WORKERS' EDUCATION AT THE UNIVERSITY
Workers' Education at the University Wisconsin Institution Offers Summer Course to Toilers; Glimpse of the Talent Represented in the 1927 Session. the close of the summer session of e University...
...Her fingers tried to catch the little sunbeam, but they couldn't...
...The purpose of adult education seems to be a knowledge of the • cultural and scientific subjects with the purpose of enriching the mind and encouraging students to strive to rise to a better economic and social position in lifek The most important classes for "worker's" education are economics, history of civilization, public speaking and history of the labor movement, with emphasis put on the important part workers play in developing civilization instead of glorifying kings and war-lords...
...Jfcese are to be done in and out of the class Joom...
...P. K...
...They are then cut into stencil paper and stencilled on the rugs...
...Soon it could look in on sleeping figures on the back porch of Tabard Inn...
...WTiile some of the girls were getting the dessert the others sang songs about their "Tabard Inn," and Tabard Inn, hearing this, smiled back- at the Sun, because he was very happy...
...As he sat under the light, the black bow tie that he wore made a vivid contrast with his white bushy -hair...
...I am sure they are having the time of their lives," ajjd they were, too.—A...
...Professor W. E. Leonard, one of Wisconsin's favorite poets, a tall slender man dressed in white trousers and a dafk coat, rend his own poems to us...
...Walking into the kitchen where my aunt and mother were, I dropped each and every one of these little geese upon the floor...
...Then the noise began, and how they talked and laughed...
...One o'clock...
...3%e corrective work is given to the group Ms « whole, and again in individual corrective |W«rk, each girl is given a sheet with her own particular necessary exercises checked on it...
...I am taking three classes in art: oil painting, which improves my sense of color...
...A few strokes and I am back at the pier, all my troubles forgotten as I laugh at my own efforts and the efforts of other girls in the water as we all learn to swim...
...Mother had some little geese, which would occasionally get into hor garden and eat all the young lettuce...
...We appreciate the fact, that the poet gave his time and interest to this group of girls...
...The sun wondered whose it was...
...MY GREATEST PLEASURE OF MY enjoyments here at Madison,- the trip to the Dells and Zona Gale's "Tea Party" impressed me most...
...Special attention is given to explaining our modern industrial system...
...Many of tiie girls have a low shoulder »nd hip, some do not hold their heads correctly and many do not have proper control of the abdomen...
...I can see how Miss Gale gets her inspiration to write the great novels she has written...
...Having done this, I picked each one up and put it in an apron I had on...
...Soon her attention was caught...
...The old proverb "Practice makes perfect" seems to be true in my case, because each time 1 get up before the class it is easier for me to speak...
...I shall always remember the first day I was called upon in oral English class to speak before the class...
...I have always been interested .n it...
...B. 1...
...If it haff been possible to have the whole group of forty-six together, the experience would have been doubly enriched...
...The scenery was so picturesque that at times I did not know whether it was real, or if I was dreaming...
...That afternoon Aunt Helen came over, and naturally mother complained to her about them...
...Needless to say our lives will be much richer after this six weeks' intimate contact...
...I never thought nature was so beautiful as it was until I took the trip to the Dells...
...The spirit of* Central House is that of initiative, friendship and unity on a common ground, which we hope will imbue not only a group of students at a summer session for Workers in Industry, but all workers in industry.—H...
...Tabard Inn was very quiet in the light of the rising sun...
...A NIGHT WITH THE POET YOU SHOULD have been at the Central House on July 27th, 1927, with the industrial girls of the University of Wisconsin...
...The old hen that cared for these geese always let me play with them so my task was an easy one...
...She *miles with her lips but there is sorrow in her eyes...
...Taking each little goose by the throat, I squeezed it until it was limp...
...n. * * * ART ART is one of the most important factors of life...
...There are some who claim that Sn education without the cultural subjects such as art, music, and literature is useless...
...All the others were very still...
...At six o'clock she went to the front of the house and rang a bell...
...Designing is a wonderful work but in order to become proficient one must have experience...
...It is the kind of work I love, and after a little experience I am able to handle the designing alone...
...As the Sun watched, th...
...WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO FOR A SWIM ' /-pHESE WORDS, heard soon after my arrival in Medison, opened to me an open door through which I went joyfully...
...She has painted some of the most beautiful oil paintings I have ever seen...
...Wonderful adventure, glorious diversions, and six weeks of inspiration...
...The girl smiled...
...In my opinion the purpose of worker's education is to give the workers an intellectual understanding of their daily problems, ami to iuspire them to stay in the working class, :,o that they may help to solve those problems intelligently and collectively...
...For six weeks we lived together, a comradely, united group, enjoying an interesting experience—that of building unity, friendship, and understanding among a group of people whose individual lives may be as varying as day and night, but who have one thing in common, namely, that they are workers...
...A TRIBUTE TO MADISON THE END of * perfect summer is drawing near...
...A shiver as my feet touch the water, a moment of hesitancy, and then the plunge...
...Quietly she slipped from her bed and went to her room...
...Some of the girls went out to serve a lunch and then they all got together and ate it...
...Therefore I had much to learn...
...The beautiful white, colonial home, situated on the banks of the Wisconsin River, the grassy green yard with bird houses and bath pools...
...Now, dear old Madison, dear Miss Davis, faculty members and fellow students, we bid you fare-well.—M...
...The afternoon passed swiftly...
...One day, more annoyed than usual, she made some remark about their making more trouble than they were worth...
...There is much work done to correct foot troubles...
...Professor Leonard is one of the faculty of the University...
...and elementary design, which is a basis of designing...
...The singer stopped, and they all left the room...
...The designs are worked by hand and are therefore very expensive...
...What happened after that you can guess, hut this much 1 shall tell you, I never touched another goose again.—Anna M. Hilmer...
...Another thing that interested me immensely was the little boathouse hidden -in the bushes at the foot of the hill...
...In a moment they all sat down...
...I wish we had room for more!—I...
...I hope to absorb much from this summer session...
...The sun rose higher in the sky...
...A short •wn«( ever the hill and there was a lake, invit-iftir we to come and refresh my mind and body...
...After dinner all the girls went into the living room...
...All the girls flocked from their rooms into the dining room...
...The Sun kept watching and he wondered again what made these girls so cheerful...
...Someone's alarm clock went off...
...Some poems were humorous, some were picturesque and some were fables...
...To begin my story...
...The beauty in Madison has roused me to a sense of the worth-whileness of life...
...figure sketching, which adds to my knowledge of free hand drawing...
...In fact, it beat.so hard I could hardly hear what I was saying...
...Miss Gale's expression in her eyes haunts my memory, and I presume it will for some time...
...We girls feel as if we were exceptionally fortunate in being industrial girls in that Professor Leonard was very pleased with his invitation to come and spend an evening with us...
...all these things can be overcome if the girl is willing to do her share by exercising out of class...
...It was seven o'clock...
...Soon we shall separate and each go her own way, perhaps never to meet again, but before we depart, let all raise their voices in praise to God who made this possible for us...
...Each Friday afternoon we nave lectures on hygiene and general fcgre «f the body...
...After hearing this wonderful poet and spending an evening with him, I feel the sense of "intangibility" that Miss Gale spoke of.—Mary Ruth Sipple...
...the close of the summer session of e University of Wisconsin a little magazine called the "Script" was put out hy the group of industrial workers in attendance...
...When I return to the factory where I am employed, I shall probably have to tell my experiences here at Madison to thirty-five or forty people...
...When I stop to thiink of all the people I have met and the doors that have been opened to mes sometimes I think it must have been a dream ami I fear that I shall wake to disappointment...
...This means much to both girls and the employers.—Esther Can-edy...
...WHY "WORKERS" EDUCATION SINCE the beginning of the worker's educational movement in this country, there has Keen much discussion regarding the emphasis put on "Worker's" instead of "Adult" education...
...From the book shelves she took several volumes that have been autographed by famous authors and showed them to the girls...
...PHYSICAL EDUCATION "ryHYSICAL education means much to the pTi factory employe because nearly all forms |£ kachine work causes some bodily defects...
...This gives workers an understanding that their employers are not the olny cause of their struggles, but a combination of economic and social forces that are beyond individual control...
...the work here we are given exercises to Jwercome these defects...
...The Sun wondered what made them all so happy in the early morning hours...
...All the girls stood quietly around the tables...
...There was an old-fashoned fireplace, melodeon, and book shelves...
...They will first have to have more leisure, and much more assurance as to steadiness of their jobs...
...Zona Gale's home impressed me very much...
...ASTORY that mother used to often tell in company is one of my childhood...
...Play at Madison Summer School, to me means swimming.—Martha Ingram...
...I first draw the designs...
...My experience will ever linger in my memory, a joy and an inspiration...
...How much we learned from each other...
...I was born in a little village in Hungary...
...Here a pretty dark-haired girl was singing...
...Burr-rr...
...Coming to Madison has been more dear to me than anything else in the world...
...Having nothing else to do the sun thought it would watch the figures and sea what they were going to do...
...It stirred my sympathy so much that I thought 1 would end it all...
...Girls ran all over the hou»s, all smiling and laughing...
...PLAY HOURS AT MADISON FOUR-THIRTY...
...H. * » * THE SPIRIT OF CENTRAL HOUSE NINETEEN of us girls from* various states and almost as many different kinds of industries and environments, attending the Summer Session for Workers in Industry, weto located at Central House...
...Soon he saw a girl come from the cottage at the rear of the "Inn" and go in...
...She has several pieces of antique furniture which add atmosphere to her home...
...As it is quite a different scene from any in our country here, it may be interesting to some of you...
...It must be that house again," he thought, s> he sent a stream of golden light right down through the window of the house to see what was going on...
...The sun was high in the skies...
...Suddenly he heard a faint ringing of a beil...
...The reason I am confident of this fact is that when I first came to Madison, I was unable to speak before a group of people without becoming embarrassed and self-conscious...
...The variety of his choice made the evening pass swiftly in spite of the unusually warm weather...
...My mother was an artist...
...MY ORAL ENGLISH WORK OF ALL my studies here at Madison the subject which I btlieve is going to make the greatest and most noticeable change in me is my oral English...
...Of course I don't wish to infer that I could stand before a large audience and deliver r.n oration, but what I do mean is that each day I become less self-conscious...
...1 am afraid my head has been turned by such an op-< portunity, such an adventure—all so new and to beautiful...
...I only hope that my audience will note the improvement, my oral English has made in me.—Beulah McMcchan...
...Some went swimming, others riding, and some sat around reading and talking...
...whole fcouse seemed to become alive...
...After breakfast some of them went to church and others sat around nad studied until it was time for them to go to their church services...
...She turned her head, a tear rolled down her cheek...
...The girl looked at the clock on the other sida of the porch and saw it was five o'cltc...
...He has been teaching a class in the writing of poetry...
...My tongue seemed to stick to the roof of my mouth, and I was so frightened that if I had been standing in front of a wild lion, I do not think my heart could have beaten any louder...
...It was an evening that will not soon be forgotten...
...What is the difference...
...They, also had a pig or two, a cow and some poultry...
...Again a bell rang...
...Again they played and sang and danced...
...The old Sun winked and said to himself as he was sinking down behind the horizon, "There is the happiest bunch of girls I have ever seen...
...I hope to go back to my concern with many over Ideas and a better knowledge of design.— Wtartaxe Dellwo...
...When the girls return to their work, they will be in much better physical condition and they know how to overcome these physical imperfections in the future...
...Fallen arches and flat feet are corrected by some of the practices given...
...The people were not exactly farmers, but each family had a little land on which they raised vegetables for their own use...
...As he watchs-:!, one of the figures stretched its arms and set i-o...
...The singer was still singing...
...This common ground that we met upon, exchanging experiences and problems with which we were faced every day as we lived the routine life of a large family, served to break down more barriers, do away with more prejudices, and develop a spirit of unity, than could have been done in any other-way...
...She sang on and on, and the Sun, as it peeked into the room, saw one girl sitting in a chair in the corner of the room...
...She seems as though she was very-lonely.—Erna Turk...
...The Sun thought, "This will never do," so a small sunbeam crept over to the chair of the homesick girl and twinkled' back and forth before her...
...It gives such a vivid picture of the gifts and personality of the students, the spirit, life, and work of the session, that we are very fortunate in being able to share parts of it with our readers...
...It has been his custom to refuse this sort of invitation, but being interested in this course for workers in industry, he gladly accepted...
...The nicest thing about "worker's" education is the freedom from worry about degrees and diplomas, the reward being the privilege of erving the working class.—Sadie Goodman...
...What more could one ask for...
...After I had finished the high school art course, I be.ame a designer of rugs for the Klearflax Linen Rug Company of Duluth...
...The girl went into the kitchen and prepared,breakfast...
...And now when I think of saying goodbye, I feel as Alice must have felt when sb& stepped out of Wonderland...
...With a brave little smile despite my fears, as 1 began to realize what I had don% I managed to say, 'Mother, now t4»e poor little geese won't eat any more lettuce...
...At this stage of the worker's educational movement it is impossible to expect workers, whose habits have been molded by long hours of monotonous factory work, to get the significance of the •beautiful things in life...
Vol. 19 • September 1927 • No. 9
