Cornell University Library 
 HN 79.A2S6 
 
 Social centers in the Southwest; beginnin 
 
 3 1924 013 896 679 
 
 ^mt OfnUege of Agricultute 
 
 At OfarnEU IntUErHttu 
 
 3tl(ar8. Jf. g. 
 
 ICjbracjj 
 
SOCIAL CENTERS 
 
 IN THE 
 
 SOUTHWEST 
 
 Beginnings 
 Why community welfare demands them 
 Hoiv they dre being organized 
 and maintained ' • 
 
 NEW EDITION 
 Texas Farm anitRanch Publishing Co. 
 
 Dallas, Texas, 1912 
 
, \, copyright im 
 Texas Farm and R^Nea Puii. Co. 
 Prire IScPippaid- -I. 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 In presenting to the public a second 
 booklet on social centers, the publishers 
 respond to the many requests for infor- 
 mation that have come to them from the 
 Southwestern states and from practical- 
 ly every state in the Union. 
 
 These requests take the form of ques- 
 tions as to the origin and growth of the 
 social center movement in the South- 
 west, the needs and value of the work, 
 how social centers may be organized 
 and definitely what can be done to sus- 
 tain them. This bulletin attempts to 
 answer such questions and marks the 
 step our section is now taking from a 
 discussion of the theory and the need of 
 social centers to the practical work of 
 organizing and maintaining them. 
 
 Texas Farm and Ranch 
 Publishing Company. 
 

 The cheery ^Smith ^So< I al Center in Gmv^oii County. Texat<— at ready the 
 seenf iif \C(>1 es af t 7 on liett nteetintjs. 
 
 Promtnent CMntriliiUors in iluinglit and sj^eech, to the Southwestern Con I'er- 
 eaae. In the middle, below, are President Holland, of the Con- 
 ference, and Professor Ward, speaker of honor. 
 
Contents 
 
 Page 
 
 The Social Center Movement 7 
 
 by diaries W. Holman, 
 Associate Editor, Farm and Ranch, 
 Secretary Southwestern Social Center Con- 
 ference. 
 
 When a Neighborhood Gets Overblown 7 
 
 Who Is to Blame in Your Home? 7 
 
 1. Southwestern Social Center Development 8 
 
 First Meeting Great Success 9 
 
 Schools and Communities Earn Libraries 10 
 
 2. Movement Becomes National in Scope 11 
 
 Purpose Both Civic and Social 11 
 
 Social Center Must Fit Social Needs 11 
 
 Against the "Uplift" Idea 12 
 
 Rural Southwest Sets the Pace 12 
 
 3. How to Organize a Country Social Center 13 
 
 Town and City Social Centers 15 
 
 4. Maintaining the Social Center 15 
 
 5. Subjects for Discussion in Social Centers 17 
 
 6. Social Side of Schoolhouse Gatherings 21 
 
 7. Harnessing Social Forces for Small Town Advance- 
 
 ment 24 
 
 The Power of the Social Center 26 
 
 by Carroll D. Murphy, 
 
 Farm and Ranch — Holland's Magazine 
 
 Social Center Service. 
 
 1. Social Center Directs and Simplliies Living 26 
 
 2. Miakes the Home Town Better to Live In 27 
 
 3. What the Library Means in Social Center Work 27 
 
 4. Good Books the Sign of a Progressive Community. 
 
 5. Success through Varied Programs for an Entire 
 
 Season 30 
 
 Suggested Constitution for Neighborhood Civic Clubs 31 
 
 By-Laws and Order of Business 32 
 
 Bibliography 33 
 
■iiil CviUrr ''Fiehl J>i/i/" <it Grandvieii\ Ten/.s. N'>n-uil>r 
 whei e the 'pi'nplp Jur miles around got tof/etJier for n 
 typiral/i/ s< I iii}{ western outdoor day of 
 .social life and recreation. 
 
 JJij tlic CininiiiniHii ''split/o'j d/-</</" tJiis avenue to the -S';/ 
 Center is- kept the iv/iole year round as i/mi. .sff. 
 <>oini roads mean good weelings 
 and. good sehooJs 
 
 — 6— 
 
 iili Soi-ial 
 
The Social Center Movement 
 
 CHARLES W. HOLMAN 
 
 ASOCIAL Center is any place where all the people 
 of a community frequently gather for free discus- 
 sion of public questions and for social, moral and 
 recreational activities. The places where "all" the peo- 
 ple are most likely to gather are the city hall, the coun- 
 ty courthouse and the public school building. Of these 
 the public school comes nearest to fulfilling the desires 
 of young and old for a common gathering place. There- 
 fore, the public school is implied throughout this book- 
 let wherever the term "social center" occurs. 
 
 When a Neighborhood Gets Overblown. 
 
 When folks get "puffed up" into believing they 
 can get along without neighborliness, it is time to paint 
 the school house, light it up and invite ourselves into 
 the community sitting-room. 
 
 When we are sure we don't have any town or 
 country problems — ^that our home folks are just the 
 best ever — that there's nothing the matter with our 
 community spirit — we are threatened with an attack 
 of social egotism, and we need the social center. 
 
 At the community schoolhouse we can take off our 
 political, religious and society coats, and become shirt 
 sleeves workers for democracy, inspired by a sense of 
 comradeship and a true civic spirit. But we sometimes 
 get so chock full of ourselves — full of personal vanity 
 and spiritual sloth — that we "fall down" on the job so- 
 ciety has given us. 
 
 Who Is to Blame in Your Home? 
 
 How about your neighborhood ? It is easy to point 
 out that Mr. Jones is a rich old curdmudgeon who fights 
 all school or other public improvement taxes. But are 
 
 —7— 
 
you doing your share? As a parent do you visit the 
 school ; do you confer with the teacher on how to make 
 the school more efficient and useful to the community? 
 Do you attend the meetings of the city council, or of the 
 local school board? Do you go out to public meetings 
 and take a part in the discussion of improved methods 
 of farming, or of some local tax issue ? Do you do your 
 part all along the line that connects you with your 
 neighborhood life? 
 
 Is your community noted for its well-kept fences, 
 its capacious barns, its painted houses and its flower 
 yards? Is your schoolhouse easy to reach in rainy 
 weather? Has your school a library, a community- 
 owned and used talking machine and a stereopticon ? 
 If not, who needs the social center, you or the other 
 fellow? Which community needs a social center, the 
 other fellow's or your own? If you live in a commu- 
 nity that needs a tightening of its social ligaments, is 
 it your duty to begin this work, or is it the other fel- 
 low's? 
 
 One of the happiest signs in this century of dis- 
 content is that society at last not only gives the affirm- 
 ative answer to the question, "Am I my brother's 
 keeper," but is also adding "And I am my brother's 
 helper." 
 
 Southwestern Social Center Development 
 
 Nine million people live in the Southwest ; yet the 
 section has by no means found itself. If Texas alone 
 were developed agriculturally to the point where Illi- 
 nois now stands we would be raising the equivalent of 
 forty instead of four million bales of cotton. Vast 
 tracts of raw lands still await the plow and many set- 
 tlements, for lack of railroad facilities, are cut off 
 from the world. But other portions of the Southwest 
 have been settled for several generations and, in 
 these, an agrarian revolution is a very present fact. 
 Farm owners in prairie sections have been and still 
 are moving townward in large numbers. 
 
 Complicating the problem is a steady stream of 
 immigration from other parts of the nation and from 
 foreign shores — a stream which, if undiminished for 
 
 —8— 
 
ten years, will wear away sectional aspects and reduce 
 social problems to a common statement. 
 
 The foreign immigrant presents a serious difficul- 
 ty. He not only segregates and makes a strong effort 
 to reestablish his native customs down to the very 
 minutiae of life, but his lower standard of living oper- 
 ates to force the native merchant and farmer out of 
 business. Still, we must not forget that the foreigner 
 has much to contribute to common progress. 
 
 In the Southwest we have also not only landlord 
 and tenant complications of stupendous significance, 
 but from the very newness and richness of our lands, 
 a most pernicious and primitive field crop system of 
 farming has become prevalent. Better direction of ef- 
 fort will vastly increase the acre production on South- 
 western farms, and closer attention to business will 
 increase prices of farm products. 
 
 Through the community gathering much will be 
 done to make straight the highroad of progress 
 through this maze of untoward conditions. 
 
 While all recognize the desirability of focusing so- 
 cial forces in a community, it remained for the South- 
 western Social Center Conference to point out the vital 
 need and great benefits bound to accrue. 
 
 First Meeting Great Success. 
 
 For 29 years Colonel Frank P. Holland, publisher 
 of Farm and Ranch and Holland's Magazine, had agi- 
 tated community cooperation through his farm jour- 
 nal. For months we had kept the social center idea 
 constantly before the public. On the first day of Feb- 
 ruary, 1911, the time was deemed ripe for a general 
 conference. Col. Holland issued the call and financed 
 the gathering. We had just sixteen days' time to 
 work up an attendance; but 350 delegates came, and 
 150 were from outside Dallas. 
 
 This conference held two sessions in the auditor- 
 ium of the Dallas high school. We threshed out 
 Southwestern problems pretty thoroughly, and began 
 a great "get-together" movement for our section. One 
 or two things are notable about the meeting. From 
 laborer to capitalist, from clergyman to tailor, from 
 landlord to tenant, every class was represented. There 
 
was no dissension. And the press of the Southwest 
 hailed it as the most unique and one of the most im- 
 portant gatherings ever called together; while publi- 
 cations in the East and North recognized it as the first 
 of its kind to be held in the world. 
 
 Schools and Commimities Earn Libraries. 
 As an aid to communities, Farm and Ranch 
 placed a library before the schools. This was in co- 
 operation with the various state departments of edu- 
 cation, and was based on actual cost to us. We also 
 
 furnished a plan 
 whereby any school 
 district can secure a 
 small library and 
 add to it each suc- 
 ceeding year. 
 
 We began with 
 the library because 
 not one country 
 school in 40 now has 
 any books at all ; 
 hundreds of town 
 schools badly need 
 good books, and 
 there is but slight 
 provision for state 
 aid. 
 
 Response has been 
 gratifying. Over 300 
 schools have aided 
 themselves by t h i s 
 community plan. We have already distributed 10,000 
 volumes, and from ten to fifteen communities are now 
 taking up the plan each week. Expertly chosen lists of 
 attractive reading for young and old have thus been 
 placed within reach of all. The library has proved 
 an effective beginning in neighborhood social life. 
 
 State-wide organizations of women, educators, 
 farmers and business men have lent their cooperation 
 to the social center program, and the press has not 
 only given generously of its space, but also editorial 
 endorsement of the strongest kind. 
 
 The Gfendalt' Srhoolwhosr ^'Wliir/ii ind 'V 
 
 of eighteen boris anrl qtrl\ firouserf llie < oi 
 
 inintity to a f^ tenftht i olitest and it on 
 
 tJie first Farm and litnn h Litnai ii 
 
 in T^TS/ Texft\ Theif hni p \ttne 
 
 earned an adildionid \ef 
 
 —10— 
 
So effective has been this combined agitation that 
 very few school buildings will be built in the future 
 without regard to their possible use by communities 
 for other than school purposes. 
 
 Movement Becomes National in Scope 
 
 The great success of the Southwestern Social 
 Center Conference led to the calling of a national gath- 
 ering at Madison, Wis., under the auspices of the ex- 
 tension division of the University pf Wisconsin. At 
 this gathering the Social Center Association of Amer- 
 ica effected the change from a provisional to a perma- 
 nent organization. The gathering itself was in a so- 
 cial sense the most notable since our fathers "pulled 
 off" the Boston Tea Party. 
 
 Purpose Both Civic and Social. 
 
 The purpose of the national social center move- 
 ment is to give the school building its widest possible 
 range of activity. This becomes both educational and 
 social. The educator can extend the usefulness of the 
 school to the individual beyond the age of youth 
 and prolong this usefulness throughout life. Under 
 this division will come all night school work, men's 
 and women's gymnastic classes, free lyceum courses, 
 etc. For the people the school becomes the natural 
 place for social gatherings, for musical entertain- 
 ments, for neighborhood meetings of every nature 
 that will make life more enjoyable. 
 
 The movement has a further purpose — to develop 
 through the men's and women's civic clubs a political 
 conscience that is non-partisan — a people who will 
 vote for measures and men rather than for parties 
 and machines. 
 
 Social Center Must Fit Social Needs. 
 
 The nature of the social center and its relations 
 to the people will vary according to section, or whether 
 the institution is in city, town or country. It was not 
 strange that the delegates from the cities should have 
 ideas about the use of public school buildings which 
 would not be applicable .to open country conditions. 
 Thus the city delegates clamoied for the right to use 
 
 —11— 
 
the school building for free discussion of public ques- 
 tions — a use which has been recognized in country dis- 
 tricts from time immemorial. But the representatives 
 of the farming interest emphasized the economic and 
 purely social sides of the question. "The social cen- 
 ter in the country will put more money in the farmer's 
 purse," said a man from the rural districts. "It will 
 solve the troubles of the farmer's vdfe," said another. 
 Again and again was the truth brought home that the 
 Southwest must work out its own salvation — ^that our 
 problems are peculiarly our own. 
 
 Against the "Uplift" Idea. 
 
 Another point in connection with this movement 
 was the emphasis with which the leading speakers dis- 
 claimed any connection with the "uplift" movement. 
 A fine distinction was drawn between efforts for the 
 people by private citizens and efforts with the people 
 by paid public servants. The Madison meeting de- 
 rided the idea of "uplifting men and women," when- 
 ever the term was applied in the sense of an upper 
 class reaching down. It substituted the word "prog- 
 ress" for the word "uplift." This is strictly in har- 
 mony with Farm and Ranch's well known point of 
 view, that, if any "uplifting" is to be done, the farmer 
 is the one to do it in his neighborhood. 
 
 It follows that, when we make the schoolhouse a 
 social center, we place in the hands of a community 
 an instrument for its own salvation. Herein lies the 
 great difference between the free use of the school- 
 house of yesterday and the social center movement of 
 today. In other days we had no idea of giving a neigh- 
 borhood a conscious social direction, of creating a 
 more ideal community life. Today we work with that 
 idea definitely in mind. It is a long civic stride we 
 have taken. 
 
 Rural Southwest Sets the Pace. 
 
 In social center development the East is working 
 mainly with city population, the Middle West with 
 small towns and cities. For progress in rural districts 
 the nation looks to the Southwest to set the pace. We 
 do not follow, then, but lead in conscious community 
 
 —12— 
 
building. When it is remembered that in none of the 
 Southwestern states is there a state appropriation to 
 aid this work, but that every case has been one of spon- 
 taneous growth, what we have done is little short of 
 remarkable. 
 
 So strong is the sentiment for this work, that 
 letters asking for information and for speakers to pre- 
 sent the subject come in daily. 
 
 How to Organize a Country Social Center 
 
 A rural school teacher writes : 
 
 "We have been reading about the social center 
 movement in Farm and Ranch, and wish to try it out 
 in our neighborhood. Can you tell us how to begin?" 
 
 This correspondent is ideally situated to begin so- 
 cial center work, because no person, unless it be the 
 local minister, comes in closer contact with all the peo- 
 ple in her community. 
 
 Let this teacher announce to her pupils on Mon- 
 day that on Friday night there will be a meeting in 
 the schoolhouse for the purpose of organizing a social 
 center. Now, the chances are that a great many will 
 not know why the meeting is called, but this, in itself, 
 will serve to arouse curiosity. 
 
 It would be well to have some speakers from out- 
 side the community; but this is not absolutely neces- 
 sary. Each day, as the week passes, she can keep an 
 interest stirred up by revealing some new phase about 
 the Friday night meeting to the children, and have 
 them carry this information to their parents. 
 
 Very likely, when Friday night comes, there will 
 be a good crowd. After a chairman has been elected, 
 the teacher can then state the object of the meeting, 
 telling about the success which other communities 
 have had by regular meetings to discuss questions of 
 interest to them : such as better crop methods, better 
 seed, better market facilities, good roads, better school 
 buildings, eauipment, etc. She should then turn the 
 attention of the community to the needs of her particu- 
 lar school, and seek to awaken a real interest in the in- 
 stitution for its betterment. The other speakers should 
 talk along similar lines. 
 
 In choosing speakers for the initial meeting, the 
 
 —13— 
 
teacher should be careful to get men and women of 
 known influence, with ability to arouse enthusiasm. 
 
 After the speeches the chairman should call upon 
 other citizens for expression of their views, and they 
 will usually be unanimous in expressing their convic- 
 tion that the whole neighborhood will benefit from such 
 regular meetings. Then is the time to strike. The 
 teacher should have a citizen move that the community 
 hold another meeting the next Friday night. Another 
 resident should move that the chairman appoint a 
 program and entertainment committees. To insure 
 the right kind of workers, the personnel of these com- 
 mittees should be made up before the meeting is held. 
 
 At the second meeting "pull off" a rattling good 
 program.. We suggest that this second program be 
 something like the following : 
 
 Opening prayer by the local minister, to be fol- 
 lowed by patriotic songs, such as "Columbia," "My 
 Country 'Tis of Thee," "Dixie," etc. Sing enough of 
 these songs to break the ice and get everybody to feel- 
 ing good. Follow this by a recitation or declamation 
 by one of the older boys or girls in the school. Then 
 let two leading citizens debate some question as : "Re- 
 solved, That Cooperation Is Better Than Individual 
 Effort in Community Building;" or, "Resolved, That 
 a Bond Issue Is Better Than Direct Tax for Building 
 Good Roads." If this debate has been properly adver 
 tised it will bring people from all over the county. 
 
 Particular emphasis should be laid upon the ne- 
 cessity of an open-minded attitude toward all ques- 
 tions. After the debate there should be a closing ad- 
 dress by, say, the county judge, or the county school 
 superintendent, either of whom will be glad to come 
 out. 
 
 The program committee should keep very active. 
 At either the first or second meeting, have the chair- 
 man appoint a live community betterment committee. 
 It will be the duty of this committee to devise ways and 
 means of securing through community cooperation, in- 
 stitutions such as school libraries, stereopticons, etc., 
 for the entertainment and education of the citizens. 
 This committee should advise constantly with the pro- 
 gram committee so as to keep community action al- 
 
 —14— 
 
ways before the people. If there is no library connect- 
 ed with the school, or if the library needs strengthen- 
 ing, this will be one of the first things that will catch 
 the popular heart and a special Library Committee is 
 in order. Every school where these meetings are held 
 regularly, should have a small stereopticon or magic 
 lantern. 
 
 By such methods a community can veritably res- 
 urrect itself, put vigor into its members and do many 
 things for its own advancement. But the good accom- 
 plished will be in just the degree that these meetings 
 are kept up. Five months, however, will work won- 
 ders with the backward, self-satisfied neighborhood. 
 
 Town and City Social Centers. 
 
 Any enthusiastic resident, though there should be 
 at least two, can adapt this plan suggested for the 
 rural school teacher. It does not matter whether the 
 neighborhood be in country, town or city. In fact, the 
 organization of a city neighborhood bears a close re- 
 semblance to that of a rural one. The small town is a 
 trifle more complex, because a larger group will find 
 the school building its center, 
 
 Maintaining the Social Center 
 
 After the people have agreed to use their school 
 building as a clubhouse the next thing is to provide a 
 way for Iceeping the building open and at the service 
 of the people, yet safe from fire and other damages. 
 In country districts this work can easily be done by vol- 
 unteer effort of the young men. But if the building is 
 in a town or in a city, it will be better to employ a 
 night janitor and caretaker. 
 
 Should the people desire to use certain rooms for 
 social activities that require free space, a carpenter 
 can easily unscrew the desks and mount them on skids. 
 When possible, schools should purchase a movable desk- 
 chair. Such a chair is made so it can be adjusted to 
 the individual. 
 
 If there are several rooms in the building, the 
 people may dedicate one for library and reading room, 
 one for social games, one or two for civic or debating 
 clubs, while the auditorium will amply meet the needs 
 
 —15— 
 
of general gatherings. Where communities are get- 
 ting ready to build new school buildings they should 
 seek expert counsel so as to arrange their buildings 
 with a view to community use. Many school districts 
 are having structures built with folding walls between 
 rooms. In this manner school rooms can be thrown to- 
 gether to form auditoriums. 
 
 It is always advisable to have the seats in the audi- 
 torium movable, and the floor of hardwood. The peo- 
 ple may then easily turn such a room into a combina- 
 tion study hall, assembly hall and gymnasium. The 
 
 Gymnasium uf the Oklahorna City High ScJtuot. .U this school iniporttuil 
 social ceyiter bef/iitnitigs have been ina.de. 
 
 gymnasium apparatus can be suspended from the ceil- 
 ing, to be raised or lowered according to vnsh. 
 
 The money outlay for these plans need not be 
 great. But it is advisable to consult with the extension 
 division of your state university when such changes 
 are contemplated. The University of Texas furnishes 
 advice and architectural plans free to school districts. 
 
 When possible it is better to have civic, social and 
 recreational activities in the schoolhouses under the 
 auspices of the board of education, or the school trus- 
 tees. That body or the town council should pay the 
 necessary expenses connected with maintenance of a 
 
 —16— 
 
social center. If this cannot be done, popular subscrip- 
 tions, or entertainments to which admission is charged 
 will meet the requirements. 
 
 A few hundred dollars will equip almost any town 
 school building for this work. Little money need be 
 spent on the country school building; but this idea of 
 common use should always be in mind when that com- 
 munity builds a rural high school. The people can 
 raise funds by cooperative effort to pay for all equip- 
 ment. 
 
 Subjects for Discussion in Social Centers 
 
 In every neighborhood there are local questions 
 that interest the people more than anything else. 
 When the entertainment or program committee gets 
 to work in earnest, these subjects will spring up. Dis- 
 cussion of them will awaken a keen popular interest 
 and always bring out a crowd. 
 
 In the Southwest a debate will never fail to draw 
 an appreciative audience. Local issues involving 
 broad principles make favorite questions. Recently, 
 a community in Cook county, Texas, for its initial 
 social center meeting, debated the merits of the Texas 
 Agricultural High School law. The Parcels Post is 
 another question that has both local and national sig- 
 nificance; National Control or National Ownership of 
 Express Companies will interest any community where 
 fruit or truck shipping is an important item of income 
 to its members. Other topics of national scope, upon 
 which it is easy to secure reliable information are : 
 
 Coeducation. 
 
 Woman's Suffrage. 
 
 Workmen's Compensation Acts. 
 
 High Cost of Living. 
 
 Woman's Status in the Home. 
 
 Initiative and Referendum. 
 
 The Recall of Political and Judicial Officers. 
 
 A Graduated Income Tax. 
 
 Direct Primaries. 
 
 Subjects on which it is well to have some com- 
 petent local person or visitor speak, followed by gen- 
 eral discussion, are: 
 
 How Can I Help the Schools? 
 
 —17— 
 
Priii/il iif luliiiiing good books. School at liurion, Texas, luhose teacher ii'vites: 
 
 ''■Boys and girls are reading these books who have never 
 
 before been in the habit of reading.^' 
 
 , I </i'/i' dan — //"■ /'/v'.sv 
 W'anrn'^ Clnl 
 
 itu 
 
 inn 
 
 ii( 
 
 1 Farm -i 
 
 1 III 
 
 Mil 
 
 lili 
 
 II. n/.lri. 
 
 III! 
 
 lilii, 
 
 '■.^ 
 
 illn/iiiri- / 
 
 d Ranch. Librargto the school by the ^fader 
 
 A token of tlie So^i.tlurfKf s stvift and 
 nm nionecr condithms. 
 
 —18— 
 
This wide-aivake East Te.ras school curned a lihrurii in dro ereniui}.': 
 
 Arrival of good books, self-earned, ni the CTiico. Tera^, Instdide 
 
A County-Supported Rest Room in the Court 
 House for Country Women. 
 
 Waterworks for the Farm Home. 
 
 The social center on the Smith farm in Grayson 
 county, Texas, makes it a point to meet every Friday 
 night during the winter months to discuss some farm- 
 ing topic. These topics are seasonable and have a 
 practical bearing. At one of these meetings the farm- 
 ers took up "Corn Seed Selection and Testing," at 
 another, "Why the Cotton Seed of Our Community is 
 Inferior and How to Improve It." And at a third 
 "Shall We Plant Wheat?" These people also held 
 flower planting, tree planting and good roads meetings. 
 So valuable have been the points brought out at these 
 gatherings that one farmer said — "I have been able 
 to increase my crop production ten per cent per acre 
 from what I learned here in one night." 
 
 Other subjects of direct interest to Southwestern 
 farm communities are: 
 
 Resolved, that Diversified Farming Is More Profi- 
 table Than Specialized Farming. 
 
 Resolved, that a Cooperative Laundry (Creamery, 
 Ice House, Elevator, or Any Other Common Project) 
 Would Benefit Our Community. 
 
 Everyone has something he can contribute to 
 these meetings. The young woman just returned from 
 college, the athletic young man, the physician, the 
 minister — all can aid. 
 
 Perhaps the young woman is an accomplished 
 musician. Why not have a volunteer musical organi- 
 zation — a string band, a quartet, or a small orchestra? 
 None who remembers the zeal with which he practiced 
 to hold his place in the "town band" will doubt but 
 this attempt will receive acclamation and a ready re- 
 spon se. ' 
 
 The athletic young Inanwiir gladly impart of his 
 gymnasium, football, baseball or track experience, and, 
 will conduct night classes for the education of the 
 body. 
 
 A range of interesting subjects is at the command 
 of the physician. His lectures on defective eyes, care 
 of the voice, prevention of colds, sanitation of out- 
 buildings, adenoid grovrths, defective hearing, social 
 
 —20— 
 
responsibility for tuberculosis, typhoid, malaria and 
 other preventable diseases will attract large numbers 
 of parents and result in many school and community 
 reforms. 
 
 The minister can contribute valuable lectures on 
 such subjects as Sanitary Laws of the Hebrews, Social 
 Reforms in Palestine, The Institutional Church, Moral 
 Wastes, etc. 
 
 A life insurance man can always give an interest- 
 ing talk on the Fundamentals of Life Insurance. His 
 thoughts should bring out an animated discussion of 
 the possible advantages of governmental accident and 
 life insurance over private companies. 
 
 The social center offers the teacher or the sup- 
 erintendent a magnificent opportunity to interest all 
 the people in his work by presenting such subjects as : 
 
 The Nature and Needs of the Child. 
 
 School Records and School Efficiency. 
 
 Social Effect of Moving Pictures Upon the Child. 
 
 Rural School Consolidation. 
 
 Advantages of an Agricultural (or Household 
 Economics) Course to the Child. 
 
 The local banker can discuss : 
 
 How the Young Man Can Build a Credit. 
 
 Financing the Cotton (Grain, Fruit, etc.) Crop. 
 
 Cooperation Between Farmer, Business Man and 
 Banker. 
 
 In such a meeting the commercial secretary should 
 find a great opportunity to enlist all the people in ef- 
 forts to bring in new settlers and enterprises, or to 
 promote the agricultural and commercial interests of 
 the community. 
 
 To amplify this list of subjects throughout the 
 whole range of neighborhood life is not difficult. 
 
 Social Side of School House Gatherings 
 
 However worthy the undertaking or fraught with 
 good for the people, no common gathering will con- 
 tinue to draw representative attendance unless the 
 recreational and the social features counterbalance 
 the civic. Do not get too serious in planning your pro- 
 grams. Ease up on the heavj' stuff. Put some ginger 
 into the meetings. Let the comic spirit have a chance. 
 
 —21— 
 
Unless a social center exerts the same kind of pull 
 that a baseball game or a theatrical performance has, 
 it will not succeed. The people will get best results 
 when they go to these meetings because there is some- 
 thing in them of real interest, and because they enjoy 
 them. 
 
 On the principle that everybody is there to have a 
 good time, the chair will do w^ell to disrobe his office 
 of all semblance of officialism and to banish all form- 
 ality. The fact that it is "everybody's meeting," 
 should never escape an audience. This results in 
 spontaneity. If the people come for several meetings 
 and it is very difficult to interest them in the free dis- 
 cussions, something is wrong. If it lies in the pro- 
 grams, change them. Perhaps the subjects are too 
 "high-browed." If so, get down to earth. But if the 
 trouble lies in a reluctance to speak without prepara- 
 tion, or from the fact that the people do not feel ex- 
 actly at ease with one another, try the lubricating 
 effect of song. 
 
 How better open a social center gathering than 
 by ten or fifteen minutes of good old-fashioned singing 
 by the audience? Sing patriotic songs, or the social 
 center songs used at Rochester, New York. One of 
 these songs follows: 
 
 WHAT "SOCIAL CENTER" MEANS. 
 Air: "Auld Lang Syne." 
 All. 
 Did you ever stop to figure out 
 What Social Center means? 
 Here you will find democracy, 
 Men-kings, and women-queens. 
 Here, each one can express his thought; 
 All stand on equal ground; 
 Here Diff' rences are all forgot, 
 Here, Brotherhood is found. 
 
 Boys. 
 We boys, who used to waste our time 
 On corners of the street, 
 Now turn our back on loafing — 
 We've a better place to meet; 
 A place where we can build ourselves, 
 Our body and our mind; 
 And we. will surely make good here. 
 The Center pays; you'll find. 
 
 —22— 
 
Girls. 
 
 We girls, who used to pose in front 
 
 Of mirrors half the day 
 
 Now have the roses in our cheeks ^ 
 
 Our powder's thrown away, 
 
 Wte know that brains are more than hats, 
 
 That heads are more than hair; 
 
 We're here because we mean to be 
 
 Useful, as well as fair. 
 
 Men. 
 We men here meet without constraint 
 Real questions to decide. 
 To face the common enemy 
 We stand here side by side. 
 Old prejudice is on the run. 
 Injustice, too, shall go. 
 Wiy Rochester should not be right 
 To us you'll have to show. 
 
 Women. 
 We women count as human here. 
 We've heads as well as heart 
 In solving civic problems we 
 Have come to do our part. 
 For the ideals of the home, 
 Expression we shall find 
 In cleaner, happier city-life 
 More beautiful and kind. 
 
 All. 
 
 And so we've told you what to us 
 
 The Social Center means; 
 
 Here you will find democracy. 
 
 Men-kings, and women-queens. 
 
 Here each one can express his thought. 
 
 All stand on equal ground. 
 
 Here diff'rences are all forgot, 
 
 Here Brotherhood is found. 
 
 After the people have been warmed up by this 
 singing, the chairman should have announcements 
 read and carry out the program. This program was 
 recently put on in a social center: 
 
 Piano solo, by a young woman. 
 
 Monolog, by a young man. 
 
 Talk, "Neighbors of Yesterday and Today," by a 
 middle-aged citizen. 
 
 Two selections by the social center male quartet. 
 
 Debate, "Resolved that the Express Business of 
 
 —23— 
 
the Nation Should Be Owned by the People and Oper- 
 ated by the Post Office Department." 
 
 After the debate the subject was thrown open for 
 discussion and comments were free and pertinent. 
 
 Immediately after the regular program there 
 should be a social gathering, chaperoned by the "Good- 
 time Committee," whose duty will be to see that every- 
 body does have "a good time." Sometimes this will 
 not be practical on account of the length of time it 
 takes to carry out the program and the time consumed 
 by the free discussions. On other occasions, it is well 
 to cut short the time for the program and allow for 
 the social element. Refreshments add much to the 
 zest of the occasion. Plenty of music, plenty of 
 laughter and just enough of the serious, make an ideal 
 evening; from it, people will go with pleasant mem- 
 ories, looking forward to other meetings. 
 
 Harnessing Social Forces for Small Town 
 Advancement 
 
 Not a few letters come to Farm and Ranch and 
 Holland's Magazine asking for information on how to 
 plan a program for advancement that will include all 
 the social agencies in the town. 
 
 Those who have this move at heart should first 
 make a list of all the societies or organizations in the 
 community. Next, have a meeting at which these or- 
 ganizations are represented. Talk over the project 
 and form a central committee from the delegates repre- 
 sented. The central committee should select from with- 
 in itself a small number of men and women who will 
 undertake the executive work. Attached to this execu- 
 tive committee should be the mayor and the president 
 of the board of education (or the superintendent of 
 schools), who will act as ex-officio members. 
 
 The town is now in a position to go about the work 
 of focusing its social forces in a methodical way. 
 Through the central improvement committee the exact 
 work of each organization and its plans can be ascer- 
 tained. Through the executive committee, by counsel- 
 ing and suggestion, this work can be shaped for the 
 definite end of a town more ali-ve and a deeper civic 
 life. This will prevent much waste of social effort. 
 
 —24— 
 
It will also prevent the development of prejudices and 
 ill feelings, such as often arise from organizations dis- 
 covering that they are duplicating each other's work. 
 This executive committee will act as a clearing house 
 for the social agencies of the town. 
 
 This executive committee will find it valuable to 
 inaugurate a social survey. This is, in reahty, "to 
 talve stock" as far as each family in the community is 
 concerned. The "surveyors" will ascertain how many 
 social agencies, a s 
 lodges, societies, and 
 churches, reach into 
 each family, or 
 whether any do. 
 They will find out at 
 what center a farm 
 family in the town's 
 trade territory 
 trades and why. 
 They will also dis- 
 cover what individ- 
 uals think should be 
 
 done to make theirs SflwolbuUdiiig erected by negro tenants on 
 
 a better city — how, 
 etc. Other parts of 
 the survey should 
 deal with sanitation, conditions of workers, etc. 
 
 When this information is in hand, the committee 
 can prepare a chart which will show graphically the 
 social strength and weakness of the community. 
 
 Such information is necessary before any com- 
 munity can intelligently work toward solving its local 
 problems, but it is not necessary to generate enthus- 
 iasm. The enthusiasm must come from sincere per- 
 sonalities who believe in the good to be done and the 
 need for doing it. Individual earnestness leads to gen- 
 eral earnestness, and the latter to social solidarity. 
 
 Tfxa^ landlord's estate. It tvillbe the 
 first negro social center opened 
 in the Viiitecl States.::? 
 
 —26- 
 
The Power of the Social Center 
 
 CARROLL D. MURPHY 
 
 BENEATH the lens, the gentle warmth of the sun 
 becomes a glowing, burning white-heat. This is 
 the meaning of focus. 
 
 The powder that flashes when set off in the open, 
 drives a half -ton projectile through a wall of steel ten 
 miles away. This is the meaning of direction. 
 
 At first test of the great church organ, the trum- 
 pets and whistles jangle and discord; then the tuner, 
 changing the aperture of a pipe by a tap of the ham- 
 mer or touch of thumb and finger, brings out music. 
 The very floor and walls and spire tremble in accord. 
 
 That is the meaning of harmony, and there is in 
 it such power as uncontrolled, by its unison of air- 
 waves will send a great bridge or an enormous steel 
 building to downfall and wreck. Controlled, its power 
 is as great, and altogether for good. 
 
 The Social Center is not something new any more 
 than the sun's rays or the power of expansion, or the 
 pulsing of air-waves. It is conscious focus, intelligent 
 direction, pleasing harmony among the social forces 
 and resources of the neighborhood. 
 
 Social Center Directs and Simplifies Living. 
 
 The Social Center makes to bloom the social bar- 
 renness of families and neighborhoods which find noth- 
 ing to do for instruction, profit and amusement. In a 
 high degree it furnishes all these things. 
 
 But no less does it meet the needs of the com- 
 munity where everyone is too busy, where men and 
 women and young folks "have too much to do" to take 
 on any new social duties. Through direction, it sim- 
 plifies social life. 
 
 In every community there are some active social 
 rays which can be focused into greater power: the 
 
mothers' clubs, the woman's club, the neighborhood 
 sewing circle, or cooking-class: the boys' corn club, 
 the boys' and girls' hog club, or poultry club: the 
 farmers' cooperative organization to sell cantaloupes 
 or tomatoes or wheat or cauliflower : a school baseball 
 association, a debating club, a bachelor-girls' club for 
 fun, reading and dramatic clubs, musical organizations 
 — good roads and good government clubs, and others 
 peculiar to every neighborhood; indeed, we may add, 
 every organization which looks to progress and would 
 be benefited by the union of progressive forces. 
 
 Makes the Home Town Better to Live In. 
 
 I 
 
 The problem of city outstripping country is the 
 problem of desertion. Instead of trade at home, build- 
 ing at home, supplying amusements at home, country- 
 folks and inhabitants of smaller towns desert to the 
 city. The merchant buys his produce through the city 
 commission man instead of from the home grower, or 
 lie fails to supply his store with the most popular lines 
 carried by city stores. His trade often deserts in 
 favor of the mail-order house and city store. Men and 
 women who are able to make the home-town worth 
 living in will instead, run up to the city for their en- 
 tei'tainment. They seek conveniences elsewhere; at 
 the winter resort, the watering-place, the summer re- 
 sort. The home-town is left to the fly-specked show- 
 case, the oil lamp, the bottomless street and the water 
 supply "by elbow-grease." 
 
 The Social Center redeems the home community: 
 makes it the best place on earth to live — makes it 
 more or less independent of the world for food, mer- 
 chandise, conveniences and amusements. It saves the 
 time and the money of those who now have to seek 
 farther for these things. It teaches home production, 
 home-selling and home-buying. It is all of a piece with 
 modern economy of time and effort — with the Doctrine 
 of the Shortest JDistance between ambition and achieve- 
 ment. 
 
 What the Library Meanff In Social Center Work. 
 
 In two West Texas towns it was a ladies' club and 
 a mothers' plub which first took up the banner of the 
 
 —27— 
 
Social Center. In both instances the ladies began by 
 securing a thoroughly up-to-date little library. Over 
 and over, a library has proved an efficient Social Cen- 
 ter nucleus. A library reception was held, which was 
 made the occasion of a broader neighborhood organiza- 
 tion. Library rooms were arranged, here in a school- 
 building, there at the courthouse. Citizens were 
 asked to donate other volumes for the library. 
 
 It followed naturally that programs should be ar- 
 ranged, using the library as a basis. There was a 
 musical number, and the chorus, taken from a library 
 volume, was written on the blackboard for all to join 
 in. One number was a little one-act play — taken from 
 a library volume. There were recitations by little 
 folks and by higher students in school. The library 
 furnished the material for a debate on an historical 
 subject. 
 
 As a change from the literary features, there were 
 also six mysterious numbers on the program — demon- 
 strations of "what I know best," which proved wonder- 
 fully popular. One young lady knew doughnut-mak- 
 ing best of all, and her demonstration was convincing : 
 a young man who had been in railroad survey work, 
 had an interesting little story to tell of being snowed- 
 in in a tent among the mountains, and of the art of 
 railroad making. One boy held the audience tense by 
 his straight-forward description of growing good corn. 
 A young man gave a punching-bag exhibition, and en- 
 joyed the chance to demonstrate extraordinary skill. 
 
 Good Books the Sign of a Progressive Community. 
 
 Aside from use in programs, the library is still 
 one of the first great resources of a Social Center. Sta- 
 tistics show that to an extent far more deplorable than 
 might be supposed the written knowledge and experi- 
 ence of the ages is not at the disposal of our South- 
 western communities as it should be in this Twentieth 
 Century. The handicap which this represents, when 
 our unlettered youths come into competition with a 
 boy or girl entirely familiar with the world's best 
 books, expert in finding anything he wants to know 
 along any line by reference to authoritative texts, is 
 pitiable. 
 
Less than a year before the Southwestern Social 
 Center Conference, almost a round million Texas 
 school children were attending schools empty of good 
 books (other than some required texts) . This means 
 nine town schools in ten; forty-nine rural schools in 
 fifty ! It means 308,000 book-less town children ; 613,- 
 000 book-less children of the wide lonely farm stretch- 
 es, with their storm-bound days and their long winter 
 hours of darkness. 
 
 This was in Texas in 1910. How about the other 
 Southwestern states? How about your district? Your 
 school? Your children or pupils? Are they among 
 the hundreds of progressive schools that have lifted 
 themselves above this poverty since 1910? 
 
 Nowadays a book can be had for the price of a 
 cigar or a cup of coffee. Yet a little girl writes me : 
 
 "I am nine years old and in the fourth grade. We 
 have nothing but textbooks to read in our school. I 
 would like to have other books to read, because we live 
 twenty-nine miles in the country and get lonesome 
 with nothing to read." 
 
 Is that fair to the boys and girls ? Do you blame 
 them for escaping, as they grow up, from this barren 
 prospect to the glinting city parks, theaters, art mu- 
 seums and libraries? 
 
 Have you ever listened and wondered at the 
 grudging singsong of the reading lesson at your 
 school? And if so, have you watched the children 
 reading ahead during the first days of the term till 
 today's lesson is long since sucked dry of interest? 
 
 Let us cherish that love of good reading — not 
 starve it down! In your Social Center have palm to 
 palm contact of neighbors; but no less worthwhile, 
 mind-to-mind friendship with the greatest men of the 
 world's history, immortalized between the covers upon 
 your library shelves. 
 
 Not only for present education and pleasure, but 
 far more for instruction in the use of books as tools 
 for enjoyment and advancement throughout life, the 
 reading-room is the heart of any neighborhood devel- 
 opment. 
 
 It attracts young people from the street. It is 
 the basis for gardening-classes, sewing-classes, cook- 
 
 —29— 
 
ing-classes, athletic contests and every interest which 
 you will find dominant in any possible member of your 
 Social Center. Therefore, reserve one room of the 
 Social Center as a reading-room and equip it with the 
 most popular, up-to-date and wisely chosen volumes. 
 
 Success through Varied Programs for an Entire 
 
 Season. 
 
 Having made a social survey of the resources of 
 the Social Center, one little community laid out such 
 varied programs for several months ahead. Each pro- 
 gram was in charge of a particular club or class in the 
 Social Center, and every number was a popular suc- 
 cess. 
 
 First the young men were put upon their mettle 
 to entertain. At Thanksgiving time the Boys' Hog 
 Club gave a most delightful pig-roast under the sky. 
 The young ladies gave a beautiful Japanese entertain- 
 ment with musical numbers in costume from "The 
 Mikado." The pressure of school work was relieved 
 by holding some of the ordinary holiday celebrations 
 in the evenings for the entertainment of the entire 
 community — ^the anniversaries of Lee, Eugene Field 
 and others being celebrated appropriately. (Such a 
 list of special occasions is easily made up.) 
 
 The season was a success and its popularity was 
 evident in the growth of the Social Center which came 
 with it. A successful and popular first season is in- 
 deed the best capital such a neighborhood enterprise 
 can accumulate. By all means command ability, fore- 
 sight, enthusiasm, the contest and team spirit, the full 
 action of democracy, at the start of the Social Center. 
 
 Do you know the resources of your neighborhood 
 for entertainment and for better government? What 
 the advertising men and the commercial secretaries 
 seek to do for their communities — what every business 
 man seeks to do for his business — this actual demon- 
 stration of the social resources of your citizens and 
 community, the Social Center will bring about. 
 
 —30— 
 
Suggested Constitution 
 
 For Neighborhood Civic Clubs 
 
 Pome communities desire to organize formally and adopt a 
 constitution. Others do not care for anything that restricts or de- 
 fines their activities and purposes. For the benefit of the former 
 we here present a suggested constitution, a modification of the one 
 suggested by the University of Wisconsin and the Constitution of 
 the Social Center Association of America: 
 
 Freamble. 
 
 Whereas, we the citizens of ■ • residing in the neigh- 
 
 horhood of school, have duties to perform as citizens 
 
 which require for their intelligent performance an understanding of 
 the public questions of our time -and a broad acquaintance with our 
 fellows: 
 
 And Whereas, the public school building affords .a convenient 
 place for the bettering of this understanding and the development 
 of acquaintance through community use for free discussion of pub- 
 lic questions and all wholesome civic, educational, moral and recre- 
 ational activities, therefore we, the citizens of the neighborhood 
 
 about constitute ourselves a Neighborhood Civic Club 
 
 to hold meetings In the public school building. 
 
 Hame. 
 
 The name of this society shall be the Neighborhood Civic Club, 
 
 meeting In school. 
 
 Object. 
 
 The object of this club Is stated in the preamble. 
 Memlierslilp. 
 
 The members of this club are all the people in the neighbor- 
 hood of — ' school; but active members shall be those who 
 
 give their names to the secretary, as evldencfe of their endorsement 
 of the purposes of this club. 
 
 Bights of MembeTE. 
 
 All meetings of this club shall be open and non-exclusive. 
 Officers. 
 
 There shall be seven elected officers of this Club, namely: 
 president, four vice-presidents, a secretary and a treasurer. 
 Election of Officers. 
 
 All of the officers shall be elected at the (annual) (semi-annual) 
 
 meeting of the club which shall be held on to serve for 
 
 a term of (one year) (six months) each. 
 
 Duties of Officers. 
 
 Section I. President: It shall be the duty of the President to 
 preside at all meetings of the Club and also to serve as chairman 
 of the executive committee of the Club. 
 
 Section II. First Vice-President: It shall be the duty of the 
 first Vice-President to preside at the meetings of the Club in the 
 absence or at the request of the President. 
 
 Section III. Second Vice-President: It shall be the duty of 
 tile Second Vice-President to serve as chairman of the Program 
 Committee of the Club. 
 
 Section IV. Third Vice-President: It shall be the duty of the 
 Third Vice-President to serve as chairman of the Legislative and 
 Improvement Committee of the Club. 
 
 Section V. Fourth Vice-President: It shall be the duty of the 
 
Fourth Vice-President to serve as chairman of the Social Commit- 
 tee of the Cluh. 
 
 Section VI. Secretary: It shall be the duty of the Secretary 
 of the Club to keep the minutes of the proceedings of this Club in 
 a book — the property of the Club — to keep a list of active members, 
 to receive additions to this list, to carry on the correspondence of 
 the Club, and to fulfill such other duties as usually pertain to this 
 office. 
 
 Section VII. Treasurer: It shall be the duty of the Treasurer 
 to handle the money of this Club, to make all collections for the 
 expenses of the Club, to keep a record of all moneys received, spent, 
 and on hand, and to report upon the state of the treasury whenever 
 called upon to do so. 
 
 Committees. 
 
 There shall be four committees of the Club, namely, the Ex- 
 ecutive Committee, the Program Committee, the Legislative and 
 Improvement Committee, and the Social Committee. 
 Duties of Committees. 
 
 Section 1. Exiecutive Committee: The Executive Committee 
 shall consist of the elected officers of the Club. It shall be the 
 dutj' of this committee to confer upon questions regarding the wel- 
 fare of the Club, to consider and recommend matters of importance 
 to the Club, and in unusual matters requiring haste, to act for the 
 Club. 
 
 Section II. Program Committee: The Program Committee 
 shall consist of the Second Vice-President and four other members 
 chosen by him. It shall be' the duty of the committee to arrange 
 programs for all of the meetings of the Club, to secure speakers, 
 and to suggest topics of discussion which shall assure live, inter- 
 esting, and profitable meetings. 
 
 Section III. Legislative and Improvement Conjmittee: The 
 Legislative and Improvement Committee shall consist of the Third 
 Vice-President and four members chosen by him. It shall be the 
 duty of this committee to investigate all matters recommended for 
 legislation and all questions of local improvement which may bo re- 
 ferred to it by the Club, also to suggest matters upon which the 
 Club should act. 
 
 Section IV. Social Committee: The Social Committee shall 
 consist of the Fourth Vioe-Presldeht and four other members ap- 
 pointed by him. It shall be the duty of the Social Committee to 
 promote neighborhood hospitality, through the arrangement of such 
 special programs, entertainments, serving of refreshments or other 
 social features as the Club may from time to time direct or desire. 
 
 Meetings. 
 
 The Club shall hold a regular meeting each evening 
 
 in the room in the school between 7:30 and 
 
 10:00 o'clock. 
 
 Dnes. 
 
 There shall be no regular dues of this Club. Active members 
 
 of the club may contribute cents per year to pay the expense 
 
 of sending notices of the meetings of the Club and such other inci- 
 dental expenses as may be incurred. 
 
 Quorum. 
 
 Ten active members of the Club shall constitute a. quorum for 
 the transaction of all business. 
 
 Amendments. 
 
 This constitution may be altered or amended by a two-thirds 
 vote of the members present at any regular meeting. 
 
 BY-I.AWS AND OBDER OF BTTSIHESS. 
 
 By-Law I. The meeting shall be called to order by eight o'clock 
 or earlier, so that the business routine may be disposed of and the 
 speaker of the evening may be introduced not later than fifteen 
 minutes past eight. 
 
 The main address should be finished and the subject of the 
 evening thrown open for general discussion at or before nine o'clock. 
 
 This discussion should last not longer than three-quarters of 
 
 —32— 
 
an hour, and should close with a ten minute opportunity for the 
 speaker to sum up the discussion and to answer questions. 
 
 By-Law II. The chairman of the meeting should leave the 
 chair In order to engage in discussion. 
 
 Bj'-Law III. In speaking from the floor in the open discussion 
 which follows the main address, the parliamentary rules of ad- 
 dressing the chair, etc., should he strictly followed. 
 
 By-Law IV. Speeches from the floor are limited to five min- 
 utes and the time may he extended only hy unanimous consent. 
 
 By-Law V. No speaker may have the floor a second time un- 
 less all others who wish to speak have had opportunity to do so. 
 
 By-Law VI. Speeches from the floor must deal with the sub- 
 ject chosen for discussion. 
 
 Order of Business. 
 
 ]. Call to order. 
 
 II. Report of standing committees. 
 
 III. Report of special committees. 
 
 IV. Treasurer's report. 
 
 V. TJnflnished business. 
 
 VI. New business. 
 
 VII. Special program. 
 
 VIII. Discussion. 
 
 IX. Adjournment. 
 
 Bibliography 
 
 FARM AND BAITCH for 1910. 
 
 Civic Unity for the Southwest (Holman), 12-1; 13-20; 
 15-2; Social Centers in Rural Communities, 21-2'; Progress 
 of Movement (Holman), 42-16; In the Country, 48-7; Le- 
 fevre on, 48-12; Country Schoolhouse as a Social Center, 
 48-12; Practical Social Center Organization, 49-13; Smith's 
 Chapel (C. D. Murphy), 51-7; Farmers of the Future (Hol- 
 man), 51-1: Benefits of Rural Organization (Newman), 
 26-4; Relation of the Rural School to Community Progress, 
 33-11; 36-2i2; Schools as Social Centers, 14-9; Libraries as 
 Social Center Nuclei, 43-8; 49-S; 5il-9. 
 FABM AND BANCS for 1911. 
 
 Farmers of the Future (Holman), 1-2; 3-2 ;4. Troubles 
 of a Rural Social Center (Bush), 3-13; Conference Called 
 by F. P. Holland, 5-8; On Social Centers, 8-7; Awakening, 
 6-7; 27-13; A Necessity, 9-16; Discussions, 17-16; 12-29; 
 Social Centers Approved in Oklahoma, 22^12; National Con- 
 ference (Ward), 217-13; Social Center Association of Amer- 
 ica, 28-13; Established by R. B. Smith, 15-18; Why Tou 
 and I Need the Social Center (Holman), 39-27; National 
 Conference, 41-3; Social Center and Farmers' Union, 47-15; 
 Farmers' Part in Development (Holman), 49-7; Social Cen- 
 ter in a Renter Neighborhood (Holman), 52-1-2. 
 FARM AND RANCH for 1912. 
 
 How to Organize a Country Social Center (Communi- 
 ties Forward Department), 3-24; Practical Hows, 4-19; 
 Practical Hows, 5 — . Consult later issues in 1912. 
 
 (Explanation. — ^Reference Is made here to number of 
 issue and page, as 3-13 would refer to issue number 3, 
 page 13). 
 EOI^IiAND'S MAaAZINE for 1911. 
 
 Work of Miss Lida Dougherty, March issue, page 11 ; 
 The Neglected Small Town (Holman), May issue, page 1; 
 Getting our Money's Worth (Editorial), December issue, 
 page 10. 
 
 Consult later issues in 1912. 
 Ward, E. J. — ^ 
 
 Rochester's Social Centers and Civic Clubs— .Story of 
 the First Two Years. 
 
 —33— 
 
Common Ground 
 
 Periodical published In 1910 by the Rochester Social 
 Centers. 
 Country Life Commission 
 
 Report to President Roosevelt. 
 Rural Life Conference, University of Virginia 
 
 Alumni Bulletin, 1910. 
 National (Municipal League 
 
 Report of Education Extension Committee, 1910. 
 Texas Federation of Women's Clubs 
 
 Report of Education Committee, 1910, and 1911. 
 Riggs, J. P. 
 
 Condition and Needs of Iowa Rural Schools (Annual 
 Report of Supt. of Instruction, 1905.) 
 Butterfield, Kenyon L. 
 
 "Chapters on Rural Progress." 
 Kern, O. J. 
 
 "Among Country Schools." 
 Perry, Clarence A. 
 
 "Wider Use of the School Plant." 
 Conference on Education in Texas 
 
 The Country High School. (Bulletin.) 
 Ellis, A. Caswell 
 
 Relation of a Nation's Social Ideals to its Educational 
 System (Bulletin Univ. of Texas). 
 National Society for Study of Education, — 10th annual report in two 
 
 volumes. 
 Survey (New York City) for 1911, Southwestern Social Center Con- 
 ference (E. J. Ward), March 18; Focusing Social Forces in 
 the Southwest (Holman). 
 I,a Follette's Magazine for 1911 — see Issue March IS; for 1912 see 
 
 issue of January 27. 
 Zueblin, Charles 
 
 Public Schools. 
 
 American Municipal Progress 1902, pp. 159-160; 358. 
 
 Names of publishers and details, also reference to later matter 
 on Social Centers, and Library aid, may be had by writing the Social 
 Center Strvlce, Farm and Ranch — Holland's, Dallas, Texas. 
 
 —84—