +market for the entire output of the class. A certain amount of class +instruction is given, but the girls are expected to do independent work +under supervision. + + OUTLINE OF WORK IN INTERMEDIATE CLASS + + 1. Review of former principles on new garments: (1) French + seam--straight edges, baby slips and nightgowns. (2) Hems, (_a_) + straight, (_b_) turned by hand, on princess aprons, bloomers, + sleeves, etc., (_c_) turned by machine--hemmer on ruffles, for + drawers and petticoats. (3) Overcasting--seams of skirts. (4) + Buttonholes--all garments. (5) Plackets--plain hemmed, on skirts, + baby slips. (6) Bias bands--joining and applying to straight and + curved edges, on princess aprons, drawers, top of petticoat. (7) + Ruffle--joining, measuring, and applying under tuck, on skirt and + drawers. (8) Machine instruction--threading, setting needles, + winding bobbin, scale of thread, needle, and stitch. + + 2. New principles: (1) Flat fell--shaped and bias edges on princess + aprons and drawers. (2) French seam--shaped edges in petticoat + seams. (3) Loops--on petticoats and dressing sacques. (4) + Hems--shaped edges in gored skirts, princess aprons and nightgowns, + baby slips and children's dresses. (5) Overhanding--pieces on + nightgowns, piecing ruffles and lace on underwear. (6) + Plackets--faced in drawers, petticoats, bloomers, and dress skirts. + (7) Bias band--applying to top of ruffle in petticoats and drawers. + (8) Bias binding--corset cover and nightgown. (9) Ruffle--finishing + with bias bands on petticoat and drawers. (10) Cuffs--making and + applying to nightgowns, baby slips, rompers, and house dresses. (11) + Sleeves--gathering on wrong side and putting into baby slips, + nightgowns, dressing sacques, etc. (12) Pressing. (13) Sewing hooks + and eyes on petticoats. (14) Machine instruction in cleaning, + oiling, and attachments. + + 3. List of articles made for stock and order: Aprons--princess, + maids', fancy. Women's clothes--dressing sacques, nightgowns, + kimonos, lounging robes, house dresses, chemises, drawers, skirts + (washable, mohair, silk), collars, and corset covers. Children's + clothes--nightdresses, night drawers, drawers, skirts, rompers, + dresses, and aprons. + + 4. Materials used: Cotton, silk, woolen, and worsted. + +II. Vocational Section. The increasing demand for ready-made clothing +has opened a new field for girls obliged to enter the business world as +soon as the law will permit them to leave school. This requires hand +finishing on fancy waists and plain and fancy gowns, which are made by +the dozens on machines run by electric power. It is not necessary to +have a knowledge of actual dressmaking to be able to do this work. The +ability to do good handwork rapidly is the prerequisite. In some +establishments there are opportunities for girls of ability to rise from +finisher to draper, which latter position commands a high wage. + +The producing of fine, handmade underwear, waists, and dresses is +another opportunity for girls who can take but a short time in which to +prepare to earn their living. Work of this character is of a much higher +grade than that of the wholesale finishing, and demands the ability to +do extremely good hand and machine work. The worker must be able to +handle the finest kind of materials and to do the most intricate work, +such as hand tucking, setting in lace, and trimmings. + +Although the course in the Vocational Section trains for specific +branches, it is very necessary that all dressmaking students should have +experience in these lines in order to be better prepared for the actual +dressmaking. If, however, a girl has the ability to do the work of these +classes, she is allowed to skip either one or both of them. + +Course of work in the Shop for Gymnasium and Swimming Suits: The +students are drilled for one or two months in putting garments together, +stitching, and finishing. As but two kinds of garments are made, speed +is acquired and a certain amount of accuracy is gained through much +repetition. Definite arrangements have been made through wholesale +houses for the disposition of the product. The materials are furnished +by the school. The price is that of trade. + +(1) Articles: Swimming suits (patented), bathing suits, and gymnasium +suits. (2) Materials used: Cotton, wool, worsted. + +Course of work in White Work Class: The previous training having been a +general one for accuracy, speed, and the mastery over mind and hand, +attention is now given for two and one-half or three months to fine +detail work and the handling and keeping fresh and clean of the +daintiest of cotton goods. The materials are furnished by the school and +the work is sold to customers at trade prices. + +(1) Principles: Hand-tucking, rolling and whipping, mitering corners, +overhanding trimming, inserting lace and embroidery by hand and machine, +fine featherstitching, and white hand embroidery. (2) Garments for stock +and order; fine underwear, waists, and baby clothes. (3) Material used: +cotton. + +III. Trade Section--The Business Shop. Trade demands skilled workers, +and preference is given to those who have had practical training. The +trade section aims to add experience to skill by offering the students +the actual work and conditions demanded in the outside market. The +general scheme is the one in use in moderate-sized dressmaking +establishments. + +The workroom has its tables devoted to separate kinds of work, the +students obtain a definite amount of knowledge from each experience, and +pass from one to the other as rapidly as their ability to grasp the +principles will permit. Each division is in charge of an instructor with +practical trade experience, who prepares and supervises the work and +also does the skilled parts which the students, on account of their lack +of experience, are unable to do. + +The girls are not taught cutting, fitting, and draping, as trade would +not permit a sixteen-year-old girl to attempt this work on account of +her lack of judgment and experience; but they have the opportunity to +see and assist in the preparation of work. No girl in the trade shop +will make a complete garment, but she will have worked upon all parts +many times. + +Custom orders supply the shop with work. The customers are interviewed, +measurements are taken, estimates are given, and dates for fittings are +planned. The information obtained is recorded upon blanks prepared for +the purpose. The materials are purchased, the garments cut, and the +different parts (skirts, waists, sleeves) are delivered to the tables +where such work is done. Blanks are provided for the recording of all +materials used for customers' work, and from these the bills are made +out in the main office. Stock is obtained from the storerooms on signed +requisitions only. The stock clerk measures and delivers the materials +and notes the amount withdrawn on each package. + + Course in Dressmaking Shop: + + 1. Linings: Waist (practice materials): basting, stitching, + pressing, binding, boning (whalebone, featherbone); hooks and eyes; + facing; overcasting. + + 2. Shirtwaists and nurses' uniforms: Covering rings; making + shirtwaist cuff; making shirtwaist placket; putting on neckbands. + + 3. Skirts: Petticoats or drop skirts for; basting, stitching, + pressing; seams, bands, plackets; trimming, pinning, putting on + band. + + 4. Trimmed skirts: Slip stitching; milliner's and flat folds; + covering buttonholes; binding, shirring, cording, tucking, piping, + facing, braiding. + + 5. Trimmed waists: Application of principles; experience in making + and applying trimming and handling delicate or perishable materials. + + 6. Trimmed sleeves: Application in general knowledge and experience + in applying trimmings. + + 7. Garments made in the shop: Shirtwaists, fancy dressing sacques + and wrappers; nurses' and maids' uniforms; dancing dresses; + elaborate waists; street, afternoon, and evening gowns; tailored + suits. + + 8. Materials used: All varieties of cotton, linen, silk, woolen, and + worsted dress fabrics; chiffon, mousseline, and trimmings of all + kinds. + +IV. Results of training. A change in the general appearance of the girls +is soon apparent, for which ability to make their own clothes and the +refining influence of the doing of good work on good materials is +probably responsible. The elements of good order, obedience, +thoughtfulness, judgment, self-control, industry, and thrift are +fostered, and every effort is put forth to make intelligent workers. + +The fact that on entering trade the girls from the Trade School receive +nearly double the salary given untrained girls indicates that they are +fitted for the outside workrooms. + +V. Departmental relations. The emphasis which the Academic and Art +Departments have laid upon accuracy, careful work, appreciation of +measurements, distances, color, and form has been of great value to the +students in the Dressmaking Department. The Operating Department has +also been of service in training some of the students to work on special +machines, thus enabling them to make dress decoration. The use of the +electric power machine in custom dressmaking establishments is on the +increase. + +VI. Trade relation. The department is kept in close touch with trade +conditions through personal visits, through the houses which purchase +its output, and through those from whom the stock is bought. Many +opportunities to purchase materials at reduced rates have been secured +through the kindly interest of the trade. + +An advisory board, composed of business men and women, has been +appointed to pass judgment upon the scheme of work, the standard and +quality of work, and the cost and market value of the products. + + +MILLINERY DEPARTMENT + +Aim + +The aim of the Millinery Department is to train assistants, improvers, +frame makers, and preparers for wholesale and custom workrooms. + + +Short Course + +When this department was first opened the scope of the work for the day +classes was much more extended and included training for copyists, +designers, and milliners. The curtailing of the course to more +elementary preparation was brought about by a feeling of dissatisfaction +with this trade for the young, untrained, or partly skilled workers. +Close and continued contact with millinery shops showed that for young +wage-earners a small, initial wage and a not very rapid rise are usual; +that a short, irregular, seasonal engagement is almost inevitable; that +a long experience is needed before even the trained girl can rise to the +higher positions; that young workers become discouraged and are apt to +drop the trade altogether, even for lower wages, if they can obtain +steady work in another occupation. As it was the fourteen or +fifteen-year-old girl who came for the instruction, it was better for +her to be well trained as an assistant than to detain her at the school +for a more advanced position which she would probably not be allowed to +take on account of her youth and inexperience. Students in this +department need to be watched with especial care to determine whether +they are well adapted for their occupation, and the mediocre worker +would better enter some other field where the opportunities for her are +more encouraging. As the advance is slow the girl also whose poverty is +hurrying her into wage-earning would better not elect this work. + +The night classes which have been offered at the school gave training in +the more advanced lines of millinery. The day classes are also prepared +to do so whenever older workers feel they can give time for the +instruction. + + COURSE OF INSTRUCTION + + Length of course: Six months. + + 1. Practice: Shirring, tucking, cording, rolled hem, plain fold, + milliner's fold, and cutting and joining bias pieces. + + 2. Making and covering buckles and buttons; wiring ribbons and + laces; making hat linings and wiring hats. + + 3. Bandeaux: Wire, capenet, and buckram. + + 4. Wire frame construction from dimensions and models; making frames + of buckram, capenet, and stiff willow. + + 5. Covering frames with crinoline, capenet, mull, maline, and soft + willow. + + 6. Facings: Plain, shirred, and in folds. + + 7. Bindings: Stretch, puff, and rolled. + + 8. Plateaux: Plain and fancy. + + 9. Making hats of straw, silk, chiffon, maline, and velvet. + + 10. Sewing trimmings on hats and sewing linings in hats. + + 11. Renovating: Ribbon, velvet, lace, feathers, flowers. + + 12. Machine work: Plain stitching, tucking, shirring, bias strips + stitched on material. + +Orders are taken for a limited amount of trimmed hats in order to +provide the students with experience in preparing, sewing on the +trimming, and in finishing the hat. + +As millinery is a seasonal trade, students are advised to take, in +addition, lamp and candle shade making in the Novelty Department, or +straw sewing in the Operating Department. They are thus provided with +good trades during the months when their own trade is dull. + + +NOVELTY DEPARTMENT + +Aim + +(1) To teach the use of paste and glue in several good trades. (2) A +short course in lampshade and candleshade making for girls who have a +dull season in their regular trade during November, December, and +January. + + +Lines of Work + +Sample mounting, novelty work, jewelry and silverware case making, +lampshade and candleshade making. + + +Trades and Wages + +Sample mounting is pasting or gluing samples of all kinds of material on +cards or in books to be used by salesmen in selling goods. New York is a +center for this class of work. It gives year-round employment to many +girls, and offers wages from $5 to $15 a week. The simpler lines of +sample mounting can be learned by almost any girl. A bright student can +learn this trade in six months. + +Novelty work is the covering and lining of cases and boxes with +different materials. Girls can earn from $5 to $18 a week, and can learn +the trade in from eight months to a year. + +In jewelry and silverware case making the girls are taught both to cover +and line up the cases; they earn from $5 to $15 a week. It takes from +eight months to a year to learn this trade. + +Lampshade and candleshade making: A short course is offered to good +sewers who wish to learn a line of work that will give them employment +during November, December, and January, which is the busy season in this +occupation. Girls can earn from $1 to $2 a day. It is a very good course +for millinery workers, as the work is similar and therefore easily +learned, and the slack time in millinery is the busy time in this trade. + + +Course of Work + +All pupils entering the Novelty Department take a short course in sample +mounting to learn the use of paste and glue. Some are advanced soon to +the novelty work, while others continue in sample mounting, taking up a +greater variety of work along that line. Those entering for lamp and +candle shade making do not take the sample mounting, but come from the +millinery or sewing classes, where they have had some training with the +needle. + + +Interrelation with Academic and Art Work + +In the academic classes the girls are drilled in measurements and have +problems estimating the cost of materials and labor. Their discussions +pertain to actual processes and materials used in the classes of the +Novelty Department. + +In the art classes the girls are trained to draw straight lines and +square corners, to miter corners, to fold on a line, to make good +letters and figures, and to appreciate good proportions and balance. +This work enables the student to arrange her samples in straight lines +on the card, with proper margins, and to print neatly on the card the +name of the materials and stock numbers. The discussion of materials +helps her to cut and place her materials on the cases so that the design +will appear to the best advantage. The color work aids her in choosing +the best hues of ribbons or linings to use with the figured coverings. + + +Orders + +Where trade orders can be used without keeping the girls too long on the +one problem, they prove a great incentive and also help them to acquire +speed. Private orders give more variety in the work, and thus enable the +girls to adjust themselves more easily to each season's new styles. The +private orders, however, being smaller in number, do not help the +students to acquire the speed that the repetition does in the large +trade orders. Each kind of order work is used, as it can be of advantage +to the development of the student. + + +ART DEPARTMENT + +The courses of work in the Art Department are shaped according to the +needs of each trade department. Various phases of work in dressmaking, +electric power operating, novelty, and millinery are made "centers of +interest." Each girl thus finds her art aiding her to be more valuable +in her trade. Her enthusiasm is awakened and she is stimulated to +self-expression directly along the line of her chosen work. The entering +students lack in the technical skill which can be used in their trades. +The first step, therefore, is to give the elementary exercises needed in +their departments. This is followed by more difficult and more artistic +work as the student shows ability. + + +Aims + +To help the work of the trade departments, to improve the trade selected +by each student, to give ideals. + + +Conditions + +Time of average student in art, seven months, three hours per week. +Previous art training little or none. + + +Difficulties + +The students do not see or estimate correctly; they are not exact, and +they lack ideals. + + +Organization of Art Work + +I. _General_ course for _all_ students, connecting Art Department with +Trade Courses. Approximate time, three months, three times a week. + + 1. Principles of Proportion: Measurements by ruler and free-hand. + Related lines and sizes, as in hems and margins. + + 2. General Use of Principles: (1) Horizontal, vertical, oblique + lines for machine practice. (2) Related margins and spots as used in + the writing of letters, the orderly placing of subject on a page. + + 3. Specific Department Work: Departments express their needs to Art + Department. (1) Machine operating: (_a_) Lines--horizontal, + vertical, oblique, for machine practice. (_b_) Quilting, banding, + practice for curves and square corners. + + (2) Sewing: (_a_) Lines--horizontal, vertical, oblique, for machine + and hand practice and tailor basting. (_b_) Hems, tucks as + prescribed by department and proportioned to garment. (_c_) + Constructive drawing--giving different angles and figures with a + view toward an intelligent use of patterns for waists and skirts. + (_d_) Piecing bias and mitering corners. + + (3) Novelty: (_a_) Lines--horizontal, vertical, oblique, for sample + mounting. (_b_) Spacings for sample mounting. (_c_) Letterings and + figures for sample mounting. (_d_) Margins for pasting different + shaped labels and samples. (_e_) Paper folding, mitering corners. + + (4) Millinery: (_a_) Lines--horizontal, vertical, oblique, for hand + sewing practice. (_b_) Problems for proportions for the wire frames. + (_c_) Bias facings and mitered and square corners. (_d_) Color. + +Students unable to benefit further by the Art Work are dropped from +course and devote this time to their trade. + +II. _Supplementary_ course for students showing ability who have +finished the prescribed departmental course. Approximate time, seven to +nine months. + + 1. Machine Operating: (1) First step in designs, arrangement of + straight lines in borders, and orderly arrangement of spots in + borders. (2) Squared-off designs, stenciling same, for coördination. + (3) Sample curved line designs, continuous (limitation of machine + and for speed). (4) Patterns for practice work for the special + machine. (5) Special workers to practice the exercises for the + Bonnaz machine. (6) Color--three charts. (7) Exercises for + perforating. + + 2. Sewing: (1) Simple designs for shirtwaists and for braiding. (2) + Designs for revers, cuffs, vests, and yokes. (3) Proportions of + figure. (4) Copying from magazines for trade technicalities. (5) + Discussions on dress for trade workers. (6) Color harmony in dresses + and application. + + 3. Millinery: (1) Sketching different views of the hats. (2) + Sketching models. (3) Color harmonies and application. (4) + Discussions on how art principles can be applied to hats of the + present day. + + 4. Novelty: (1) Simple, squared-off designs stenciled for + coördination for hand and head, not gained in the trade work. (2) + Simple illumination of words and phrases. (3) The materials and + decoration to be used for pads, desk sets, and boxes discussed and + carried out. + +In this supplementary course emphasis is put on the thought, invention, +and appreciation of the student. + +III. _Special_ course for students who show unusual ability in art and +can utilize it in trade. + + 1. Costume sketching for making records in dressmaking workrooms. + + 2. Stamping and perforating: (_a_) Machine practice--pedaling, + guiding needle, threading machine, and learning to adjust the + different parts. (_b_) Stamping on different materials with the + different mediums; composition of the different mediums, liquid and + dry. (_c_) Copying patterns for perforating; nature study for + motifs; conventionalizing those to apply them to materials. + +(All designs are such as can be used in trade and are made according to +trade methods.) + + +ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT + +Aim + +I. Elementary: To supplement previous schooling. Girls who have left the +public school from low grades need special tutoring in the common +branches. Special instruction is also needed for newly arrived +foreigners. + +II. Trade: To quicken and enrich the mind, that the girl may become a +more efficient, intelligent, and enthusiastic trade worker. + +The work falls under the following subjects: Civics, Industries, +Arithmetic, English. + + +Civics + +This course is given as a means of enabling the pupil to recognize her +place in the family, the school, the community, and in the world's work. +For lack of a better term it is called Civics. It is dealt with under +two heads: (1) Community Life in General, (2) Community Life in New York +City. + +1. Under the first head the discussion of life in a given community is +followed by the simple facts that lie at the foundation of civic life. +These are approached through the interests or desires which the pupil +feels in common with all other people. Building still further on the +pupil's own experience, she is led to apply the ideas received to her +own community, which ever widening its scope is carried from the +neighborhood or the school to the city, the state, and on to the nation. + +Civics also gives to the pupils a knowledge of the existing laws under +which they will work, by whom these laws are made, and the possible +means for improving them. In the discussion of such subjects as Tenement +House Laws, Child Labor Laws, and Trade-Unions, there is opportunity for +the introduction of home and business economics which have been found to +be valuable. Economics is further taught by the detailed discussion of +the apportionment of an income of $6 a week for fifty working weeks, +considering car fare, lunches, savings, a portion toward family support, +and an allowance for clothes. The literature for this course is obtained +from the United States Department of Commerce and Labor, the State +Department of Factory Legislation, the Consumers' League, the National +and State Labor Committees, and current magazines. Mr. Arthur M. Dunn's, +"The Community and the Citizen," especially such chapters as those on +the "Making of Americans," "How the Government Aids the Citizen in His +Business Life," "Waste and Saving," "What the Community Does for Those +Who Cannot or Will Not Contribute to Its Progress," has given valuable +assistance in leading to discussions which have direct bearing upon +daily life and work. + +2. The following outline shows the treatment of the second division of +Civics: + + New York City: (1) City Government, (_a_) Officials, Mayor, + Commissioner, Borough President, Aldermen; (_b_) City Departments. + (2) Citizenship, (_a_) Who are citizens, (_b_) How to become a + citizen, (_c_) Duties and privileges of citizens, (_d_) Aliens. (3) + Child Labor Laws, (_a_) School attendance, (_b_) Working papers, how + obtained, (_c_) Hours for work. (4) Factory Laws for girls over + sixteen years old. (5) Sweatshop labor. (6) Tenement House Laws. (7) + Trade-Unions. (8) Commerce and Industries of New York. (9) + Philanthropies. + + +Industries + +Aim: To furnish the worker with a background for her trade and to help +her to see her place in the working world of today. 1. A generalized +view is taken of the main steps in the early progress of the race. 2. +Textile materials are discussed as to their values, their uses, their +cost, the processes of their manufacture, the comparison of foreign and +domestic goods, with reasons for the differences, and the connected +problems of arithmetic which the students will meet. These subjects help +the girl to "get next" to what she is working with every day and to +arouse interest in her personal connection with the subject. The English +girl whose father was once employed in a lace house in London brings +mounted specimens of that sort of handwork to the class; the Hungarian +brings hand-spun articles from her mother's bridal outfit; the Italian +presents a skein of raw silk taken from the family's treasure box, and +the girl from Roumania brings an embroidered bed cover. The student +whose mother does not believe cotton ever grew on bushes asks that she +may verify her own statement by taking home a real cotton ball. A Labor +Museum is being collected to give reality to the instruction, and +exhibits from it, which show the steps in the manufacturing of the +fabrics and of other familiar articles, are put up in the classroom when +needed. A bulletin board provides for the numerous clippings brought by +the students or teachers. + + +Arithmetic + +Aim: The fundamental aim of arithmetic is to give the pupils working +methods for the problems that occur in trade practice. To make the +correlation clear to the girls, workroom methods of presentation and +phraseology and the customary materials are used. Sewing and operating +students make hems, tucks, and ruffles to actual measurements; novelty +girls cut and arrange cards for samples in accordance with their +workroom demands; and millinery students work out the measurements for +hat frames as closely as varying styles permit. + +With the fundamentals of trade problems established, arithmetic is +further developed along special lines of trade to meet the demands of +the business world. The trained worker should not only be skilled in the +manipulation of tools and materials, but she should be able to compute +her own problems, such as estimates for garments, how to cut materials +economically, the cost of one garment or article as related to the cost +of many of the same kind, the prices, and similar trade questions. The +ability to deal with these subjects adds materially to the value of a +skilled worker. + +The central scheme of the course is to lead the pupil to prompt and +accurate mental calculation. This is stimulated by frequent oral drills +in trade problems and business problems involving short methods of +computation. The extent and progress of this work are regulated by the +ability of the class. + +The following outlines show the adaptation of arithmetic to the +different trades: + + _Operating_: (1) Cutting of gauges, (_a_) For hems, (_b_) For tucks. + (2) Tucking problems, (_a_) With gauges, (_b_) As formal arithmetic + problems. (3) Ruffling problems. (4) Time problems, Department time + schedules as basis for the work. (5) Factory problems. (6) Income, + expenditure, savings. (7) Bills and receipts. (8) Computation of + quantity of material required for garments, (_a_) By measuring + garments, (_b_) By use of patterns on cloth, (_c_) Economy of + material. (9) Problems based on above work. (10) Civic problems. + + _Sewing_: (1) Cutting of gauges, (_a_) For hems, (_b_) For tucks. + (2) Tucking problems. (3) Ruffling problems. (4) Computation of + quantity of material required for garments, (_a_) By measuring + garments, (_b_) By use of patterns on cloth, (_c_) Economy of + material. (5) Problems based on above work. (6) Store problems. (7) + Bills and receipts. (8) Income, expenditures, savings. (9) Textile + problems. (10) Civic problems. + + _Novelty_: (1) Sample mounting, (_a_) Cards are cut a given size and + are divided with the ruler into spaces for samples, with proper + margins, etc., according to trade demands, (_b_) Problems involving + the various sizes and shapes of cards and samples, using cards and + rulers for the work. (2) Sample cutting. (3) Cutting materials for + boxes, (_a_) Pulp board, (_b_) Covering plain, flowered, (_c_) + Economy of materials. (4) Problems based on above work. (5) Trade + problems, (_a_) In sample mounting, accuracy, speed, (_b_) Cost of + materials. (6) Bills and receipts. (7) Income, expenditure, savings. + (8) Civic problems. + + _Millinery_: (1) Measurement of frames. (2) Trade problems, (_a_) + Quantity of material, (_b_) Price of materials, (_c_) Economy of + material. (3) Orders, (_a_) By letter, (_b_) By order blanks. (4) + Bills and receipts. (5) Income, expenditure, savings. (6) Problems + on manufacture of silk. (7) Civic problems. + + +English + +Aim: 1. To facilitate oral and written expression. 2. To give practice +in business forms: _Spelling_: (1) Technical terms of each trade +department; (2) Textiles and other trade materials; (3) Ordinary +business terms. _Descriptions_: (1) Written work on materials used and +articles made in each department; (2) Outlining and defining of +department work. _Business Forms_: (1) Letters of application; (2) +Letters ordering goods; (3) Telegrams, postal cards, etc.; (4) Writing +of advertisements. + +In addition to practice in spelling and in the writing of business +forms, the work in English aims to be in close correlation with the +other subjects taught. As a rule, the latter part of each recitation +period is spent by the pupils in writing upon the subject in hand. The +purpose is to obtain from them freedom of expression after arousing +interest in a subject, rather than to get long compositions +necessitating home study and probably generating a dislike for written +work. Attention is called to paragraphing and emphasis is laid upon both +the form and the manner of writing, but form is made subservient to +thought. The interrelation of Art Department helps the student to +appreciate the need of good form in the appearance of a written page. + + +PHYSICAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT + +The young wage-earner who goes into trade untrained at fourteen years of +age is greatly handicapped by her physical condition. Either through +ignorance or neglect early symptoms of disease are disregarded, and it +is not until she finds herself out of employment as a result of physical +weakness that she realizes that good health is the capital of the +working girl. + +Many of the girls who enter the school are found to be suffering from +poor vision; enlarged glands caused by decayed teeth; poor nasal +breathing as a result of adenoid growths or enlarged tonsils; anæmia; +skin eruptions; slight asymmetries and poor posture. These defects +produce exaggerated nerve signs and poor nutrition. + + +Aim + +The work of the Physical Department is to correct as many of these +irregularities as possible and also to train the student to a knowledge +of her body and how to care for it, that she may be able to stand the +long hours of confining work and be able to show efficient results in +her trade. + +The following examination is required of each entering student: + +_Physical Examination_: Beginning with the family history, a complete +record of all important events relating to a student's physical life is +taken. She is carefully examined for asymmetry; curvature, incipient or +well defined; traces of tuberculosis; weakness of heart and lungs; +enlarged glands; skin diseases, or signs of nervous disorders. She is +closely questioned as to all bodily functions and a careful record is +kept of irregularities. Eyes, ears, teeth, nose, and throat are likewise +examined. Impressions of the feet are made in order to detect weakness +of the arch or flatfoot. Measurements of height, weight, and the +principal expansions are taken for comparison with later records and for +the purpose of comparing with normal standard. + + +Prescribed Treatment + +After the examination the girl is instructed as to treatment, if any is +needed. If perfectly normal she will report for gymnastics three times a +week. If any asymmetry, curvature of the spine, heart disease, or +nervous disorders are discovered, she must report for special corrective +exercises at the school. In some cases individual instruction is given +for supplementing the work at home. Cases demanding special apparatus +and individual attention have been treated in the Physical Education +Department of Teachers College, through the kindness of the director, +Dr. Thomas Denison Wood. The girls so affected have thus the advantage +of the latest methods known to science. If any of the numerous skin +diseases are present which demand frequent and regular attention, the +student is assigned to a group who go twice a week to a dispensary to +receive electrical or X-ray treatment. In cases of enlarged tonsils or +adenoids, the necessity for immediate operation is explained and every +effort made to gain the consent of the parents. When permission is +obtained the girl goes to a neighboring hospital on Sunday evening, is +operated upon on Monday, and returns home Tuesday. Each student must +have her eyes thoroughly examined by a doctor selected at the Ophthalmic +Dispensary. If glasses are needed they are procured at the expense of +the parent or donated by an optician who is interested in the school. +Dispensary treatment is also necessary in cases of catarrh of nose and +throat. Teeth are carefully examined and the girls directed to their own +dentists, or to the Dental Dispensary adjoining the school, where we are +fortunate enough to have a limited amount of work done free of charge. +Cases of asymmetry demanding braces, plaster jackets, and operations +have been treated at the Post-Graduate Hospital. Tuberculosis cases in +advanced stages have been placed on the special boats in New York Harbor +or are sent to Tubercular Camps in the country. + +In sending girls to the hospitals and dispensaries the aim is to place +them in touch with institutions to which they will have independent +access after they leave the Manhattan Trade School. + + +Statistics + +The statistics below show the condition of 278 girls when they +registered at the school. The charts are divided according to the +departments entered. From them can be seen the need of special care for +the health of the working girl. + + |Dressmaking. + | |Art. + | | |Millinery. + | | | |Novelty. + | | | | |Operating. + | | | | | |Total. + --------------------+-------------------+-----+---+----+----+----+------ + | | | | | | | + Nutrition | Good | 101 | 7 | 15 | 26 | 35 | 184 + | Fair | 39 | | 2 | 6 | 18 | 65 + | Poor | 7 | | 4 | 10 | 8 | 29 + | | | | | | | + Mentality | Good | 122 | 7 | 19 | 33 | 40 | 221 + | Fair | 21 | | 2 | 6 | 17 | 46 + | Poor | 4 | | | 3 | 4 | 11 + | | | | | | | + Nerve signs | Present | 39 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 16 | 77 + | Absent | 108 | 4 | 15 | 29 | 45 | 201 + | | | | | | | + Asymmetry, slight | Present | 53 | 4 | 12 | 23 | 29 | 121 + curvatures, high | Absent | 94 | 3 | 9 | 19 | 32 | 157 + hips or shoulders, | | | | | | | + etc. | | | | | | | + | | | | | | | + Posture | Good | 93 | 4 | 8 | 29 | 31 | 165 + | Fair | 54 | 3 | 13 | 13 | 30 | 113 + | | | | | | | + Skin | Good condition | 95 | 5 | 13 | 32 | 44 | 189 + | Acne, comedones, | 52 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 17 | 89 + | etc. | | | | | | + | | | | | | | + Glands | Good condition | 66 | 3 | 10 | 19 | 20 | 118 + | Enlarged | 81 | 4 | 11 | 23 | 41 | 160 + | | | | | | | + Vision | Need glasses | 44 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 19 | 86 + | Good condition | 103 | 4 | 13 | 30 | 42 | 192 + | | | | | | | + Hearing | Defective | 6 | 1 | | 4 | 1 | 12 + | Good | 141 | 6 | 21 | 38 | 60 | 266 + | | | | | | | + Speech | Good | 170 | 7 | 20 | 37 | 56 | 260 + | Defective | 7 | | 1 | 5 | 5 | 8 + | | | | | | | + Nasal breathing | Good | 32 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 60 + | Fair | 58 | 4 | 11 | 13 | 28 | 114 + | Poor | 57 | 2 | 6 | 19 | 20 | 104 + | | | | | | | + Tonsils | Good | 44 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 21 | 79 + | Slightly enlarged | 75 | 2 | 11 | 25 | 24 | 137 + | Much enlarged | 28 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 62 + | | | | | | | + Teeth | Good | 103 | 5 | 16 | 30 | 40 | 194 + | Poor | 44 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 21 | 84 + | Need attention | 108 | 4 | 12 | 31 | 40 | 195 + | | | | | | | + Hearts | Good | 122 | 4 | 21 | 23 | 44 | 214 + | Weak, irritable, | 24 | 2 | | 17 | 13 | 56 + | or with anæmic | | | | | | + | murmurs | | | | | | + | Organic trouble | 1 | 1 | | 2 | 4 | 8 + | | | | | | | + Lungs | Good | 138 | 5 | 20 | 36 | 58 | 257 + | Tuberculosis | 3 | | | 2 | | 5 + | Suspected | 6 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 16 + | tuberculosis | | | | | | + | | | | | | | + Feet | Good | 125 | 7 | 16 | 38 | 53 | 239 + | Weak arches | 10 | | 1 | | 4 | 15 + | Broken arches or | 12 | | 4 | 4 | 4 | 24 + | flatfoot | | | | | | + | | | | | | | + Enlarged thyroid | | 12 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 23 + glands | | | | | | | + | | | | | | | + Exophthalmic goiter | | 2 | | | | 2 | 4 + | | | | | | | + Chorea | | 2 | | | 2 | 1 | 5 + | | | | | | | + Needing corrective | | 5 | | 3 | 4 | 7 | 19 + exercises | | | | | | | + | | | | | | | + --------------------+-------------------+-----+---+----+----+----+------- + +A second examination of the same girls six months later shows gain in +weight, height, and general health; 125 had their teeth put in order; +six were treated for defective hearing; twenty had attended the Skin +Clinic; all had their eyes examined; eighty-six were fitted with +glasses. In twenty-five cases where the adenoids and tonsils were +removed the result was increase in weight, better breathing and heart +action, alertness of mind, and a noticeable improvement in trade work. +Where the obstructions of nose and throat still remain there is loss in +weight and diminished chest expansion and a generally weakened +condition. The extraction of decayed teeth and the providing of +well-fitting glasses have diminished nervous irritability and the +frequency of headaches. Three cases of tuberculosis were sent to camps. +Seven cases of organic heart trouble were treated by specialists; +nineteen girls were given corrective exercises at Teachers College; two +were fitted with shoes and braces; two were put into plaster jackets, +one for lateral rotary curvature and one for neuritis; and one advanced +case of chorea has been placed in the hospital. Of the girls whose +records are given in the list it can be said that, with the exception of +the cripples and a few others needing simple operations, a year's care +shows that very few of them are in any way handicapped by the effects of +disease. + + +PHYSICAL EDUCATION COURSE + +I. Gymnastics: + + 1. Elementary: 3 thirty-minute periods a week. (1) Swedish floor + work for general posture; (2) Work in control of breathing; (3) + Marching tactics for form and accuracy; (4) Light apparatus work: + (_a_) Wands, (_b_) Dumb-bells, (_c_) Indian clubs; (5) Heavy + apparatus for coördination; (6) Simple dances and rhythm work for + grace and poise; (7) Simple plays and games. + + 2. Advanced: 2 forty-five-minute periods a week. (1) Gymnastic + dances containing more than three figures; (2) Swedish and Danish + weaving dances in correlation with study of textiles (Academic + Department); (3) Folk dances of Sweden and Russia for form; (4) + Modern athletic dances for grace and poise; (5) Athletic + Competition: (_a_) Running and jumping, (_b_) Relay and obstacle + races, (_c_) Hockey and basket ball. + + 3. Special corrective work for spinal trouble or poor position: (1) + General floor work for mobility; (2) Free-hand work: (_a_) Single + assistive and resistive exercises, (_b_) Hanging exercises with and + without assistance, (_c_) Work with iron dumb-bells. + +II. Hygiene: Talks on hygiene are a regular part of the work, and aim to +give each girl a knowledge of her body and of its functions that will +enable her to care for her health in an intelligent manner and to +establish in her mind ideals of correct living which can be made +practical in her surroundings. + + 1. _Personal Hygiene_: (1) Brief survey of the body as a whole; (2) + The use of the mouth, nose, larynx, trachea, and lungs in breathing; + (3) Care of nose and throat: (_a_) The nose as a source of + infection, (_b_) Dangers of enlarged tonsils and adenoids, (_c_) + Treatment of colds; (4) Structure and care of the teeth. (5) The + Digestive System: (_a_) Organs directly concerned, and (_b_) Their + care, (_c_) Disorders of the Digestive System; (6) The Nervous + System, Brain, and Spinal Cord; (7) The Skin, (_a_) Structure and + Use, (_b_) Hygiene of Skin; (8) Heart and Blood Vessels; (9) The + Hair; (10) The Ears; (11) The Eyes; (12) The Feet; (13) The Hygiene + of Clothes. + + 2. _Domestic Hygiene_: Construction and furnishing of Home: (_a_) + Internal arrangement, walls, and coverings, (_b_) Ventilation, (_c_) + Heating, (_d_) Lighting, (_e_) Water Supply, (_f_) Plumbing and + Drainage, (_g_) Toilet rooms, (_h_) Disposal of Garbage and Ashes, + (_i_) House Cleaning, sweeping, dusting, cleaning, and use of + disinfectants. + + 3. _Foods_: (1) Nutritive value of foods; (2) Purity of food + materials; (3) Cooking--Cooking utensils; (4) Planning of meals. + + 4. _Diseases_: (1) Causes and Transmission; (2) Contagious diseases, + care, prevention; (3) Hygiene of sick room; (4) Insects and vermin; + (5) Infectious diseases. + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Making of a Trade School, by +Mary Schenck Woolman + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAKING OF A TRADE SCHOOL *** + +***** This file should be named 24688-8.txt or 24688-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24688/ + +Produced by Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Making of a Trade School + +Author: Mary Schenck Woolman + +Release Date: February 26, 2008 [EBook #24688] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAKING OF A TRADE SCHOOL *** + + + + +Produced by Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1 class="hd1">THE MAKING<br /> +OF A TRADE SCHOOL</h1> + +<h2 class="hd2"><i>By</i> MARY SCHENCK WOOLMAN</h2> + +<p class="ct1"><i>Director of Manhattan Trade School for Girls<br /> +Professor of Domestic Art, Teachers College, Columbia University</i></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/001.png" width="62" height="61" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="ct1">WHITCOMB & BARROWS<br /> +1910<br /> +BOSTON</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="ct1">Copyright 1909<br /> +By Teachers College</p> + +<p class="ct1">Thomas Todd Co., Printers<br /> +14 Beacon Street<br /> +Boston</p> + +<hr /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td class="td1"><small>PART</small></td><td class="td1" colspan="2"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">I.</td><td class="td2">Organization and Work</td><td class="td1"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">II.</td><td class="td2">Representative Problems</td><td class="td1"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">III.</td><td class="td2">Equipment and Support</td><td class="td1"><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">IV.</td><td class="td2">Outlines and Detailed Accounts of Department Work</td><td class="td1"><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> +<h1 class="hd1"><span class="hd3">THE MAKING OF A TRADE SCHOOL</span></h1> + +<h2 class="hd3">PART I</h2> + +<h2>ORGANIZATION AND WORK</h2> + +<h3>History</h3> + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Manhattan Trade School for Girls began its +work in November, 1902. The building selected for +the school was a large private house at 233 West 14th +Street, which was equipped like a factory and could +comfortably accommodate 100 pupils. Training was +offered in a variety of satisfactory trades which required +the expert use of the needle, the paste brush, and the +foot and electric power sewing machines.</p> + +<p>Beginning with twenty pupils on its first day, it was +but a few months before the full 100 were on roll and +others were applying. In endeavoring to help all who +desired instruction the building was soon overcrowded. +It thus became evident that, unless increased accommodation +was provided, the number already in attendance +must be decreased and others, anxious for the training, +must be turned away. It was decided that even though +the enterprise was young the need was urgent, demanding +unusual exertion. It would therefore be wise to +make every effort to purchase more commodious quarters. +In June, 1906, the school moved to a fine business building<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> +at 209-213 East 23d Street, which could offer daily +instruction to about 500 girls.</p> + +<p>The movement owes its existence to the earnest study +that a group of women and men, interested in philanthropic, +sociological, economic, and educational work, +gave to the condition of the working girl in New York +City. They were all intimately acquainted with the difficulties +of the situation. Early in the winter of 1902 +this committee made a special investigation of the workrooms +of New York. They were but the more convinced +that (1) the wages of unskilled labor are declining; +(2) while there is a good opportunity for highly skilled +labor, the supply is inadequate; (3) the condition of the +young, inexpert working girl must be ameliorated by +the speedy opening of a trade school for those who have +reached the age to obtain working papers; (4) if public +instruction could not immediately undertake the organization +of such a school, then private initiative must do +it, even though it must depend for its support upon +voluntary contributions. The result was that an extreme +effort was put forth and the following November the +first trade school in America, for girls of fourteen years +of age, was begun.</p> + +<p>The first Board of Administrators, composed largely +of members of the original committee of investigators, +was as follows:</p> + +<p>President, Miss Virginia Potter; Vice-Presidents, +Dr. Felix Adler, Mr. John Graham Brooks, Mrs. Theodore +Hellman, Mrs. Anna Garlin Spencer, Mrs. Henry +Ollesheimer; Treasurer, Mr. J. G. Phelps Stokes; Secretary, +Mr. John L. Eliot; Assistant Secretary, Miss<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> +Louise B. Lockwood; Director, Professor Mary Schenck +Woolman.</p> + +<h3>Purpose and Scope</h3> + +<p>The immediate purpose of the school was to train +the youngest and poorest wage-earners to be self-supporting +as quickly as possible. It was decided to help the +industrial workers rather than the commercial and professional, +as the last two are already to some extent +provided for in education. The function of the school +was, therefore, that of the Short-Time Trade School, +which would provide the girl who must go to work the +moment she can obtain her working papers (about fourteen +years of age) with an enlightened apprenticeship +in some productive occupation. Such training cannot be +obtained satisfactorily in the market. The immature +workers are present there in such large numbers that +they complicate the industrial problem by their poverty +and inability, and thus tend to lower the wage. Jane +Addams, of Hull House, Chicago, says these untrained +girls "enter industry at its most painful point, where +the trades are already so overcrowded and subdivided +that there remains in them very little education for the +worker." The school purposed to give its help at this +very point.</p> + +<p>Trade, on its side, is eager to have skilled women +directly fitted for its workrooms, but finds them hard to +obtain. The school's duty was to discover the way +to meet this wish of the employers of labor. It is true +that the utilitarian and industrial education offered by +public and private instruction has benefited the home<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> +and society, but such training has not met the problem +of adequately fitting for specific employments the young +worker who has but a few months to spare. The lack +in this instruction has been in specific trade application +and flexibility as to method, artistic needs, and mechanical +devices. These points are essential to place the girl +in immediate touch with her workroom.</p> + +<p>Therefore the Manhattan Trade School assumed the +responsibility of providing an economic instruction in +the practical work of various trades, thus supplying them +with capable assistants. Hence its purpose differed not +only from the more general instruction of the usual +technical institution, but also from those schools which +offered specific training in one trade (such as dressmaking), +in that it (1) offered help to the youngest +wage-earners, (2) gave the choice among many trades, +and (3) held the firm conviction that the adequate +preparation of successful workers requires more factors +of instruction than the training for skill alone. The +ideals of the school were the following: (1) to train a +girl that she may become self-supporting; (2) to furnish +a training which shall enable the worker to shift from +one occupation to another allied occupation, <i>i. e.</i>, elasticity; +(3) to train a girl to understand her relation to +her employer, to her fellow-worker, and to her product; +(4) to train a girl to value health and to know how to +keep and improve it; (5) to train a girl to utilize her +former education in such necessary business processes +as belong to her workroom; (6) to develop a better +woman while making a successful worker; (7) to teach +the community at large how best to accomplish such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> +training, <i>i. e.</i>, to serve as a model whose advice and help +would facilitate the founding of the best kind of schools +for the lowest rank of women workers.</p> + +<p>In other words, the Manhattan Trade School aimed +to find a way (1) to improve the worker, physically, +mentally, morally, and financially; (2) to better the conditions +of labor in the workroom; (3) to raise the +character of the industries and the conditions of the +homes, and (4) to show that such education could be +practically undertaken by public instruction. The four +aims are really one, for the better workers should +improve the product, make higher wages, react advantageously +on the industrial situation and on the home, +and the course of instruction formulated to accomplish +this end would help in the further introduction of such +training.</p> + +<p>It was not expected that immature girls of fourteen +or fifteen years of age would, immediately on entering +the market, make large salaries or be broad-minded +citizens. The hope was to give them a foundation which +would enable them to adapt themselves to situations best +fitted to their abilities and to make possible a steady +advance toward better occupations, wages, and living. +In order to do this, each girl on entering the school must +be regarded as having capacity for some special occupation. +This aptitude must be discovered that she may +be placed where she can attain her highest efficiency as +rapidly as possible. She must be treated individually, +not as one of a class. Her own efforts must be +awakened, her handicaps, such as inadequate health +and unadaptable education, must be removed, and her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> +training proceed in a way to give her possession of +her powers.</p> + +<h3>Conditions among the Workers</h3> + +<p>The conditions of life among many of the wage-earners +of New York City are, briefly stated, as follows: +Thousands of families are so poor that the children +must go to work the moment the compulsory school +years are over. In 1897, 14,900 boys and girls dropped +from the fifth school grade, most of them going to work +from necessity more or less pressing. To rise to important +positions in factories, workrooms, or department +stores will require a practical combination of any needed +craft with the ability to utilize their school education in +rapid deductions, business letters, accounts, and trade +transactions. The public school offers such children a +general education which will be completed in the eighth +grade, but the majority leave before that time. For +varying reasons, such as their foreign birth, irregular +attendance, the impossibility of much personal attention +in the crowded classes of a great city, poor conditions of +health, and the desire of the pupils to escape the routine +of school as soon as the law will allow, the greater +number of them, who go early into trade, have not had +a satisfactory education for helping them in their working +life. Year after year are they found wanting, and +yet young workers still come from the schools at fourteen +with poor health, little available hand skill, unprepared +to write business letters or to express themselves clearly +either by tongue or pen, uninterested in the daily news +except in personal or tragic events, unaware of municipal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> +conditions affecting them, ignorant of the simple terms +of business life, and with their arithmetic unavailable +for use, even in the simple fundamental processes when +complicated with details of trade. The mechanical processes, +therefore, which they do know are now useless +unless they can first think out the problem.</p> + +<p>These boys and girls have no regret at leaving the +schools, and are, as a rule, glad to get to work. The +tragedy of life, however, begins when they become wage-earners, +for they are only fitted for unskilled and poorly +paid positions. A little fourteen-year-old girl finds it +difficult to obtain a satisfactory occupation in the teeming +workrooms of New York. She, or some member of her +family, eagerly searches the advertising sheet of one of +the daily papers. Most of the "Wants" are entirely +beyond her crude powers to supply. An unskilled worker +is perhaps desired in some business house, but the applicant +finds that hundreds of other girls are flocking to +obtain the same position, and her chance is too remote +for hope. Or perhaps, after weary days of wandering +about from place to place, she is recommended to the +boss of some shop, and finds herself in the midst of +machines which rush forward at 4,000 or more stitches +a minute. She assists a busy worker on men's shirts, +her duty being to pin parts together, to finish off, or to +run errands. From early morning to late afternoon, +with an interval for lunch, she must be ready to lend a +hand. She can get at best but $2.50 or $3.00 per week. +No rise is possible in this shop unless she can work +well on a machine. Her fellow-workers are too busy +to teach her, for each moment's pause means reduction<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> +in their little wage. Perhaps she does persist and finally +can control a machine. By learning to do one thing +rapidly she can obtain a better wage, but two or even +more years in trade often pass before she can earn five +dollars a week. After several seasons spent in doing +the same process thousands of times, her desire for new +work becomes deadened, and she is afraid to attempt +anything different from her one set task. She usually +refuses to try more advanced work, even if offered a +good salary while she is learning, for she has lost her +ability to push ahead.</p> + +<p>In general, it may be said that the untrained girl has +to take the best place she can find, without reference to +her ability, her physical condition, or her inclination. +The most desirable trades are seldom open to her, for +they require workers of experience, or, at least, those +who have had recognized instruction. Even if a green +girl enters a skilled trade, she cannot rise easily in it, +and is apt to be dropped out at the first slack season. +The sort of positions open to her have usually little +future, as they are isolated occupations that do not lead +to more advanced work. Illustrations of these employments +are wrapping braid, sorting silk, running errands, +tying fringe, taking out and putting in buttons in a +laundry, dipping candy, assorting lamps, making cigarettes, +tending a machine, and tying up packages. These +young, unskilled girls wander from one of these occupations +to another; their salaries, never running high, +rise and fall according to the need felt for the worker, +and not because her increasing ability is a factor in her +trade life. After several years spent in the market, she +is little better off than at her entrance.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> + +<h3>Some Difficulties of Organization</h3> + +<p>It was to relieve this serious situation that the +Manhattan Trade School was founded. It began its +work in the face of great discouragements. Employers +were prejudiced against such instruction, for girls trained +in former technical schools had not given satisfaction +in the workrooms. The parents of the pupils felt that +they could not sacrifice themselves further than the end +of the compulsory school years, but must then send their +children into wage-earning positions. It was impossible +to obtain state or municipal aid, and it was known that +the experiment must be costly, for: (1) A trade school +must be open all the year for day classes, and for night +work when needed (schools usually are open from eight +to ten months). (2) The work must be done on correct +materials, which are often expensive and perishable; but +pupils are too poor to provide them, therefore the school +must plan to do so. (3) The supervisors must be well +educated, with a broad-minded view of industry, capable +of original thought, and having a practical knowledge of +trade requirement (women of such caliber can always +command the best salaries). The teachers and forewomen +also must combine teaching ability with competence +in their workrooms; but as the market wishes a +similar class of service and gives excellent wages to +obtain it, the school must offer a like or even a larger +amount. (4) Teachers of highly skilled industries are +expert, usually, in but the one occupation, such as straw +hat making by electric machine or jewelry box making; +consequently, even if the student body is small, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> +teaching force can seldom be reduced without cutting +off an entire department or a trade. A trade school +differs from the high school in this particular, for in the +latter, when necessary, two or more academic subjects +can be taught by the same instructor.</p> + +<p>Another difficulty confronting the school at the beginning +was, that while numerous occupations in New +York are open to women, there was reason to think +that some of these were not well adapted to them. Little +was known at that time of the trades offering opportunities +for good wages, steady rise to better positions, +satisfactory sanitary conditions, and moderate hours of +labor; of the physical effect of many of the popular +occupations; of the specific requirements of each kind +of employment; of the effect of the working girls in their +workrooms and in their homes; of their health and how +to improve it; of the needs and wishes of the employers; +of the relation of the Trade Union to trade instruction, +and of labor legislation already operative or which should +be furthered. Before deciding on courses of instruction +in the Manhattan Trade School some accurate knowledge +of these facts had to be obtained.</p> + +<h3>Selection of Trades</h3> + +<p>The selection of definite trades was made after five +months of investigation in the factories, workrooms, and +department stores of New York City. In general, it +can be said of the occupations chosen that they employ +large numbers of women; require expert workers; training +for them is difficult to obtain; there is chance within +them for rise to better positions; the wages are good,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> +and favorable conditions, both physical and moral, prevail +in the workrooms. Some trades employing women +were rejected, as they failed to meet necessary requirements, +while others were not chosen, as there was little +chance in them to rise on account of men's trades intervening. +Slack seasons occurring in many otherwise good +employments were considered, and plans were made +whereby the worker could be enabled to shift to another +allied trade when her own was slack. If a girl gains +complete control of her tool she can adapt herself to +other occupations in which it is used with less difficulty +than she can change to a trade requiring another tool. +Women's industries, to a great extent, center around the +skilled use of a few tools. These tools were selected as +centers of the school activities, and the connected trades +were radiated from them. The most skilled occupations +were found to require the use of the sewing machine, +foot and electric power, the paint brush, the paste brush, +and the needle. Statistics show that teaching the use of +this last tool will affect over one-half of the women +wage-earners of New York, of whom there are at least +370,000. In addition to the general scheme of fitting a +worker so that she may take up another allied occupation +in slack seasons, specific training for this purpose is +given to those students who choose trades where the busy +season is short and of frequent recurrence.</p> + +<h3>Trade Courses</h3> + +<p>The curriculum includes instruction in the following +trades; the courses are short and the teaching is in trade +lines:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span></p> + +<p class="bk1">I. Use of electric power sewing machines.</p> + +<div class="bk2"><p>1. General Operating—(cheaper variety of work—seasonal; +fair wages. Better grade of work—year +round, fair and good wages, piece or week work): +Shirtwaists, children's dresses (cloth and cotton), +boys' waists, infants' wear, children's clothing, +women's underwear, fancy petticoats, kimonos and +dressing sacques.</p> + +<p>2. Special Machines—(seasonal to year round work, +depending on kind and demand, wages good): +Lace stitch, hemstitching, buttonhole, embroidery +(hand and Bonnaz), and scalloping.</p> + +<p>3. Dressmaking Operating—(year round, wages +good): Lingerie, fancy waists and suits.</p> + +<p>4. Straw Sewing—(excellent wages for a short +season, but the worker can then return to good +wages in general operating): Women's and men's +hats.</p></div> + +<p class="bk1">II. Use of the needle and foot power sewing machines.</p> + +<div class="bk2"><p>1. Dress and Garment Making—(seasons nine to +eleven months, and fair to good wages): Uniforms +and aprons, white work and simple white embroidery, +gymnasium and swimming suits (wholesale +and custom), lingerie, dress embroidery, dressmaking +(plain and fancy).</p> + +<p>2. Millinery—(short seasonal work, low wages, difficult +for the average young worker to rise): Trimmings +and frame making.</p> + +<p>3. Lampshade and Candleshade Making—(seasonal +work, fair pay). This trade supplements the +Millinery.</p></div> + +<div class="bk1"><p>III. Use of paste and glue: 1. Sample mounting (virtually +year work, fair wages). 2. Sample book<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> +covers, labeling, tissue paper novelties and decorations +(seasonal and year round work, good wages). +3. Novelty work (year round work, changed within +workroom to meet demand, wages good). 4. Jewelry +and silverware case making (year round work, +wages good).</p> + +<p>IV. Use of brush and pencil (year round work, good +wages): Special elementary art trades, perforating +and stamping, costume sketching, photograph and +slide retouching.</p> + +<p><i>Note.</i> Year round work, in general, includes a holiday +of longer or shorter duration, usually without pay.</p></div> + +<h3>Entrance Plans</h3> + +<p>The school is open throughout the year in order to +train girls whenever they come—the summer months +being slack in most trades are especially desirable for +instruction. The tuition is free, and in cases of extreme +necessity a committee gives Students' Aid, in proportion +to the need. Entrance to day classes for girls who are +from fourteen to seventeen years of age and who can +show their working papers or be able to produce documentary +evidence of age, if under sixteen, can occur +any week.</p> + +<p>Each girl who enters, after selecting her trade, is +given a typewritten paper showing the possible steps +of advance in her chosen course. She takes this home +in order that the family may know what is before her. +She can by special effort or by outside study lessen the +length of her training. The first month in the school +is a test time. If the girl shows the needed qualities +she is allowed to continue.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span></p> + +<p>During the month of trial her instructors decide +what she needs and if her chosen trade is the best for +her. The right is reserved to make a complete change +if her health will not stand the one she desires, if she +has no ability for it, or if she gives evidence of special +talent in another direction.</p> + +<h3>Industrial Intelligence</h3> + +<p>Every student has, as a part of her trade education, +such academic work, art, and physical training as seems +necessary; when she passes certain standards she is then +allowed to devote full time to her selected occupation. +It is not possible for a worker who has skill with the +hand and no education to back it up to rise far in her +trade. There is many a tragedy in the market of the +woman whose poor early education prevented her from +getting ahead. Accurate expression, whether oral or +written, the use of arithmetic in simple trade transactions +or detailed accounts, the ability to grasp the important +factors in any situation and then to go to work without +waste of time or motion, are required for positions of +trust and for supervision in any workroom. It was +soon discovered that the girls entering the school know +arithmetic in an abstract way, but are at sea when asked +to meet the ordinary trade problems. They are inaccurate +in reading and copying; they cannot write a letter +of application, conduct correspondence, make out checks, +or keep simple accounts. They are ignorant of the laws +already made which concern them and of their own relation +to future laws. They have no ideals in their trade +life. They need to see the relation of their chosen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> +trade to the country, of their work to their employer's +success, the effect they may have in bringing about a +better feeling between the employer and the wage-earner. +A practical, immediately available business education is +absolutely essential to make workwomen of executive +ability. Therefore specific trade instruction in arithmetic, +English, history, geography, and civics was +planned to supplement and enrich the trade courses.</p> + +<p>Steady progress has been made in determining the +kind of cultural trade instruction which will best assist +such young wage-earners. A new field in practical education +had to be opened, and subject matter which could +be of service in the workrooms selected from it. The +many trades of the school had to be studied in order to +know their needs. The work has grown more valuable +each year and has proved itself to be a truly necessary +part of the curriculum. A concrete evidence of its worth +is the fact that many of the girls in slack seasons have +taken clerical positions and have been complimented on +their grasp of the subject, their orderliness, their ability +to think, and their reliability. Naturally all departments +unite to develop character in the students, but the +Academic Department feels this to be a special aim. +Pleasure in the subject of instruction, followed by mental +and moral improvement, has indicated clearly that the +academic dullness which is shown at entrance comes frequently +from lack of motive in former studies. The +interest is all the more encouraging as there are many +handicaps in the teaching, for the students enter at any +time, are graded by the trades they select, and are placed +in the market as quickly as possible; hence the work<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> +cannot be uniform in its advance. Nor is the academic +work a help to the girls in their business life only, for +such subjects as the keeping of accounts, the consideration +of the cost of living, and the value and price of +materials are of direct use also in home life.</p> + +<h3>Trade Art Instruction</h3> + +<p>Courses in Trade Art were also organized as a +fundamental part of the instruction. Each trade has +its own art, and the school has tried to adapt the work +in the studios to each different occupation. It recognizes +that the art applied in dressmaking differs from +that in millinery, and this again from that required for +decorating jewelry boxes and calendars. It consequently +offers each student the kind of elementary art training +needed in her trade. The time is too short to develop +designers, but it does help a girl to be more exact, +resourceful, and useful in her workroom, and often +enables her to make a higher wage. A worker who +can place trimming, adapt designs to new purposes, +stamp patterns, draw copies of garments, and combine +color attractively is especially desirable in her chosen +employment.</p> + +<h3>Health</h3> + +<p>The young wage-earner of New York is much handicapped +by her poor physical condition; heredity, poor +habits of life, and unsanitary homes show their effects +upon her. The girls who come to the school are young +enough to remedy many of their defects. In a few +months they will be in positions demanding eight or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> +more hours a day, in which they must strain every +nerve and bend all of their energies to meet the standard +brought about by trade competition. The Physical Department +of the school studies the health of each girl +and trains her to care adequately for it. The specific +treatment needed by some of the students takes them +many hours a week from their department work. While +this has its disadvantages, it is felt to be more important +to improve the physical condition than to develop skill +alone when the health is too poor to stand the strain of +exacting positions. It is often difficult at first to persuade +parents that such close attention to health is +necessary. The results, however, in the majority of +cases have proved the wisdom of this procedure.</p> + +<p>Immediately after entering the school and being +assigned to a department each girl must report to the +school physician. Beginning with the family history, a +complete record of all the important events relating to +her physical life is taken. She is closely questioned +as to all bodily functions, and a careful record is kept +of irregularities. Eyes, ears, teeth, nose, throat, and +feet are likewise examined, and measurements are taken +of height, weight, and the principal expansions. After +the examination, instruction as to treatment is given, +if any is needed.</p> + +<p>The work in the gymnasium has three purposes: +invigorative, reactive, and corrective. Every girl who +is not restricted on account of physical defects takes the +prescribed gymnastic work. Nor has this a physical +effect only, for through the active games such qualities +as judgment and accuracy, self-control, and the harmonious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> +working with others are developed. Slow, uncertain, +vague movements denote lack of mental quickness +and strength. Motor activity, rightly directed, leads +to poise of mind as well as of body. These girls live +mostly in crowded localities of the city, where free +exercise is unknown. The school aims, as far as possible, +to supply the lack of wholesome outdoor life and +give joyous active exercise. Talks on hygiene are a +regular part of the work and aim: (1) to give each +girl a knowledge of her body and of its functions +which will enable her to care for her health in an intelligent +manner; (2) to show her the relation of food +and its preparation to her physical condition; (3) to +establish in her mind ideals of correct living which +can be made practical in her surroundings; and (4), +recognizing the right and desire of every girl for amusement, +to create a love for wholesome and simple pleasures +that will take the place of the too strenuous and +often unwise recreations which tend to undermine the +health of the girl who works.</p> + +<h3>The Lunchroom and the Cooking Classes</h3> + +<p>From the opening of the school, hot soup, hot chocolate, +or cold milk had been served daily, at two cents +a cup, to those wishing to supplement the cold lunch +which they had brought from their homes. The teachers +also had an opportunity of buying a simple, hot meal +which was prepared by one of their number, assisted +by students who aided in the preparation, serving, and +clearing away. At first the average girl felt she could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> +not give much time to her trade training, consequently +such time had to be devoted to making her able to +command a living wage. The hope, however, that in the +future the opportunity would come for offering increased +domestic training was never forgotten. The opening +at the school of a temporary workroom for unemployed +women during the financial stress of 1908 provided them +with regular work and pay. It was advisable also to +serve nourishing lunches daily to these underfed workers. +There was already a simple lunchroom in the basement +of the school, containing such bare necessities as plain +tables on horses, long wooden benches, a gas stove with +four burners, a few cooking utensils, and a closet filled +with inexpensive china. The complete cost of equipment +had been $300.</p> + +<p>The school was now, however, face to face with the +need to feed daily more than 500 people—teachers, +workers, and students—and yet no additional money +could be spent for equipment. The necessity was so +great, however, that in addition to the usual lunches a +hot, nourishing meal was given daily to the hundred +workers in the temporary workroom, for which they +paid one-half of the price of materials.</p> + +<p>With this inauguration of regular cooking it seemed +especially desirable to take the opportunity of training +at least some of the students in the selection, care, and +preparation of food. The majority of these girls will +be the mothers of the next generation, and yet they +know nothing of food values or food preparation. This +is evident from the daily lunches they bring and from +their discussions in the class on hygiene. On the other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> +hand, girls who can remain but a few months in the +school have a serious need to face, that of self-support, +for the wage for unskilled girls ($3.00) is not sufficient +to live on with decency. The physical, mental, and moral +future of these young girls demands that they should +be able to make more than this pittance. In the few +months during which the majority are in attendance both +a trade training and a knowledge of cooking cannot be +given, therefore the former must take the precedence. +The school has been able to prove, however, that girls +educated there can command a fair wage in trade, but +that a longer time given to this training will enable +them to obtain better positions and salaries. Hence an +increasing number have been willing to remain longer, +giving even a year or more to preparation. It was with +this latter class that the time was ripe to offer some +training in lunchroom cookery which could teach them +what could be procured at low prices and yet be nourishing; +how to prepare food at home, and how to use the +hot table often found in an up-to-date factory. For this +purpose, therefore, some simple additional equipment +was installed and a daily menu was offered, comprising +inexpensive, attractive, wholesome dishes, at the lowest +possible cost. Many of the students care for so little +variety in food that all of the necessary elements for +building strong, healthy bodies are not supplied, hence +they are under-nourished. They require encouragement +to even try the food which is essential for improving +their physical condition. The girls have taken great +interest in their lunchroom cookery. They appreciate +the inexpensive menus and admire the simple table decorations.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> +Gradually they have given up spending their +few pennies for poor fruit, cake, or candy at some cheap +shop, and now purchase nourishing dishes cooked by the +students at the school.</p> + +<p>The cooking course connects directly with the talks on +hygiene. The plan of work is the following: (1) Twenty +girls are chosen at one time. These work in two groups +of ten each, and for six weeks have daily one-hour +lessons. This gives them thirty lessons, which is almost +equivalent to what the public school offers in a year, +but, being concentrated into daily work and practical +use in the lunchroom, is of equal, if not greater, efficacy. +(2) The students set the tables, cook a definite part of +the lunch, dish the articles, prepare the counters, sell the +various dishes, keep and report sales, and clear the +counters afterward. The groups alternate in order that +preparing food, watching its progress, and taking it from +the stove may be done by all with a minimum loss of +time from their trade instruction. (3) The selection +of girls to take the course is made from (<i>a</i>) those who +can remain long enough in the school to combine trade +training with the simple cooking course, (<i>b</i>) those who +have such poor health that a knowledge of what to +eat and how to cook it is the first consideration, and +(<i>c</i>) those who are already little housekeepers in their +homes, as their mothers are incapacitated or dead.</p> + +<p>After several months of experience it was felt that +the six weeks of constant practice was well worth while. +More elaborate courses of cookery would demand a +more thorough kitchen equipment, entailing much expense, +and would require students to remain a longer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> +time in school. With the present arrangement they +learn the most important cooking processes in a very +practical way, and discuss the relation of food to themselves +and to their families.</p> + +<h3>Trade Orders</h3> + +<p>The handwork in the various departments falls into +three grades: 1. Practice work, which not being up to +the standard is ripped up and used again. 2. Seconds; +fair work, not quite up to the school standard for trade +work. This is sold at cost to the students or to needy +institutions. 3. Trade work; up to the standard. This +is sold to the trade or to private customers at regular +market prices. This feature of the school work, entailing, +as it does, the taking of many varieties of orders +from the outside factories and workrooms, has proved +itself to be an important educational factor. After six +years of experience in utilizing orders from the outside +workrooms, it can be said that this part of the instruction +serves the following purposes: (1) It provides the students +with adequate experience on classes of material +used in the best workrooms; these girls could not +purchase such materials and the school could not afford +to buy them for practice. (2) The ordinary conditions +in both the wholesale and the custom trade are thus +made a fundamental part of the instruction. Reality +of this kind helps the supervisors to judge the product +from its trade value (amateur work will thus be rejected), +and the teaching from the kind of workers +turned out. Through the business relation the students<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +quickly feel the necessity of good finish, rapid work, +and responsibility to deliver on time. (3) The orders +bring in a money return and thus aid the school in the +expense for material. (4) The businesslike appearance +of the shops at work on the orders and the experience +trade has had with the product have increased +the confidence of employers of labor in the ability of the +school to train practical workers for the trades. The +school is constantly urged by trade to increase its order +work, but its unfaltering policy is to take only the +amount needed for educational purposes. (5) The +business organization and management required in the +adequate conduct of a large order department can itself +be utilized for educational purposes, and has its value +for training students who show promise of becoming +good stock clerks.</p> + +<p>Trade workers are employed in the business shops +connected with the various departments. These assistants +have proved their value in making the best utilization +of the order work. They facilitate the completion +of the work on time and help train the girls to feel +responsible for their share of it. As the students work +slowly at first, and as their hours in the shops are +interrupted by other studies, the trade workers, when +necessary, continue with or complete the articles while +the girls are absent. They make possible the tradelike +organization of the shops, for each one has around her +her own little groups of assistants, and she teaches them +while she also works. Constant repetition of the same +process ceases, after a time, to be valuable to a student, +hence her time must not be wasted by too simple work<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> +or by unnecessary details. It often happens also that +an article may require expert work in its completion +which the students cannot yet do; the trade workers +select for each girl the process which will be of value +to her, and then do the work the students cannot do or +should not do.</p> + +<p>The following lists will show the class of orders +which have been demanded by trade and turned out +by the school:</p> + +<p class="bk1"><i>Operating Department Orders</i>: 1. Trade Work: Ribbon +run on webbing for suspenders, infants' dresses—eight +different styles, children's aprons—two different +styles, hemstitching and embroidery for yokes, +ruffling—hem and hemstitched, faggoting.</p> + +<div class="bk2"><p>2. Individual Custom Orders: Dressing sacques, aprons +(kitchen, gingham, and work), gymnasium suits, +waists, children's dresses, corset covers, drawers, +skirts and chemise, sheets, pillowslips, curtains, +straw hats, fancy petticoats, kimonos, handkerchiefs, +fancy neckwear, infants' outfits, boys' waists, quilting, +hemstitching by yard, silk waists and dresses +hemstitched, tucking by yard, waists, collars, cuffs, +and cloth embroidered, initials on linen and monograms +on saddle cloths, ruffling by yard.</p> + +<p>3. Order Work for Other Departments: Dressmaking: +Machine work on nightgowns, corset covers, drawers, +combination suits, petticoats, kimonos, gymnasium +bloomers, swimming suits, buttonholes, hemstitching +on silk skirts, dresses, waists; Bonnaz embroidery +on dresses, waists. Millinery: Veils hemstitched. +Art: Pencil and brush cases. Office: Coats and +overalls for janitors employed in school.</p></div> + +<div class="bk1"><p><i>Dressmaking Department Orders</i>: Aprons, petticoats, +maids' dresses; machine-made underwear; collars<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +and neckwear; nurses' uniforms; swimming, bathing, +and gymnasium suits; children's and baby +clothes; fine handmade underwear; plain shirtwaists, +fine waists, afternoon gowns, street suits, evening +gowns, cloth suits tailored.</p> + +<p><i>Pasting and Novelty Orders</i>: Mounting suspender webbing, +mounting corset samples, pasting suspender +tabs and sockets, case making. Desk sets, lampshades, +and candleshades.</p> + +<p><i>Art Department Orders</i>: 1. Trade Order Work: Stamping, +perforating, coloring fashion plates, stencil +cutting.</p></div> + +<div class="bk2"><p>2. Custom Work: Stenciling curtains, scarfs, table +covers, sofa pillows; designing patterns for embroidery +for table covers, doilies, bags, buttons, +shirtwaists, skirts, parasols, and chiffon scarfs.</p> + +<p>3. Order Work for Other Departments: Decorating +book covers, desk sets, boxes, dress trimmings—panels, +lapels, vests; collars and cuffs, insertions for +hand and machine; banding for hats, letters, monograms: +designs for doilies, scarfs, curtains, work-bags.</p></div> + +<h3 class="hd3">Placement Bureau</h3> + +<p>From the first the school made some provision for +placing its pupils satisfactorily in the trades for which +they are trained. Originally the heads of departments +attended to it, each for her own students, but as the +school grew and the department work increased this +method ceased to be practical. An arrangement was made, +therefore, with the Alliance Employment Bureau to place +the girls of the Manhattan Trade School when they were +ready to leave the school or whenever they applied for +help thereafter. This was a most helpful connection<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> +when the work was beginning, but it was understood +that when the school reached the point in its development +where the volume of business was great enough, +and other conditions warranted it, a Placement Bureau +should be opened in the school itself. This long-cherished +idea went into operation in October, 1908, when a Placement +Secretary was engaged and the school bureau was +opened. This plan has already proved advantageous. +In the first place a bureau so situated can, by keeping +in constant touch with the departments, obtain intimate +and detailed information about the character, the work, +the special aptitudes, and the physique of each girl. Such +data are extremely valuable in making wise placements, +but are difficult of access for an outside agency. In the +second place such a school bureau, open to graduates, +tends to bring them occasionally to it, and thus strengthens +their interest in and loyalty to the school by giving +a practical reality to their connection with it.</p> + +<h3>Aims</h3> + +<p>The aims and working plans of the Placement Bureau +are the following: (1) To secure suitable positions for +girls leaving the school—those forced out by poverty +as well as those who have really completed their courses. +The problem is to get the square peg into the square +hole, and it is solved by having a very intimate knowledge +of each peg, and by knowing of as large a variety +of holes as possible from which to choose. (2) To be +a means of connection and communication between the +school and the trades, on the one hand, and the school +and its former pupils on the other. (3) To gather data<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> +about trade conditions that shall be helpful to the several +departments, or in deciding school policies. (4) To +build up a series of records that shall be of general +sociological value as well as of immediate use for school +purposes.</p> + +<h3>Kinds and Methods of Work</h3> + +<p>In connection with the placement itself there are four +lines of activity:</p> + +<p>1. <i>Interviews</i> in the office, when girls come in to +apply for positions, and when employers ask for workers. +Much valuable data as to the experiences of the girls +who have been some time in the trade have been gathered +in this way. In the case of the employer, if he is not +already familiar with the school, an effort is made to +induce him (or her) to go through it.</p> + +<p>2. <i>Trade Visits</i> of investigation. It is the policy +of the Bureau not to place a girl in any establishment +until it has been visited, unless it is one already well +known to the school, in which case the visit may follow +instead of preceding the placement. These visits are +often made upon the request of employers or in response +to advertisements, if, as sometimes happens, a girl wishes +to be placed and the employers already known do not +need additional help.</p> + +<p>3. "<i>Following up.</i>" After the girls are placed it is +necessary to keep track of them. In order to do this +satisfactorily, blanks have been printed in two different +forms, one for the employer and the other for the +worker. The former asks about the quality of the girl's +work (whether it is satisfactory, and if not, why not)<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> +and about her wages. The latter asks the girl to report +on her work, wages, and shop conditions. By this system +the Placement Secretary is able to keep in close +touch with the students who have been placed, and to +hear and act upon complaints from either employer or +girl with a promptness that often has the result of establishing +the worker in a "good" place or, occasionally, +rescuing her from a poor one. Employers are almost +uniformly prompt and courteous in returning the reports, +and all but a very small percentage of the students are +equally responsive. In cases where a girl is not heard +from, the Students' Aid Secretary makes a personal visit +to her home.</p> + +<p>4. <i>Keeping of Records.</i> Card catalogues are kept, +giving the full data obtainable in each case: (1) for +girls applying for positions; (2) for girls placed; +(3) for employers visited; (4) for employers applying +or worth investigating, but not yet visited. All data +from employers and girls which have been obtained from +the blanks before mentioned or from other sources are +recorded on the cards.</p> + +<p>The Placement Bureau, in addition to its specific +work, performs certain services for the general benefit +of the school. Data are obtained as to the conditions of +work and wage in certain trades and the length of training +advisable in others. Advice from the trade is often +needed in one or another of the departments, and +through the Bureau's acquaintance with employers, +managers, or foremen and forewomen, it is able to +ascertain and report their expert opinion. It is also +possible to induce some of these busy people to come<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> +and view the problem in the light of conditions at the +school as well as in their own business.</p> + +<h3>General Results</h3> + +<p>Although the Placement Bureau is still in its infancy, +some results may be recorded. It is already in touch +with some 700 employers, about 550 having been personally +visited. The table below gives the facts as to +placements in former years, and may be interesting for +comparison.</p> + +<p class="hd4">Girls Placed and Reported Upon</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table class="tb1" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr class="tr4"><td class="td1"> </td><td class="tdc">By Self or<br />School.</td><td class="tdc">By Alliance<br />Employment<br />Bureau.</td><td class="tdc">Total.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdb">1902</td><td class="tdj">0</td><td class="tdj">0</td><td class="tdj">0</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdb">1903</td> +<td class="tdj">39</td> +<td class="tdj">7</td> +<td class="tdj">46</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdb">1904</td> +<td class="tdj">52</td> +<td class="tdj">36</td> +<td class="tdj">88</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdb">1905</td> +<td class="tdj">29</td> +<td class="tdj">61</td> +<td class="tdj">90</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdb">1906</td> +<td class="tdj">22</td> +<td class="tdj">81</td> +<td class="tdj">103</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdb">1907</td> +<td class="tdj">10</td> +<td class="tdj">77</td> +<td class="tdj">87</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdb">1908</td> +<td class="tdj">119</td> +<td class="tdj">39</td> +<td class="tdj">158</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdb">1909 By school</td> +<td class="tdk">157</td> +<td class="tdk">1</td> +<td class="tdk">158</td></tr> +<tr class="tr5"><td class="tdb"> </td> +<td class="tdj">428</td> +<td class="tdj">302</td> +<td class="tdj">730</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>This refers merely to the original or first placement +of a girl. The total of <i>re</i>-placements for 1909 was an +additional 230, including those of many former pupils<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> +who had heretofore placed themselves or been placed +by the Alliance Employment Bureau.</p> + +<p>The crucial question of wages is one that is extremely +difficult to deal with in brief. The accompanying table +gives a very general statement as to the range of wages +obtained by graduates and the future possibilities in +their trades, and read in the light of the comment below +it is as specifically accurate as any "summary" can be.</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table class="tb1" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr class="tr4"><td class="center">Trade.</td> +<td class="tdc" colspan="6">Wages When<br />First Placed.</td> +<td class="tdc" colspan="3">After Two to<br />Five Years.</td> +<td class="tdc">Future Possibilities.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdb"> </td> +<td class="tdc" colspan="3">1903</td> +<td class="tdc" colspan="3">1909</td> +<td class="tdc" colspan="3"> </td> +<td class="tdc"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdb">Dressmaking</td> +<td class="tde">$3</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td3">$5</td> +<td class="tde">$4</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td3">$6</td> +<td class="tde">$6</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td3">$13</td> +<td class="tdf">$25 or own establishment</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdb">Millinery</td> +<td class="tde">2.50</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td3">4</td> +<td class="tdc" colspan="3">4</td> +<td class="tde">5</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td3">15</td> +<td class="tdf">12 to 25 or own establishment</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdb">Operating</td> +<td class="tde">3</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td3">6</td> +<td class="tde">4</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td3">11</td> +<td class="tde">6</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td3">25</td> +<td class="tdf">15 to 40</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdb">Novelty</td> +<td class="tde">4</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td3">5</td> +<td class="tde">4</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td3">9<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></td> +<td class="tde">6</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td3">11</td> +<td class="tdf">18 to 25</td></tr> +<tr class="tr4"><td class="tdb">Art since 1907</td> +<td class="tde">5</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td3">8</td> +<td class="tde">4</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td3">7</td> +<td class="tde">7</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td3">15</td> +<td class="tdf">20 to 30</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>The column for 1909 shows that at last a minimum +wage of $4.00 has been established for all the trades +named, even Millinery. There are exceptions, but they +are almost always due to some special disability on the +part of the girl, and do not fairly affect a statement +regarding the wage for girls of normal capacity, who +have done satisfactory work during their course. The +small percentage of pupils who fall below $4.00 for their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> +initial wage are those who either did not complete the +school course, or who did poor work, or who are subnormal +mentally or handicapped physically, or can work +only an eight-hour day because they are under sixteen. +It is true that when they are obliged to start on piece-work +instead of a week-wage their earnings may fall +below our minimum for a short time, but the first week +or two is in that case not usually a fair test of the +girl's training or ability. Some little time is necessary +for the readjustment involved in the change from school +to workroom, and especially for attaining the "speed" +necessary to earn a fair wage on trade piece-rates. The +compensating advantage is that when she does begin to +"make good" her improvement is usually registered in +her earnings more quickly and accurately than it would +be by the safe but slowly advancing "week-work." +If after two weeks, however, the girl is earning less +than $4.00, and thinks she "never can make out there," +she is given an opportunity to change her place. But +very often there is a sudden jump in earnings after ten +days or so, as the girl gains confidence and speed. (One +pupil earned $3.97 her first week on buttonholes, and +over $7.00 the second.) Another point to be considered +in connection with the wage is the length of the season +and the duration of any one place. The comparatively +steady work and regular, if small, advance in the dressmaking, +for instance, will often counterbalance the larger +week-wage or piece-work earnings of the trades where +the season is short or the positions of uncertain duration.</p> + +<p>On the "rate of advance" in wage the Bureau is as +yet too young to make any general statements.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span></p> + +<h3>Students' Aid</h3> + +<p>On account of the extreme poverty in the families +of many of the students, some system of aid has always +been necessary. The manner of giving it has changed, +however, that it may be free from all tendency to pauperize +or to deprive the recipient of self-respecting effort. +At first it took the form of a scholarship, paid at the +school every week, in equal amounts, to each student. +A few months' experience, however, showed that it would +be better to require a month's apprenticeship without +pay. If after that the girl was allowed to continue her +course, she was given a dollar a week during her second +month. Each month thereafter the amount was increased +according to the skill and good spirit which were evident +in her work. The maximum amount a student could +receive in one year was $100.</p> + +<p>Early in the second year it became clear that a still +more radical change was advisable, and a plan was +adopted whereby the need of the girl's family became +the only basis upon which money was given. A committee +was formed, whose membership was composed principally +of workers from the leading social settlements. +Each applicant for aid was referred to the member of +the committee living nearest her home. An investigation +was made by the settlement worker, and aid was given +in proportion to the necessity, varying in amount from +car fare to the equivalent of a small wage. The girl +went weekly to the settlement for the money. In this +way the aid was separated as far as possible from the +school atmosphere, and it was made clear to the girls<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> +and their families that the money was in no sense pay +for work. As indicative of this change in viewpoint, +the term "Scholarship" was replaced by that of "Students' +Aid." In addition to its other advantages, the +new method reduced the cost for aid to less than one-half +of its original proportion.</p> + +<p>Since this time the aim has been always the same—to +aid the girl handicapped by poverty so that she might +prepare herself for efficient wage-earning. A member +of the school staff is secretary of the Students' Aid +Committee, and she knows personally every applicant +wishing aid, and makes the initial visits and investigations. +This plan has proved advantageous in making a +closer connection between the school and the home, and +in securing a more uniform standard of relief.</p> + +<p>The Students' Aid Committee consists at present of +representatives from sixteen settlements, who meet twice +a month to discuss and decide upon the merit of each +applicant. If aid is granted, the girl is assigned to the +settlement nearest her home and goes there weekly for +her money. An envelope showing the amount due the +girl is sent from the school to the settlement worker, +and on this is indicated any absence or tardiness. It is +one of the duties of the member of the committee to +inquire the reasons for any irregularity in attendance, +and, if necessary, to report to the parent. In addition, +each settlement worker renders valuable service by +giving friendly oversight to the girls and families in +her group, by doing as much for their welfare as time +will allow, and by reporting any unusual conditions to +the Students' Aid Secretary.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span></p> + +<p>Students are at times sent to the school for instruction +with a request for aid from some charitable +institution, church, hospital, school, or settlement which +knows and is interested in the family; but, in general, +a girl needing financial help comes without such recommendations, +and consequently a more thorough investigation +of the case is necessary. Inquiry is always made +at first of the Charity Organization Society, in order to +learn whether her family has received or is receiving +other relief. The "trial month" without aid gives time +for the gathering of facts about the family, and for a +test of the girl's ability and character. Aid is never +promised to a girl before her admission.</p> + +<p>A useful method has been worked out for determining +the amount of aid which may be given in any +one case. The total amount of the family income is +obtained, and from it are deducted the fixed expenses +for rent, insurance, and car fare. From the remainder +the per capita income is found which must provide for +all other expenses, that is, for each person's share of +food, clothing, light, fuel, medicine, and all incidentals. +It was estimated that a family could not maintain a +decent standard of living on a per capita income of less +than $1.50 a week. Although each case is considered +on its merits, aid is almost always given when the per +capita income is less than $1.50; in some special cases +it is granted when the income exceeds this amount. +The following table shows the income of the seventy-eight +families that were being aided by the school on +June 3, 1909.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></p> + +<div class='center'> +<table class="tb1" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr class="tr4"><td class="center" colspan="3">Weekly per Capita<br />Income.</td><td class="tdc">Number of Families.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">$ .00</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td3">$ .49</td> +<td class="tdo">16</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">.50</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td3">.99</td> +<td class="tdo">26</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">1.00</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td3">1.49</td> +<td class="tdo">20</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">1.50</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td3">1.99</td> +<td class="tdo">10</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">2.00</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td3">2.49</td> +<td class="tdo">3</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">2.50</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td3">2.99</td> +<td class="tdo">1</td></tr> +<tr class="tr5"><td class="td1">3.00</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td3">3.49</td> +<td class="tdo">2</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Relief given by charitable institutions has not been +included in this income.</p> + +<p>Each girl receiving aid is told the reason for its +bestowal in such a way that she will neither look upon +it as money earned nor feel humiliated as a recipient of +charity, but will understand that it should mean for her +an opportunity to obtain a good education. It therefore +is incumbent upon her to show a realization of its +value by becoming a responsible and earnest worker. +Students receiving such assistance are expected to attend +regularly, unless for excellent reasons, and the reports +from their departments must be satisfactory in regard +to their work, attitude, and effort. If a girl varies from +this standard and, after talking with her or with one +of her parents, no improvement follows, the aid may be +suspended or withdrawn. Improving circumstances in +a family occasionally make it possible to decrease or even +to give up the aid. On the other hand, it is often found<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> +necessary to ask additional assistance from special philanthropic +sources when the need is very great.</p> + +<h3>Night Classes</h3> + +<p>Night continuation classes are a part of the aim of +the school. They have offered training in expert parts +of the Operating, Dressmaking, Novelty, Millinery, and +Art trades. The classes were well attended, the work +successful, and continued application for the renewal +of the instruction has been received. This class of +education requires the most skilled teachers and is consequently +expensive. Lack of money to conduct both +the day and the night work adequately has made it +necessary to close the night classes temporarily. There +is every reason to hope, however, that they will be reopened +in the near future, with still greater facilities +for teaching the advanced parts of the trades.</p> + +<h3>Student Government</h3> + +<p>The Student Council concerns itself with the government +of the school, the aim being to place it as far as +possible in the hands of the students. It also assists +in developing their sense of responsibility. The Council +is composed of representatives elected from each class, +who have been chosen for their executive ability and +good character. They meet once a week with one of the +supervisors to discuss questions of general school discipline +and regulations. Each member is responsible +for maintaining order in her class when it is not under +other supervision, for settling disputes among the girls, +and for reporting disobedience to school laws.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span></p> + +<h3>Graduate and Department Clubs</h3> + +<p>Some form of alumnæ association has been in existence +since the end of the first school year. This +important phase of the Trade School work is now +thoroughly organized, and gains for us the warm coöperation +of those who have benefited by the instruction. +The Graduate Association includes those who have +received the certificate of the school; the department +clubs, however, are more democratic, and admit to membership +any girl who has been in attendance. These +associations work together for the benefit of the school. +They hold frequent business as well as social meetings. +They plan definite ways for getting in touch with Manhattan +Trade School girls who are just entering trade, +in order to help them to adjust themselves to their work +and to increase in them loyalty and responsibility to the +school; for improving themselves and working girls in +general by discussing topics of interest concerning their +trades, and by giving entertainments which are of real +interest and value. They have carried out schemes for +adding to the general finances of the school or for +obtaining money for special objects, such as shower baths +for the gymnasium. They have given several suppers +to bring the faculty and former students together, in +order to discuss informally trade and school matters.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> This maximum is not in paste or glue work, but in the silk lampshade trade.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span></p> +<h2 class="hd3">PART II</h2> + +<h2>REPRESENTATIVE PROBLEMS<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></h2> + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> organizing of a girls' trade school in any given +locality necessitates the meeting of many problems of a +serious nature. Some of these appear immediately and +require consideration before a satisfactory curriculum +can be developed, but most of them are hydra-headed, +and one phase is no sooner settled than another arises. +Attention must be given to them whenever they come if +any progress is to be made in solving the question of the +broadest and yet most practical education for the girl +who must earn her living in trade. These problems are +so connected with the keenest yet most obscure social +and industrial questions of the day on one hand, and, +on the other, with the future of the race, that they are +often very puzzling. Some of them can never be entirely +settled, though they can be temporarily adjusted to immediate +needs. The following are selected as representative.</p> + +<h3>Direct Trade Training</h3> + +<p>Many schools of a domestic or technical nature have +been opened in the United States, but the instruction in +them is for the home or for educational purposes rather +than for business. The trades, if they are represented +at all in these schools, are general in character, covering +often many branches of an industry in a short series of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> +lessons, and not having the particular subdivisions and +special equipment which are found at present in the +regular market. Employers of labor have not been favorably +impressed with the practical usefulness of the +graduates in their workrooms. As the sole reason for +the existence of the Manhattan Trade School is to meet +this requirement of employers, and therefore to develop +a better class of wage-earners directly adapted to trade +needs, the instruction must be in accord with methods +in the shops and factories of New York City. Such +specific trade education for fourteen-year-old girls was +new, and therefore the problem of organization had to +be faced for the first time in America. Careful study of +the workrooms and the industrial conditions of New +York City was essential before the aims or the curriculum +could be decided upon and the school could be +opened for instruction. Furthermore, if the training +is to be kept up to date this study of trade conditions +must not cease, and readjustments of the curriculum +must equal the changes taking place in the outside +workrooms. Consequently these problems must be met +repeatedly.</p> + +<h3>Need of Preliminary Training</h3> + +<p>On beginning the trade courses at the school a difficulty +was discovered immediately which brought home +the truth of the complaint made by trade that young +workers are utterly incompetent. The students coming +to the school were allowed by law to enter trade, as +they had met all requirements for obtaining their working +papers, but they were not found to have sufficient<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> +foundation to begin the first simple steps at the school +without some preliminary training. The defects which +were especially evident were: (1) lack of sufficient skill +with the hand; (2) inability to utilize their public school +academic work in practical trade problems; (3) dullness +in taking orders and in thinking clearly of the needs +which arise; (4) absence of ideals; and (5) need of +knowledge of the laws of health and how to apply them. +Preliminary, elementary instruction in all of these subjects +had, therefore, to be organized and given to the +entering students before they could begin upon their +true trade work. Such instruction is and will continue +to be necessary unless the public elementary school +arranges to give, between the fifth and eighth grades, a +more satisfactory preparation to those who must earn +their living. The Manhattan Trade School has been +obliged to give from two to eight months to elementary +branches of instruction alone. The kind of work needed +varies constantly with the condition of the students. +Every one requires some of it, but many must take +months of tutoring. Public instruction could readily +give the practical academic work which the school has +organized. Such instruction would not only directly help +the pupils who must leave early to work, but would lay +a good foundation for the vocational education which +is being planned for the early years of the public +secondary schools.</p> + +<h3>Vocational Training</h3> + +<p>As the courses at the Manhattan Trade School developed, +an intermediate phase between the preparatory<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> +work and the direct trade training took definite shape. +This middle ground partakes in many ways of trade +processes and lays a good foundation for shop work. +It utilizes the early education, gives point to it, awakens +in the student enthusiasm for her chosen trade, and +shows her that it is worth her while to work hard if she +would succeed. It takes from four to eight months, +according to the student's ability to meet the requirements. +Public instruction could also develop this intermediate +field to advantage for those who, not wishing +to enter the regular high school course, would be glad +to avail themselves of further practical education. Such +occupations for women as cooking, sewing, garment and +dressmaking, millinery, laundry work, home nursing, +household administration, care of children, novelty work, +electric power operating, salesmanship, and other interesting +activities can well be offered in Vocational Education. +As the student in her chosen field plans, considers +expenses, and contrives to utilize her material she gains +skill, adaptability, judgment, and the true basis of criticism. +The world's work interests her as its meaning +becomes clear through her own experiences, and she +begins to see ways to better her condition and to be a +factor in the improvement of her home. She appreciates +the value of her early education, and finds it worth while +to think clearly and to act wisely; she listens to instructions, +asks sensible directions, and goes to work without +waste of time. The elementary and intermediate training +just described, which the school found it must give +preparatory to its real trade instruction, has proved +advantageous as an introduction, for the student can<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> +now quickly adapt herself to the work in the school shops, +as she possesses the foundation qualities needed to make +the best worker. She has to begin at the simplest trade +work, to be sure, but can rise as rapidly as she shows +ability. She has been carefully watched by her instructors +and turned gradually in the direction best fitted to +her.</p> + +<h3>Trade Shops</h3> + +<p>Offering courses in many varieties of trade work +exactly as they are found in a city like New York has +many recurring difficulties, as has been before stated. +The constant and rapid adaptations to fashion, the new +mechanical devices introduced, and the labor situations +are factors to be considered. The management must be +ready at a moment's notice to change, increase, or drop +work according to the demands of a fickle market. It +would seem, therefore, that at present the problems of +the school trade shops are of too serious and unsettled +a character for adequate solution by public instruction +as at present organized, for (1) it would be difficult to +persuade the mass of taxpayers that added tax rates are +advisable for beginning a continually altering form of +education which has not yet commended itself to all +employers or to all wage-earners, and which must be +more or less expensive; (2) the usual public school +committee man knows little of trade conditions, and +would probably be averse to allowing a school the +freedom to change at will its course of study and even +the very trades it teaches; yet, on the other hand, if the +trade school must wait for board action before altering +its plans, it would prejudice the value of its instruction,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> +which must be flexible if it would train its students +directly for the market; (3) the impossibility of obtaining +its teachers from the usual "waiting list" and the +difficulties attending the selection of a satisfactory +teaching force.</p> + +<p>The possibilities for offering highly specialized, +skilled work are great, but the poverty of the students +limits their time at the day school. To help all girls +who work, and who wish to get ahead, night classes +have been organized from time to time, and during the +day also temporary instruction is offered to any one who +has a slack time in her trade. As the school is organized +into trade shops, with the same specialization as in the +market, a student can enter or be placed from almost +any point. This increases its usefulness but complicates +its management.</p> + +<h3>Obtaining and Training Teachers</h3> + +<p>As trade instruction is new in education, the normal +schools have not begun training teachers regularly for +these positions, nor, indeed, are they yet prepared to do +so. The organizer of a trade school faces, therefore, a +serious difficulty in obtaining instructors who are adequate +to the task before them.</p> + +<p>The following trade teaching staff is needed: supervisors +of the various trades; forewomen to direct the +school shops; trade instructors to teach the various +groups of students the specialized processes; assistants +to attend to minor matters in the workrooms; art +teachers, who have had experience in designing for the +various trades represented; academic instructors who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> +know the working world practically and can give the +students a training which, while helping them in their +trades, will broaden their knowledge of and sympathy +in the world's work. All of these teachers must not +only have had experience in trade, but must continually +keep in touch with the methods of the outside market. +Unsuccessful trade workers, who often wish to teach, +or teachers who know nothing of the needs of trade +workrooms, cannot adequately prepare students for +specific trade positions. Trade knows what it wants, +is a severe critic and an unsparing judge. The trade +school, therefore, cannot afford to rely on instructors +who would be themselves unsuccessful in the market, +for the result would be certain failure in the students. +Such specific training requires exceptional knowledge in +its teaching force. The usual teacher of manual training +knows too little of the ways of the workrooms and +is too theoretical in her instruction to be trusted to train +workers who must satisfy trade demands. On the other +hand, the trade worker, good as she may be in her specialty, +seldom knows how to teach. She can drive her +group of workers, but she cannot train the green hands +to do more than work quickly at one thing. She can +make them work, but she cannot make them better +workers. When she has orders to turn out, her lifelong +training makes her think of the rapid completion of the +articles rather than the careful development of the students +who are making them. If she is not watched she +will choose the girl to do a piece of work who can do +it well and quickly (but who does not need this experience), +rather than the one who should do it in order to +have practice in it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p> + +<p>The problem is to find a way to unite the good teacher +and the successful worker. Such a combination appears +at rare intervals. At the present time the teacher who +can adequately prepare young workers for trade has to +be taught while she is herself teaching. She may be +chosen from either the industrial or the educational field, +if she has certain qualities of mind and spirit, but she +must now make up the points she lacks, be it experience +in trade or ability to teach. Supervisors need special +insight and capability, as they are called upon to investigate +a new and difficult field, to select from it the subjects +needed, and after that to organize education of a most +practical kind. They combine the duties of school principal, +teacher, forewoman, factory superintendent, and +business manager. They must be willing to give themselves +to the cause, as they are responsible for the +conduct of their departments throughout the year, at +night as well as during the day, at least until they can +train some one to whom they can delegate some of their +responsibility. They need a broad, cultural education +and, at the same time, interest and knowledge of the +industrial problems of the time, as well as experience +in their particular trade. They must have sympathy +with the working people and their lives. It is evident +that such women are hard to find, and when found or +when trained are in demand by other institutions or in +business life, in which places they can command high +salaries. All efficient trade teachers also are equally in +demand in workrooms, hence the school must compete +with good business salaries in place of the usual underpay +of educational institutions.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span></p> + +<p>In addition to the trade teachers, practical instructors +in healthful living and special secretaries needing social +knowledge of various kinds are also essential in the +modern trade school for girls. Their training adds to +the director's responsibilities, for no one at present has +the knowledge and experience necessary.</p> + +<p>The many problems connected with obtaining an +adequate teaching staff seem at present to have but one +solution, <i>i. e.</i>, the school has to be its own training school +for its faculty to a greater or less extent. One source +of assistant teachers has been found in students who +have made good in trade. Pupils of fair education who +show skill and executive ability in their department work +and who later succeed in their trade positions have +already proved helpful when brought back to the school. +Such girls know the courses of instruction, their needs +and difficulties, and also the outside workroom demands. +If they are given some hints in methods of teaching, +their success is greater. European trade schools for girls +have drawn many of the best teachers from the student +body and have organized teachers' training classes for +them. A course of regular training for trade pupil +teachers should be given later in American training +schools to meet this situation.</p> + +<h3>Courses of Study</h3> + +<p>As the changes about to occur in the market must +be recognized and inserted in the curriculum in time for +the students to be prepared for the new work when they +are placed, set courses of study cannot be followed without +endangering the practical value of the teaching.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> +Furthermore, the pupils must be advanced as they show +ability, and their different characteristics should have +consideration; hence the work must be sufficiently flexible +and adaptable to allow for increasing one kind of training +and decreasing another, in order to develop a girl's +best ability. It is not the trade courses only which +should be fitted to the need, but the trade-art, trade-academic, +and physical education must also shift and +introduce needed material as quickly as would the market +grasp at new plans for the workrooms. Nor is it sufficient +that the curriculum should adapt itself merely to +training girls for trade positions. It is never to be forgotten +that these students are to be made into higher +grade workers and citizens, and that the greater number +of them will marry. In general, it can be said that +woman's entrance into industry is more or less temporary +in that it is apt to precede or to follow marriage, +and, as a rule, is not continuous. Good citizenship for +these young wage-earners should mean the better home +as well as the broader views of industrial life. The +inserting into an already too brief training the important +factors for making the better home-keeper requires +study of the ethics and economics of home and social +life in addition to the study of the industrial situation, +and places continuous problems before the faculty.</p> + +<h3>Investigations</h3> + +<p>In order to be in vital touch with the practical needs +and changes of the market, special investigations of trade +have been and are continually conducted by the faculty +of the school. Effort is made by them also to keep in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> +close contact with industrial and social organizations of +workers in settlements, clubs, societies, and unions, that +all phases of the wage-earner's life, pleasures, aims, and +needs, may be appreciated. The pupils in attendance +are studied to know their conditions of health, their +tendencies, their needs, their improvement. After their +entry into trade they are kept in touch with the school +through the Placement Bureau, clubs, graduate associations, +and also by visits from the school's investigator, +in order to note the effect of their training on their +self-support, their workrooms, and their homes. Groups +of trained and untrained girls are compared, that differences +and benefits may be noted and the true situation +may be clearly understood.</p> + +<p>That the essentials of this class of education might +be grasped as far as possible, the director of the school +made a six months' investigation of the professional +schools for girls on the continent of Europe. This study +was made after the Manhattan Trade School had been +organized and was running successfully. The problems +were then well in hand, and advantage could be taken +the better of differing standpoints. In some European +countries such practical instruction has been established +for half a century. Each country has organized the work +according to its own view of woman's position in industrial +and domestic life. Many aspects of the problem +can therefore be studied and various courses of instruction +consulted. This investigation covered three interesting +fields. First, the organization of the schools, +including the equipment; the teachers and their training; +the budget; the order work; the relation of the school<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> +to employers; the placing of the girls in positions; the +wages; the schemes for financial aid, and the work of +the alumnæ associations. Second, the trades taught and +the courses of instruction; the general education required +at entrance and that given as an integral part of trade; +the trade-art courses; the housekeeping and training of +servants; the development of ideas of better living and the +training for responsibility in home and trade life. Third, +the visiting of workrooms employing women; the obtaining +information on the effect of trade schools; the students' +usefulness and ability to advance, and a survey +of the crafts conducted in the homes of the people.</p> + +<h3>Trade Order Administration</h3> + +<p>A trade school must do its skilled handwork in the +fashion of the day and on correct materials, yet the +students are too poor to work for themselves. A school +budget cannot supply such large quantities of valuable +materials unless it can get some return for them. The +school shop in each department, where orders both private +and custom are taken, has proved advantageous, but +involves great problems of administration: (1) the +actual business methods and management connected with +the invoices, sales, and delivery of goods; (2) the obtaining +of orders needed and of the quantity desirable; +(3) the taking of custom orders, fitting the customer, +and delivery of orders on time; (4) a satisfactory apportionment +of the order work so that the students may +profit by it and not be expected to continue it after they +have had sufficient experience of one kind, or if they +are not yet able to do the elaborate work involved;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> +(5) the finding of operatives who will do what the students +cannot or should not do; (6) the expense involved +in employing workers at trade prices and for shorter +hours; (7) the cost of articles, and other details which +are involved in entering into competition with trade. It +may be stated that no trade school should underbid the +market, but should charge the full prices and expect to +give equivalent returns. A trade school cannot afford +to be an amateur supported by a philanthropic public, +but must have a recognized business standard.</p> + +<h3>Placement</h3> + +<p>Problems of varied kinds meet the school in placing +its students. Each new enactment of child labor or +industrial laws has its influence. Even a good law will +sometimes have a temporary serious effect in lowering +wages or turning capable girls out of satisfactory positions. +Care must be exercised that students are not +placed where there is a possibility of running counter +to the best interests of labor. The desire to place each +pupil where she can develop to her highest condition +requires continual knowledge of the market needs and +of the characteristics of the many girls. Records of +students entering, studying, and placed, the kinds of positions +open, and industrial and labor information must be +kept up to date, yet such data are often hard to secure.</p> + +<h3>Trade Union Attitude</h3> + +<p>An important question that is always before a trade +school is the effect the instruction may have on the +working people. It is difficult for one not continually<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> +in the midst of the pressure of the actual trade to know +the many ways that thoughtless advance in trade teaching +may react to the disadvantage of the very ones that +the school wishes to help. Injury may be done by preparing +too many for certain occupations, filling places +where a strike is on, replacing well-paid positions with +trade school girls at a less price, placing the girls at too +small a wage for their skill, doing order work at too low +a price or when a strike is on, considering too closely +the fitting of a worker for the employer's benefit rather +than for the broadening of her own life, and like thoughtless +actions. The difficulties of the situation are great +and the solution frequently obscure, but a fair-minded +school must be in touch with the effort the working +woman herself has inaugurated to better her condition. +The apparently unnecessary suspicion with which the +laboring class regards the organization of trade instruction +would have foundation if no thought were given to +the trade conditions as the working girl sees them. A +trade school for fourteen-year-old girls need not make +a point of their immediate entrance into unions, but it +should consider the subject simply and wisely in all its +bearings, that the students may know the full aims and +advantages of coöperation as well as the point of view +and many difficulties of the employers.</p> + +<h3>Contact with Trade</h3> + +<p>The faculty of a trade school needs the coöperation +and assistance of the working people and the employers +of labor. Only through intimate interrelation with them +can the best and most practical results be obtained.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> +Auxiliaries and committees of employers and of wage-earners; +visits of the staff of the school to trade, and of +employers, forewomen, and workers to the school; the +carrying out of orders for workrooms and assisting them +at busy seasons, are some of the ways by which the +Manhattan Trade School has tried to gain the help of +the busy industrial world.</p> + +<h3>Problems of Financial Aid</h3> + +<p>The aid given to enable the poorest students to attend +the school has brought its own questions, such as: the +danger of pauperizing the recipients; the methods of +selecting the beneficiaries; the best way to give the weekly +aid; the development of a spirit of earnest work and +regular attendance in the girls thus aided; the stimulation +of a desire to return some equivalent in special +helpfulness to the Manhattan Trade School or to its +students, and the eliminating of this philanthropic effort +from any apparent relation to school work.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> In order to explain these problems, it will be necessary to repeat +some of the data in Part I.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p> +<h2 class="hd3">PART III</h2> + +<h2>EQUIPMENT AND SUPPORT</h2> + +<h3>Housing and Equipment</h3> + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> first home of the Manhattan Trade School was +a large four-story and basement dwelling house, for +which a rental of $2,100 per annum was paid. The initial +permanent equipment and first temporary stock provided +for one hundred students, and cost $9,500. This amount +was utilized principally for the furnishing of special +rooms for electric power operating; for sewing; for +dressmaking; for millinery; for pasting; and for the +more general equipment of offices, academic and art +rooms, a kitchen, and a lunch room. The following lists +show the range of expenses for furnishing the main +workrooms with necessary equipment:</p> + +<p class="hd4">Garment or Dressmaking Workroom</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table class="tb2" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Sewing machines, each</td> +<td class="td1">$18.00</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td1">$70.00</td> +<td class="td3"> </td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdl">Work, cutting, and ironing tables, each</td> +<td class="td1">6.00</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td1">20.00</td> +<td class="td3">upward</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdl">Electric irons, each</td> +<td class="td1">7.75</td> +<td class="td3" colspan="3"> </td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdl">Gas stove (necessary when electric irons are not used), each</td> +<td class="td1">2.00</td> +<td class="td3" colspan="3">upward</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdl">Cheval glass, each</td> +<td class="td1">20.00</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td1">100.00</td> +<td class="td3">upward</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdl">Chairs, each</td> +<td class="td1">.50</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td1">3.00</td> +<td class="td3">upward</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdl">Exhibition, stock closets, cabinets, and chests of drawers, each</td> +<td class="td1">10.00</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td1">100.00</td> +<td class="td3">upward</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdl">Fitting stands, each</td> +<td class="td1">2.00</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td1">30.00</td> +<td class="td3">upward</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdl">Fitting room (a curtained alcove), each</td> +<td class="td1">10.00</td> +<td class="td3" colspan="3">upward</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdl">Fitting room (a furnished room), each</td> +<td class="td1">100.00</td> +<td class="td3" colspan="3">upward</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdl">Dress forms, per dozen</td> +<td class="td1">30.00</td> +<td class="td3" colspan="3">upward</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdl">Waist forms, per dozen</td> +<td class="td1">6.00</td> +<td class="td3" colspan="3">upward<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span></td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdl">Sleeve forms, pair</td> +<td class="td1">1.00</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td1">1.50</td> +<td class="td3">upward</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdl">Lockers, per running foot</td> +<td class="td1">3.00</td> +<td class="tdto">to</td> +<td class="td1">8.00</td> +<td class="td3">upward</td> +</tr> +</table></div> + +<p>A room for twenty workers may be plainly furnished +at a cost of $300 to $500. If a large number of expensive +sewing machines are desired, the estimates must be +increased by several hundred dollars. The Manhattan +Trade School has forty foot-power machines of the kinds +most in use in the workrooms of New York.</p> + +<p>The equipping of a workroom for electric power +operating, including general and special machines, motor, +cutting and work tables, cabinets and chairs, will be considerably +more expensive than the one for garment +making. In the latter, one sewing machine can be used +by several workers, but in electric operating each worker +must have her own machine. The electric motor adds +also to the expense. The minimum cost of equipping a +shop for twenty workers would be $1,000 to $1,500. The +necessary equipment would be as follows:</p> + +<p class="hd4">Electric Operating Workroom</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table class="tb2" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Plain sewing machines in rows, per head</td> +<td class="td1">$22.50</td> +<td class="td3">upward</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdl">Troughs for work between the rows and tables for the machines (per every two machines)</td> +<td class="td1">10.00</td> +<td class="td3"> </td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdl">Special machines (two needle, embroidery, lace stitch, buttonhole, straw sewing, and the like), each according to kind</td> +<td class="td1">35.00</td> +<td class="td3">to 125.00</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdl">Motor, each</td> +<td class="td1">140.00</td> +<td class="td3">upward</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdl">Electric cutter, each</td> +<td class="td1">25.00</td> +<td class="td3">upward</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdl" colspan="3">Cabinets, tables, chairs, and irons, see above</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p class="noin">The Manhattan Trade School has fifty-five plain electric +sewing machines and thirty-two special machines, as +follows: three buttonhole, one two-needle, one binding,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> +one zigzag, five hemstitching, five tucker, four Bonnaz, +one braider, one hand embroidery, one scalloping, nine +straw sewing.</p> + +<p>In workrooms conducting trades which use paste, +gum, and glue, the following special equipment is +required:</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table class="tb2" style="width: 30em;" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td class="tdl">Glue pots, gas, each</td> +<td class="td1">$7.50</td> +<td class="td3">upward</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdl">Glue pots, electric, each</td> +<td class="td1">21.75</td> +<td class="td3">upward</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdl">Hand cutter, each</td> +<td class="td1">50.00</td> +<td class="td3">upward</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdl" colspan="3">Cabinets, tables, chairs, and irons, see above</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p class="noin">The cost of equipping a shop would be from $200 to +$400.</p> + +<p>Special machines for perforating designs or for +pleating materials are often needed in teaching the garment +trades. Wholesale prices can usually be obtained +when the order is large. Dealers have also shown themselves +willing to sell their machines at low prices, to +loan them, and even to give them to a school which has +proved its ability to train good workers.</p> + +<p>When it was appreciated that the original quarters +of the school were too limited, the Board of Administrators +went to work with great enthusiasm and in a few +months collected the requisite money and bought a large +business loft building at 209-213 East 23d Street, at an +expense of $175,000. To put it in order for work cost +$5,000 in addition. The former equipment was used +and $5,000 more was spent for such needed items as: +machines, $3,200; motor, $352; perforating machine, +$38; additional master clocks, $233; chairs and tables, +$850. The school is furnished in a simple, businesslike +manner, the equipment merely reproducing good workroom +requirements, <i>i. e.</i>, essentials only.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p> + +<p>The budget for the first year, 1902-1903, was +$22,094.16, of which the salaries for teachers took about +one-half and the rent and maintenance covered the other +half. During this year there were 113 students admitted. +In 1908-1909, after six years of rapid growth, +the educational budget is $49,000, or more than double +the original, of which the salaries are $38,806; the supplies, +$1,710; printing and publishing, $600; maintenance, +$9,900. At the beginning of 1908 there were 254 +students in the school; 689 were registered during the +year, making a total of 943 girls, being almost nine +times the number in attendance during the first year.</p> + +<h3>The Support</h3> + +<p>The Manhattan Trade School has depended for its +support entirely upon voluntary contributions. There +have been few large donations and the donors represent +all classes of the community—patrons of and workers +in sociological, economic, philanthropic, and educational +fields, employers of labor, and auxiliaries of many kinds +of workers organized for special purposes. The most +significant help, perhaps, and the largest in proportion +to its income, has been that of the wage-earners themselves—not +only the girl who has benefited by the instruction, +but the general mass of women workers. +These women, knowing the difficulties in their own +struggle to rise, have shown themselves willing to set +apart weekly a small sum to help young girls to attain +quickly efficiency through systematic training. The +auxiliaries of wage-earners are a mainstay of the +school on account of their helpful enthusiasm, their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> +practical suggestions, their interest in girls trained there, +and their regular subscriptions on which the Board of +Administrators can depend.</p> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p> +<h2 class="hd3">PART IV</h2> + +<h2>OUTLINES AND DETAILED ACCOUNTS OF DEPARTMENT WORK</h2> + +<h3>The Faculty and Staff</h3> + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> original staff of the Manhattan Trade School, +1902-1903, consisted of a Director, an Executive Secretary, +4 supervisors (Operating, Dressmaking, Pasting, +and Art), 5 instructors and forewomen, 4 or 5 assistants +and occasional workers, a janitor, and 2 cleaners. +The present staff, 1909-1910, consists of (1) <i>Office +Administration</i>, 11: Director, Executive Secretary, Assistant +Secretary, 2 Stenographers (office and placement), +Placement Secretary, Investigator, Business Clerk, Buyer, +and 2 Assistants (records, telephone, etc.). (2) <i>Teaching +Force, Supervisors, and Assistant Supervisors</i>, 7: +Dressmaking, Dressmaking workroom, Electric Operating, +Millinery, Novelty, Physical Education, Art. <i>Instructors, +Teachers, and Forewomen</i>, 11: Academic, 2; +Dressmaking, 3; Operating, 5; Art, 1. <i>Assistants</i>, 14: +Dressmaking, 7; Novelty, 3; Operating, 1; Physical +Education, 2; Art, 1. (3) <i>Doctor.</i> (4) <i>Care of Building</i>, +7: Engineer, Janitor, Machinist, Cleaners 2, Elevator +boy, and Night watchman.</p> + +<h3 class="hd3">Administration</h3> + +<h3>Admission Requirements</h3> + +<p>I. Age: fourteen to seventeen years. The law +requires a child to remain in public school until fourteen.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> +The Manhattan Trade School has found that under +fourteen a girl is too immature to specialize in trade +work, and that over seventeen most girls are too mature +to fit into the work planned for the majority of the class.</p> + +<p>II. Public School Grade: 5-A or above. The subject +matter of 5-A grade or its equivalent is required by the +state before a child can leave to work. If for illness +or other good cause a girl has not made this grade, she +is admitted to the Trade School with special permission of +principal of last school attended, and, while studying her +trade, the necessary amount of schooling is made up to +her by special classes and coaching. The Board of Health +recognizes this substitute.</p> + +<p>Grade of girls admitted since beginning is shown in +following table:</p> + +<p class="hd4">Grade upon Leaving School</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table class="tb1" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + +<tr class="tr4"><td class="td1"> </td> +<td class="tdc">Below Fifth Grade<br />Per cent.</td> +<td class="tdc">Fifth Grade<br />Per cent.</td> +<td class="tdc">Sixth Grade<br />Per cent.</td> +<td class="tdc">Seventh Grade<br />Per cent.</td> +<td class="tdc">Eighth Grade<br />Per cent.</td> +<td class="tdc">Graduate<br />Per cent.</td> +<td class="tdc">High School<br />Per cent.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">1902</td> +<td class="tdc">8</td> +<td class="tdc">19</td> +<td class="tdc">35</td> +<td class="tdc">26</td> +<td class="tdc">2</td> +<td class="tdc">10</td> +<td class="tdc">0</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="center">1903</td> +<td class="tdc">11</td> +<td class="tdc">18</td> +<td class="tdc">19</td> +<td class="tdc">29</td> +<td class="tdc">6</td> +<td class="tdc">15</td> +<td class="tdc">2</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="center">1904</td> +<td class="tdc">6</td> +<td class="tdc">11</td> +<td class="tdc">15</td> +<td class="tdc">25</td> +<td class="tdc">16</td> +<td class="tdc">25</td> +<td class="tdc">2</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="center">1905</td> +<td class="tdc">7</td> +<td class="tdc">15</td> +<td class="tdc">19</td> +<td class="tdc">19</td> +<td class="tdc">17</td> +<td class="tdc">19</td> +<td class="tdc">4</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="center">1906</td> +<td class="tdc">8</td> +<td class="tdc">16</td> +<td class="tdc">20</td> +<td class="tdc">23</td> +<td class="tdc">17</td> +<td class="tdc">13</td> +<td class="tdc">3</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="center">1907</td> +<td class="tdc">7</td> +<td class="tdc">10</td> +<td class="tdc">25</td> +<td class="tdc">23</td> +<td class="tdc">15</td> +<td class="tdc">18</td> +<td class="tdc">2</td> +</tr><tr class="tr5"> +<td class="center">1908</td> +<td class="tdc">4</td> +<td class="tdc">15</td> +<td class="tdc">26</td> +<td class="tdc">20</td> +<td class="tdc">13</td> +<td class="tdc">16</td> +<td class="tdc">6</td></tr></table></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>During 1908, 143 older women were admitted to a +special workroom opened for the "unemployed."</p> + +<p>III. Filing of working papers is required of girls +under sixteen.</p> + +<p>1. No girl under sixteen can work in New York +unless she has an Employment Certificate issued by the +Board of Health, and then only from 8 <span class="smcapl">A.M.</span> to 5 <span class="smcapl">P.M.</span>, +or for eight hours daily.</p> + +<p>2. The public school last attended by the girl is +responsible for her until she is sixteen, or has her working +papers, or is dismissed to another school. If dismissed +to Manhattan Trade School her attendance there +cannot be made compulsory, and she may attend a few +days and then leave and work illegally. Our facilities +for following up such cases are limited. With her working +papers on file we know she is not evading the law, +and can dismiss her to work if she is not a success in +trade lines of training.</p> + +<p>3. Exceptions: Lack of proper birth record, on +account of foreign birth or failure to make record of it +by officials, may prevent the obtaining of an Employment +Certificate. A special provision is made by the Board +of Health in such cases, and, pending adjustment, the +girl is admitted upon notice of date of future issuance.</p> + +<p>IV. Reference: Some reliable person's name is required +of each applying student, in order to have some +one to communicate with in case of difficulty of any +kind.</p> + +<p>V. Application in person: Each girl fills out an +application blank giving name, address, and birthplace +of self, father, and mother, public school attendance,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> +previous trade experience, if any, trade desired, reference. +This must be written at the school, for the manner +in which it is done is a large part of test for admission.</p> + +<h3>Times of Admission</h3> + +<p>The school year begins in July, but a girl is admitted +any Monday when there is a vacancy in the department +she wishes to enter. The following table gives record +of yearly admission:</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table class="tb1" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr class="tr3"><td class="td1">Nov. 2,</td> +<td class="tdto">1902</td> +<td class="td3">(first day)</td> +<td class="tdj">20</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Rest of</td> +<td class="tdto">1902</td> +<td class="td3" rowspan="8"> </td> +<td class="tdj">93</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1" rowspan="7"> </td><td class="tdto">1903</td><td class="tdj">139</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdto">1904</td><td class="tdj">193</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdto">1905</td><td class="tdj">239</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdto">1906</td><td class="tdj">328</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdto">1907</td><td class="tdj">433</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdto">1908</td><td class="tdj">689</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdto">1909</td><td class="tdk">517</td></tr> +<tr class="tr5"><td class="tdb" colspan="3">Total</td><td class="tdj">2,651</td></tr></table></div> + +<p>Some of these students did not remain long enough +to take a thorough training, for home demands made +even a small wage imperative, and the girl had to +join the ranks of earners ill prepared. Some were not +adapted to trade conditions, and soon fell out by the +way. Many persisted until they took more than the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> +average twelve months' course, and went into business +at a proportionately higher wage.</p> + +<h3>Records</h3> + +<p>I. Attendance: 1. Daily, Monday to Friday inclusive. +The factory method of time cards punched by a clock +upon entrance and leaving has been adopted as being +most exact, businesslike, and time saving. It registers +the exact time when rung, and so indicates tardiness as +well as absence.</p> + +<p>2. Weekly. A small filing card ruled for fifty-two +weeks summarizes the daily record of time cards and +requires the marking attendance only once a week. This +file is subdivided into departments and again into classes, +so that the statistics of enrollment are easily gathered.</p> + +<p>II. Individual records: 1. Upon admission a record +card is started for each girl, no matter how long she may +attend. This contains (1) the data given upon the application +blank copied in detail; (2) Student Aid, if given, +amount, date, and remarks.</p> + +<p>2. Upon leaving, entries are made on the same +card of (1) date and cause of leaving; (2) record in +different departments—Art, Academic, Trade, and +Health; (3) certificate—kind, record, date. This is not +granted until the pupil has proved satisfactory in her +trade both in the school and in business; (4) Trade +Record—upon the reverse side of the card is the "record +in trade after leaving school," with columns for date, +employer, kind of work, wages, remarks. This is kept +up by the Placement Secretary by frequent visits and +letters, and gives the basis for many valuable deductions +as to the practical results of the training.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p> + +<p>III. Other records kept in departments are (1) Student +Aid: application and information; (2) Health: +examinations upon entrance and future reëxaminations; +(3) Department: records of each girl as she passes from +class to class, such as "attitude," speed, and skill.</p> + +<h3>Length of Year</h3> + +<p>The school is in session forty-eight weeks each year, +four weeks being given up to one-week vacations at +Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July, and Labor Day. The +summer session is the beginning of the regular work, +and not a unit for summer training. No one is admitted +for the summer only, as the time is too short for real +trade standards to be approached.</p> + +<h3>Tuition</h3> + +<p>The tuition is absolutely free. The Manhattan Trade +School aims to reach the poorest girl who has little +chance to advance rapidly unless some one gives her +a lift. In order to do this most effectively it is sometimes +necessary to assist her. (See the report of the +Student Aid Work.)</p> + +<h3>Choice of Trade</h3> + +<p>A girl upon application can select the trade into +which she wishes to go. If after a month's trial she +proves competent, she is allowed to continue; if not, +she is advised to change to another department or to +seek employment in work not taught at the Trade School. +If a girl has no choice of trade because of ignorance of +possibilities, she is shown the kinds taught and given<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> +a chance to make a selection. If then she is undecided, +she is advised to take what seems best adapted to the +time she can spend and the type of girl she appears +to be.</p> + +<h3>Business Management</h3> + +<p>However simple a school is, some bookkeeping is +necessary, and when with the running of the school +is combined the management of trade order supplies and +receipts the problem becomes very complicated. (See +Trade Order Work.)</p> + +<p>I. General: A system of up-to-date bookkeeping of +General Ledger, Invoice Book, and Daily Exhibit, with +details worked out in Petty Cash and Maintenance +Books, has been adopted. These few simple books so +distribute accounts of expense and receipts that one can +soon see the standing of the whole school or of a single +department. All bookkeeping is centralized in one office, +except the taking of orders and the details of filling +them, which must be in the hands of the department +concerned.</p> + +<p>II. Departmental: 1. Requisition blanks for purchases +made. 2. Order blank and duplicate for order +given by customer. 3. Time slips, wherever possible, to +get exact record of time value of work done. 4. Material +slips, to keep account of what has gone into any +orders. 5. Final billing, to give data for bills sent out +from main office and duplicate filed there for final +records.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></p> + +<h3 class="hd3">The Power Machine Operating Department</h3> + +<h3>Aim</h3> + +<p>To train girls to work on sewing machines run by +electric power and to put a thinker behind every machine +as its operator. The department hopes by awakening +intelligent interest in the tool, <i>i. e.</i>, the machine, to kindle +ambition in the workers. It is only through the intelligent +use of the tool and consequent love of work which +follows that we can look forward to supplying the +skilled machine workers of the future. This training +must be given while the girls are in the formative period, +to develop habits of thought and action which will +counteract the bad effects upon the worker that follow +division and subdivision of work, with consequent subdivision +of ability, which takes place in all factories today. +When a pupil has been thoroughly trained in the intelligent +use of her tool, when she has learned to construct +complete garments, if she is then, through force of +circumstances such as modern production entails, compelled +to carry out one process on the machine indefinitely, +or to make one part of a garment, she still holds +the balance of power in being prepared to do something +else when opportunity or necessity demands.</p> + +<h3>General Steps in Training</h3> + +<p>I. A pupil must be given a short time to adjust +herself to the workshop environment, consequently she +is put first at some simple work, such as ripping or cutting +up old garments. This gives her freedom while +using her hands to look about the workroom and to get<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> +accustomed to the sight as well as to the sound of +machines in action.</p> + +<p>II. The pupil is taught to control the power by +which the machine is run, and is then given an intelligent +understanding of the mechanism of the machine or +machines she is to operate.</p> + +<p>III. The pupil then begins her regular course of +work, and her feeling of responsibility of the value of +<i>time</i> is awakened—that is, her seconds, minutes, and +hours, days, weeks, and months are now important +factors in her life, and they may be used for good or +evil. In the language of the department, time may be +spent wisely or foolishly, and, while studying at the +Manhattan Trade School, seven hours out of every day +of the girl's life is given over to productive work and +should be accounted for. The department has developed +its own plan of time payments, which is much like the +piece-work system employed in trade. Through its rewards +for time well spent it makes the fact real to the +pupils, as no form of punishment could do, that wasted +time is gone forever.</p> + +<p>The department is divided into five classes, three of +which must be taken to make an all-round operator, +namely: Elementary, two months' course; Intermediate, +four months' course; Advanced, six months' course. In +trade, salaries for such positions range from $5 to +$15. The other two classes train specialists on the +electric machines, special machines of various kinds, +straw-sewing machines. Special machine work requires +from three months to one year in addition to the full +course of all-round operating. Salaries range from $6<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> +to $30. An expert trade worker is in charge of each +class.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="center"><i>Course of Work</i></p> + +<p>Regular Operating Course:</p> + +<div class="bk3"><p>1. Control of power—learning names and uses of +parts of machines. Making bags, clothes, and operator's +equipment.</p> + +<p>2. Straight and bias stitching, equal distance apart.</p> + +<p>3. Spaced bias stitching from given measurements.</p> + +<p>4. Making and turning square corners, stitching +heavy edge for tension practice.</p> + +<p>5. Machine table apron, using former principles. +This is used to protect operator from shafting and oil.</p> + +<p>6. Seams: Plain seam, plain and band seam; French +seam; bag seam on warp; bag seam, one warp and one +bias; bag seam, two biases.</p> + +<p>7. Hemming: Different sized hems turned by hand +for correct measurements; hems run through hemmer to +learn use of attachment and give speed; seams through +hemmer—bag seam, flat fell.</p> + +<p>8. Quilting: Following designs made by pupils in +Art Department. Practice for control of power, starting +and stopping machine at given point.</p> + +<p>9. Banding: Straight and bias bands placed by +measurement from design made in Art Department. +Practice for edge stitching, turning corners, accuracy of +measurement.</p> + +<p>10. Advanced seams on cloth and silk: Flannel +seam, slot seam, umbrella seam.</p> + +<p>11. Yokes made and put on: Round yokes—petticoats; +round front and straight back—drawers and +petticoats; bias yokes—waists; shaped yokes—aprons; +round yokes—children's dresses; miter corner yoke—dresses.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p> + +<p>12. Tucking: Free hand tucking for accuracy in +measuring and use of rule; special tucking on length +and widths of different materials to give speed and skill +in handling different fabrics.</p> + +<p>General Construction: Trade Stock and Order Work +(See Order Work): Infants' slips, children's underwear; +children's rompers; children's dresses; women's underwear; +shirtwaists; aprons; house dresses; fancy negligees.</p></div> + +<p>Special Machine Work:</p> + +<p class="bk3">Buttonholes; tucking; two-needle work; hemstitching; +Bonnaz (Corneli) embroidery; machine hand embroidery, +scalloping. Students of special ability only +are fitted to take this course. One girl in fifteen has +usually the requisite application and self-control to +operate a special machine successfully. Each machine +is specialized, <i>i. e.</i>, does its own particular work and no +other. Patient attention to little things is required on +the part of the operator in order that good results may +be produced. Such machines are supposed to need only +a hand behind them to guide the work. Our experience +has proved to us that good results are produced only +when intelligence and patience are factors. In the factories, +machinists keep the special machines in order, but +the school aims to train the operator to keep her own +machine in good condition, thus saving her valuable +time.</p></div> + +<p>Bonnaz (Corneli) embroidery work offers excellent +opportunities for correlation with the Art Department. +Both Bonnaz (Corneli) and machine hand embroidery +must be felt in the muscles before they can be carried +out on the material, therefore the work with the pencil +in making designs which are to be carried out on the +machine is of first importance. Free-hand designs must +be made first in large, free movements on the machine<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> +until the arm muscles are thoroughly familiar with the +curve, sweep, and feeling to be executed. After mastery +of movement and sweep are acquired, the same designs +may be reduced in size ten or twenty times and the pupil +will still work them out in perfect rhythm. After the +mastery of movement is acquired, the cording, braiding, +and three-thread attachment work are easily learned by +a pupil who has the necessary mechanical sense. The +course of Bonnaz (Corneli) work covers: chain stitch, +lettering, appliqué work, cording, braiding, three-thread +work.</p> + +<p>Machine hand embroidery should be given as a +supplementary course to Bonnaz (Corneli) embroidery. +It gives excellent training in design and color work.</p> + +<p>Special trade machine straw sewing should also be +taken up after the regular course in operating. It gives +splendid exercise for quick handling of material, but +makes a poor foundation of itself on which to build a +painstaking, expert, all-round operator. Speed is the +first requisite in getting a hat properly shaped, as the +straw braid is flying through the machine at the rate +of four thousand stitches a minute; hence the general +operating is given first to the pupil to train her in the +requisite neatness. As straw-sewing has long slack seasons, +the operator can during such times return to the +regular operating.</p> + +<h3 class="hd3">Dressmaking Department</h3> + +<h3>Aim</h3> + +<p>The aim of the Dressmaking Department is to train +girls in the elements of the dressmaking trade, in order<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> +to enable them to immediately secure employment as +improvers and finishers or as assistants on skirts, waists, +and sleeves, and to give them a preparation which will +help them eventually to rise to positions of skill and +responsibility. The training eliminates the errand girl +and apprenticeship stages, and makes possible a living +wage at the start. The result is accomplished in from +nine to seventeen months, the time depending entirely +upon the capability of the girl, her physical condition, +her application to her work, her regularity of attendance, +and her previous training.</p> + +<h3>Classes</h3> + +<p>The department is divided into three sections: +(1) The Elementary, which consists of two classes +for the teaching of simple sewing and machine work. +This section is rendered necessary by the poor preparation +of the students at the entrance. It would be not +only practical but desirable for elementary public and +industrial schools so to train their students that they +could omit this part of the Manhattan Trade School +course. (2) The Vocational. This section also includes +two classes. The work is tradelike in character, but +much time has to be given to developing right habits +of work as well as to learning specific kinds of handwork. +The public secondary schools could offer this +section to advantage, and through it train pupils for a +better knowledge of the home or for future livelihood. +(3) The Trade Section. This is a business shop, which +reproduces trade conditions as nearly as possible and +is subdivided into the same progressive divisions.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> +Although the object is to work as trade does, the educational +aim is also prominent, and the course of training +has been planned with both ends in view. Order +work plays an important part in this section, for it +makes possible the quantity and variety of material +necessary to supply the many repetitions of important +phases of dressmaking, the new views of old principles, +and the elaborate costume manufacturing which are +needed in the training. It would be impossible for a +school to adequately deal with the many varieties of +garments in this trade without some equivalent for the +order work. The use of models or of practice material +is not satisfactory on account of the great difference +between theoretical and practical knowledge in handling +valuable materials. A girl may learn to run fine tucks +on cheesecloth, but this will not enable her to do satisfactory +hand-tucking on chiffon. Neither is it a correct +educational or economic principle to cut up quantities +of good material, which the students will look upon as +"rags," and then, after working on them, to throw them +into a receptacle for waste or sell them simply to get +rid of them. To secure the best results in any line of +instruction there must be interest and enthusiasm. The +aim, therefore, must be definite and the results vital. +The work is planned to foster these higher qualities. The +students produce articles for a definite use; they are +given a required time in which the work should be completed; +trade itself sets the standard of judgment, and +a definite relation exists between the work of all the +classes, so that old principles may be recognized when +presented in new forms.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p> + +<h3>Courses of Work</h3> + +<p>I. Elementary Section. (1) Beginners' Class. First, +a test is given each girl when she enters which enables +her instructor to judge of her ability in sewing. It has +been found necessary, in the majority of cases, to teach +all or the greater part of the following principles: the +use of sewing utensils, the making of the stitches, their +application in articles, and the running of the sewing +machine. Hence the second step has been a course of +work covering the use of these needed principles, each +girl beginning at the point where she needs training. +Third, the final test. On the satisfactory completion of +this very elementary training a test is given to show a +girl's ability to work, to think, and to utilize ideas. If +she is not yet fully prepared, further time is spent +in emphasizing the points she still requires.</p> + +<p>The work in the Beginners' Class is done upon articles +which have a trade value and which are sold to +customers or to the students for about the cost of the +materials. The school furnishes the materials for all +elementary work, but the students must provide their +own tools and keep them in good condition. These include +a thimble, needles, scissors, a tape measure, an +emery, and a white apron.</p> + +<p>Class instruction followed by individual criticism +is the method of teaching in the Elementary Section. +Emphasis is placed upon the proper use of the utensils, +the position of the body, and the handling of the work. +Individual records are kept of the grade of work and +of the time taken to finish a problem. The course takes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> +from two to three months to complete, and the students +are at work four and one-half hours per day.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="center"><span class="smcap">Outline of Work in Beginners' Class</span></p> + +<div class="bk3"><p>1. Stitches and special forms of sewing: Basting, +running, overhanding, overcasting, hemming, blind +stitching, sewing on buttons (two hole, four hole), +buttonholes, featherstitching.</p> + +<p>2. Seams: Plain; selvage and raw edges; French; +felled; straight and bias edges; overhanded.</p> + +<p>3. Machine stitching: Straight seams and rows; +hems; facings—points; use of tucker.</p> + +<p>4. Principles: Measuring, seams, hems, tucks, cutting +by a thread; matching stripes; turning and basting +hems; making casing for drawstrings; putting on band—by +hand, by machine—one and two pieces; setting strings +into bands; finishing ends of hems; putting on pockets—straight +and shaped; plain placket; cutting bias strips; +piecing bias strips; facing curved and straight edges +(armholes, neck, waist, points); joining waist and skirt +with bias facing; making straight tucked ruffle; inserting +ruffle under tuck on skirt; ripping.</p> + +<p>5. Articles used in the work (this list is changed +at will and is merely representative): Handwork—Pin +cushion, bag, towel, white apron with ruffle. Machine +work—Belt, gingham apron oversleeves, child's dress +with waist, uniform apron.</p> + +<p>6. Supplementary work: Shoe bags, silver cases, +holders, bibs, silk bags, darning bags, needle books, +traveling cases, baby caps and work of a similar +character.</p> + +<p>7. Materials used: Cotton, linen, silk.</p></div></div> + +<p>(2) Intermediate Class. The Beginners' Class gives +most of its time to hand sewing, the Intermediate Class<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> +emphasizes machine sewing. The work is a repetition +of the principles taught in the Beginners' Class, but is +presented in a different manner, with new applications. +Orders are taken from individuals or business houses +for the garments which are made in this course. The +price is that of the trade. These orders furnish a market +for the entire output of the class. A certain amount of +class instruction is given, but the girls are expected to +do independent work under supervision.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="center"><span class="smcap">Outline of Work in Intermediate Class</span></p> + +<div class="bk3"><p>1. Review of former principles on new garments: +(1) French seam—straight edges, baby slips and nightgowns. +(2) Hems, (<i>a</i>) straight, (<i>b</i>) turned by hand, +on princess aprons, bloomers, sleeves, etc., (<i>c</i>) turned by +machine—hemmer on ruffles, for drawers and petticoats. +(3) Overcasting—seams of skirts. (4) Buttonholes—all +garments. (5) Plackets—plain hemmed, on skirts, +baby slips. (6) Bias bands—joining and applying to +straight and curved edges, on princess aprons, drawers, +top of petticoat. (7) Ruffle—joining, measuring, and +applying under tuck, on skirt and drawers. (8) Machine +instruction—threading, setting needles, winding bobbin, +scale of thread, needle, and stitch.</p> + +<p>2. New principles: (1) Flat fell—shaped and bias +edges on princess aprons and drawers. (2) French seam—shaped +edges in petticoat seams. (3) Loops—on +petticoats and dressing sacques. (4) Hems—shaped +edges in gored skirts, princess aprons and nightgowns, +baby slips and children's dresses. (5) Overhanding—pieces +on nightgowns, piecing ruffles and lace on underwear. +(6) Plackets—faced in drawers, petticoats, bloomers, +and dress skirts. (7) Bias band—applying to top +of ruffle in petticoats and drawers. (8) Bias binding—corset<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> +cover and nightgown. (9) Ruffle—finishing with +bias bands on petticoat and drawers. (10) Cuffs—making +and applying to nightgowns, baby slips, rompers, +and house dresses. (11) Sleeves—gathering on wrong +side and putting into baby slips, nightgowns, dressing +sacques, etc. (12) Pressing. (13) Sewing hooks and +eyes on petticoats. (14) Machine instruction in cleaning, +oiling, and attachments.</p> + +<p>3. List of articles made for stock and order: Aprons—princess, +maids', fancy. Women's clothes—dressing +sacques, nightgowns, kimonos, lounging robes, house +dresses, chemises, drawers, skirts (washable, mohair, +silk), collars, and corset covers. Children's clothes—nightdresses, +night drawers, drawers, skirts, rompers, +dresses, and aprons.</p> + +<p>4. Materials used: Cotton, silk, woolen, and +worsted.</p></div></div> + +<p>II. Vocational Section. The increasing demand for +ready-made clothing has opened a new field for girls +obliged to enter the business world as soon as the law +will permit them to leave school. This requires hand +finishing on fancy waists and plain and fancy gowns, +which are made by the dozens on machines run by electric +power. It is not necessary to have a knowledge of +actual dressmaking to be able to do this work. The +ability to do good handwork rapidly is the prerequisite. +In some establishments there are opportunities for girls +of ability to rise from finisher to draper, which latter +position commands a high wage.</p> + +<p>The producing of fine, handmade underwear, waists, +and dresses is another opportunity for girls who can +take but a short time in which to prepare to earn their +living. Work of this character is of a much higher grade<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> +than that of the wholesale finishing, and demands the +ability to do extremely good hand and machine work. +The worker must be able to handle the finest kind of +materials and to do the most intricate work, such as hand +tucking, setting in lace, and trimmings.</p> + +<p>Although the course in the Vocational Section trains +for specific branches, it is very necessary that all dressmaking +students should have experience in these lines in +order to be better prepared for the actual dressmaking. +If, however, a girl has the ability to do the work of these +classes, she is allowed to skip either one or both of them.</p> + +<p>Course of work in the Shop for Gymnasium and +Swimming Suits: The students are drilled for one or +two months in putting garments together, stitching, and +finishing. As but two kinds of garments are made, +speed is acquired and a certain amount of accuracy is +gained through much repetition. Definite arrangements +have been made through wholesale houses for the disposition +of the product. The materials are furnished by +the school. The price is that of trade.</p> + +<p>(1) Articles: Swimming suits (patented), bathing +suits, and gymnasium suits. (2) Materials used: Cotton, +wool, worsted.</p> + +<p>Course of work in White Work Class: The previous +training having been a general one for accuracy, speed, +and the mastery over mind and hand, attention is now +given for two and one-half or three months to fine +detail work and the handling and keeping fresh and +clean of the daintiest of cotton goods. The materials +are furnished by the school and the work is sold to +customers at trade prices.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p> + +<p>(1) Principles: Hand-tucking, rolling and whipping, +mitering corners, overhanding trimming, inserting lace +and embroidery by hand and machine, fine featherstitching, +and white hand embroidery. (2) Garments for +stock and order; fine underwear, waists, and baby +clothes. (3) Material used: cotton.</p> + +<p>III. Trade Section—The Business Shop. Trade +demands skilled workers, and preference is given to those +who have had practical training. The trade section aims +to add experience to skill by offering the students the +actual work and conditions demanded in the outside +market. The general scheme is the one in use in +moderate-sized dressmaking establishments.</p> + +<p>The workroom has its tables devoted to separate +kinds of work, the students obtain a definite amount of +knowledge from each experience, and pass from one +to the other as rapidly as their ability to grasp the principles +will permit. Each division is in charge of an +instructor with practical trade experience, who prepares +and supervises the work and also does the skilled parts +which the students, on account of their lack of experience, +are unable to do.</p> + +<p>The girls are not taught cutting, fitting, and draping, +as trade would not permit a sixteen-year-old girl to +attempt this work on account of her lack of judgment +and experience; but they have the opportunity to see and +assist in the preparation of work. No girl in the trade +shop will make a complete garment, but she will have +worked upon all parts many times.</p> + +<p>Custom orders supply the shop with work. The +customers are interviewed, measurements are taken, estimates<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> +are given, and dates for fittings are planned. The +information obtained is recorded upon blanks prepared +for the purpose. The materials are purchased, the garments +cut, and the different parts (skirts, waists, sleeves) +are delivered to the tables where such work is done. +Blanks are provided for the recording of all materials +used for customers' work, and from these the bills are +made out in the main office. Stock is obtained from the +storerooms on signed requisitions only. The stock clerk +measures and delivers the materials and notes the amount +withdrawn on each package.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><div class="bk3"><p>Course in Dressmaking Shop:</p> + +<p>1. Linings: Waist (practice materials): basting, +stitching, pressing, binding, boning (whalebone, featherbone); +hooks and eyes; facing; overcasting.</p> + +<p>2. Shirtwaists and nurses' uniforms: Covering rings; +making shirtwaist cuff; making shirtwaist placket; putting +on neckbands.</p> + +<p>3. Skirts: Petticoats or drop skirts for; basting, +stitching, pressing; seams, bands, plackets; trimming, +pinning, putting on band.</p> + +<p>4. Trimmed skirts: Slip stitching; milliner's and flat +folds; covering buttonholes; binding, shirring, cording, +tucking, piping, facing, braiding.</p> + +<p>5. Trimmed waists: Application of principles; experience +in making and applying trimming and handling +delicate or perishable materials.</p> + +<p>6. Trimmed sleeves: Application in general knowledge +and experience in applying trimmings.</p> + +<p>7. Garments made in the shop: Shirtwaists, fancy +dressing sacques and wrappers; nurses' and maids' uniforms; +dancing dresses; elaborate waists; street, afternoon, +and evening gowns; tailored suits.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p> + +<p>8. Materials used: All varieties of cotton, linen, silk, +woolen, and worsted dress fabrics; chiffon, mousseline, +and trimmings of all kinds.</p></div></div> + +<p>IV. Results of training. A change in the general +appearance of the girls is soon apparent, for which +ability to make their own clothes and the refining influence +of the doing of good work on good materials is +probably responsible. The elements of good order, +obedience, thoughtfulness, judgment, self-control, industry, +and thrift are fostered, and every effort is put +forth to make intelligent workers.</p> + +<p>The fact that on entering trade the girls from the +Trade School receive nearly double the salary given +untrained girls indicates that they are fitted for the outside +workrooms.</p> + +<p>V. Departmental relations. The emphasis which the +Academic and Art Departments have laid upon accuracy, +careful work, appreciation of measurements, distances, +color, and form has been of great value to the students +in the Dressmaking Department. The Operating Department +has also been of service in training some of the +students to work on special machines, thus enabling +them to make dress decoration. The use of the electric +power machine in custom dressmaking establishments is +on the increase.</p> + +<p>VI. Trade relation. The department is kept in close +touch with trade conditions through personal visits, +through the houses which purchase its output, and through +those from whom the stock is bought. Many opportunities +to purchase materials at reduced rates have been +secured through the kindly interest of the trade.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span></p> + +<p>An advisory board, composed of business men and +women, has been appointed to pass judgment upon the +scheme of work, the standard and quality of work, and +the cost and market value of the products.</p> + +<h3 class="hd3">Millinery Department</h3> + +<h3>Aim</h3> + +<p>The aim of the Millinery Department is to train +assistants, improvers, frame makers, and preparers for +wholesale and custom workrooms.</p> + +<h3>Short Course</h3> + +<p>When this department was first opened the scope of +the work for the day classes was much more extended +and included training for copyists, designers, and milliners. +The curtailing of the course to more elementary +preparation was brought about by a feeling of dissatisfaction +with this trade for the young, untrained, or partly +skilled workers. Close and continued contact with +millinery shops showed that for young wage-earners a +small, initial wage and a not very rapid rise are usual; +that a short, irregular, seasonal engagement is almost +inevitable; that a long experience is needed before even +the trained girl can rise to the higher positions; that +young workers become discouraged and are apt to drop +the trade altogether, even for lower wages, if they can +obtain steady work in another occupation. As it was +the fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl who came for the +instruction, it was better for her to be well trained as +an assistant than to detain her at the school for a more +advanced position which she would probably not be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> +allowed to take on account of her youth and inexperience. +Students in this department need to be watched with +especial care to determine whether they are well adapted +for their occupation, and the mediocre worker would +better enter some other field where the opportunities for +her are more encouraging. As the advance is slow the +girl also whose poverty is hurrying her into wage-earning +would better not elect this work.</p> + +<p>The night classes which have been offered at the +school gave training in the more advanced lines of +millinery. The day classes are also prepared to do so +whenever older workers feel they can give time for the +instruction.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="center"><span class="smcap">Course of Instruction</span></p> + +<div class="bk3"><p>Length of course: Six months.</p> + +<p>1. Practice: Shirring, tucking, cording, rolled hem, +plain fold, milliner's fold, and cutting and joining bias +pieces.</p> + +<p>2. Making and covering buckles and buttons; wiring +ribbons and laces; making hat linings and wiring hats.</p> + +<p>3. Bandeaux: Wire, capenet, and buckram.</p> + +<p>4. Wire frame construction from dimensions and +models; making frames of buckram, capenet, and stiff +willow.</p> + +<p>5. Covering frames with crinoline, capenet, mull, +maline, and soft willow.</p> + +<p>6. Facings: Plain, shirred, and in folds.</p> + +<p>7. Bindings: Stretch, puff, and rolled.</p> + +<p>8. Plateaux: Plain and fancy.</p> + +<p>9. Making hats of straw, silk, chiffon, maline, and +velvet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span></p> + +<p>10. Sewing trimmings on hats and sewing linings +in hats.</p> + +<p>11. Renovating: Ribbon, velvet, lace, feathers, +flowers.</p> + +<p>12. Machine work: Plain stitching, tucking, shirring, +bias strips stitched on material.</p></div></div> + +<p>Orders are taken for a limited amount of trimmed +hats in order to provide the students with experience in +preparing, sewing on the trimming, and in finishing the +hat.</p> + +<p>As millinery is a seasonal trade, students are advised +to take, in addition, lamp and candle shade making in +the Novelty Department, or straw sewing in the Operating +Department. They are thus provided with good trades +during the months when their own trade is dull.</p> + +<h3 class="hd3">Novelty Department</h3> + +<h3>Aim</h3> + +<p>(1) To teach the use of paste and glue in several +good trades. (2) A short course in lampshade and +candleshade making for girls who have a dull season in +their regular trade during November, December, and +January.</p> + +<h3>Lines of Work</h3> + +<p>Sample mounting, novelty work, jewelry and silverware +case making, lampshade and candleshade making.</p> + +<h3>Trades and Wages</h3> + +<p>Sample mounting is pasting or gluing samples of all +kinds of material on cards or in books to be used by +salesmen in selling goods. New York is a center for this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> +class of work. It gives year-round employment to many +girls, and offers wages from $5 to $15 a week. The +simpler lines of sample mounting can be learned by almost +any girl. A bright student can learn this trade in six +months.</p> + +<p>Novelty work is the covering and lining of cases and +boxes with different materials. Girls can earn from $5 +to $18 a week, and can learn the trade in from eight +months to a year.</p> + +<p>In jewelry and silverware case making the girls are +taught both to cover and line up the cases; they earn +from $5 to $15 a week. It takes from eight months to +a year to learn this trade.</p> + +<p>Lampshade and candleshade making: A short course +is offered to good sewers who wish to learn a line of +work that will give them employment during November, +December, and January, which is the busy season in this +occupation. Girls can earn from $1 to $2 a day. It is a +very good course for millinery workers, as the work is +similar and therefore easily learned, and the slack time +in millinery is the busy time in this trade.</p> + +<h3>Course of Work</h3> + +<p>All pupils entering the Novelty Department take a +short course in sample mounting to learn the use of +paste and glue. Some are advanced soon to the novelty +work, while others continue in sample mounting, taking +up a greater variety of work along that line. Those +entering for lamp and candle shade making do not take +the sample mounting, but come from the millinery or +sewing classes, where they have had some training with +the needle.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p> + +<h3>Interrelation with Academic and Art Work</h3> + +<p>In the academic classes the girls are drilled in +measurements and have problems estimating the cost +of materials and labor. Their discussions pertain to +actual processes and materials used in the classes of the +Novelty Department.</p> + +<p>In the art classes the girls are trained to draw +straight lines and square corners, to miter corners, to +fold on a line, to make good letters and figures, and to +appreciate good proportions and balance. This work +enables the student to arrange her samples in straight +lines on the card, with proper margins, and to print +neatly on the card the name of the materials and stock +numbers. The discussion of materials helps her to cut +and place her materials on the cases so that the design +will appear to the best advantage. The color work aids +her in choosing the best hues of ribbons or linings to +use with the figured coverings.</p> + +<h3>Orders</h3> + +<p>Where trade orders can be used without keeping +the girls too long on the one problem, they prove a great +incentive and also help them to acquire speed. Private +orders give more variety in the work, and thus enable +the girls to adjust themselves more easily to each season's +new styles. The private orders, however, being smaller +in number, do not help the students to acquire the speed +that the repetition does in the large trade orders. Each +kind of order work is used, as it can be of advantage +to the development of the student.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p> + +<h3 class="hd3">Art Department</h3> + +<p>The courses of work in the Art Department are +shaped according to the needs of each trade department. +Various phases of work in dressmaking, electric power +operating, novelty, and millinery are made "centers of +interest." Each girl thus finds her art aiding her to be +more valuable in her trade. Her enthusiasm is awakened +and she is stimulated to self-expression directly along +the line of her chosen work. The entering students +lack in the technical skill which can be used in their +trades. The first step, therefore, is to give the elementary +exercises needed in their departments. This is +followed by more difficult and more artistic work as the +student shows ability.</p> + +<h3>Aims</h3> + +<p>To help the work of the trade departments, to improve +the trade selected by each student, to give ideals.</p> + +<h3>Conditions</h3> + +<p>Time of average student in art, seven months, three +hours per week. Previous art training little or none.</p> + +<h3>Difficulties</h3> + +<p>The students do not see or estimate correctly; they +are not exact, and they lack ideals.</p> + +<h3>Organization of Art Work</h3> + +<p>I. <i>General</i> course for <i>all</i> students, connecting Art +Department with Trade Courses. Approximate time, +three months, three times a week.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><div class="bk3"><p>1. Principles of Proportion: Measurements by ruler +and free-hand. Related lines and sizes, as in hems and +margins.</p> + +<p>2. General Use of Principles: (1) Horizontal, vertical, +oblique lines for machine practice. (2) Related +margins and spots as used in the writing of letters, the +orderly placing of subject on a page.</p> + +<p>3. Specific Department Work: Departments express +their needs to Art Department. (1) Machine operating: +(<i>a</i>) Lines—horizontal, vertical, oblique, for machine +practice. (<i>b</i>) Quilting, banding, practice for +curves and square corners.</p> + +<p>(2) Sewing: (<i>a</i>) Lines—horizontal, vertical, oblique, +for machine and hand practice and tailor basting. (<i>b</i>) +Hems, tucks as prescribed by department and proportioned +to garment. (<i>c</i>) Constructive drawing—giving +different angles and figures with a view toward an intelligent +use of patterns for waists and skirts. (<i>d</i>) Piecing +bias and mitering corners.</p> + +<p>(3) Novelty: (<i>a</i>) Lines—horizontal, vertical, oblique, +for sample mounting. (<i>b</i>) Spacings for sample mounting. +(<i>c</i>) Letterings and figures for sample mounting. +(<i>d</i>) Margins for pasting different shaped labels and +samples. (<i>e</i>) Paper folding, mitering corners.</p> + +<p>(4) Millinery: (<i>a</i>) Lines—horizontal, vertical, +oblique, for hand sewing practice. (<i>b</i>) Problems for +proportions for the wire frames. (<i>c</i>) Bias facings and +mitered and square corners. (<i>d</i>) Color.</p></div></div> + +<p>Students unable to benefit further by the Art Work +are dropped from course and devote this time to their +trade.</p> + +<p>II. <i>Supplementary</i> course for students showing +ability who have finished the prescribed departmental +course. Approximate time, seven to nine months.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><div class="bk3"><p>1. Machine Operating: (1) First step in designs, +arrangement of straight lines in borders, and orderly +arrangement of spots in borders. (2) Squared-off designs, +stenciling same, for coördination. (3) Sample +curved line designs, continuous (limitation of machine +and for speed). (4) Patterns for practice work for the +special machine. (5) Special workers to practice the +exercises for the Bonnaz machine. (6) Color—three +charts. (7) Exercises for perforating.</p> + +<p>2. Sewing: (1) Simple designs for shirtwaists and +for braiding. (2) Designs for revers, cuffs, vests, and +yokes. (3) Proportions of figure. (4) Copying from +magazines for trade technicalities. (5) Discussions on +dress for trade workers. (6) Color harmony in dresses +and application.</p> + +<p>3. Millinery: (1) Sketching different views of the +hats. (2) Sketching models. (3) Color harmonies and +application. (4) Discussions on how art principles can +be applied to hats of the present day.</p> + +<p>4. Novelty: (1) Simple, squared-off designs stenciled +for coördination for hand and head, not gained in the +trade work. (2) Simple illumination of words and +phrases. (3) The materials and decoration to be used +for pads, desk sets, and boxes discussed and carried out.</p></div></div> + +<p>In this supplementary course emphasis is put on the +thought, invention, and appreciation of the student.</p> + +<p>III. <i>Special</i> course for students who show unusual +ability in art and can utilize it in trade.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><div class="bk3"><p>1. Costume sketching for making records in dressmaking +workrooms.</p> + +<p>2. Stamping and perforating: (<i>a</i>) Machine practice—pedaling, +guiding needle, threading machine, and learning +to adjust the different parts. (<i>b</i>) Stamping on different +materials with the different mediums; composition of +the different mediums, liquid and dry. (<i>c</i>) Copying<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> +patterns for perforating; nature study for motifs; conventionalizing +those to apply them to materials.</p></div></div> + +<p>(All designs are such as can be used in trade and are +made according to trade methods.)</p> + +<h3 class="hd3">Academic Department</h3> + +<h3>Aim</h3> + +<p>I. Elementary: To supplement previous schooling. +Girls who have left the public school from low grades +need special tutoring in the common branches. Special +instruction is also needed for newly arrived foreigners.</p> + +<p>II. Trade: To quicken and enrich the mind, that +the girl may become a more efficient, intelligent, and +enthusiastic trade worker.</p> + +<p>The work falls under the following subjects: Civics, +Industries, Arithmetic, English.</p> + +<h3>Civics</h3> + +<p>This course is given as a means of enabling the pupil +to recognize her place in the family, the school, the community, +and in the world's work. For lack of a better +term it is called Civics. It is dealt with under two heads: +(1) Community Life in General, (2) Community Life +in New York City.</p> + +<p>1. Under the first head the discussion of life in a +given community is followed by the simple facts that +lie at the foundation of civic life. These are approached +through the interests or desires which the pupil feels in +common with all other people. Building still further +on the pupil's own experience, she is led to apply the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> +ideas received to her own community, which ever widening +its scope is carried from the neighborhood or the +school to the city, the state, and on to the nation.</p> + +<p>Civics also gives to the pupils a knowledge of the +existing laws under which they will work, by whom +these laws are made, and the possible means for improving +them. In the discussion of such subjects as Tenement +House Laws, Child Labor Laws, and Trade-Unions, +there is opportunity for the introduction of home and +business economics which have been found to be valuable. +Economics is further taught by the detailed discussion +of the apportionment of an income of $6 a week +for fifty working weeks, considering car fare, lunches, +savings, a portion toward family support, and an allowance +for clothes. The literature for this course is +obtained from the United States Department of Commerce +and Labor, the State Department of Factory +Legislation, the Consumers' League, the National and +State Labor Committees, and current magazines. Mr. +Arthur M. Dunn's, "The Community and the Citizen," +especially such chapters as those on the "Making of +Americans," "How the Government Aids the Citizen +in His Business Life," "Waste and Saving," "What the +Community Does for Those Who Cannot or Will Not +Contribute to Its Progress," has given valuable assistance +in leading to discussions which have direct bearing +upon daily life and work.</p> + +<p>2. The following outline shows the treatment of the +second division of Civics:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="bk3">New York City: (1) City Government, (<i>a</i>) Officials, +Mayor, Commissioner, Borough President, Aldermen;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> +(<i>b</i>) City Departments. (2) Citizenship, (<i>a</i>) Who are +citizens, (<i>b</i>) How to become a citizen, (<i>c</i>) Duties and +privileges of citizens, (<i>d</i>) Aliens. (3) Child Labor +Laws, (<i>a</i>) School attendance, (<i>b</i>) Working papers, how +obtained, (<i>c</i>) Hours for work. (4) Factory Laws for +girls over sixteen years old. (5) Sweatshop labor. +(6) Tenement House Laws. (7) Trade-Unions. (8) +Commerce and Industries of New York. (9) Philanthropies.</p></div> + +<h3>Industries</h3> + +<p>Aim: To furnish the worker with a background for +her trade and to help her to see her place in the working +world of today. 1. A generalized view is taken of the +main steps in the early progress of the race. 2. Textile +materials are discussed as to their values, their uses, their +cost, the processes of their manufacture, the comparison +of foreign and domestic goods, with reasons for the differences, +and the connected problems of arithmetic which +the students will meet. These subjects help the girl to +"get next" to what she is working with every day and +to arouse interest in her personal connection with the +subject. The English girl whose father was once employed +in a lace house in London brings mounted +specimens of that sort of handwork to the class; the +Hungarian brings hand-spun articles from her mother's +bridal outfit; the Italian presents a skein of raw silk +taken from the family's treasure box, and the girl from +Roumania brings an embroidered bed cover. The student +whose mother does not believe cotton ever grew on +bushes asks that she may verify her own statement by +taking home a real cotton ball. A Labor Museum +is being collected to give reality to the instruction, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> +exhibits from it, which show the steps in the manufacturing +of the fabrics and of other familiar articles, are +put up in the classroom when needed. A bulletin board +provides for the numerous clippings brought by the +students or teachers.</p> + +<h3>Arithmetic</h3> + +<p>Aim: The fundamental aim of arithmetic is to give +the pupils working methods for the problems that occur +in trade practice. To make the correlation clear to the +girls, workroom methods of presentation and phraseology +and the customary materials are used. Sewing +and operating students make hems, tucks, and ruffles +to actual measurements; novelty girls cut and arrange +cards for samples in accordance with their workroom +demands; and millinery students work out the measurements +for hat frames as closely as varying styles permit.</p> + +<p>With the fundamentals of trade problems established, +arithmetic is further developed along special lines of +trade to meet the demands of the business world. The +trained worker should not only be skilled in the manipulation +of tools and materials, but she should be able to +compute her own problems, such as estimates for garments, +how to cut materials economically, the cost of +one garment or article as related to the cost of many +of the same kind, the prices, and similar trade questions. +The ability to deal with these subjects adds materially +to the value of a skilled worker.</p> + +<p>The central scheme of the course is to lead the pupil +to prompt and accurate mental calculation. This is +stimulated by frequent oral drills in trade problems and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> +business problems involving short methods of computation. +The extent and progress of this work are regulated +by the ability of the class.</p> + +<p>The following outlines show the adaptation of arithmetic +to the different trades:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><div class="bk3"><p><i>Operating</i>: (1) Cutting of gauges, (<i>a</i>) For hems, +(<i>b</i>) For tucks. (2) Tucking problems, (<i>a</i>) With gauges, +(<i>b</i>) As formal arithmetic problems. (3) Ruffling problems. +(4) Time problems, Department time schedules +as basis for the work. (5) Factory problems. (6) Income, +expenditure, savings. (7) Bills and receipts. +(8) Computation of quantity of material required for +garments, (<i>a</i>) By measuring garments, (<i>b</i>) By use of +patterns on cloth, (<i>c</i>) Economy of material. (9) Problems +based on above work. (10) Civic problems.</p> + +<p><i>Sewing</i>: (1) Cutting of gauges, (<i>a</i>) For hems, +(<i>b</i>) For tucks. (2) Tucking problems. (3) Ruffling +problems. (4) Computation of quantity of material +required for garments, (<i>a</i>) By measuring garments, +(<i>b</i>) By use of patterns on cloth, (<i>c</i>) Economy of material. +(5) Problems based on above work. (6) Store +problems. (7) Bills and receipts. (8) Income, expenditures, +savings. (9) Textile problems. (10) Civic +problems.</p> + +<p><i>Novelty</i>: (1) Sample mounting, (<i>a</i>) Cards are cut a +given size and are divided with the ruler into spaces +for samples, with proper margins, etc., according to trade +demands, (<i>b</i>) Problems involving the various sizes and +shapes of cards and samples, using cards and rulers for +the work. (2) Sample cutting. (3) Cutting materials +for boxes, (<i>a</i>) Pulp board, (<i>b</i>) Covering plain, flowered, +(<i>c</i>) Economy of materials. (4) Problems based on above +work. (5) Trade problems, (<i>a</i>) In sample mounting, +accuracy, speed, (<i>b</i>) Cost of materials. (6) Bills and +receipts. (7) Income, expenditure, savings. (8) Civic +problems.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Millinery</i>: (1) Measurement of frames. (2) Trade +problems, (<i>a</i>) Quantity of material, (<i>b</i>) Price of materials, +(<i>c</i>) Economy of material. (3) Orders, (<i>a</i>) By +letter, (<i>b</i>) By order blanks. (4) Bills and receipts. +(5) Income, expenditure, savings. (6) Problems on +manufacture of silk. (7) Civic problems.</p></div></div> + +<h3>English</h3> + +<p>Aim: 1. To facilitate oral and written expression. +2. To give practice in business forms: <i>Spelling</i>: (1) +Technical terms of each trade department; (2) Textiles +and other trade materials; (3) Ordinary business terms. +<i>Descriptions</i>: (1) Written work on materials used and +articles made in each department; (2) Outlining and +defining of department work. <i>Business Forms</i>: (1) +Letters of application; (2) Letters ordering goods; +(3) Telegrams, postal cards, etc.; (4) Writing of +advertisements.</p> + +<p>In addition to practice in spelling and in the writing +of business forms, the work in English aims to be in +close correlation with the other subjects taught. As a +rule, the latter part of each recitation period is spent +by the pupils in writing upon the subject in hand. The +purpose is to obtain from them freedom of expression +after arousing interest in a subject, rather than to get +long compositions necessitating home study and probably +generating a dislike for written work. Attention is +called to paragraphing and emphasis is laid upon both +the form and the manner of writing, but form is made +subservient to thought. The interrelation of Art Department +helps the student to appreciate the need of good +form in the appearance of a written page.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p> + +<h3 class="hd3">Physical Education Department</h3> + +<p>The young wage-earner who goes into trade untrained +at fourteen years of age is greatly handicapped by her +physical condition. Either through ignorance or neglect +early symptoms of disease are disregarded, and it is not +until she finds herself out of employment as a result of +physical weakness that she realizes that good health is +the capital of the working girl.</p> + +<p>Many of the girls who enter the school are found +to be suffering from poor vision; enlarged glands caused +by decayed teeth; poor nasal breathing as a result of +adenoid growths or enlarged tonsils; anæmia; skin eruptions; +slight asymmetries and poor posture. These +defects produce exaggerated nerve signs and poor +nutrition.</p> + +<h3>Aim</h3> + +<p>The work of the Physical Department is to correct +as many of these irregularities as possible and also to +train the student to a knowledge of her body and how +to care for it, that she may be able to stand the long +hours of confining work and be able to show efficient +results in her trade.</p> + +<p>The following examination is required of each entering +student:</p> + +<p><i>Physical Examination</i>: Beginning with the family +history, a complete record of all important events relating +to a student's physical life is taken. She is carefully +examined for asymmetry; curvature, incipient or well +defined; traces of tuberculosis; weakness of heart and +lungs; enlarged glands; skin diseases, or signs of nervous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> +disorders. She is closely questioned as to all bodily +functions and a careful record is kept of irregularities. +Eyes, ears, teeth, nose, and throat are likewise examined. +Impressions of the feet are made in order to detect +weakness of the arch or flatfoot. Measurements of +height, weight, and the principal expansions are taken +for comparison with later records and for the purpose +of comparing with normal standard.</p> + +<h3>Prescribed Treatment</h3> + +<p>After the examination the girl is instructed as to +treatment, if any is needed. If perfectly normal she +will report for gymnastics three times a week. If any +asymmetry, curvature of the spine, heart disease, or +nervous disorders are discovered, she must report for +special corrective exercises at the school. In some cases +individual instruction is given for supplementing the +work at home. Cases demanding special apparatus and +individual attention have been treated in the Physical +Education Department of Teachers College, through the +kindness of the director, Dr. Thomas Denison Wood. +The girls so affected have thus the advantage of the +latest methods known to science. If any of the numerous +skin diseases are present which demand frequent +and regular attention, the student is assigned to a group +who go twice a week to a dispensary to receive electrical +or X-ray treatment. In cases of enlarged tonsils or +adenoids, the necessity for immediate operation is explained +and every effort made to gain the consent of +the parents. When permission is obtained the girl goes +to a neighboring hospital on Sunday evening, is operated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> +upon on Monday, and returns home Tuesday. Each +student must have her eyes thoroughly examined by a +doctor selected at the Ophthalmic Dispensary. If glasses +are needed they are procured at the expense of the parent +or donated by an optician who is interested in the school. +Dispensary treatment is also necessary in cases of catarrh +of nose and throat. Teeth are carefully examined and +the girls directed to their own dentists, or to the Dental +Dispensary adjoining the school, where we are fortunate +enough to have a limited amount of work done free of +charge. Cases of asymmetry demanding braces, plaster +jackets, and operations have been treated at the Post-Graduate +Hospital. Tuberculosis cases in advanced +stages have been placed on the special boats in New +York Harbor or are sent to Tubercular Camps in the +country.</p> + +<p>In sending girls to the hospitals and dispensaries the +aim is to place them in touch with institutions to which +they will have independent access after they leave the +Manhattan Trade School.</p> + +<h3>Statistics</h3> + +<p>The statistics below show the condition of 278 girls +when they registered at the school. The charts are +divided according to the departments entered. From +them can be seen the need of special care for the health +of the working girl.</p> + +<div class='center'><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> +<table class="tb2" style="width: auto;" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + +<tr class="tr4"> +<td class="td1"> </td> +<td class="tdc"> </td> +<td class="tdc">Dressmaking.</td> +<td class="tdc">Art.</td> +<td class="tdc">Millinery.</td> +<td class="tdc">Novelty.</td> +<td class="tdc">Operating.</td> +<td class="tdc">Total.</td> +</tr><tr class="tr1"> +<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Nutrition</td> +<td class="tdm">Good</td> +<td class="tdn">101</td> +<td class="tdn" rowspan="3">7</td> +<td class="tdn">15</td> +<td class="tdn">26</td> +<td class="tdn">35</td> +<td class="tdn">184</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Fair</td> +<td class="tdn">39</td> +<td class="tdn">2</td> +<td class="tdn">6</td> +<td class="tdn">18</td> +<td class="tdn">65</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Poor</td> +<td class="tdn">7</td> +<td class="tdn">4</td> +<td class="tdn">10</td> +<td class="tdn">8</td> +<td class="tdn">29</td> +</tr><tr class="tr1"> +<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Mentality</td> +<td class="tdm">Good</td> +<td class="tdn">122</td> +<td class="tdn" rowspan="3">7</td> +<td class="tdn">19</td> +<td class="tdn">33</td> +<td class="tdn">40</td> +<td class="tdn">221</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Fair</td> +<td class="tdn">21</td> +<td class="tdn" rowspan="2">2</td> +<td class="tdn">6</td> +<td class="tdn">17</td> +<td class="tdn">46</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Poor</td> +<td class="tdn">4</td> +<td class="tdn">3</td> +<td class="tdn">4</td> +<td class="tdn">11</td> +</tr><tr class="tr1"> +<td class="tdl" rowspan="2">Nerve signs</td> +<td class="tdm">Present</td> +<td class="tdn">39</td> +<td class="tdn">3</td> +<td class="tdn">6</td> +<td class="tdn">13</td> +<td class="tdn">16</td> +<td class="tdn">77</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Absent</td> +<td class="tdn">108</td> +<td class="tdn">4</td> +<td class="tdn">15</td> +<td class="tdn">29</td> +<td class="tdn">45</td> +<td class="tdn">201</td> +</tr><tr class="tr1"> +<td class="tdl" rowspan="2">Asymmetry, slight curvatures,<br />high hips or shoulders, etc.</td> +<td class="tdm">Present</td> +<td class="tdn">53</td> +<td class="tdn">4</td> +<td class="tdn">12</td> +<td class="tdn">23</td> +<td class="tdn">29</td> +<td class="tdn">121</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Absent</td> +<td class="tdn">94</td> +<td class="tdn">3</td> +<td class="tdn">9</td> +<td class="tdn">19</td> +<td class="tdn">32</td> +<td class="tdn">157</td> +</tr> +<tr class="tr1"> +<td class="tdl" rowspan="2">Posture</td> +<td class="tdm">Good</td> +<td class="tdn">93</td> +<td class="tdn">4</td> +<td class="tdn">8</td> +<td class="tdn">29</td> +<td class="tdn">31</td> +<td class="tdn">165</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Fair</td> +<td class="tdn">54</td> +<td class="tdn">3</td> +<td class="tdn">13</td> +<td class="tdn">13</td> +<td class="tdn">30</td> +<td class="tdn">113</td> +</tr><tr class="tr1"> +<td class="tdl" rowspan="2">Skin</td> +<td class="tdm">Good condition</td> +<td class="tdn">95</td> +<td class="tdn">5</td> +<td class="tdn">13</td> +<td class="tdn">32</td> +<td class="tdn">44</td> +<td class="tdn">189</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Acne, comedones, etc.</td> +<td class="tdn">52</td> +<td class="tdn">2</td> +<td class="tdn">8</td> +<td class="tdn">10</td> +<td class="tdn">17</td> +<td class="tdn">89</td> +</tr><tr class="tr1"> +<td class="tdl" rowspan="2">Glands</td> +<td class="tdm">Good condition</td> +<td class="tdn">66</td> +<td class="tdn">3</td> +<td class="tdn">10</td> +<td class="tdn">19</td> +<td class="tdn">20</td> +<td class="tdn">118</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Enlarged</td> +<td class="tdn">81</td> +<td class="tdn">4</td> +<td class="tdn">11</td> +<td class="tdn">23</td> +<td class="tdn">41</td> +<td class="tdn">160</td> +</tr><tr class="tr1"> +<td class="tdl" rowspan="2">Vision</td> +<td class="tdm">Need glasses</td> +<td class="tdn">44</td> +<td class="tdn">3</td> +<td class="tdn">8</td> +<td class="tdn">12</td> +<td class="tdn">19</td> +<td class="tdn">86</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Good condition</td> +<td class="tdn">103</td> +<td class="tdn">4</td> +<td class="tdn">13</td> +<td class="tdn">30</td> +<td class="tdn">42</td> +<td class="tdn">192</td> +</tr><tr class="tr1"> +<td class="tdl" rowspan="2">Hearing</td> +<td class="tdm">Defective</td> +<td class="tdn">6</td> +<td class="tdn">1</td> +<td class="tdn"> </td> +<td class="tdn">4</td> +<td class="tdn">1</td> +<td class="tdn">12</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Good</td> +<td class="tdn">141</td> +<td class="tdn">6</td> +<td class="tdn">21</td> +<td class="tdn">38</td> +<td class="tdn">60</td> +<td class="tdn">266</td> +</tr><tr class="tr1"> +<td class="tdl" rowspan="2">Speech</td> +<td class="tdm">Good</td> +<td class="tdn">170</td> +<td class="tdn" rowspan="2">7</td> +<td class="tdn">20</td> +<td class="tdn">37</td> +<td class="tdn">56</td> +<td class="tdn">260</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Defective</td> +<td class="tdn">7</td> +<td class="tdn">1</td> +<td class="tdn">5</td> +<td class="tdn">5</td> +<td class="tdn">8</td> +</tr><tr class="tr1"> +<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Nasal breathing</td> +<td class="tdm">Good</td> +<td class="tdn">32</td> +<td class="tdn">1</td> +<td class="tdn">4</td> +<td class="tdn">10</td> +<td class="tdn">13</td> +<td class="tdn">60</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Fair</td> +<td class="tdn">58</td> +<td class="tdn">4</td> +<td class="tdn">11</td> +<td class="tdn">13</td> +<td class="tdn">28</td> +<td class="tdn">114</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Poor</td> +<td class="tdn">57</td> +<td class="tdn">2</td> +<td class="tdn">6</td> +<td class="tdn">19</td> +<td class="tdn">20</td> +<td class="tdn">104</td> +</tr><tr class="tr1"> +<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Tonsils</td> +<td class="tdm">Good</td> +<td class="tdn">44</td> +<td class="tdn">1</td> +<td class="tdn">6</td> +<td class="tdn">7</td> +<td class="tdn">21</td> +<td class="tdn">79</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Slightly enlarged</td> +<td class="tdn">75</td> +<td class="tdn">2</td> +<td class="tdn">11</td> +<td class="tdn">25</td> +<td class="tdn">24</td> +<td class="tdn">137</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Much enlarged</td> +<td class="tdn">28</td> +<td class="tdn">4</td> +<td class="tdn">4</td> +<td class="tdn">10</td> +<td class="tdn">16</td> +<td class="tdn">62</td> +</tr><tr class="tr1"> +<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Teeth</td> +<td class="tdm">Good</td> +<td class="tdn">103</td> +<td class="tdn">5</td> +<td class="tdn">16</td> +<td class="tdn">30</td> +<td class="tdn">40</td> +<td class="tdn">194<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span></td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Poor</td> +<td class="tdn">44</td> +<td class="tdn">2</td> +<td class="tdn">5</td> +<td class="tdn">12</td> +<td class="tdn">21</td> +<td class="tdn">84</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Need attention</td> +<td class="tdn">108</td> +<td class="tdn">4</td> +<td class="tdn">12</td> +<td class="tdn">31</td> +<td class="tdn">40</td> +<td class="tdn">195</td> +</tr> +<tr class="tr1"> +<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Hearts</td> +<td class="tdm">Good</td> +<td class="tdn">122</td> +<td class="tdn">4</td> +<td class="tdn" rowspan="3">21</td> +<td class="tdn">23</td> +<td class="tdn">44</td> +<td class="tdn">214</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Weak, irritable, or with<br />anæmic murmurs</td> +<td class="tdn">24</td> +<td class="tdn">2</td> +<td class="tdn">17</td> +<td class="tdn">13</td> +<td class="tdn">56</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Organic trouble</td> +<td class="tdn">1</td> +<td class="tdn">1</td> +<td class="tdn">2</td> +<td class="tdn">4</td> +<td class="tdn">8</td> +</tr><tr class="tr1"> +<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Lungs</td> +<td class="tdm">Good</td> +<td class="tdn">138</td> +<td class="tdn" rowspan="2">5</td> +<td class="tdn" rowspan="2">20</td> +<td class="tdn">36</td> +<td class="tdn" rowspan="2">58</td> +<td class="tdn">257</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Tuberculosis</td> +<td class="tdn">3</td> +<td class="tdn">2</td> +<td class="tdn">5</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Suspected tuberculosis</td> +<td class="tdn">6</td> +<td class="tdn">2</td> +<td class="tdn">1</td> +<td class="tdn">4</td> +<td class="tdn">3</td> +<td class="tdn">16</td> +</tr><tr class="tr1"> +<td class="tdl" rowspan="3">Feet</td> +<td class="tdm">Good</td> +<td class="tdn">125</td> +<td class="tdn" rowspan="3">7</td> +<td class="tdn">16</td> +<td class="tdn" rowspan="2">38</td> +<td class="tdn">53</td> +<td class="tdn">239</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Weak arches</td> +<td class="tdn">10</td> +<td class="tdn">1</td> +<td class="tdn">4</td> +<td class="tdn">15</td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="tdm">Broken arches or<br />flatfoot</td> +<td class="tdn">12</td> +<td class="tdn">4</td> +<td class="tdn">4</td> +<td class="tdn">4</td> +<td class="tdn">24</td> +</tr><tr class="tr1"> +<td class="tdl">Enlarged thyroid glands</td> +<td class="tdm" rowspan="3"> </td> +<td class="tdn">12</td> +<td class="tdn" rowspan="3">1</td> +<td class="tdn" rowspan="3">2</td> +<td class="tdn" rowspan="2">1</td> +<td class="tdn">7</td> +<td class="tdn">23</td> +</tr><tr class="tr1"> +<td class="tdl">Exophthalmic goiter</td> +<td class="tdn">2</td> +<td class="tdn">2</td> +<td class="tdn">4</td> +</tr><tr class="tr1"> +<td class="tdl">Chorea</td> +<td class="tdn">2</td> +<td class="tdn">2</td> +<td class="tdn">1</td> +<td class="tdn">5</td> +</tr><tr class="tr2"> +<td class="tdl">Needing corrective exercises</td> +<td class="tdm"> </td> +<td class="tdn">5</td> +<td class="tdn"> </td> +<td class="tdn">3</td> +<td class="tdn">4</td> +<td class="tdn">7</td> +<td class="tdn">19</td></tr></table></div> + +<p>A second examination of the same girls six months +later shows gain in weight, height, and general health; +125 had their teeth put in order; six were treated for +defective hearing; twenty had attended the Skin Clinic; +all had their eyes examined; eighty-six were fitted with +glasses. In twenty-five cases where the adenoids and +tonsils were removed the result was increase in weight, +better breathing and heart action, alertness of mind, and +a noticeable improvement in trade work. Where the +obstructions of nose and throat still remain there is loss<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> +in weight and diminished chest expansion and a generally +weakened condition. The extraction of decayed +teeth and the providing of well-fitting glasses have +diminished nervous irritability and the frequency of +headaches. Three cases of tuberculosis were sent to +camps. Seven cases of organic heart trouble were treated +by specialists; nineteen girls were given corrective exercises +at Teachers College; two were fitted with shoes +and braces; two were put into plaster jackets, one +for lateral rotary curvature and one for neuritis; and +one advanced case of chorea has been placed in the +hospital. Of the girls whose records are given in the +list it can be said that, with the exception of the cripples +and a few others needing simple operations, a year's +care shows that very few of them are in any way handicapped +by the effects of disease.</p> + +<h3 class="hd3">Physical Education Course</h3> + +<p>I. Gymnastics:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><div class="bk3"><p>1. Elementary: 3 thirty-minute periods a week. +(1) Swedish floor work for general posture; (2) Work +in control of breathing; (3) Marching tactics for form +and accuracy; (4) Light apparatus work: (<i>a</i>) Wands, +(<i>b</i>) Dumb-bells, (<i>c</i>) Indian clubs; (5) Heavy apparatus +for coördination; (6) Simple dances and rhythm work +for grace and poise; (7) Simple plays and games.</p> + +<p>2. Advanced: 2 forty-five-minute periods a week. +(1) Gymnastic dances containing more than three figures; +(2) Swedish and Danish weaving dances in correlation +with study of textiles (Academic Department); (3) Folk +dances of Sweden and Russia for form; (4) Modern +athletic dances for grace and poise; (5) Athletic Competition: +(<i>a</i>) Running and jumping, (<i>b</i>) Relay and +obstacle races, (<i>c</i>) Hockey and basket ball.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span></p> + +<p>3. Special corrective work for spinal trouble or poor +position: (1) General floor work for mobility; (2) Free-hand +work: (<i>a</i>) Single assistive and resistive exercises, +(<i>b</i>) Hanging exercises with and without assistance, (<i>c</i>) +Work with iron dumb-bells.</p></div></div> + +<p>II. Hygiene: Talks on hygiene are a regular part +of the work, and aim to give each girl a knowledge of +her body and of its functions that will enable her to +care for her health in an intelligent manner and to establish +in her mind ideals of correct living which can be +made practical in her surroundings.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><div class="bk3"><p>1. <i>Personal Hygiene</i>: (1) Brief survey of the body +as a whole; (2) The use of the mouth, nose, larynx, +trachea, and lungs in breathing; (3) Care of nose and +throat: (<i>a</i>) The nose as a source of infection, (<i>b</i>) Dangers +of enlarged tonsils and adenoids, (<i>c</i>) Treatment +of colds; (4) Structure and care of the teeth. (5) The +Digestive System: (<i>a</i>) Organs directly concerned, and +(<i>b</i>) Their care, (<i>c</i>) Disorders of the Digestive System; +(6) The Nervous System, Brain, and Spinal Cord; +(7) The Skin, (<i>a</i>) Structure and Use, (<i>b</i>) Hygiene of +Skin; (8) Heart and Blood Vessels; (9) The Hair; +(10) The Ears; (11) The Eyes; (12) The Feet; (13) +The Hygiene of Clothes.</p> + +<p>2. <i>Domestic Hygiene</i>: Construction and furnishing +of Home: (<i>a</i>) Internal arrangement, walls, and +coverings, (<i>b</i>) Ventilation, (<i>c</i>) Heating, (<i>d</i>) Lighting, +(<i>e</i>) Water Supply, (<i>f</i>) Plumbing and Drainage, (<i>g</i>) +Toilet rooms, (<i>h</i>) Disposal of Garbage and Ashes, +(<i>i</i>) House Cleaning, sweeping, dusting, cleaning, and +use of disinfectants.</p> + +<p>3. <i>Foods</i>: (1) Nutritive value of foods; (2) Purity +of food materials; (3) Cooking—Cooking utensils; +(4) Planning of meals.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span></p> + +<p>4. <i>Diseases</i>: (1) Causes and Transmission; (2) +Contagious diseases, care, prevention; (3) Hygiene of +sick room; (4) Insects and vermin; (5) Infectious +diseases.</p></div></div> + +<div class="trans1"><b>Transcriber's Note:</b> Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. </div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Making of a Trade School, by +Mary Schenck Woolman + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAKING OF A TRADE SCHOOL *** + +***** This file should be named 24688-h.htm or 24688-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24688/ + +Produced by Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Making of a Trade School + +Author: Mary Schenck Woolman + +Release Date: February 26, 2008 [EBook #24688] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAKING OF A TRADE SCHOOL *** + + + + +Produced by Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + + THE MAKING + OF A TRADE SCHOOL + + + _By_ MARY SCHENCK WOOLMAN + + _Director of Manhattan Trade School for Girls + Professor of Domestic Art, Teachers College, Columbia University_ + + + [Device] + + + WHITCOMB & BARROWS + 1910 + BOSTON + + + + + Copyright 1909 + By Teachers College + + + Thomas Todd Co., Printers + 14 Beacon Street + Boston + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PART PAGE + + I. ORGANIZATION AND WORK 1 + + II. REPRESENTATIVE PROBLEMS 38 + + III. EQUIPMENT AND SUPPORT 53 + + IV. OUTLINES AND DETAILED ACCOUNTS OF DEPARTMENT WORK 58 + + + + +THE MAKING OF A TRADE SCHOOL + + + + +PART I + +ORGANIZATION AND WORK + + +History + +The Manhattan Trade School for Girls began its work in November, 1902. +The building selected for the school was a large private house at 233 +West 14th Street, which was equipped like a factory and could +comfortably accommodate 100 pupils. Training was offered in a variety of +satisfactory trades which required the expert use of the needle, the +paste brush, and the foot and electric power sewing machines. + +Beginning with twenty pupils on its first day, it was but a few months +before the full 100 were on roll and others were applying. In +endeavoring to help all who desired instruction the building was soon +overcrowded. It thus became evident that, unless increased accommodation +was provided, the number already in attendance must be decreased and +others, anxious for the training, must be turned away. It was decided +that even though the enterprise was young the need was urgent, demanding +unusual exertion. It would therefore be wise to make every effort to +purchase more commodious quarters. In June, 1906, the school moved to a +fine business building at 209-213 East 23d Street, which could offer +daily instruction to about 500 girls. + +The movement owes its existence to the earnest study that a group of +women and men, interested in philanthropic, sociological, economic, and +educational work, gave to the condition of the working girl in New York +City. They were all intimately acquainted with the difficulties of the +situation. Early in the winter of 1902 this committee made a special +investigation of the workrooms of New York. They were but the more +convinced that (1) the wages of unskilled labor are declining; (2) while +there is a good opportunity for highly skilled labor, the supply is +inadequate; (3) the condition of the young, inexpert working girl must +be ameliorated by the speedy opening of a trade school for those who +have reached the age to obtain working papers; (4) if public instruction +could not immediately undertake the organization of such a school, then +private initiative must do it, even though it must depend for its +support upon voluntary contributions. The result was that an extreme +effort was put forth and the following November the first trade school +in America, for girls of fourteen years of age, was begun. + +The first Board of Administrators, composed largely of members of the +original committee of investigators, was as follows: + +President, Miss Virginia Potter; Vice-Presidents, Dr. Felix Adler, Mr. +John Graham Brooks, Mrs. Theodore Hellman, Mrs. Anna Garlin Spencer, +Mrs. Henry Ollesheimer; Treasurer, Mr. J. G. Phelps Stokes; Secretary, +Mr. John L. Eliot; Assistant Secretary, Miss Louise B. Lockwood; +Director, Professor Mary Schenck Woolman. + + +Purpose and Scope + +The immediate purpose of the school was to train the youngest and +poorest wage-earners to be self-supporting as quickly as possible. It +was decided to help the industrial workers rather than the commercial +and professional, as the last two are already to some extent provided +for in education. The function of the school was, therefore, that of the +Short-Time Trade School, which would provide the girl who must go to +work the moment she can obtain her working papers (about fourteen years +of age) with an enlightened apprenticeship in some productive +occupation. Such training cannot be obtained satisfactorily in the +market. The immature workers are present there in such large numbers +that they complicate the industrial problem by their poverty and +inability, and thus tend to lower the wage. Jane Addams, of Hull House, +Chicago, says these untrained girls "enter industry at its most painful +point, where the trades are already so overcrowded and subdivided that +there remains in them very little education for the worker." The school +purposed to give its help at this very point. + +Trade, on its side, is eager to have skilled women directly fitted for +its workrooms, but finds them hard to obtain. The school's duty was to +discover the way to meet this wish of the employers of labor. It is true +that the utilitarian and industrial education offered by public and +private instruction has benefited the home and society, but such +training has not met the problem of adequately fitting for specific +employments the young worker who has but a few months to spare. The lack +in this instruction has been in specific trade application and +flexibility as to method, artistic needs, and mechanical devices. These +points are essential to place the girl in immediate touch with her +workroom. + +Therefore the Manhattan Trade School assumed the responsibility of +providing an economic instruction in the practical work of various +trades, thus supplying them with capable assistants. Hence its purpose +differed not only from the more general instruction of the usual +technical institution, but also from those schools which offered +specific training in one trade (such as dressmaking), in that it (1) +offered help to the youngest wage-earners, (2) gave the choice among +many trades, and (3) held the firm conviction that the adequate +preparation of successful workers requires more factors of instruction +than the training for skill alone. The ideals of the school were the +following: (1) to train a girl that she may become self-supporting; (2) +to furnish a training which shall enable the worker to shift from one +occupation to another allied occupation, _i. e._, elasticity; (3) to +train a girl to understand her relation to her employer, to her +fellow-worker, and to her product; (4) to train a girl to value health +and to know how to keep and improve it; (5) to train a girl to utilize +her former education in such necessary business processes as belong to +her workroom; (6) to develop a better woman while making a successful +worker; (7) to teach the community at large how best to accomplish such +training, _i. e._, to serve as a model whose advice and help would +facilitate the founding of the best kind of schools for the lowest rank +of women workers. + +In other words, the Manhattan Trade School aimed to find a way (1) to +improve the worker, physically, mentally, morally, and financially; (2) +to better the conditions of labor in the workroom; (3) to raise the +character of the industries and the conditions of the homes, and (4) to +show that such education could be practically undertaken by public +instruction. The four aims are really one, for the better workers should +improve the product, make higher wages, react advantageously on the +industrial situation and on the home, and the course of instruction +formulated to accomplish this end would help in the further introduction +of such training. + +It was not expected that immature girls of fourteen or fifteen years of +age would, immediately on entering the market, make large salaries or be +broad-minded citizens. The hope was to give them a foundation which +would enable them to adapt themselves to situations best fitted to their +abilities and to make possible a steady advance toward better +occupations, wages, and living. In order to do this, each girl on +entering the school must be regarded as having capacity for some special +occupation. This aptitude must be discovered that she may be placed +where she can attain her highest efficiency as rapidly as possible. She +must be treated individually, not as one of a class. Her own efforts +must be awakened, her handicaps, such as inadequate health and +unadaptable education, must be removed, and her training proceed in a +way to give her possession of her powers. + + +Conditions among the Workers + +The conditions of life among many of the wage-earners of New York City +are, briefly stated, as follows: Thousands of families are so poor that +the children must go to work the moment the compulsory school years are +over. In 1897, 14,900 boys and girls dropped from the fifth school +grade, most of them going to work from necessity more or less pressing. +To rise to important positions in factories, workrooms, or department +stores will require a practical combination of any needed craft with the +ability to utilize their school education in rapid deductions, business +letters, accounts, and trade transactions. The public school offers such +children a general education which will be completed in the eighth +grade, but the majority leave before that time. For varying reasons, +such as their foreign birth, irregular attendance, the impossibility of +much personal attention in the crowded classes of a great city, poor +conditions of health, and the desire of the pupils to escape the routine +of school as soon as the law will allow, the greater number of them, who +go early into trade, have not had a satisfactory education for helping +them in their working life. Year after year are they found wanting, and +yet young workers still come from the schools at fourteen with poor +health, little available hand skill, unprepared to write business +letters or to express themselves clearly either by tongue or pen, +uninterested in the daily news except in personal or tragic events, +unaware of municipal conditions affecting them, ignorant of the simple +terms of business life, and with their arithmetic unavailable for use, +even in the simple fundamental processes when complicated with details +of trade. The mechanical processes, therefore, which they do know are +now useless unless they can first think out the problem. + +These boys and girls have no regret at leaving the schools, and are, as +a rule, glad to get to work. The tragedy of life, however, begins when +they become wage-earners, for they are only fitted for unskilled and +poorly paid positions. A little fourteen-year-old girl finds it +difficult to obtain a satisfactory occupation in the teeming workrooms +of New York. She, or some member of her family, eagerly searches the +advertising sheet of one of the daily papers. Most of the "Wants" are +entirely beyond her crude powers to supply. An unskilled worker is +perhaps desired in some business house, but the applicant finds that +hundreds of other girls are flocking to obtain the same position, and +her chance is too remote for hope. Or perhaps, after weary days of +wandering about from place to place, she is recommended to the boss of +some shop, and finds herself in the midst of machines which rush forward +at 4,000 or more stitches a minute. She assists a busy worker on men's +shirts, her duty being to pin parts together, to finish off, or to run +errands. From early morning to late afternoon, with an interval for +lunch, she must be ready to lend a hand. She can get at best but $2.50 +or $3.00 per week. No rise is possible in this shop unless she can work +well on a machine. Her fellow-workers are too busy to teach her, for +each moment's pause means reduction in their little wage. Perhaps she +does persist and finally can control a machine. By learning to do one +thing rapidly she can obtain a better wage, but two or even more years +in trade often pass before she can earn five dollars a week. After +several seasons spent in doing the same process thousands of times, her +desire for new work becomes deadened, and she is afraid to attempt +anything different from her one set task. She usually refuses to try +more advanced work, even if offered a good salary while she is learning, +for she has lost her ability to push ahead. + +In general, it may be said that the untrained girl has to take the best +place she can find, without reference to her ability, her physical +condition, or her inclination. The most desirable trades are seldom open +to her, for they require workers of experience, or, at least, those who +have had recognized instruction. Even if a green girl enters a skilled +trade, she cannot rise easily in it, and is apt to be dropped out at the +first slack season. The sort of positions open to her have usually +little future, as they are isolated occupations that do not lead to more +advanced work. Illustrations of these employments are wrapping braid, +sorting silk, running errands, tying fringe, taking out and putting in +buttons in a laundry, dipping candy, assorting lamps, making cigarettes, +tending a machine, and tying up packages. These young, unskilled girls +wander from one of these occupations to another; their salaries, never +running high, rise and fall according to the need felt for the worker, +and not because her increasing ability is a factor in her trade life. +After several years spent in the market, she is little better off than +at her entrance. + + +Some Difficulties of Organization + +It was to relieve this serious situation that the Manhattan Trade School +was founded. It began its work in the face of great discouragements. +Employers were prejudiced against such instruction, for girls trained in +former technical schools had not given satisfaction in the workrooms. +The parents of the pupils felt that they could not sacrifice themselves +further than the end of the compulsory school years, but must then send +their children into wage-earning positions. It was impossible to obtain +state or municipal aid, and it was known that the experiment must be +costly, for: (1) A trade school must be open all the year for day +classes, and for night work when needed (schools usually are open from +eight to ten months). (2) The work must be done on correct materials, +which are often expensive and perishable; but pupils are too poor to +provide them, therefore the school must plan to do so. (3) The +supervisors must be well educated, with a broad-minded view of industry, +capable of original thought, and having a practical knowledge of trade +requirement (women of such caliber can always command the best +salaries). The teachers and forewomen also must combine teaching ability +with competence in their workrooms; but as the market wishes a similar +class of service and gives excellent wages to obtain it, the school must +offer a like or even a larger amount. (4) Teachers of highly skilled +industries are expert, usually, in but the one occupation, such as straw +hat making by electric machine or jewelry box making; consequently, even +if the student body is small, the teaching force can seldom be reduced +without cutting off an entire department or a trade. A trade school +differs from the high school in this particular, for in the latter, when +necessary, two or more academic subjects can be taught by the same +instructor. + +Another difficulty confronting the school at the beginning was, that +while numerous occupations in New York are open to women, there was +reason to think that some of these were not well adapted to them. Little +was known at that time of the trades offering opportunities for good +wages, steady rise to better positions, satisfactory sanitary +conditions, and moderate hours of labor; of the physical effect of many +of the popular occupations; of the specific requirements of each kind of +employment; of the effect of the working girls in their workrooms and in +their homes; of their health and how to improve it; of the needs and +wishes of the employers; of the relation of the Trade Union to trade +instruction, and of labor legislation already operative or which should +be furthered. Before deciding on courses of instruction in the Manhattan +Trade School some accurate knowledge of these facts had to be obtained. + + +Selection of Trades + +The selection of definite trades was made after five months of +investigation in the factories, workrooms, and department stores of New +York City. In general, it can be said of the occupations chosen that +they employ large numbers of women; require expert workers; training for +them is difficult to obtain; there is chance within them for rise to +better positions; the wages are good, and favorable conditions, both +physical and moral, prevail in the workrooms. Some trades employing +women were rejected, as they failed to meet necessary requirements, +while others were not chosen, as there was little chance in them to rise +on account of men's trades intervening. Slack seasons occurring in many +otherwise good employments were considered, and plans were made whereby +the worker could be enabled to shift to another allied trade when her +own was slack. If a girl gains complete control of her tool she can +adapt herself to other occupations in which it is used with less +difficulty than she can change to a trade requiring another tool. +Women's industries, to a great extent, center around the skilled use of +a few tools. These tools were selected as centers of the school +activities, and the connected trades were radiated from them. The most +skilled occupations were found to require the use of the sewing machine, +foot and electric power, the paint brush, the paste brush, and the +needle. Statistics show that teaching the use of this last tool will +affect over one-half of the women wage-earners of New York, of whom +there are at least 370,000. In addition to the general scheme of fitting +a worker so that she may take up another allied occupation in slack +seasons, specific training for this purpose is given to those students +who choose trades where the busy season is short and of frequent +recurrence. + + +Trade Courses + +The curriculum includes instruction in the following trades; the courses +are short and the teaching is in trade lines: + + I. Use of electric power sewing machines. + + 1. General Operating--(cheaper variety of work--seasonal; fair + wages. Better grade of work--year round, fair and good wages, + piece or week work): Shirtwaists, children's dresses (cloth and + cotton), boys' waists, infants' wear, children's clothing, + women's underwear, fancy petticoats, kimonos and dressing + sacques. + + 2. Special Machines--(seasonal to year round work, depending on kind + and demand, wages good): Lace stitch, hemstitching, buttonhole, + embroidery (hand and Bonnaz), and scalloping. + + 3. Dressmaking Operating--(year round, wages good): Lingerie, fancy + waists and suits. + + 4. Straw Sewing--(excellent wages for a short season, but the worker + can then return to good wages in general operating): Women's and + men's hats. + + II. Use of the needle and foot power sewing machines. + + 1. Dress and Garment Making--(seasons nine to eleven months, and + fair to good wages): Uniforms and aprons, white work and simple + white embroidery, gymnasium and swimming suits (wholesale and + custom), lingerie, dress embroidery, dressmaking (plain and + fancy). + + 2. Millinery--(short seasonal work, low wages, difficult for the + average young worker to rise): Trimmings and frame making. + + 3. Lampshade and Candleshade Making--(seasonal work, fair pay). This + trade supplements the Millinery. + + III. Use of paste and glue: 1. Sample mounting (virtually year work, + fair wages). 2. Sample book covers, labeling, tissue paper + novelties and decorations (seasonal and year round work, good + wages). 3. Novelty work (year round work, changed within workroom + to meet demand, wages good). 4. Jewelry and silverware case + making (year round work, wages good). + + IV. Use of brush and pencil (year round work, good wages): Special + elementary art trades, perforating and stamping, costume + sketching, photograph and slide retouching. + + _Note._ Year round work, in general, includes a holiday of longer or + shorter duration, usually without pay. + + +Entrance Plans + +The school is open throughout the year in order to train girls whenever +they come--the summer months being slack in most trades are especially +desirable for instruction. The tuition is free, and in cases of extreme +necessity a committee gives Students' Aid, in proportion to the need. +Entrance to day classes for girls who are from fourteen to seventeen +years of age and who can show their working papers or be able to produce +documentary evidence of age, if under sixteen, can occur any week. + +Each girl who enters, after selecting her trade, is given a typewritten +paper showing the possible steps of advance in her chosen course. She +takes this home in order that the family may know what is before her. +She can by special effort or by outside study lessen the length of her +training. The first month in the school is a test time. If the girl +shows the needed qualities she is allowed to continue. + +During the month of trial her instructors decide what she needs and if +her chosen trade is the best for her. The right is reserved to make a +complete change if her health will not stand the one she desires, if she +has no ability for it, or if she gives evidence of special talent in +another direction. + + +Industrial Intelligence + +Every student has, as a part of her trade education, such academic work, +art, and physical training as seems necessary; when she passes certain +standards she is then allowed to devote full time to her selected +occupation. It is not possible for a worker who has skill with the hand +and no education to back it up to rise far in her trade. There is many a +tragedy in the market of the woman whose poor early education prevented +her from getting ahead. Accurate expression, whether oral or written, +the use of arithmetic in simple trade transactions or detailed accounts, +the ability to grasp the important factors in any situation and then to +go to work without waste of time or motion, are required for positions +of trust and for supervision in any workroom. It was soon discovered +that the girls entering the school know arithmetic in an abstract way, +but are at sea when asked to meet the ordinary trade problems. They are +inaccurate in reading and copying; they cannot write a letter of +application, conduct correspondence, make out checks, or keep simple +accounts. They are ignorant of the laws already made which concern them +and of their own relation to future laws. They have no ideals in their +trade life. They need to see the relation of their chosen trade to the +country, of their work to their employer's success, the effect they may +have in bringing about a better feeling between the employer and the +wage-earner. A practical, immediately available business education is +absolutely essential to make workwomen of executive ability. Therefore +specific trade instruction in arithmetic, English, history, geography, +and civics was planned to supplement and enrich the trade courses. + +Steady progress has been made in determining the kind of cultural trade +instruction which will best assist such young wage-earners. A new field +in practical education had to be opened, and subject matter which could +be of service in the workrooms selected from it. The many trades of the +school had to be studied in order to know their needs. The work has +grown more valuable each year and has proved itself to be a truly +necessary part of the curriculum. A concrete evidence of its worth is +the fact that many of the girls in slack seasons have taken clerical +positions and have been complimented on their grasp of the subject, +their orderliness, their ability to think, and their reliability. +Naturally all departments unite to develop character in the students, +but the Academic Department feels this to be a special aim. Pleasure in +the subject of instruction, followed by mental and moral improvement, +has indicated clearly that the academic dullness which is shown at +entrance comes frequently from lack of motive in former studies. The +interest is all the more encouraging as there are many handicaps in the +teaching, for the students enter at any time, are graded by the trades +they select, and are placed in the market as quickly as possible; hence +the work cannot be uniform in its advance. Nor is the academic work a +help to the girls in their business life only, for such subjects as the +keeping of accounts, the consideration of the cost of living, and the +value and price of materials are of direct use also in home life. + + +Trade Art Instruction + +Courses in Trade Art were also organized as a fundamental part of the +instruction. Each trade has its own art, and the school has tried to +adapt the work in the studios to each different occupation. It +recognizes that the art applied in dressmaking differs from that in +millinery, and this again from that required for decorating jewelry +boxes and calendars. It consequently offers each student the kind of +elementary art training needed in her trade. The time is too short to +develop designers, but it does help a girl to be more exact, +resourceful, and useful in her workroom, and often enables her to make a +higher wage. A worker who can place trimming, adapt designs to new +purposes, stamp patterns, draw copies of garments, and combine color +attractively is especially desirable in her chosen employment. + + +Health + +The young wage-earner of New York is much handicapped by her poor +physical condition; heredity, poor habits of life, and unsanitary homes +show their effects upon her. The girls who come to the school are young +enough to remedy many of their defects. In a few months they will be in +positions demanding eight or more hours a day, in which they must +strain every nerve and bend all of their energies to meet the standard +brought about by trade competition. The Physical Department of the +school studies the health of each girl and trains her to care adequately +for it. The specific treatment needed by some of the students takes them +many hours a week from their department work. While this has its +disadvantages, it is felt to be more important to improve the physical +condition than to develop skill alone when the health is too poor to +stand the strain of exacting positions. It is often difficult at first +to persuade parents that such close attention to health is necessary. +The results, however, in the majority of cases have proved the wisdom of +this procedure. + +Immediately after entering the school and being assigned to a department +each girl must report to the school physician. Beginning with the family +history, a complete record of all the important events relating to her +physical life is taken. She is closely questioned as to all bodily +functions, and a careful record is kept of irregularities. Eyes, ears, +teeth, nose, throat, and feet are likewise examined, and measurements +are taken of height, weight, and the principal expansions. After the +examination, instruction as to treatment is given, if any is needed. + +The work in the gymnasium has three purposes: invigorative, reactive, +and corrective. Every girl who is not restricted on account of physical +defects takes the prescribed gymnastic work. Nor has this a physical +effect only, for through the active games such qualities as judgment and +accuracy, self-control, and the harmonious working with others are +developed. Slow, uncertain, vague movements denote lack of mental +quickness and strength. Motor activity, rightly directed, leads to poise +of mind as well as of body. These girls live mostly in crowded +localities of the city, where free exercise is unknown. The school aims, +as far as possible, to supply the lack of wholesome outdoor life and +give joyous active exercise. Talks on hygiene are a regular part of the +work and aim: (1) to give each girl a knowledge of her body and of its +functions which will enable her to care for her health in an intelligent +manner; (2) to show her the relation of food and its preparation to her +physical condition; (3) to establish in her mind ideals of correct +living which can be made practical in her surroundings; and (4), +recognizing the right and desire of every girl for amusement, to create +a love for wholesome and simple pleasures that will take the place of +the too strenuous and often unwise recreations which tend to undermine +the health of the girl who works. + + +The Lunchroom and the Cooking Classes + +From the opening of the school, hot soup, hot chocolate, or cold milk +had been served daily, at two cents a cup, to those wishing to +supplement the cold lunch which they had brought from their homes. The +teachers also had an opportunity of buying a simple, hot meal which was +prepared by one of their number, assisted by students who aided in the +preparation, serving, and clearing away. At first the average girl felt +she could not give much time to her trade training, consequently such +time had to be devoted to making her able to command a living wage. The +hope, however, that in the future the opportunity would come for +offering increased domestic training was never forgotten. The opening at +the school of a temporary workroom for unemployed women during the +financial stress of 1908 provided them with regular work and pay. It was +advisable also to serve nourishing lunches daily to these underfed +workers. There was already a simple lunchroom in the basement of the +school, containing such bare necessities as plain tables on horses, long +wooden benches, a gas stove with four burners, a few cooking utensils, +and a closet filled with inexpensive china. The complete cost of +equipment had been $300. + +The school was now, however, face to face with the need to feed daily +more than 500 people--teachers, workers, and students--and yet no +additional money could be spent for equipment. The necessity was so +great, however, that in addition to the usual lunches a hot, nourishing +meal was given daily to the hundred workers in the temporary workroom, +for which they paid one-half of the price of materials. + +With this inauguration of regular cooking it seemed especially desirable +to take the opportunity of training at least some of the students in the +selection, care, and preparation of food. The majority of these girls +will be the mothers of the next generation, and yet they know nothing of +food values or food preparation. This is evident from the daily lunches +they bring and from their discussions in the class on hygiene. On the +other hand, girls who can remain but a few months in the school have a +serious need to face, that of self-support, for the wage for unskilled +girls ($3.00) is not sufficient to live on with decency. The physical, +mental, and moral future of these young girls demands that they should +be able to make more than this pittance. In the few months during which +the majority are in attendance both a trade training and a knowledge of +cooking cannot be given, therefore the former must take the precedence. +The school has been able to prove, however, that girls educated there +can command a fair wage in trade, but that a longer time given to this +training will enable them to obtain better positions and salaries. Hence +an increasing number have been willing to remain longer, giving even a +year or more to preparation. It was with this latter class that the time +was ripe to offer some training in lunchroom cookery which could teach +them what could be procured at low prices and yet be nourishing; how to +prepare food at home, and how to use the hot table often found in an +up-to-date factory. For this purpose, therefore, some simple additional +equipment was installed and a daily menu was offered, comprising +inexpensive, attractive, wholesome dishes, at the lowest possible cost. +Many of the students care for so little variety in food that all of the +necessary elements for building strong, healthy bodies are not supplied, +hence they are under-nourished. They require encouragement to even try +the food which is essential for improving their physical condition. The +girls have taken great interest in their lunchroom cookery. They +appreciate the inexpensive menus and admire the simple table +decorations. Gradually they have given up spending their few pennies +for poor fruit, cake, or candy at some cheap shop, and now purchase +nourishing dishes cooked by the students at the school. + +The cooking course connects directly with the talks on hygiene. The plan +of work is the following: (1) Twenty girls are chosen at one time. These +work in two groups of ten each, and for six weeks have daily one-hour +lessons. This gives them thirty lessons, which is almost equivalent to +what the public school offers in a year, but, being concentrated into +daily work and practical use in the lunchroom, is of equal, if not +greater, efficacy. (2) The students set the tables, cook a definite part +of the lunch, dish the articles, prepare the counters, sell the various +dishes, keep and report sales, and clear the counters afterward. The +groups alternate in order that preparing food, watching its progress, +and taking it from the stove may be done by all with a minimum loss of +time from their trade instruction. (3) The selection of girls to take +the course is made from (_a_) those who can remain long enough in the +school to combine trade training with the simple cooking course, (_b_) +those who have such poor health that a knowledge of what to eat and how +to cook it is the first consideration, and (_c_) those who are already +little housekeepers in their homes, as their mothers are incapacitated +or dead. + +After several months of experience it was felt that the six weeks of +constant practice was well worth while. More elaborate courses of +cookery would demand a more thorough kitchen equipment, entailing much +expense, and would require students to remain a longer time in school. +With the present arrangement they learn the most important cooking +processes in a very practical way, and discuss the relation of food to +themselves and to their families. + + +Trade Orders + +The handwork in the various departments falls into three grades: 1. +Practice work, which not being up to the standard is ripped up and used +again. 2. Seconds; fair work, not quite up to the school standard for +trade work. This is sold at cost to the students or to needy +institutions. 3. Trade work; up to the standard. This is sold to the +trade or to private customers at regular market prices. This feature of +the school work, entailing, as it does, the taking of many varieties of +orders from the outside factories and workrooms, has proved itself to be +an important educational factor. After six years of experience in +utilizing orders from the outside workrooms, it can be said that this +part of the instruction serves the following purposes: (1) It provides +the students with adequate experience on classes of material used in the +best workrooms; these girls could not purchase such materials and the +school could not afford to buy them for practice. (2) The ordinary +conditions in both the wholesale and the custom trade are thus made a +fundamental part of the instruction. Reality of this kind helps the +supervisors to judge the product from its trade value (amateur work will +thus be rejected), and the teaching from the kind of workers turned out. +Through the business relation the students quickly feel the necessity +of good finish, rapid work, and responsibility to deliver on time. (3) +The orders bring in a money return and thus aid the school in the +expense for material. (4) The businesslike appearance of the shops at +work on the orders and the experience trade has had with the product +have increased the confidence of employers of labor in the ability of +the school to train practical workers for the trades. The school is +constantly urged by trade to increase its order work, but its +unfaltering policy is to take only the amount needed for educational +purposes. (5) The business organization and management required in the +adequate conduct of a large order department can itself be utilized for +educational purposes, and has its value for training students who show +promise of becoming good stock clerks. + +Trade workers are employed in the business shops connected with the +various departments. These assistants have proved their value in making +the best utilization of the order work. They facilitate the completion +of the work on time and help train the girls to feel responsible for +their share of it. As the students work slowly at first, and as their +hours in the shops are interrupted by other studies, the trade workers, +when necessary, continue with or complete the articles while the girls +are absent. They make possible the tradelike organization of the shops, +for each one has around her her own little groups of assistants, and she +teaches them while she also works. Constant repetition of the same +process ceases, after a time, to be valuable to a student, hence her +time must not be wasted by too simple work or by unnecessary details. +It often happens also that an article may require expert work in its +completion which the students cannot yet do; the trade workers select +for each girl the process which will be of value to her, and then do the +work the students cannot do or should not do. + +The following lists will show the class of orders which have been +demanded by trade and turned out by the school: + + _Operating Department Orders_: 1. Trade Work: Ribbon run on webbing + for suspenders, infants' dresses--eight different styles, + children's aprons--two different styles, hemstitching and + embroidery for yokes, ruffling--hem and hemstitched, faggoting. + + 2. Individual Custom Orders: Dressing sacques, aprons (kitchen, + gingham, and work), gymnasium suits, waists, children's dresses, + corset covers, drawers, skirts and chemise, sheets, pillowslips, + curtains, straw hats, fancy petticoats, kimonos, handkerchiefs, + fancy neckwear, infants' outfits, boys' waists, quilting, + hemstitching by yard, silk waists and dresses hemstitched, + tucking by yard, waists, collars, cuffs, and cloth embroidered, + initials on linen and monograms on saddle cloths, ruffling by + yard. + + 3. Order Work for Other Departments: Dressmaking: Machine work on + nightgowns, corset covers, drawers, combination suits, petticoats, + kimonos, gymnasium bloomers, swimming suits, buttonholes, + hemstitching on silk skirts, dresses, waists; Bonnaz embroidery on + dresses, waists. Millinery: Veils hemstitched. Art: Pencil and + brush cases. Office: Coats and overalls for janitors employed in + school. + + _Dressmaking Department Orders_: Aprons, petticoats, maids' dresses; + machine-made underwear; collars and neckwear; nurses' uniforms; + swimming, bathing, and gymnasium suits; children's and baby + clothes; fine handmade underwear; plain shirtwaists, fine waists, + afternoon gowns, street suits, evening gowns, cloth suits + tailored. + + _Pasting and Novelty Orders_: Mounting suspender webbing, mounting + corset samples, pasting suspender tabs and sockets, case making. + Desk sets, lampshades, and candleshades. + + _Art Department Orders_: 1. Trade Order Work: Stamping, perforating, + coloring fashion plates, stencil cutting. + + 2. Custom Work: Stenciling curtains, scarfs, table covers, sofa + pillows; designing patterns for embroidery for table covers, + doilies, bags, buttons, shirtwaists, skirts, parasols, and + chiffon scarfs. + + 3. Order Work for Other Departments: Decorating book covers, desk + sets, boxes, dress trimmings--panels, lapels, vests; collars and + cuffs, insertions for hand and machine; banding for hats, letters, + monograms: designs for doilies, scarfs, curtains, work-bags. + + +PLACEMENT BUREAU + +From the first the school made some provision for placing its pupils +satisfactorily in the trades for which they are trained. Originally the +heads of departments attended to it, each for her own students, but as +the school grew and the department work increased this method ceased to +be practical. An arrangement was made, therefore, with the Alliance +Employment Bureau to place the girls of the Manhattan Trade School when +they were ready to leave the school or whenever they applied for help +thereafter. This was a most helpful connection when the work was +beginning, but it was understood that when the school reached the point +in its development where the volume of business was great enough, and +other conditions warranted it, a Placement Bureau should be opened in +the school itself. This long-cherished idea went into operation in +October, 1908, when a Placement Secretary was engaged and the school +bureau was opened. This plan has already proved advantageous. In the +first place a bureau so situated can, by keeping in constant touch with +the departments, obtain intimate and detailed information about the +character, the work, the special aptitudes, and the physique of each +girl. Such data are extremely valuable in making wise placements, but +are difficult of access for an outside agency. In the second place such +a school bureau, open to graduates, tends to bring them occasionally to +it, and thus strengthens their interest in and loyalty to the school by +giving a practical reality to their connection with it. + + +Aims + +The aims and working plans of the Placement Bureau are the following: +(1) To secure suitable positions for girls leaving the school--those +forced out by poverty as well as those who have really completed their +courses. The problem is to get the square peg into the square hole, and +it is solved by having a very intimate knowledge of each peg, and by +knowing of as large a variety of holes as possible from which to choose. +(2) To be a means of connection and communication between the school and +the trades, on the one hand, and the school and its former pupils on the +other. (3) To gather data about trade conditions that shall be helpful +to the several departments, or in deciding school policies. (4) To build +up a series of records that shall be of general sociological value as +well as of immediate use for school purposes. + + +Kinds and Methods of Work + +In connection with the placement itself there are four lines of +activity: + +1. _Interviews_ in the office, when girls come in to apply for +positions, and when employers ask for workers. Much valuable data as to +the experiences of the girls who have been some time in the trade have +been gathered in this way. In the case of the employer, if he is not +already familiar with the school, an effort is made to induce him (or +her) to go through it. + +2. _Trade Visits_ of investigation. It is the policy of the Bureau not +to place a girl in any establishment until it has been visited, unless +it is one already well known to the school, in which case the visit may +follow instead of preceding the placement. These visits are often made +upon the request of employers or in response to advertisements, if, as +sometimes happens, a girl wishes to be placed and the employers already +known do not need additional help. + +3. "_Following up._" After the girls are placed it is necessary to keep +track of them. In order to do this satisfactorily, blanks have been +printed in two different forms, one for the employer and the other for +the worker. The former asks about the quality of the girl's work +(whether it is satisfactory, and if not, why not) and about her wages. +The latter asks the girl to report on her work, wages, and shop +conditions. By this system the Placement Secretary is able to keep in +close touch with the students who have been placed, and to hear and act +upon complaints from either employer or girl with a promptness that +often has the result of establishing the worker in a "good" place or, +occasionally, rescuing her from a poor one. Employers are almost +uniformly prompt and courteous in returning the reports, and all but a +very small percentage of the students are equally responsive. In cases +where a girl is not heard from, the Students' Aid Secretary makes a +personal visit to her home. + +4. _Keeping of Records._ Card catalogues are kept, giving the full data +obtainable in each case: (1) for girls applying for positions; (2) for +girls placed; (3) for employers visited; (4) for employers applying or +worth investigating, but not yet visited. All data from employers and +girls which have been obtained from the blanks before mentioned or from +other sources are recorded on the cards. + +The Placement Bureau, in addition to its specific work, performs certain +services for the general benefit of the school. Data are obtained as to +the conditions of work and wage in certain trades and the length of +training advisable in others. Advice from the trade is often needed in +one or another of the departments, and through the Bureau's acquaintance +with employers, managers, or foremen and forewomen, it is able to +ascertain and report their expert opinion. It is also possible to induce +some of these busy people to come and view the problem in the light of +conditions at the school as well as in their own business. + + +General Results + +Although the Placement Bureau is still in its infancy, some results may +be recorded. It is already in touch with some 700 employers, about 550 +having been personally visited. The table below gives the facts as to +placements in former years, and may be interesting for comparison. + +GIRLS PLACED AND REPORTED UPON + + --------------------+-------------+-------------+--------+ + | By Self or | By Alliance | | + | School. | Employment | Total. | + | | Bureau. | | + --------------------+-------------+-------------+--------+ + | | | | + 1902 | 0 | 0 | 0 | + | | | | + 1903 | 39 | 7 | 46 | + | | | | + 1904 | 52 | 36 | 88 | + | | | | + 1905 | 29 | 61 | 90 | + | | | | + 1906 | 22 | 81 | 103 | + | | | | + 1907 | 10 | 77 | 87 | + | | | | + 1908 | 119 | 39 | 158 | + | | | | + 1909 By school | 157 | 1 | 158 | + | | | | + +-------------+-------------+--------+ + | | | | + | 428 | 302 | 730 | + | | | | + --------------------+-------------+-------------+--------+ + +This refers merely to the original or first placement of a girl. The +total of _re_-placements for 1909 was an additional 230, including those +of many former pupils who had heretofore placed themselves or been +placed by the Alliance Employment Bureau. + +The crucial question of wages is one that is extremely difficult to deal +with in brief. The accompanying table gives a very general statement as +to the range of wages obtained by graduates and the future possibilities +in their trades, and read in the light of the comment below it is as +specifically accurate as any "summary" can be. + + ---------------+--------------------------+--------------+---------------- + Trade. | Wages When | After Two to | Future + | First Placed. | Five Years. | Possibilities. + ---------------+------------+-------------+--------------+---------------- + | 1903 | 1909 | | + | | | | + Dressmaking | $3 to $5 | $4 to $6 | $6 to $13 | $25 or own + | | | | establishment + | | | | + Millinery | 2.50 to 4 | 4 | 5 to 15 | 12 to 25 or own + | | | | establishment + | | | | + Operating | 3 to 6 | 4 to 11 | 6 to 25 | 15 to 40 + | | | | + Novelty | 4 to 5 | 4 to 9[A] | 6 to 11 | 18 to 25 + | | | | + ---------------+------------+-------------+--------------+---------------- + | | | | + Art since 1907 | 5 to 8 | 4 to 7 | 7 to 15 | 20 to 30 + | | | | + ---------------+------------+-------------+--------------+---------------- + +The column for 1909 shows that at last a minimum wage of $4.00 has been +established for all the trades named, even Millinery. There are +exceptions, but they are almost always due to some special disability on +the part of the girl, and do not fairly affect a statement regarding the +wage for girls of normal capacity, who have done satisfactory work +during their course. The small percentage of pupils who fall below $4.00 +for their initial wage are those who either did not complete the school +course, or who did poor work, or who are subnormal mentally or +handicapped physically, or can work only an eight-hour day because they +are under sixteen. It is true that when they are obliged to start on +piece-work instead of a week-wage their earnings may fall below our +minimum for a short time, but the first week or two is in that case not +usually a fair test of the girl's training or ability. Some little time +is necessary for the readjustment involved in the change from school to +workroom, and especially for attaining the "speed" necessary to earn a +fair wage on trade piece-rates. The compensating advantage is that when +she does begin to "make good" her improvement is usually registered in +her earnings more quickly and accurately than it would be by the safe +but slowly advancing "week-work." If after two weeks, however, the girl +is earning less than $4.00, and thinks she "never can make out there," +she is given an opportunity to change her place. But very often there is +a sudden jump in earnings after ten days or so, as the girl gains +confidence and speed. (One pupil earned $3.97 her first week on +buttonholes, and over $7.00 the second.) Another point to be considered +in connection with the wage is the length of the season and the duration +of any one place. The comparatively steady work and regular, if small, +advance in the dressmaking, for instance, will often counterbalance the +larger week-wage or piece-work earnings of the trades where the season +is short or the positions of uncertain duration. + +On the "rate of advance" in wage the Bureau is as yet too young to make +any general statements. + + +Students' Aid + +On account of the extreme poverty in the families of many of the +students, some system of aid has always been necessary. The manner of +giving it has changed, however, that it may be free from all tendency to +pauperize or to deprive the recipient of self-respecting effort. At +first it took the form of a scholarship, paid at the school every week, +in equal amounts, to each student. A few months' experience, however, +showed that it would be better to require a month's apprenticeship +without pay. If after that the girl was allowed to continue her course, +she was given a dollar a week during her second month. Each month +thereafter the amount was increased according to the skill and good +spirit which were evident in her work. The maximum amount a student +could receive in one year was $100. + +Early in the second year it became clear that a still more radical +change was advisable, and a plan was adopted whereby the need of the +girl's family became the only basis upon which money was given. A +committee was formed, whose membership was composed principally of +workers from the leading social settlements. Each applicant for aid was +referred to the member of the committee living nearest her home. An +investigation was made by the settlement worker, and aid was given in +proportion to the necessity, varying in amount from car fare to the +equivalent of a small wage. The girl went weekly to the settlement for +the money. In this way the aid was separated as far as possible from the +school atmosphere, and it was made clear to the girls and their +families that the money was in no sense pay for work. As indicative of +this change in viewpoint, the term "Scholarship" was replaced by that of +"Students' Aid." In addition to its other advantages, the new method +reduced the cost for aid to less than one-half of its original +proportion. + +Since this time the aim has been always the same--to aid the girl +handicapped by poverty so that she might prepare herself for efficient +wage-earning. A member of the school staff is secretary of the Students' +Aid Committee, and she knows personally every applicant wishing aid, and +makes the initial visits and investigations. This plan has proved +advantageous in making a closer connection between the school and the +home, and in securing a more uniform standard of relief. + +The Students' Aid Committee consists at present of representatives from +sixteen settlements, who meet twice a month to discuss and decide upon +the merit of each applicant. If aid is granted, the girl is assigned to +the settlement nearest her home and goes there weekly for her money. An +envelope showing the amount due the girl is sent from the school to the +settlement worker, and on this is indicated any absence or tardiness. It +is one of the duties of the member of the committee to inquire the +reasons for any irregularity in attendance, and, if necessary, to report +to the parent. In addition, each settlement worker renders valuable +service by giving friendly oversight to the girls and families in her +group, by doing as much for their welfare as time will allow, and by +reporting any unusual conditions to the Students' Aid Secretary. + +Students are at times sent to the school for instruction with a request +for aid from some charitable institution, church, hospital, school, or +settlement which knows and is interested in the family; but, in general, +a girl needing financial help comes without such recommendations, and +consequently a more thorough investigation of the case is necessary. +Inquiry is always made at first of the Charity Organization Society, in +order to learn whether her family has received or is receiving other +relief. The "trial month" without aid gives time for the gathering of +facts about the family, and for a test of the girl's ability and +character. Aid is never promised to a girl before her admission. + +A useful method has been worked out for determining the amount of aid +which may be given in any one case. The total amount of the family +income is obtained, and from it are deducted the fixed expenses for +rent, insurance, and car fare. From the remainder the per capita income +is found which must provide for all other expenses, that is, for each +person's share of food, clothing, light, fuel, medicine, and all +incidentals. It was estimated that a family could not maintain a decent +standard of living on a per capita income of less than $1.50 a week. +Although each case is considered on its merits, aid is almost always +given when the per capita income is less than $1.50; in some special +cases it is granted when the income exceeds this amount. The following +table shows the income of the seventy-eight families that were being +aided by the school on June 3, 1909. + + ------------------+-------------------- + Weekly per Capita | Number of Families. + Income. | + ------------------+-------------------- + | + $ .00 to $ .49 | 16 + | + .50 to .99 | 26 + | + 1.00 to 1.49 | 20 + | + 1.50 to 1.99 | 10 + | + 2.00 to 2.49 | 3 + | + 2.50 to 2.99 | 1 + | + 3.00 to 3.49 | 2 + | + ------------------+-------------------- + +Relief given by charitable institutions has not been included in this +income. + +Each girl receiving aid is told the reason for its bestowal in such a +way that she will neither look upon it as money earned nor feel +humiliated as a recipient of charity, but will understand that it should +mean for her an opportunity to obtain a good education. It therefore is +incumbent upon her to show a realization of its value by becoming a +responsible and earnest worker. Students receiving such assistance are +expected to attend regularly, unless for excellent reasons, and the +reports from their departments must be satisfactory in regard to their +work, attitude, and effort. If a girl varies from this standard and, +after talking with her or with one of her parents, no improvement +follows, the aid may be suspended or withdrawn. Improving circumstances +in a family occasionally make it possible to decrease or even to give up +the aid. On the other hand, it is often found necessary to ask +additional assistance from special philanthropic sources when the need +is very great. + + +Night Classes + +Night continuation classes are a part of the aim of the school. They +have offered training in expert parts of the Operating, Dressmaking, +Novelty, Millinery, and Art trades. The classes were well attended, the +work successful, and continued application for the renewal of the +instruction has been received. This class of education requires the most +skilled teachers and is consequently expensive. Lack of money to conduct +both the day and the night work adequately has made it necessary to +close the night classes temporarily. There is every reason to hope, +however, that they will be reopened in the near future, with still +greater facilities for teaching the advanced parts of the trades. + + +Student Government + +The Student Council concerns itself with the government of the school, +the aim being to place it as far as possible in the hands of the +students. It also assists in developing their sense of responsibility. +The Council is composed of representatives elected from each class, who +have been chosen for their executive ability and good character. They +meet once a week with one of the supervisors to discuss questions of +general school discipline and regulations. Each member is responsible +for maintaining order in her class when it is not under other +supervision, for settling disputes among the girls, and for reporting +disobedience to school laws. + + +Graduate and Department Clubs + +Some form of alumnae association has been in existence since the end of +the first school year. This important phase of the Trade School work is +now thoroughly organized, and gains for us the warm cooeperation of those +who have benefited by the instruction. The Graduate Association includes +those who have received the certificate of the school; the department +clubs, however, are more democratic, and admit to membership any girl +who has been in attendance. These associations work together for the +benefit of the school. They hold frequent business as well as social +meetings. They plan definite ways for getting in touch with Manhattan +Trade School girls who are just entering trade, in order to help them to +adjust themselves to their work and to increase in them loyalty and +responsibility to the school; for improving themselves and working girls +in general by discussing topics of interest concerning their trades, and +by giving entertainments which are of real interest and value. They have +carried out schemes for adding to the general finances of the school or +for obtaining money for special objects, such as shower baths for the +gymnasium. They have given several suppers to bring the faculty and +former students together, in order to discuss informally trade and +school matters. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[A] This maximum is not in paste or glue work, but in the silk lampshade +trade. + + + + +PART II + +REPRESENTATIVE PROBLEMS[B] + + +The organizing of a girls' trade school in any given locality +necessitates the meeting of many problems of a serious nature. Some of +these appear immediately and require consideration before a satisfactory +curriculum can be developed, but most of them are hydra-headed, and one +phase is no sooner settled than another arises. Attention must be given +to them whenever they come if any progress is to be made in solving the +question of the broadest and yet most practical education for the girl +who must earn her living in trade. These problems are so connected with +the keenest yet most obscure social and industrial questions of the day +on one hand, and, on the other, with the future of the race, that they +are often very puzzling. Some of them can never be entirely settled, +though they can be temporarily adjusted to immediate needs. The +following are selected as representative. + + +Direct Trade Training + +Many schools of a domestic or technical nature have been opened in the +United States, but the instruction in them is for the home or for +educational purposes rather than for business. The trades, if they are +represented at all in these schools, are general in character, covering +often many branches of an industry in a short series of lessons, and +not having the particular subdivisions and special equipment which are +found at present in the regular market. Employers of labor have not been +favorably impressed with the practical usefulness of the graduates in +their workrooms. As the sole reason for the existence of the Manhattan +Trade School is to meet this requirement of employers, and therefore to +develop a better class of wage-earners directly adapted to trade needs, +the instruction must be in accord with methods in the shops and +factories of New York City. Such specific trade education for +fourteen-year-old girls was new, and therefore the problem of +organization had to be faced for the first time in America. Careful +study of the workrooms and the industrial conditions of New York City +was essential before the aims or the curriculum could be decided upon +and the school could be opened for instruction. Furthermore, if the +training is to be kept up to date this study of trade conditions must +not cease, and readjustments of the curriculum must equal the changes +taking place in the outside workrooms. Consequently these problems must +be met repeatedly. + + +Need of Preliminary Training + +On beginning the trade courses at the school a difficulty was discovered +immediately which brought home the truth of the complaint made by trade +that young workers are utterly incompetent. The students coming to the +school were allowed by law to enter trade, as they had met all +requirements for obtaining their working papers, but they were not found +to have sufficient foundation to begin the first simple steps at the +school without some preliminary training. The defects which were +especially evident were: (1) lack of sufficient skill with the hand; (2) +inability to utilize their public school academic work in practical +trade problems; (3) dullness in taking orders and in thinking clearly of +the needs which arise; (4) absence of ideals; and (5) need of knowledge +of the laws of health and how to apply them. Preliminary, elementary +instruction in all of these subjects had, therefore, to be organized and +given to the entering students before they could begin upon their true +trade work. Such instruction is and will continue to be necessary unless +the public elementary school arranges to give, between the fifth and +eighth grades, a more satisfactory preparation to those who must earn +their living. The Manhattan Trade School has been obliged to give from +two to eight months to elementary branches of instruction alone. The +kind of work needed varies constantly with the condition of the +students. Every one requires some of it, but many must take months of +tutoring. Public instruction could readily give the practical academic +work which the school has organized. Such instruction would not only +directly help the pupils who must leave early to work, but would lay a +good foundation for the vocational education which is being planned for +the early years of the public secondary schools. + + +Vocational Training + +As the courses at the Manhattan Trade School developed, an intermediate +phase between the preparatory work and the direct trade training took +definite shape. This middle ground partakes in many ways of trade +processes and lays a good foundation for shop work. It utilizes the +early education, gives point to it, awakens in the student enthusiasm +for her chosen trade, and shows her that it is worth her while to work +hard if she would succeed. It takes from four to eight months, according +to the student's ability to meet the requirements. Public instruction +could also develop this intermediate field to advantage for those who, +not wishing to enter the regular high school course, would be glad to +avail themselves of further practical education. Such occupations for +women as cooking, sewing, garment and dressmaking, millinery, laundry +work, home nursing, household administration, care of children, novelty +work, electric power operating, salesmanship, and other interesting +activities can well be offered in Vocational Education. As the student +in her chosen field plans, considers expenses, and contrives to utilize +her material she gains skill, adaptability, judgment, and the true basis +of criticism. The world's work interests her as its meaning becomes +clear through her own experiences, and she begins to see ways to better +her condition and to be a factor in the improvement of her home. She +appreciates the value of her early education, and finds it worth while +to think clearly and to act wisely; she listens to instructions, asks +sensible directions, and goes to work without waste of time. The +elementary and intermediate training just described, which the school +found it must give preparatory to its real trade instruction, has proved +advantageous as an introduction, for the student can now quickly adapt +herself to the work in the school shops, as she possesses the foundation +qualities needed to make the best worker. She has to begin at the +simplest trade work, to be sure, but can rise as rapidly as she shows +ability. She has been carefully watched by her instructors and turned +gradually in the direction best fitted to her. + + +Trade Shops + +Offering courses in many varieties of trade work exactly as they are +found in a city like New York has many recurring difficulties, as has +been before stated. The constant and rapid adaptations to fashion, the +new mechanical devices introduced, and the labor situations are factors +to be considered. The management must be ready at a moment's notice to +change, increase, or drop work according to the demands of a fickle +market. It would seem, therefore, that at present the problems of the +school trade shops are of too serious and unsettled a character for +adequate solution by public instruction as at present organized, for (1) +it would be difficult to persuade the mass of taxpayers that added tax +rates are advisable for beginning a continually altering form of +education which has not yet commended itself to all employers or to all +wage-earners, and which must be more or less expensive; (2) the usual +public school committee man knows little of trade conditions, and would +probably be averse to allowing a school the freedom to change at will +its course of study and even the very trades it teaches; yet, on the +other hand, if the trade school must wait for board action before +altering its plans, it would prejudice the value of its instruction, +which must be flexible if it would train its students directly for the +market; (3) the impossibility of obtaining its teachers from the usual +"waiting list" and the difficulties attending the selection of a +satisfactory teaching force. + +The possibilities for offering highly specialized, skilled work are +great, but the poverty of the students limits their time at the day +school. To help all girls who work, and who wish to get ahead, night +classes have been organized from time to time, and during the day also +temporary instruction is offered to any one who has a slack time in her +trade. As the school is organized into trade shops, with the same +specialization as in the market, a student can enter or be placed from +almost any point. This increases its usefulness but complicates its +management. + + +Obtaining and Training Teachers + +As trade instruction is new in education, the normal schools have not +begun training teachers regularly for these positions, nor, indeed, are +they yet prepared to do so. The organizer of a trade school faces, +therefore, a serious difficulty in obtaining instructors who are +adequate to the task before them. + +The following trade teaching staff is needed: supervisors of the various +trades; forewomen to direct the school shops; trade instructors to teach +the various groups of students the specialized processes; assistants to +attend to minor matters in the workrooms; art teachers, who have had +experience in designing for the various trades represented; academic +instructors who know the working world practically and can give the +students a training which, while helping them in their trades, will +broaden their knowledge of and sympathy in the world's work. All of +these teachers must not only have had experience in trade, but must +continually keep in touch with the methods of the outside market. +Unsuccessful trade workers, who often wish to teach, or teachers who +know nothing of the needs of trade workrooms, cannot adequately prepare +students for specific trade positions. Trade knows what it wants, is a +severe critic and an unsparing judge. The trade school, therefore, +cannot afford to rely on instructors who would be themselves +unsuccessful in the market, for the result would be certain failure in +the students. Such specific training requires exceptional knowledge in +its teaching force. The usual teacher of manual training knows too +little of the ways of the workrooms and is too theoretical in her +instruction to be trusted to train workers who must satisfy trade +demands. On the other hand, the trade worker, good as she may be in her +specialty, seldom knows how to teach. She can drive her group of +workers, but she cannot train the green hands to do more than work +quickly at one thing. She can make them work, but she cannot make them +better workers. When she has orders to turn out, her lifelong training +makes her think of the rapid completion of the articles rather than the +careful development of the students who are making them. If she is not +watched she will choose the girl to do a piece of work who can do it +well and quickly (but who does not need this experience), rather than +the one who should do it in order to have practice in it. + +The problem is to find a way to unite the good teacher and the +successful worker. Such a combination appears at rare intervals. At the +present time the teacher who can adequately prepare young workers for +trade has to be taught while she is herself teaching. She may be chosen +from either the industrial or the educational field, if she has certain +qualities of mind and spirit, but she must now make up the points she +lacks, be it experience in trade or ability to teach. Supervisors need +special insight and capability, as they are called upon to investigate a +new and difficult field, to select from it the subjects needed, and +after that to organize education of a most practical kind. They combine +the duties of school principal, teacher, forewoman, factory +superintendent, and business manager. They must be willing to give +themselves to the cause, as they are responsible for the conduct of +their departments throughout the year, at night as well as during the +day, at least until they can train some one to whom they can delegate +some of their responsibility. They need a broad, cultural education and, +at the same time, interest and knowledge of the industrial problems of +the time, as well as experience in their particular trade. They must +have sympathy with the working people and their lives. It is evident +that such women are hard to find, and when found or when trained are in +demand by other institutions or in business life, in which places they +can command high salaries. All efficient trade teachers also are equally +in demand in workrooms, hence the school must compete with good business +salaries in place of the usual underpay of educational institutions. + +In addition to the trade teachers, practical instructors in healthful +living and special secretaries needing social knowledge of various kinds +are also essential in the modern trade school for girls. Their training +adds to the director's responsibilities, for no one at present has the +knowledge and experience necessary. + +The many problems connected with obtaining an adequate teaching staff +seem at present to have but one solution, _i. e._, the school has to be +its own training school for its faculty to a greater or less extent. One +source of assistant teachers has been found in students who have made +good in trade. Pupils of fair education who show skill and executive +ability in their department work and who later succeed in their trade +positions have already proved helpful when brought back to the school. +Such girls know the courses of instruction, their needs and +difficulties, and also the outside workroom demands. If they are given +some hints in methods of teaching, their success is greater. European +trade schools for girls have drawn many of the best teachers from the +student body and have organized teachers' training classes for them. A +course of regular training for trade pupil teachers should be given +later in American training schools to meet this situation. + + +Courses of Study + +As the changes about to occur in the market must be recognized and +inserted in the curriculum in time for the students to be prepared for +the new work when they are placed, set courses of study cannot be +followed without endangering the practical value of the teaching. +Furthermore, the pupils must be advanced as they show ability, and their +different characteristics should have consideration; hence the work must +be sufficiently flexible and adaptable to allow for increasing one kind +of training and decreasing another, in order to develop a girl's best +ability. It is not the trade courses only which should be fitted to the +need, but the trade-art, trade-academic, and physical education must +also shift and introduce needed material as quickly as would the market +grasp at new plans for the workrooms. Nor is it sufficient that the +curriculum should adapt itself merely to training girls for trade +positions. It is never to be forgotten that these students are to be +made into higher grade workers and citizens, and that the greater number +of them will marry. In general, it can be said that woman's entrance +into industry is more or less temporary in that it is apt to precede or +to follow marriage, and, as a rule, is not continuous. Good citizenship +for these young wage-earners should mean the better home as well as the +broader views of industrial life. The inserting into an already too +brief training the important factors for making the better home-keeper +requires study of the ethics and economics of home and social life in +addition to the study of the industrial situation, and places continuous +problems before the faculty. + + +Investigations + +In order to be in vital touch with the practical needs and changes of +the market, special investigations of trade have been and are +continually conducted by the faculty of the school. Effort is made by +them also to keep in close contact with industrial and social +organizations of workers in settlements, clubs, societies, and unions, +that all phases of the wage-earner's life, pleasures, aims, and needs, +may be appreciated. The pupils in attendance are studied to know their +conditions of health, their tendencies, their needs, their improvement. +After their entry into trade they are kept in touch with the school +through the Placement Bureau, clubs, graduate associations, and also by +visits from the school's investigator, in order to note the effect of +their training on their self-support, their workrooms, and their homes. +Groups of trained and untrained girls are compared, that differences and +benefits may be noted and the true situation may be clearly understood. + +That the essentials of this class of education might be grasped as far +as possible, the director of the school made a six months' investigation +of the professional schools for girls on the continent of Europe. This +study was made after the Manhattan Trade School had been organized and +was running successfully. The problems were then well in hand, and +advantage could be taken the better of differing standpoints. In some +European countries such practical instruction has been established for +half a century. Each country has organized the work according to its own +view of woman's position in industrial and domestic life. Many aspects +of the problem can therefore be studied and various courses of +instruction consulted. This investigation covered three interesting +fields. First, the organization of the schools, including the equipment; +the teachers and their training; the budget; the order work; the +relation of the school to employers; the placing of the girls in +positions; the wages; the schemes for financial aid, and the work of the +alumnae associations. Second, the trades taught and the courses of +instruction; the general education required at entrance and that given +as an integral part of trade; the trade-art courses; the housekeeping +and training of servants; the development of ideas of better living and +the training for responsibility in home and trade life. Third, the +visiting of workrooms employing women; the obtaining information on the +effect of trade schools; the students' usefulness and ability to +advance, and a survey of the crafts conducted in the homes of the +people. + + +Trade Order Administration + +A trade school must do its skilled handwork in the fashion of the day +and on correct materials, yet the students are too poor to work for +themselves. A school budget cannot supply such large quantities of +valuable materials unless it can get some return for them. The school +shop in each department, where orders both private and custom are taken, +has proved advantageous, but involves great problems of administration: +(1) the actual business methods and management connected with the +invoices, sales, and delivery of goods; (2) the obtaining of orders +needed and of the quantity desirable; (3) the taking of custom orders, +fitting the customer, and delivery of orders on time; (4) a satisfactory +apportionment of the order work so that the students may profit by it +and not be expected to continue it after they have had sufficient +experience of one kind, or if they are not yet able to do the elaborate +work involved; (5) the finding of operatives who will do what the +students cannot or should not do; (6) the expense involved in employing +workers at trade prices and for shorter hours; (7) the cost of articles, +and other details which are involved in entering into competition with +trade. It may be stated that no trade school should underbid the market, +but should charge the full prices and expect to give equivalent returns. +A trade school cannot afford to be an amateur supported by a +philanthropic public, but must have a recognized business standard. + + +Placement + +Problems of varied kinds meet the school in placing its students. Each +new enactment of child labor or industrial laws has its influence. Even +a good law will sometimes have a temporary serious effect in lowering +wages or turning capable girls out of satisfactory positions. Care must +be exercised that students are not placed where there is a possibility +of running counter to the best interests of labor. The desire to place +each pupil where she can develop to her highest condition requires +continual knowledge of the market needs and of the characteristics of +the many girls. Records of students entering, studying, and placed, the +kinds of positions open, and industrial and labor information must be +kept up to date, yet such data are often hard to secure. + + +Trade Union Attitude + +An important question that is always before a trade school is the effect +the instruction may have on the working people. It is difficult for one +not continually in the midst of the pressure of the actual trade to +know the many ways that thoughtless advance in trade teaching may react +to the disadvantage of the very ones that the school wishes to help. +Injury may be done by preparing too many for certain occupations, +filling places where a strike is on, replacing well-paid positions with +trade school girls at a less price, placing the girls at too small a +wage for their skill, doing order work at too low a price or when a +strike is on, considering too closely the fitting of a worker for the +employer's benefit rather than for the broadening of her own life, and +like thoughtless actions. The difficulties of the situation are great +and the solution frequently obscure, but a fair-minded school must be in +touch with the effort the working woman herself has inaugurated to +better her condition. The apparently unnecessary suspicion with which +the laboring class regards the organization of trade instruction would +have foundation if no thought were given to the trade conditions as the +working girl sees them. A trade school for fourteen-year-old girls need +not make a point of their immediate entrance into unions, but it should +consider the subject simply and wisely in all its bearings, that the +students may know the full aims and advantages of cooeperation as well as +the point of view and many difficulties of the employers. + + +Contact with Trade + +The faculty of a trade school needs the cooeperation and assistance of +the working people and the employers of labor. Only through intimate +interrelation with them can the best and most practical results be +obtained. Auxiliaries and committees of employers and of wage-earners; +visits of the staff of the school to trade, and of employers, forewomen, +and workers to the school; the carrying out of orders for workrooms and +assisting them at busy seasons, are some of the ways by which the +Manhattan Trade School has tried to gain the help of the busy industrial +world. + + +Problems of Financial Aid + +The aid given to enable the poorest students to attend the school has +brought its own questions, such as: the danger of pauperizing the +recipients; the methods of selecting the beneficiaries; the best way to +give the weekly aid; the development of a spirit of earnest work and +regular attendance in the girls thus aided; the stimulation of a desire +to return some equivalent in special helpfulness to the Manhattan Trade +School or to its students, and the eliminating of this philanthropic +effort from any apparent relation to school work. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[B] In order to explain these problems, it will be necessary to repeat +some of the data in Part I. + + + + +PART III + +EQUIPMENT AND SUPPORT + + +Housing and Equipment + +The first home of the Manhattan Trade School was a large four-story and +basement dwelling house, for which a rental of $2,100 per annum was +paid. The initial permanent equipment and first temporary stock provided +for one hundred students, and cost $9,500. This amount was utilized +principally for the furnishing of special rooms for electric power +operating; for sewing; for dressmaking; for millinery; for pasting; and +for the more general equipment of offices, academic and art rooms, a +kitchen, and a lunch room. The following lists show the range of +expenses for furnishing the main workrooms with necessary equipment: + +GARMENT OR DRESSMAKING WORKROOM + + Sewing machines, each $18.00 to $70.00 + Work, cutting, and ironing tables, each 6.00 to 20.00 upward + Electric irons, each 7.75 + Gas stove (necessary when electric irons are + not used), each 2.00 upward + Cheval glass, each 20.00 to 100.00 upward + Chairs, each .50 to 3.00 upward + Exhibition, stock closets, cabinets, and + chests of drawers, each 10.00 to 100.00 upward + Fitting stands, each 2.00 to 30.00 upward + Fitting room (a curtained alcove), each 10.00 upward + Fitting room (a furnished room), each 100.00 upward + Dress forms, per dozen 30.00 upward + Waist forms, per dozen 6.00 upward + Sleeve forms, pair 1.00 to 1.50 upward + Lockers, per running foot 3.00 to 8.00 upward + +A room for twenty workers may be plainly furnished at a cost of $300 to +$500. If a large number of expensive sewing machines are desired, the +estimates must be increased by several hundred dollars. The Manhattan +Trade School has forty foot-power machines of the kinds most in use in +the workrooms of New York. + +The equipping of a workroom for electric power operating, including +general and special machines, motor, cutting and work tables, cabinets +and chairs, will be considerably more expensive than the one for garment +making. In the latter, one sewing machine can be used by several +workers, but in electric operating each worker must have her own +machine. The electric motor adds also to the expense. The minimum cost +of equipping a shop for twenty workers would be $1,000 to $1,500. The +necessary equipment would be as follows: + +ELECTRIC OPERATING WORKROOM + + Plain sewing machines in rows, per head $22.50 upward + Troughs for work between the rows and tables for the + machines (per every two machines) 10.00 + Special machines (two needle, embroidery, lace stitch, + buttonhole, straw sewing, and the like), + each according to kind 35.00 to 125.00 + Motor, each 140.00 upward + Electric cutter, each 25.00 upward + Cabinets, tables, chairs, and irons, see above + +The Manhattan Trade School has fifty-five plain electric sewing machines +and thirty-two special machines, as follows: three buttonhole, one +two-needle, one binding, one zigzag, five hemstitching, five tucker, +four Bonnaz, one braider, one hand embroidery, one scalloping, nine +straw sewing. + +In workrooms conducting trades which use paste, gum, and glue, the +following special equipment is required: + + Glue pots, gas, each $7.50 upward + Glue pots, electric, each 21.75 upward + Hand cutter, each 50.00 upward + Cabinets, tables, chairs, see above + +The cost of equipping a shop would be from $200 to $400. + +Special machines for perforating designs or for pleating materials are +often needed in teaching the garment trades. Wholesale prices can +usually be obtained when the order is large. Dealers have also shown +themselves willing to sell their machines at low prices, to loan them, +and even to give them to a school which has proved its ability to train +good workers. + +When it was appreciated that the original quarters of the school were +too limited, the Board of Administrators went to work with great +enthusiasm and in a few months collected the requisite money and bought +a large business loft building at 209-213 East 23d Street, at an expense +of $175,000. To put it in order for work cost $5,000 in addition. The +former equipment was used and $5,000 more was spent for such needed +items as: machines, $3,200; motor, $352; perforating machine, $38; +additional master clocks, $233; chairs and tables, $850. The school is +furnished in a simple, businesslike manner, the equipment merely +reproducing good workroom requirements, _i. e._, essentials only. + +The budget for the first year, 1902-1903, was $22,094.16, of which the +salaries for teachers took about one-half and the rent and maintenance +covered the other half. During this year there were 113 students +admitted. In 1908-1909, after six years of rapid growth, the educational +budget is $49,000, or more than double the original, of which the +salaries are $38,806; the supplies, $1,710; printing and publishing, +$600; maintenance, $9,900. At the beginning of 1908 there were 254 +students in the school; 689 were registered during the year, making a +total of 943 girls, being almost nine times the number in attendance +during the first year. + + +The Support + +The Manhattan Trade School has depended for its support entirely upon +voluntary contributions. There have been few large donations and the +donors represent all classes of the community--patrons of and workers in +sociological, economic, philanthropic, and educational fields, employers +of labor, and auxiliaries of many kinds of workers organized for special +purposes. The most significant help, perhaps, and the largest in +proportion to its income, has been that of the wage-earners +themselves--not only the girl who has benefited by the instruction, but +the general mass of women workers. These women, knowing the difficulties +in their own struggle to rise, have shown themselves willing to set +apart weekly a small sum to help young girls to attain quickly +efficiency through systematic training. The auxiliaries of wage-earners +are a mainstay of the school on account of their helpful enthusiasm, +their practical suggestions, their interest in girls trained there, and +their regular subscriptions on which the Board of Administrators can +depend. + + + + +PART IV + +OUTLINES AND DETAILED ACCOUNTS OF DEPARTMENT WORK + + +The Faculty and Staff + +The original staff of the Manhattan Trade School, 1902-1903, consisted +of a Director, an Executive Secretary, 4 supervisors (Operating, +Dressmaking, Pasting, and Art), 5 instructors and forewomen, 4 or 5 +assistants and occasional workers, a janitor, and 2 cleaners. The +present staff, 1909-1910, consists of (1) _Office Administration_, 11: +Director, Executive Secretary, Assistant Secretary, 2 Stenographers +(office and placement), Placement Secretary, Investigator, Business +Clerk, Buyer, and 2 Assistants (records, telephone, etc.). (2) _Teaching +Force, Supervisors, and Assistant Supervisors_, 7: Dressmaking, +Dressmaking workroom, Electric Operating, Millinery, Novelty, Physical +Education, Art. _Instructors, Teachers, and Forewomen_, 11: Academic, 2; +Dressmaking, 3; Operating, 5; Art, 1. _Assistants_, 14: Dressmaking, 7; +Novelty, 3; Operating, 1; Physical Education, 2; Art, 1. (3) _Doctor._ +(4) _Care of Building_, 7: Engineer, Janitor, Machinist, Cleaners 2, +Elevator boy, and Night watchman. + + +ADMINISTRATION + +Admission Requirements + +I. Age: fourteen to seventeen years. The law requires a child to remain +in public school until fourteen. The Manhattan Trade School has found +that under fourteen a girl is too immature to specialize in trade work, +and that over seventeen most girls are too mature to fit into the work +planned for the majority of the class. + +II. Public School Grade: 5-A or above. The subject matter of 5-A grade +or its equivalent is required by the state before a child can leave to +work. If for illness or other good cause a girl has not made this grade, +she is admitted to the Trade School with special permission of principal +of last school attended, and, while studying her trade, the necessary +amount of schooling is made up to her by special classes and coaching. +The Board of Health recognizes this substitute. + +Grade of girls admitted since beginning is shown in following table: + +GRADE UPON LEAVING SCHOOL + + -----+-------+-------+-------+---------+--------+----------+------- + | Below | Fifth | Sixth | Seventh | Eighth | Graduate | High + | Fifth | Grade | Grade | Grade | Grade | Per | School + | Grade | Per | Per | Per | Per | cent. | Per + | Per | cent. | cent. | cent. | cent. | | cent. + | cent. | | | | | | + -----+-------+-------+-------+---------+--------+----------+------- + | | | | | | | + 1902 | 8 | 19 | 35 | 26 | 2 | 10 | 0 + | | | | | | | + 1903 | 11 | 18 | 19 | 29 | 6 | 15 | 2 + | | | | | | | + 1904 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 25 | 16 | 25 | 2 + | | | | | | | + 1905 | 7 | 15 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 19 | 4 + | | | | | | | + 1906 | 8 | 16 | 20 | 23 | 17 | 13 | 3 + | | | | | | | + 1907 | 7 | 10 | 25 | 23 | 15 | 18 | 2 + | | | | | | | + 1908 | 4 | 15 | 26 | 20 | 13 | 16 | 6 + | | | | | | | + -----+-------+-------+-------+---------+--------+----------+------- + +During 1908, 143 older women were admitted to a special workroom opened +for the "unemployed." + +III. Filing of working papers is required of girls under sixteen. + +1. No girl under sixteen can work in New York unless she has an +Employment Certificate issued by the Board of Health, and then only from +8 A.M. to 5 P.M., or for eight hours daily. + +2. The public school last attended by the girl is responsible for her +until she is sixteen, or has her working papers, or is dismissed to +another school. If dismissed to Manhattan Trade School her attendance +there cannot be made compulsory, and she may attend a few days and then +leave and work illegally. Our facilities for following up such cases are +limited. With her working papers on file we know she is not evading the +law, and can dismiss her to work if she is not a success in trade lines +of training. + +3. Exceptions: Lack of proper birth record, on account of foreign birth +or failure to make record of it by officials, may prevent the obtaining +of an Employment Certificate. A special provision is made by the Board +of Health in such cases, and, pending adjustment, the girl is admitted +upon notice of date of future issuance. + +IV. Reference: Some reliable person's name is required of each applying +student, in order to have some one to communicate with in case of +difficulty of any kind. + +V. Application in person: Each girl fills out an application blank +giving name, address, and birthplace of self, father, and mother, public +school attendance, previous trade experience, if any, trade desired, +reference. This must be written at the school, for the manner in which +it is done is a large part of test for admission. + + +Times of Admission + +The school year begins in July, but a girl is admitted any Monday when +there is a vacancy in the department she wishes to enter. The following +table gives record of yearly admission: + + -------------------------+-------- + | + Nov. 2, 1902 (first day) | 20 + | + Rest of 1902 | 93 + | + 1903 | 139 + | + 1904 | 193 + | + 1905 | 239 + | + 1906 | 328 + | + 1907 | 433 + | + 1908 | 689 + | + 1909 | 517 + | + |-------- + | + Total | 2,651 + | + -------------------------+-------- + +Some of these students did not remain long enough to take a thorough +training, for home demands made even a small wage imperative, and the +girl had to join the ranks of earners ill prepared. Some were not +adapted to trade conditions, and soon fell out by the way. Many +persisted until they took more than the average twelve months' course, +and went into business at a proportionately higher wage. + + +Records + +I. Attendance: 1. Daily, Monday to Friday inclusive. The factory method +of time cards punched by a clock upon entrance and leaving has been +adopted as being most exact, businesslike, and time saving. It registers +the exact time when rung, and so indicates tardiness as well as absence. + +2. Weekly. A small filing card ruled for fifty-two weeks summarizes the +daily record of time cards and requires the marking attendance only once +a week. This file is subdivided into departments and again into classes, +so that the statistics of enrollment are easily gathered. + +II. Individual records: 1. Upon admission a record card is started for +each girl, no matter how long she may attend. This contains (1) the data +given upon the application blank copied in detail; (2) Student Aid, if +given, amount, date, and remarks. + +2. Upon leaving, entries are made on the same card of (1) date and cause +of leaving; (2) record in different departments--Art, Academic, Trade, +and Health; (3) certificate--kind, record, date. This is not granted +until the pupil has proved satisfactory in her trade both in the school +and in business; (4) Trade Record--upon the reverse side of the card is +the "record in trade after leaving school," with columns for date, +employer, kind of work, wages, remarks. This is kept up by the Placement +Secretary by frequent visits and letters, and gives the basis for many +valuable deductions as to the practical results of the training. + +III. Other records kept in departments are (1) Student Aid: application +and information; (2) Health: examinations upon entrance and future +reexaminations; (3) Department: records of each girl as she passes from +class to class, such as "attitude," speed, and skill. + + +Length of Year + +The school is in session forty-eight weeks each year, four weeks being +given up to one-week vacations at Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July, and +Labor Day. The summer session is the beginning of the regular work, and +not a unit for summer training. No one is admitted for the summer only, +as the time is too short for real trade standards to be approached. + + +Tuition + +The tuition is absolutely free. The Manhattan Trade School aims to reach +the poorest girl who has little chance to advance rapidly unless some +one gives her a lift. In order to do this most effectively it is +sometimes necessary to assist her. (See the report of the Student Aid +Work.) + + +Choice of Trade + +A girl upon application can select the trade into which she wishes to +go. If after a month's trial she proves competent, she is allowed to +continue; if not, she is advised to change to another department or to +seek employment in work not taught at the Trade School. If a girl has no +choice of trade because of ignorance of possibilities, she is shown the +kinds taught and given a chance to make a selection. If then she is +undecided, she is advised to take what seems best adapted to the time +she can spend and the type of girl she appears to be. + + +Business Management + +However simple a school is, some bookkeeping is necessary, and when with +the running of the school is combined the management of trade order +supplies and receipts the problem becomes very complicated. (See Trade +Order Work.) + +I. General: A system of up-to-date bookkeeping of General Ledger, +Invoice Book, and Daily Exhibit, with details worked out in Petty Cash +and Maintenance Books, has been adopted. These few simple books so +distribute accounts of expense and receipts that one can soon see the +standing of the whole school or of a single department. All bookkeeping +is centralized in one office, except the taking of orders and the +details of filling them, which must be in the hands of the department +concerned. + +II. Departmental: 1. Requisition blanks for purchases made. 2. Order +blank and duplicate for order given by customer. 3. Time slips, wherever +possible, to get exact record of time value of work done. 4. Material +slips, to keep account of what has gone into any orders. 5. Final +billing, to give data for bills sent out from main office and duplicate +filed there for final records. + + +THE POWER MACHINE OPERATING DEPARTMENT + +Aim + +To train girls to work on sewing machines run by electric power and to +put a thinker behind every machine as its operator. The department hopes +by awakening intelligent interest in the tool, _i. e._, the machine, to +kindle ambition in the workers. It is only through the intelligent use +of the tool and consequent love of work which follows that we can look +forward to supplying the skilled machine workers of the future. This +training must be given while the girls are in the formative period, to +develop habits of thought and action which will counteract the bad +effects upon the worker that follow division and subdivision of work, +with consequent subdivision of ability, which takes place in all +factories today. When a pupil has been thoroughly trained in the +intelligent use of her tool, when she has learned to construct complete +garments, if she is then, through force of circumstances such as modern +production entails, compelled to carry out one process on the machine +indefinitely, or to make one part of a garment, she still holds the +balance of power in being prepared to do something else when opportunity +or necessity demands. + + +General Steps in Training + +I. A pupil must be given a short time to adjust herself to the workshop +environment, consequently she is put first at some simple work, such as +ripping or cutting up old garments. This gives her freedom while using +her hands to look about the workroom and to get accustomed to the sight +as well as to the sound of machines in action. + +II. The pupil is taught to control the power by which the machine is +run, and is then given an intelligent understanding of the mechanism of +the machine or machines she is to operate. + +III. The pupil then begins her regular course of work, and her feeling +of responsibility of the value of _time_ is awakened--that is, her +seconds, minutes, and hours, days, weeks, and months are now important +factors in her life, and they may be used for good or evil. In the +language of the department, time may be spent wisely or foolishly, and, +while studying at the Manhattan Trade School, seven hours out of every +day of the girl's life is given over to productive work and should be +accounted for. The department has developed its own plan of time +payments, which is much like the piece-work system employed in trade. +Through its rewards for time well spent it makes the fact real to the +pupils, as no form of punishment could do, that wasted time is gone +forever. + +The department is divided into five classes, three of which must be +taken to make an all-round operator, namely: Elementary, two months' +course; Intermediate, four months' course; Advanced, six months' course. +In trade, salaries for such positions range from $5 to $15. The other +two classes train specialists on the electric machines, special machines +of various kinds, straw-sewing machines. Special machine work requires +from three months to one year in addition to the full course of +all-round operating. Salaries range from $6 to $30. An expert trade +worker is in charge of each class. + + _Course of Work_ + + Regular Operating Course: + + 1. Control of power--learning names and uses of parts of machines. + Making bags, clothes, and operator's equipment. + + 2. Straight and bias stitching, equal distance apart. + + 3. Spaced bias stitching from given measurements. + + 4. Making and turning square corners, stitching heavy edge for + tension practice. + + 5. Machine table apron, using former principles. This is used to + protect operator from shafting and oil. + + 6. Seams: Plain seam, plain and band seam; French seam; bag seam on + warp; bag seam, one warp and one bias; bag seam, two biases. + + 7. Hemming: Different sized hems turned by hand for correct + measurements; hems run through hemmer to learn use of attachment and + give speed; seams through hemmer--bag seam, flat fell. + + 8. Quilting: Following designs made by pupils in Art Department. + Practice for control of power, starting and stopping machine at + given point. + + 9. Banding: Straight and bias bands placed by measurement from + design made in Art Department. Practice for edge stitching, turning + corners, accuracy of measurement. + + 10. Advanced seams on cloth and silk: Flannel seam, slot seam, + umbrella seam. + + 11. Yokes made and put on: Round yokes--petticoats; round front and + straight back--drawers and petticoats; bias yokes--waists; shaped + yokes--aprons; round yokes--children's dresses; miter corner + yoke--dresses. + + 12. Tucking: Free hand tucking for accuracy in measuring and use of + rule; special tucking on length and widths of different materials to + give speed and skill in handling different fabrics. + + General Construction: Trade Stock and Order Work (See Order Work): + Infants' slips, children's underwear; children's rompers; children's + dresses; women's underwear; shirtwaists; aprons; house dresses; + fancy negligees. + + Special Machine Work: + + Buttonholes; tucking; two-needle work; hemstitching; Bonnaz + (Corneli) embroidery; machine hand embroidery, scalloping. Students + of special ability only are fitted to take this course. One girl in + fifteen has usually the requisite application and self-control to + operate a special machine successfully. Each machine is specialized, + _i. e._, does its own particular work and no other. Patient + attention to little things is required on the part of the operator + in order that good results may be produced. Such machines are + supposed to need only a hand behind them to guide the work. Our + experience has proved to us that good results are produced only when + intelligence and patience are factors. In the factories, machinists + keep the special machines in order, but the school aims to train the + operator to keep her own machine in good condition, thus saving her + valuable time. + +Bonnaz (Corneli) embroidery work offers excellent opportunities for +correlation with the Art Department. Both Bonnaz (Corneli) and machine +hand embroidery must be felt in the muscles before they can be carried +out on the material, therefore the work with the pencil in making +designs which are to be carried out on the machine is of first +importance. Free-hand designs must be made first in large, free +movements on the machine until the arm muscles are thoroughly familiar +with the curve, sweep, and feeling to be executed. After mastery of +movement and sweep are acquired, the same designs may be reduced in size +ten or twenty times and the pupil will still work them out in perfect +rhythm. After the mastery of movement is acquired, the cording, +braiding, and three-thread attachment work are easily learned by a pupil +who has the necessary mechanical sense. The course of Bonnaz (Corneli) +work covers: chain stitch, lettering, applique work, cording, braiding, +three-thread work. + +Machine hand embroidery should be given as a supplementary course to +Bonnaz (Corneli) embroidery. It gives excellent training in design and +color work. + +Special trade machine straw sewing should also be taken up after the +regular course in operating. It gives splendid exercise for quick +handling of material, but makes a poor foundation of itself on which to +build a painstaking, expert, all-round operator. Speed is the first +requisite in getting a hat properly shaped, as the straw braid is flying +through the machine at the rate of four thousand stitches a minute; +hence the general operating is given first to the pupil to train her in +the requisite neatness. As straw-sewing has long slack seasons, the +operator can during such times return to the regular operating. + + +DRESSMAKING DEPARTMENT + +Aim + +The aim of the Dressmaking Department is to train girls in the elements +of the dressmaking trade, in order to enable them to immediately secure +employment as improvers and finishers or as assistants on skirts, +waists, and sleeves, and to give them a preparation which will help them +eventually to rise to positions of skill and responsibility. The +training eliminates the errand girl and apprenticeship stages, and makes +possible a living wage at the start. The result is accomplished in from +nine to seventeen months, the time depending entirely upon the +capability of the girl, her physical condition, her application to her +work, her regularity of attendance, and her previous training. + + +Classes + +The department is divided into three sections: (1) The Elementary, which +consists of two classes for the teaching of simple sewing and machine +work. This section is rendered necessary by the poor preparation of the +students at the entrance. It would be not only practical but desirable +for elementary public and industrial schools so to train their students +that they could omit this part of the Manhattan Trade School course. (2) +The Vocational. This section also includes two classes. The work is +tradelike in character, but much time has to be given to developing +right habits of work as well as to learning specific kinds of handwork. +The public secondary schools could offer this section to advantage, and +through it train pupils for a better knowledge of the home or for future +livelihood. (3) The Trade Section. This is a business shop, which +reproduces trade conditions as nearly as possible and is subdivided into +the same progressive divisions. Although the object is to work as trade +does, the educational aim is also prominent, and the course of training +has been planned with both ends in view. Order work plays an important +part in this section, for it makes possible the quantity and variety of +material necessary to supply the many repetitions of important phases of +dressmaking, the new views of old principles, and the elaborate costume +manufacturing which are needed in the training. It would be impossible +for a school to adequately deal with the many varieties of garments in +this trade without some equivalent for the order work. The use of models +or of practice material is not satisfactory on account of the great +difference between theoretical and practical knowledge in handling +valuable materials. A girl may learn to run fine tucks on cheesecloth, +but this will not enable her to do satisfactory hand-tucking on chiffon. +Neither is it a correct educational or economic principle to cut up +quantities of good material, which the students will look upon as +"rags," and then, after working on them, to throw them into a receptacle +for waste or sell them simply to get rid of them. To secure the best +results in any line of instruction there must be interest and +enthusiasm. The aim, therefore, must be definite and the results vital. +The work is planned to foster these higher qualities. The students +produce articles for a definite use; they are given a required time in +which the work should be completed; trade itself sets the standard of +judgment, and a definite relation exists between the work of all the +classes, so that old principles may be recognized when presented in new +forms. + + +Courses of Work + +I. Elementary Section. (1) Beginners' Class. First, a test is given each +girl when she enters which enables her instructor to judge of her +ability in sewing. It has been found necessary, in the majority of +cases, to teach all or the greater part of the following principles: the +use of sewing utensils, the making of the stitches, their application in +articles, and the running of the sewing machine. Hence the second step +has been a course of work covering the use of these needed principles, +each girl beginning at the point where she needs training. Third, the +final test. On the satisfactory completion of this very elementary +training a test is given to show a girl's ability to work, to think, and +to utilize ideas. If she is not yet fully prepared, further time is +spent in emphasizing the points she still requires. + +The work in the Beginners' Class is done upon articles which have a +trade value and which are sold to customers or to the students for about +the cost of the materials. The school furnishes the materials for all +elementary work, but the students must provide their own tools and keep +them in good condition. These include a thimble, needles, scissors, a +tape measure, an emery, and a white apron. + +Class instruction followed by individual criticism is the method of +teaching in the Elementary Section. Emphasis is placed upon the proper +use of the utensils, the position of the body, and the handling of the +work. Individual records are kept of the grade of work and of the time +taken to finish a problem. The course takes from two to three months to +complete, and the students are at work four and one-half hours per day. + + OUTLINE OF WORK IN BEGINNERS' CLASS + + 1. Stitches and special forms of sewing: Basting, running, + overhanding, overcasting, hemming, blind stitching, sewing on + buttons (two hole, four hole), buttonholes, featherstitching. + + 2. Seams: Plain; selvage and raw edges; French; felled; straight and + bias edges; overhanded. + + 3. Machine stitching: Straight seams and rows; hems; + facings--points; use of tucker. + + 4. Principles: Measuring, seams, hems, tucks, cutting by a thread; + matching stripes; turning and basting hems; making casing for + drawstrings; putting on band--by hand, by machine--one and two + pieces; setting strings into bands; finishing ends of hems; putting + on pockets--straight and shaped; plain placket; cutting bias strips; + piecing bias strips; facing curved and straight edges (armholes, + neck, waist, points); joining waist and skirt with bias facing; + making straight tucked ruffle; inserting ruffle under tuck on skirt; + ripping. + + 5. Articles used in the work (this list is changed at will and is + merely representative): Handwork--Pin cushion, bag, towel, white + apron with ruffle. Machine work--Belt, gingham apron oversleeves, + child's dress with waist, uniform apron. + + 6. Supplementary work: Shoe bags, silver cases, holders, bibs, silk + bags, darning bags, needle books, traveling cases, baby caps and + work of a similar character. + + 7. Materials used: Cotton, linen, silk. + +(2) Intermediate Class. The Beginners' Class gives most of its time to +hand sewing, the Intermediate Class emphasizes machine sewing. The work +is a repetition of the principles taught in the Beginners' Class, but is +presented in a different manner, with new applications. Orders are taken +from individuals or business houses for the garments which are made in +this course. The price is that of the trade. These orders furnish a +market for the entire output of the class. A certain amount of class +instruction is given, but the girls are expected to do independent work +under supervision. + + OUTLINE OF WORK IN INTERMEDIATE CLASS + + 1. Review of former principles on new garments: (1) French + seam--straight edges, baby slips and nightgowns. (2) Hems, (_a_) + straight, (_b_) turned by hand, on princess aprons, bloomers, + sleeves, etc., (_c_) turned by machine--hemmer on ruffles, for + drawers and petticoats. (3) Overcasting--seams of skirts. (4) + Buttonholes--all garments. (5) Plackets--plain hemmed, on skirts, + baby slips. (6) Bias bands--joining and applying to straight and + curved edges, on princess aprons, drawers, top of petticoat. (7) + Ruffle--joining, measuring, and applying under tuck, on skirt and + drawers. (8) Machine instruction--threading, setting needles, + winding bobbin, scale of thread, needle, and stitch. + + 2. New principles: (1) Flat fell--shaped and bias edges on princess + aprons and drawers. (2) French seam--shaped edges in petticoat + seams. (3) Loops--on petticoats and dressing sacques. (4) + Hems--shaped edges in gored skirts, princess aprons and nightgowns, + baby slips and children's dresses. (5) Overhanding--pieces on + nightgowns, piecing ruffles and lace on underwear. (6) + Plackets--faced in drawers, petticoats, bloomers, and dress skirts. + (7) Bias band--applying to top of ruffle in petticoats and drawers. + (8) Bias binding--corset cover and nightgown. (9) Ruffle--finishing + with bias bands on petticoat and drawers. (10) Cuffs--making and + applying to nightgowns, baby slips, rompers, and house dresses. (11) + Sleeves--gathering on wrong side and putting into baby slips, + nightgowns, dressing sacques, etc. (12) Pressing. (13) Sewing hooks + and eyes on petticoats. (14) Machine instruction in cleaning, + oiling, and attachments. + + 3. List of articles made for stock and order: Aprons--princess, + maids', fancy. Women's clothes--dressing sacques, nightgowns, + kimonos, lounging robes, house dresses, chemises, drawers, skirts + (washable, mohair, silk), collars, and corset covers. Children's + clothes--nightdresses, night drawers, drawers, skirts, rompers, + dresses, and aprons. + + 4. Materials used: Cotton, silk, woolen, and worsted. + +II. Vocational Section. The increasing demand for ready-made clothing +has opened a new field for girls obliged to enter the business world as +soon as the law will permit them to leave school. This requires hand +finishing on fancy waists and plain and fancy gowns, which are made by +the dozens on machines run by electric power. It is not necessary to +have a knowledge of actual dressmaking to be able to do this work. The +ability to do good handwork rapidly is the prerequisite. In some +establishments there are opportunities for girls of ability to rise from +finisher to draper, which latter position commands a high wage. + +The producing of fine, handmade underwear, waists, and dresses is +another opportunity for girls who can take but a short time in which to +prepare to earn their living. Work of this character is of a much higher +grade than that of the wholesale finishing, and demands the ability to +do extremely good hand and machine work. The worker must be able to +handle the finest kind of materials and to do the most intricate work, +such as hand tucking, setting in lace, and trimmings. + +Although the course in the Vocational Section trains for specific +branches, it is very necessary that all dressmaking students should have +experience in these lines in order to be better prepared for the actual +dressmaking. If, however, a girl has the ability to do the work of these +classes, she is allowed to skip either one or both of them. + +Course of work in the Shop for Gymnasium and Swimming Suits: The +students are drilled for one or two months in putting garments together, +stitching, and finishing. As but two kinds of garments are made, speed +is acquired and a certain amount of accuracy is gained through much +repetition. Definite arrangements have been made through wholesale +houses for the disposition of the product. The materials are furnished +by the school. The price is that of trade. + +(1) Articles: Swimming suits (patented), bathing suits, and gymnasium +suits. (2) Materials used: Cotton, wool, worsted. + +Course of work in White Work Class: The previous training having been a +general one for accuracy, speed, and the mastery over mind and hand, +attention is now given for two and one-half or three months to fine +detail work and the handling and keeping fresh and clean of the +daintiest of cotton goods. The materials are furnished by the school and +the work is sold to customers at trade prices. + +(1) Principles: Hand-tucking, rolling and whipping, mitering corners, +overhanding trimming, inserting lace and embroidery by hand and machine, +fine featherstitching, and white hand embroidery. (2) Garments for stock +and order; fine underwear, waists, and baby clothes. (3) Material used: +cotton. + +III. Trade Section--The Business Shop. Trade demands skilled workers, +and preference is given to those who have had practical training. The +trade section aims to add experience to skill by offering the students +the actual work and conditions demanded in the outside market. The +general scheme is the one in use in moderate-sized dressmaking +establishments. + +The workroom has its tables devoted to separate kinds of work, the +students obtain a definite amount of knowledge from each experience, and +pass from one to the other as rapidly as their ability to grasp the +principles will permit. Each division is in charge of an instructor with +practical trade experience, who prepares and supervises the work and +also does the skilled parts which the students, on account of their lack +of experience, are unable to do. + +The girls are not taught cutting, fitting, and draping, as trade would +not permit a sixteen-year-old girl to attempt this work on account of +her lack of judgment and experience; but they have the opportunity to +see and assist in the preparation of work. No girl in the trade shop +will make a complete garment, but she will have worked upon all parts +many times. + +Custom orders supply the shop with work. The customers are interviewed, +measurements are taken, estimates are given, and dates for fittings are +planned. The information obtained is recorded upon blanks prepared for +the purpose. The materials are purchased, the garments cut, and the +different parts (skirts, waists, sleeves) are delivered to the tables +where such work is done. Blanks are provided for the recording of all +materials used for customers' work, and from these the bills are made +out in the main office. Stock is obtained from the storerooms on signed +requisitions only. The stock clerk measures and delivers the materials +and notes the amount withdrawn on each package. + + Course in Dressmaking Shop: + + 1. Linings: Waist (practice materials): basting, stitching, + pressing, binding, boning (whalebone, featherbone); hooks and eyes; + facing; overcasting. + + 2. Shirtwaists and nurses' uniforms: Covering rings; making + shirtwaist cuff; making shirtwaist placket; putting on neckbands. + + 3. Skirts: Petticoats or drop skirts for; basting, stitching, + pressing; seams, bands, plackets; trimming, pinning, putting on + band. + + 4. Trimmed skirts: Slip stitching; milliner's and flat folds; + covering buttonholes; binding, shirring, cording, tucking, piping, + facing, braiding. + + 5. Trimmed waists: Application of principles; experience in making + and applying trimming and handling delicate or perishable materials. + + 6. Trimmed sleeves: Application in general knowledge and experience + in applying trimmings. + + 7. Garments made in the shop: Shirtwaists, fancy dressing sacques + and wrappers; nurses' and maids' uniforms; dancing dresses; + elaborate waists; street, afternoon, and evening gowns; tailored + suits. + + 8. Materials used: All varieties of cotton, linen, silk, woolen, and + worsted dress fabrics; chiffon, mousseline, and trimmings of all + kinds. + +IV. Results of training. A change in the general appearance of the girls +is soon apparent, for which ability to make their own clothes and the +refining influence of the doing of good work on good materials is +probably responsible. The elements of good order, obedience, +thoughtfulness, judgment, self-control, industry, and thrift are +fostered, and every effort is put forth to make intelligent workers. + +The fact that on entering trade the girls from the Trade School receive +nearly double the salary given untrained girls indicates that they are +fitted for the outside workrooms. + +V. Departmental relations. The emphasis which the Academic and Art +Departments have laid upon accuracy, careful work, appreciation of +measurements, distances, color, and form has been of great value to the +students in the Dressmaking Department. The Operating Department has +also been of service in training some of the students to work on special +machines, thus enabling them to make dress decoration. The use of the +electric power machine in custom dressmaking establishments is on the +increase. + +VI. Trade relation. The department is kept in close touch with trade +conditions through personal visits, through the houses which purchase +its output, and through those from whom the stock is bought. Many +opportunities to purchase materials at reduced rates have been secured +through the kindly interest of the trade. + +An advisory board, composed of business men and women, has been +appointed to pass judgment upon the scheme of work, the standard and +quality of work, and the cost and market value of the products. + + +MILLINERY DEPARTMENT + +Aim + +The aim of the Millinery Department is to train assistants, improvers, +frame makers, and preparers for wholesale and custom workrooms. + + +Short Course + +When this department was first opened the scope of the work for the day +classes was much more extended and included training for copyists, +designers, and milliners. The curtailing of the course to more +elementary preparation was brought about by a feeling of dissatisfaction +with this trade for the young, untrained, or partly skilled workers. +Close and continued contact with millinery shops showed that for young +wage-earners a small, initial wage and a not very rapid rise are usual; +that a short, irregular, seasonal engagement is almost inevitable; that +a long experience is needed before even the trained girl can rise to the +higher positions; that young workers become discouraged and are apt to +drop the trade altogether, even for lower wages, if they can obtain +steady work in another occupation. As it was the fourteen or +fifteen-year-old girl who came for the instruction, it was better for +her to be well trained as an assistant than to detain her at the school +for a more advanced position which she would probably not be allowed to +take on account of her youth and inexperience. Students in this +department need to be watched with especial care to determine whether +they are well adapted for their occupation, and the mediocre worker +would better enter some other field where the opportunities for her are +more encouraging. As the advance is slow the girl also whose poverty is +hurrying her into wage-earning would better not elect this work. + +The night classes which have been offered at the school gave training in +the more advanced lines of millinery. The day classes are also prepared +to do so whenever older workers feel they can give time for the +instruction. + + COURSE OF INSTRUCTION + + Length of course: Six months. + + 1. Practice: Shirring, tucking, cording, rolled hem, plain fold, + milliner's fold, and cutting and joining bias pieces. + + 2. Making and covering buckles and buttons; wiring ribbons and + laces; making hat linings and wiring hats. + + 3. Bandeaux: Wire, capenet, and buckram. + + 4. Wire frame construction from dimensions and models; making frames + of buckram, capenet, and stiff willow. + + 5. Covering frames with crinoline, capenet, mull, maline, and soft + willow. + + 6. Facings: Plain, shirred, and in folds. + + 7. Bindings: Stretch, puff, and rolled. + + 8. Plateaux: Plain and fancy. + + 9. Making hats of straw, silk, chiffon, maline, and velvet. + + 10. Sewing trimmings on hats and sewing linings in hats. + + 11. Renovating: Ribbon, velvet, lace, feathers, flowers. + + 12. Machine work: Plain stitching, tucking, shirring, bias strips + stitched on material. + +Orders are taken for a limited amount of trimmed hats in order to +provide the students with experience in preparing, sewing on the +trimming, and in finishing the hat. + +As millinery is a seasonal trade, students are advised to take, in +addition, lamp and candle shade making in the Novelty Department, or +straw sewing in the Operating Department. They are thus provided with +good trades during the months when their own trade is dull. + + +NOVELTY DEPARTMENT + +Aim + +(1) To teach the use of paste and glue in several good trades. (2) A +short course in lampshade and candleshade making for girls who have a +dull season in their regular trade during November, December, and +January. + + +Lines of Work + +Sample mounting, novelty work, jewelry and silverware case making, +lampshade and candleshade making. + + +Trades and Wages + +Sample mounting is pasting or gluing samples of all kinds of material on +cards or in books to be used by salesmen in selling goods. New York is a +center for this class of work. It gives year-round employment to many +girls, and offers wages from $5 to $15 a week. The simpler lines of +sample mounting can be learned by almost any girl. A bright student can +learn this trade in six months. + +Novelty work is the covering and lining of cases and boxes with +different materials. Girls can earn from $5 to $18 a week, and can learn +the trade in from eight months to a year. + +In jewelry and silverware case making the girls are taught both to cover +and line up the cases; they earn from $5 to $15 a week. It takes from +eight months to a year to learn this trade. + +Lampshade and candleshade making: A short course is offered to good +sewers who wish to learn a line of work that will give them employment +during November, December, and January, which is the busy season in this +occupation. Girls can earn from $1 to $2 a day. It is a very good course +for millinery workers, as the work is similar and therefore easily +learned, and the slack time in millinery is the busy time in this trade. + + +Course of Work + +All pupils entering the Novelty Department take a short course in sample +mounting to learn the use of paste and glue. Some are advanced soon to +the novelty work, while others continue in sample mounting, taking up a +greater variety of work along that line. Those entering for lamp and +candle shade making do not take the sample mounting, but come from the +millinery or sewing classes, where they have had some training with the +needle. + + +Interrelation with Academic and Art Work + +In the academic classes the girls are drilled in measurements and have +problems estimating the cost of materials and labor. Their discussions +pertain to actual processes and materials used in the classes of the +Novelty Department. + +In the art classes the girls are trained to draw straight lines and +square corners, to miter corners, to fold on a line, to make good +letters and figures, and to appreciate good proportions and balance. +This work enables the student to arrange her samples in straight lines +on the card, with proper margins, and to print neatly on the card the +name of the materials and stock numbers. The discussion of materials +helps her to cut and place her materials on the cases so that the design +will appear to the best advantage. The color work aids her in choosing +the best hues of ribbons or linings to use with the figured coverings. + + +Orders + +Where trade orders can be used without keeping the girls too long on the +one problem, they prove a great incentive and also help them to acquire +speed. Private orders give more variety in the work, and thus enable the +girls to adjust themselves more easily to each season's new styles. The +private orders, however, being smaller in number, do not help the +students to acquire the speed that the repetition does in the large +trade orders. Each kind of order work is used, as it can be of advantage +to the development of the student. + + +ART DEPARTMENT + +The courses of work in the Art Department are shaped according to the +needs of each trade department. Various phases of work in dressmaking, +electric power operating, novelty, and millinery are made "centers of +interest." Each girl thus finds her art aiding her to be more valuable +in her trade. Her enthusiasm is awakened and she is stimulated to +self-expression directly along the line of her chosen work. The entering +students lack in the technical skill which can be used in their trades. +The first step, therefore, is to give the elementary exercises needed in +their departments. This is followed by more difficult and more artistic +work as the student shows ability. + + +Aims + +To help the work of the trade departments, to improve the trade selected +by each student, to give ideals. + + +Conditions + +Time of average student in art, seven months, three hours per week. +Previous art training little or none. + + +Difficulties + +The students do not see or estimate correctly; they are not exact, and +they lack ideals. + + +Organization of Art Work + +I. _General_ course for _all_ students, connecting Art Department with +Trade Courses. Approximate time, three months, three times a week. + + 1. Principles of Proportion: Measurements by ruler and free-hand. + Related lines and sizes, as in hems and margins. + + 2. General Use of Principles: (1) Horizontal, vertical, oblique + lines for machine practice. (2) Related margins and spots as used in + the writing of letters, the orderly placing of subject on a page. + + 3. Specific Department Work: Departments express their needs to Art + Department. (1) Machine operating: (_a_) Lines--horizontal, + vertical, oblique, for machine practice. (_b_) Quilting, banding, + practice for curves and square corners. + + (2) Sewing: (_a_) Lines--horizontal, vertical, oblique, for machine + and hand practice and tailor basting. (_b_) Hems, tucks as + prescribed by department and proportioned to garment. (_c_) + Constructive drawing--giving different angles and figures with a + view toward an intelligent use of patterns for waists and skirts. + (_d_) Piecing bias and mitering corners. + + (3) Novelty: (_a_) Lines--horizontal, vertical, oblique, for sample + mounting. (_b_) Spacings for sample mounting. (_c_) Letterings and + figures for sample mounting. (_d_) Margins for pasting different + shaped labels and samples. (_e_) Paper folding, mitering corners. + + (4) Millinery: (_a_) Lines--horizontal, vertical, oblique, for hand + sewing practice. (_b_) Problems for proportions for the wire frames. + (_c_) Bias facings and mitered and square corners. (_d_) Color. + +Students unable to benefit further by the Art Work are dropped from +course and devote this time to their trade. + +II. _Supplementary_ course for students showing ability who have +finished the prescribed departmental course. Approximate time, seven to +nine months. + + 1. Machine Operating: (1) First step in designs, arrangement of + straight lines in borders, and orderly arrangement of spots in + borders. (2) Squared-off designs, stenciling same, for cooerdination. + (3) Sample curved line designs, continuous (limitation of machine + and for speed). (4) Patterns for practice work for the special + machine. (5) Special workers to practice the exercises for the + Bonnaz machine. (6) Color--three charts. (7) Exercises for + perforating. + + 2. Sewing: (1) Simple designs for shirtwaists and for braiding. (2) + Designs for revers, cuffs, vests, and yokes. (3) Proportions of + figure. (4) Copying from magazines for trade technicalities. (5) + Discussions on dress for trade workers. (6) Color harmony in dresses + and application. + + 3. Millinery: (1) Sketching different views of the hats. (2) + Sketching models. (3) Color harmonies and application. (4) + Discussions on how art principles can be applied to hats of the + present day. + + 4. Novelty: (1) Simple, squared-off designs stenciled for + cooerdination for hand and head, not gained in the trade work. (2) + Simple illumination of words and phrases. (3) The materials and + decoration to be used for pads, desk sets, and boxes discussed and + carried out. + +In this supplementary course emphasis is put on the thought, invention, +and appreciation of the student. + +III. _Special_ course for students who show unusual ability in art and +can utilize it in trade. + + 1. Costume sketching for making records in dressmaking workrooms. + + 2. Stamping and perforating: (_a_) Machine practice--pedaling, + guiding needle, threading machine, and learning to adjust the + different parts. (_b_) Stamping on different materials with the + different mediums; composition of the different mediums, liquid and + dry. (_c_) Copying patterns for perforating; nature study for + motifs; conventionalizing those to apply them to materials. + +(All designs are such as can be used in trade and are made according to +trade methods.) + + +ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT + +Aim + +I. Elementary: To supplement previous schooling. Girls who have left the +public school from low grades need special tutoring in the common +branches. Special instruction is also needed for newly arrived +foreigners. + +II. Trade: To quicken and enrich the mind, that the girl may become a +more efficient, intelligent, and enthusiastic trade worker. + +The work falls under the following subjects: Civics, Industries, +Arithmetic, English. + + +Civics + +This course is given as a means of enabling the pupil to recognize her +place in the family, the school, the community, and in the world's work. +For lack of a better term it is called Civics. It is dealt with under +two heads: (1) Community Life in General, (2) Community Life in New York +City. + +1. Under the first head the discussion of life in a given community is +followed by the simple facts that lie at the foundation of civic life. +These are approached through the interests or desires which the pupil +feels in common with all other people. Building still further on the +pupil's own experience, she is led to apply the ideas received to her +own community, which ever widening its scope is carried from the +neighborhood or the school to the city, the state, and on to the nation. + +Civics also gives to the pupils a knowledge of the existing laws under +which they will work, by whom these laws are made, and the possible +means for improving them. In the discussion of such subjects as Tenement +House Laws, Child Labor Laws, and Trade-Unions, there is opportunity for +the introduction of home and business economics which have been found to +be valuable. Economics is further taught by the detailed discussion of +the apportionment of an income of $6 a week for fifty working weeks, +considering car fare, lunches, savings, a portion toward family support, +and an allowance for clothes. The literature for this course is obtained +from the United States Department of Commerce and Labor, the State +Department of Factory Legislation, the Consumers' League, the National +and State Labor Committees, and current magazines. Mr. Arthur M. Dunn's, +"The Community and the Citizen," especially such chapters as those on +the "Making of Americans," "How the Government Aids the Citizen in His +Business Life," "Waste and Saving," "What the Community Does for Those +Who Cannot or Will Not Contribute to Its Progress," has given valuable +assistance in leading to discussions which have direct bearing upon +daily life and work. + +2. The following outline shows the treatment of the second division of +Civics: + + New York City: (1) City Government, (_a_) Officials, Mayor, + Commissioner, Borough President, Aldermen; (_b_) City Departments. + (2) Citizenship, (_a_) Who are citizens, (_b_) How to become a + citizen, (_c_) Duties and privileges of citizens, (_d_) Aliens. (3) + Child Labor Laws, (_a_) School attendance, (_b_) Working papers, how + obtained, (_c_) Hours for work. (4) Factory Laws for girls over + sixteen years old. (5) Sweatshop labor. (6) Tenement House Laws. (7) + Trade-Unions. (8) Commerce and Industries of New York. (9) + Philanthropies. + + +Industries + +Aim: To furnish the worker with a background for her trade and to help +her to see her place in the working world of today. 1. A generalized +view is taken of the main steps in the early progress of the race. 2. +Textile materials are discussed as to their values, their uses, their +cost, the processes of their manufacture, the comparison of foreign and +domestic goods, with reasons for the differences, and the connected +problems of arithmetic which the students will meet. These subjects help +the girl to "get next" to what she is working with every day and to +arouse interest in her personal connection with the subject. The English +girl whose father was once employed in a lace house in London brings +mounted specimens of that sort of handwork to the class; the Hungarian +brings hand-spun articles from her mother's bridal outfit; the Italian +presents a skein of raw silk taken from the family's treasure box, and +the girl from Roumania brings an embroidered bed cover. The student +whose mother does not believe cotton ever grew on bushes asks that she +may verify her own statement by taking home a real cotton ball. A Labor +Museum is being collected to give reality to the instruction, and +exhibits from it, which show the steps in the manufacturing of the +fabrics and of other familiar articles, are put up in the classroom when +needed. A bulletin board provides for the numerous clippings brought by +the students or teachers. + + +Arithmetic + +Aim: The fundamental aim of arithmetic is to give the pupils working +methods for the problems that occur in trade practice. To make the +correlation clear to the girls, workroom methods of presentation and +phraseology and the customary materials are used. Sewing and operating +students make hems, tucks, and ruffles to actual measurements; novelty +girls cut and arrange cards for samples in accordance with their +workroom demands; and millinery students work out the measurements for +hat frames as closely as varying styles permit. + +With the fundamentals of trade problems established, arithmetic is +further developed along special lines of trade to meet the demands of +the business world. The trained worker should not only be skilled in the +manipulation of tools and materials, but she should be able to compute +her own problems, such as estimates for garments, how to cut materials +economically, the cost of one garment or article as related to the cost +of many of the same kind, the prices, and similar trade questions. The +ability to deal with these subjects adds materially to the value of a +skilled worker. + +The central scheme of the course is to lead the pupil to prompt and +accurate mental calculation. This is stimulated by frequent oral drills +in trade problems and business problems involving short methods of +computation. The extent and progress of this work are regulated by the +ability of the class. + +The following outlines show the adaptation of arithmetic to the +different trades: + + _Operating_: (1) Cutting of gauges, (_a_) For hems, (_b_) For tucks. + (2) Tucking problems, (_a_) With gauges, (_b_) As formal arithmetic + problems. (3) Ruffling problems. (4) Time problems, Department time + schedules as basis for the work. (5) Factory problems. (6) Income, + expenditure, savings. (7) Bills and receipts. (8) Computation of + quantity of material required for garments, (_a_) By measuring + garments, (_b_) By use of patterns on cloth, (_c_) Economy of + material. (9) Problems based on above work. (10) Civic problems. + + _Sewing_: (1) Cutting of gauges, (_a_) For hems, (_b_) For tucks. + (2) Tucking problems. (3) Ruffling problems. (4) Computation of + quantity of material required for garments, (_a_) By measuring + garments, (_b_) By use of patterns on cloth, (_c_) Economy of + material. (5) Problems based on above work. (6) Store problems. (7) + Bills and receipts. (8) Income, expenditures, savings. (9) Textile + problems. (10) Civic problems. + + _Novelty_: (1) Sample mounting, (_a_) Cards are cut a given size and + are divided with the ruler into spaces for samples, with proper + margins, etc., according to trade demands, (_b_) Problems involving + the various sizes and shapes of cards and samples, using cards and + rulers for the work. (2) Sample cutting. (3) Cutting materials for + boxes, (_a_) Pulp board, (_b_) Covering plain, flowered, (_c_) + Economy of materials. (4) Problems based on above work. (5) Trade + problems, (_a_) In sample mounting, accuracy, speed, (_b_) Cost of + materials. (6) Bills and receipts. (7) Income, expenditure, savings. + (8) Civic problems. + + _Millinery_: (1) Measurement of frames. (2) Trade problems, (_a_) + Quantity of material, (_b_) Price of materials, (_c_) Economy of + material. (3) Orders, (_a_) By letter, (_b_) By order blanks. (4) + Bills and receipts. (5) Income, expenditure, savings. (6) Problems + on manufacture of silk. (7) Civic problems. + + +English + +Aim: 1. To facilitate oral and written expression. 2. To give practice +in business forms: _Spelling_: (1) Technical terms of each trade +department; (2) Textiles and other trade materials; (3) Ordinary +business terms. _Descriptions_: (1) Written work on materials used and +articles made in each department; (2) Outlining and defining of +department work. _Business Forms_: (1) Letters of application; (2) +Letters ordering goods; (3) Telegrams, postal cards, etc.; (4) Writing +of advertisements. + +In addition to practice in spelling and in the writing of business +forms, the work in English aims to be in close correlation with the +other subjects taught. As a rule, the latter part of each recitation +period is spent by the pupils in writing upon the subject in hand. The +purpose is to obtain from them freedom of expression after arousing +interest in a subject, rather than to get long compositions +necessitating home study and probably generating a dislike for written +work. Attention is called to paragraphing and emphasis is laid upon both +the form and the manner of writing, but form is made subservient to +thought. The interrelation of Art Department helps the student to +appreciate the need of good form in the appearance of a written page. + + +PHYSICAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT + +The young wage-earner who goes into trade untrained at fourteen years of +age is greatly handicapped by her physical condition. Either through +ignorance or neglect early symptoms of disease are disregarded, and it +is not until she finds herself out of employment as a result of physical +weakness that she realizes that good health is the capital of the +working girl. + +Many of the girls who enter the school are found to be suffering from +poor vision; enlarged glands caused by decayed teeth; poor nasal +breathing as a result of adenoid growths or enlarged tonsils; anaemia; +skin eruptions; slight asymmetries and poor posture. These defects +produce exaggerated nerve signs and poor nutrition. + + +Aim + +The work of the Physical Department is to correct as many of these +irregularities as possible and also to train the student to a knowledge +of her body and how to care for it, that she may be able to stand the +long hours of confining work and be able to show efficient results in +her trade. + +The following examination is required of each entering student: + +_Physical Examination_: Beginning with the family history, a complete +record of all important events relating to a student's physical life is +taken. She is carefully examined for asymmetry; curvature, incipient or +well defined; traces of tuberculosis; weakness of heart and lungs; +enlarged glands; skin diseases, or signs of nervous disorders. She is +closely questioned as to all bodily functions and a careful record is +kept of irregularities. Eyes, ears, teeth, nose, and throat are likewise +examined. Impressions of the feet are made in order to detect weakness +of the arch or flatfoot. Measurements of height, weight, and the +principal expansions are taken for comparison with later records and for +the purpose of comparing with normal standard. + + +Prescribed Treatment + +After the examination the girl is instructed as to treatment, if any is +needed. If perfectly normal she will report for gymnastics three times a +week. If any asymmetry, curvature of the spine, heart disease, or +nervous disorders are discovered, she must report for special corrective +exercises at the school. In some cases individual instruction is given +for supplementing the work at home. Cases demanding special apparatus +and individual attention have been treated in the Physical Education +Department of Teachers College, through the kindness of the director, +Dr. Thomas Denison Wood. The girls so affected have thus the advantage +of the latest methods known to science. If any of the numerous skin +diseases are present which demand frequent and regular attention, the +student is assigned to a group who go twice a week to a dispensary to +receive electrical or X-ray treatment. In cases of enlarged tonsils or +adenoids, the necessity for immediate operation is explained and every +effort made to gain the consent of the parents. When permission is +obtained the girl goes to a neighboring hospital on Sunday evening, is +operated upon on Monday, and returns home Tuesday. Each student must +have her eyes thoroughly examined by a doctor selected at the Ophthalmic +Dispensary. If glasses are needed they are procured at the expense of +the parent or donated by an optician who is interested in the school. +Dispensary treatment is also necessary in cases of catarrh of nose and +throat. Teeth are carefully examined and the girls directed to their own +dentists, or to the Dental Dispensary adjoining the school, where we are +fortunate enough to have a limited amount of work done free of charge. +Cases of asymmetry demanding braces, plaster jackets, and operations +have been treated at the Post-Graduate Hospital. Tuberculosis cases in +advanced stages have been placed on the special boats in New York Harbor +or are sent to Tubercular Camps in the country. + +In sending girls to the hospitals and dispensaries the aim is to place +them in touch with institutions to which they will have independent +access after they leave the Manhattan Trade School. + + +Statistics + +The statistics below show the condition of 278 girls when they +registered at the school. The charts are divided according to the +departments entered. From them can be seen the need of special care for +the health of the working girl. + + |Dressmaking. + | |Art. + | | |Millinery. + | | | |Novelty. + | | | | |Operating. + | | | | | |Total. + --------------------+-------------------+-----+---+----+----+----+------ + | | | | | | | + Nutrition | Good | 101 | 7 | 15 | 26 | 35 | 184 + | Fair | 39 | | 2 | 6 | 18 | 65 + | Poor | 7 | | 4 | 10 | 8 | 29 + | | | | | | | + Mentality | Good | 122 | 7 | 19 | 33 | 40 | 221 + | Fair | 21 | | 2 | 6 | 17 | 46 + | Poor | 4 | | | 3 | 4 | 11 + | | | | | | | + Nerve signs | Present | 39 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 16 | 77 + | Absent | 108 | 4 | 15 | 29 | 45 | 201 + | | | | | | | + Asymmetry, slight | Present | 53 | 4 | 12 | 23 | 29 | 121 + curvatures, high | Absent | 94 | 3 | 9 | 19 | 32 | 157 + hips or shoulders, | | | | | | | + etc. | | | | | | | + | | | | | | | + Posture | Good | 93 | 4 | 8 | 29 | 31 | 165 + | Fair | 54 | 3 | 13 | 13 | 30 | 113 + | | | | | | | + Skin | Good condition | 95 | 5 | 13 | 32 | 44 | 189 + | Acne, comedones, | 52 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 17 | 89 + | etc. | | | | | | + | | | | | | | + Glands | Good condition | 66 | 3 | 10 | 19 | 20 | 118 + | Enlarged | 81 | 4 | 11 | 23 | 41 | 160 + | | | | | | | + Vision | Need glasses | 44 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 19 | 86 + | Good condition | 103 | 4 | 13 | 30 | 42 | 192 + | | | | | | | + Hearing | Defective | 6 | 1 | | 4 | 1 | 12 + | Good | 141 | 6 | 21 | 38 | 60 | 266 + | | | | | | | + Speech | Good | 170 | 7 | 20 | 37 | 56 | 260 + | Defective | 7 | | 1 | 5 | 5 | 8 + | | | | | | | + Nasal breathing | Good | 32 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 60 + | Fair | 58 | 4 | 11 | 13 | 28 | 114 + | Poor | 57 | 2 | 6 | 19 | 20 | 104 + | | | | | | | + Tonsils | Good | 44 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 21 | 79 + | Slightly enlarged | 75 | 2 | 11 | 25 | 24 | 137 + | Much enlarged | 28 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 62 + | | | | | | | + Teeth | Good | 103 | 5 | 16 | 30 | 40 | 194 + | Poor | 44 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 21 | 84 + | Need attention | 108 | 4 | 12 | 31 | 40 | 195 + | | | | | | | + Hearts | Good | 122 | 4 | 21 | 23 | 44 | 214 + | Weak, irritable, | 24 | 2 | | 17 | 13 | 56 + | or with anaemic | | | | | | + | murmurs | | | | | | + | Organic trouble | 1 | 1 | | 2 | 4 | 8 + | | | | | | | + Lungs | Good | 138 | 5 | 20 | 36 | 58 | 257 + | Tuberculosis | 3 | | | 2 | | 5 + | Suspected | 6 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 16 + | tuberculosis | | | | | | + | | | | | | | + Feet | Good | 125 | 7 | 16 | 38 | 53 | 239 + | Weak arches | 10 | | 1 | | 4 | 15 + | Broken arches or | 12 | | 4 | 4 | 4 | 24 + | flatfoot | | | | | | + | | | | | | | + Enlarged thyroid | | 12 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 23 + glands | | | | | | | + | | | | | | | + Exophthalmic goiter | | 2 | | | | 2 | 4 + | | | | | | | + Chorea | | 2 | | | 2 | 1 | 5 + | | | | | | | + Needing corrective | | 5 | | 3 | 4 | 7 | 19 + exercises | | | | | | | + | | | | | | | + --------------------+-------------------+-----+---+----+----+----+------- + +A second examination of the same girls six months later shows gain in +weight, height, and general health; 125 had their teeth put in order; +six were treated for defective hearing; twenty had attended the Skin +Clinic; all had their eyes examined; eighty-six were fitted with +glasses. In twenty-five cases where the adenoids and tonsils were +removed the result was increase in weight, better breathing and heart +action, alertness of mind, and a noticeable improvement in trade work. +Where the obstructions of nose and throat still remain there is loss in +weight and diminished chest expansion and a generally weakened +condition. The extraction of decayed teeth and the providing of +well-fitting glasses have diminished nervous irritability and the +frequency of headaches. Three cases of tuberculosis were sent to camps. +Seven cases of organic heart trouble were treated by specialists; +nineteen girls were given corrective exercises at Teachers College; two +were fitted with shoes and braces; two were put into plaster jackets, +one for lateral rotary curvature and one for neuritis; and one advanced +case of chorea has been placed in the hospital. Of the girls whose +records are given in the list it can be said that, with the exception of +the cripples and a few others needing simple operations, a year's care +shows that very few of them are in any way handicapped by the effects of +disease. + + +PHYSICAL EDUCATION COURSE + +I. Gymnastics: + + 1. Elementary: 3 thirty-minute periods a week. (1) Swedish floor + work for general posture; (2) Work in control of breathing; (3) + Marching tactics for form and accuracy; (4) Light apparatus work: + (_a_) Wands, (_b_) Dumb-bells, (_c_) Indian clubs; (5) Heavy + apparatus for cooerdination; (6) Simple dances and rhythm work for + grace and poise; (7) Simple plays and games. + + 2. Advanced: 2 forty-five-minute periods a week. (1) Gymnastic + dances containing more than three figures; (2) Swedish and Danish + weaving dances in correlation with study of textiles (Academic + Department); (3) Folk dances of Sweden and Russia for form; (4) + Modern athletic dances for grace and poise; (5) Athletic + Competition: (_a_) Running and jumping, (_b_) Relay and obstacle + races, (_c_) Hockey and basket ball. + + 3. Special corrective work for spinal trouble or poor position: (1) + General floor work for mobility; (2) Free-hand work: (_a_) Single + assistive and resistive exercises, (_b_) Hanging exercises with and + without assistance, (_c_) Work with iron dumb-bells. + +II. Hygiene: Talks on hygiene are a regular part of the work, and aim to +give each girl a knowledge of her body and of its functions that will +enable her to care for her health in an intelligent manner and to +establish in her mind ideals of correct living which can be made +practical in her surroundings. + + 1. _Personal Hygiene_: (1) Brief survey of the body as a whole; (2) + The use of the mouth, nose, larynx, trachea, and lungs in breathing; + (3) Care of nose and throat: (_a_) The nose as a source of + infection, (_b_) Dangers of enlarged tonsils and adenoids, (_c_) + Treatment of colds; (4) Structure and care of the teeth. (5) The + Digestive System: (_a_) Organs directly concerned, and (_b_) Their + care, (_c_) Disorders of the Digestive System; (6) The Nervous + System, Brain, and Spinal Cord; (7) The Skin, (_a_) Structure and + Use, (_b_) Hygiene of Skin; (8) Heart and Blood Vessels; (9) The + Hair; (10) The Ears; (11) The Eyes; (12) The Feet; (13) The Hygiene + of Clothes. + + 2. _Domestic Hygiene_: Construction and furnishing of Home: (_a_) + Internal arrangement, walls, and coverings, (_b_) Ventilation, (_c_) + Heating, (_d_) Lighting, (_e_) Water Supply, (_f_) Plumbing and + Drainage, (_g_) Toilet rooms, (_h_) Disposal of Garbage and Ashes, + (_i_) House Cleaning, sweeping, dusting, cleaning, and use of + disinfectants. + + 3. _Foods_: (1) Nutritive value of foods; (2) Purity of food + materials; (3) Cooking--Cooking utensils; (4) Planning of meals. + + 4. _Diseases_: (1) Causes and Transmission; (2) Contagious diseases, + care, prevention; (3) Hygiene of sick room; (4) Insects and vermin; + (5) Infectious diseases. + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Making of a Trade School, by +Mary Schenck Woolman + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAKING OF A TRADE SCHOOL *** + +***** This file should be named 24688.txt or 24688.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24688/ + +Produced by Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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