i^f^ fnp. ^1 HERBERT WRIGHT GATES hit 5fem fork Hatt OJoUegc of Agriculture At afacnell MniOErBitH Ilibrarij Cornell University Librarv HT 467.G3 Recreation and the church, 3 1924 013 838 203 The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013838309 The University of Chicago Publications IN Religious Education EDITED BY ERNEST D. BURTON SHAILER MATHEWS THEODORE G. SCARES PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION RECREATION AND THE CHURCH THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO, ILLINOIS Hgcnts THE BAKER & TAYLOR COMPANY NEW YORK THE CUNNINGHAM, CURTISS & WELCH COMPANY LOS AKGELES THE CAMBRIDGE UNO'ERSITY PRESS LONDON ASD EDJSBTJRQH THE MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA TOKIO, OSAKA, KYOTO, FTHUOItA, SEKIDAI THE MISSION BOOK COMPANY SHAKGHAI RECREATION AND THE CHURCH HERBERT WRIGHT GATES perintendent of Brick Church Institute ^ and Director of Religious Education in Brick Churchy Rochester^ Neiv York THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO, ILLINOIS Copyright 1917 By The University of Chicago All Rights Reserved Published May 1917 Composed and Printed By The Umversitj- oE Chica>:o Press Chicago. Illinois, U.S.A. GENERAL PREFACE The progress in religious education in the last few years has been highly encouraging. The subject has attained something of a status as a scientific study, and significant investigative and experimen- tal work has been done. More than that, trained men and women in increasing numbers have been devoting themselves to the endeavor to work out in churches and Sunday schools the practical prob- lems of organization and method. It would seem that the time has coine to pre- sent to the large body of workers in the field of religious education some of the results of the studies and practice of those who have attained a measure of educational success. With this end in view the present series of books on "Principles and Methods of Religious Education" has been undertaken. It is intended that these books, while thoroughly scientific in character, shall be at the same time popular in presentation, so that they may be avail- able to Sunday-school and church workers every- where. The endeavor is definitely made to take into account the small school with meager equip- ment, as well as to hold before the larger schools the ideals of equipment and training. viii Preface The series is planned to meet as far as possible all the problems that arise in the conduct of the educa- tional work of the church. While the Sunday school, therefore, is considered as the basal organi- zation for this purpose, the wider educational work of the pastor himself and that of the various other church organizations receive due consideration as parts of a unified system of education in morals and religion. The Editors FOREWORD Educational workers have for many years freely acknowledged their debt of gratitude to those leaders through whose insight and efforts the child has been placed at the center of teaching, and his individuality, interests, and capacities have been allowed to set the standards for effective educa- tional practice. It is in line with this development in educational thought that the aim of all true teaching has become that of developing a life rather than that of imparting information or forcing an individuality into conformity with preconceived and adult-made standards. This idea once established, it was inevitable that the different phases of child life should each receive its due measure of attention, and we have dis- covered the importance of the home and play life and the conditions of employment as affecting the educational process. Slowly but surely the church has awakened to the consciousness that these same principles apply to religious education. We have come to see that the child's religious experience is no less distinctive than his mental processes. Instead of trying to force sixteen-year-old boys or girls into conformity with the devotional or theological standards of X Foreword sixty, we are trying to help children to be Christian boys and girls. There is no more potent influence or fa^•orable approach to the inner Hfe of childhood and youth than is found in recreational interests and activities. Play, games, athletic sports, are not merely ad- juncts to a religious educational program, baits to interest, or preventives of less desirable occupations. They are the open door to the real boy, the real girl, and they furnish the best of opportunities for direct as well as indirect moral and rehgious training. The church that fails to take account of, and to use to the best advantage, these means of reaching the children and youth misses an important part of its opportunity. It is with the hope of aiding those who desire to increase their effectiveness in this field that this book has been written. The attempt has been made to present onl)- such principles as have stood the test of experience and ideals that have been more or less fully realized in practical work. The author wishes to acknowledge his indebted- ness to the many who have aided him with informa- tion and suggestions. The chapter on "Some Typical Church Programs" would have been im- possible without the letters from those mentioned therein, giving the results of their own experience. Special acknowledgment is due to Rev. J. \V. F. Da vies, of Community House, Winnetka, Illinois; Foreword xi to Mr. Herman F. Norton, supervisor of recreation and physical training of the Board of Education, Rochester, New York; and to Mr. W. Arthur McKinney, of the Physical Department of East High School, Rochester. Rochester, N.Y. September g, 1916 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. The Religious Educational Value of Plav AND Recreation . . i II. Studying the Recreational Needs of the Community .... . 22 III. Meeting the Recreational Needs of the Community .... 63 IV. The Recreational Program 87 V. Some Typical Church Programs 116 VI. Equipment and Organization . . 145 VII. Bibliography of Play and Recreation . . 165 CHAPTER I THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF PLAY AND RECREATION Why should the church concern itself with play ? What part has recreation in a program of religious educational activities ? These questions are often asked by those whose attitude is one of doubt and by those who do not agree that the church should concern itself with such matters. They are per- fectly fair questions, and it is better that they should be asked and satisfactorily answered before any decision regarding a recreational program for the church is reached. Unless they can be satis- factorily answered, it is better that the church should refrain from entering upon this field of work. Success in any line of social activity depends upon clear conviction as to the importance of the work and its vital relationship to the main religious edu- cational task. There should be no disposition on the part of anyone to lure the church aside from the path of its great duty, that of training children and young people, and older ones also, in the principles of religion and the practice of Christian living. This is its function and its reason for existence, and 2 Recreation axd the Church unless the leadership of the church can perceive some real connection between the play and recrea- tion of people and their religious experience and development in Christian character, then to engage in a program of recreational acti\-ities is to depart from its proper work. There is yet another reason, no less important, wh}' an}- such work should be undertaken only upon the basis of thorough appreciation of its reUgious educational values. Upon no other basis will the church be likely to put into the enterprise the time, thought, effort, and money necessary to make it successful ; and no credit will come to any church through an inefficient piece of work. Too many undertakings of this sort have failed for no other reason. The boys' club has been maintained simply as a bait to lure the unwary youngster within reach of the "distinctively rehgious"' activ- ities of the church or Sunday school, so that there the "real spiritual work" may be done. Game- rooms, g}Tnnasiums, reading-rooms, and various other social and recreational facilities ha%-e been provided in the same spirit. Such have usually failed. Successfully to conduct such features re- quires an amount of careful planning, wise leader- ship, and consecrated service diihcult to secure for an enterprise estimated to be of secondary impor- tance. The demands made are justified only by a clear vision of their vital relationship to religious Value of Play and Recreation 3 life and character and of their direct value in the development of Christian virtues. It is therefore important to demonstrate the religious educational value of play and recreation. Can this be done? The answer to this question involves an intelligent comprehension of the nature of play and its place in human life. In a volume of this size it is impossible to go into all the details of the psychology of play, nor is this necessary in view of the abundant literature on the subject to which the reader is referred in the last chapter. It will be sufficient for our purpose to refer briefly to some of the main theories that have been advanced. § I. THE SURPLUS-ENERGY THEORY First, there is the theory of surplus energy as described by Herbert Spencer. Life is at the out- set a struggle for existence, and this struggle occupies practically all the powers of the lower forms of organic life. Whenever, in the life-history of any animal, whether through superior organiza- tion or for whatever cause, there comes a time in which all its strength is not consumed in this struggle for bare existence, the animal then finds itself with a fund of surplus energy which is ex- pressed in play. While this theory cannot entirely account for play, and certainly not for all the various forms in Recreation axd the Chltich which it finds expression, it does contribute an important item to the consideration of the recrea- tional problem. A fund of surplus energy is neces- sary if there is to be any real play life. One may as well ask the engineer to draw a heavy train with an empty boiler in his locomotive as to say to the exhausted product of the sweatshop or other scene of exploited labor: Come, and play. § 2. PLAY AS A 1IE,\XS OF EDUCATIOX The theory of Karl Groos, that play is one of nature's methods of education, carries us a step farther toward an understanding of the subject. The }oung animal rehearses in its play the actions that \\ill be of sen>-ice in adult life, and thus de- velops and makes habitual those muscular and nervous adjustments required for the effective per- formance of such actions. The kitten pouncing upon the ball, the puppies tusshng ^^•ith each other with many growlings and barkings, the Kttle girl caring for her dolls, or the boj- placing store — all are reproducing in miniature the adult Ufe about them, of which they must later become a part. The higher we go in the scale of Kfe, the more com- plex does h\-ing become, and the greater the range of activities and the adjustments necessarv to suc- cessful existence. The greater is the need, there- fore, for a time of play in which these adjustments may be established. The complement to this need Value of Play and Recreatiox 5 is found in a lengthened period of infancy with its freedom from restraints and specializations of adult life and its consequent opportunity for free play. The simpler the organization of adult life, the more direct will be the relationship of childlike play to its activities. The play of the young savage, for example, is almost entirely limited to acts which fit him for the life of the hunter, fisher, or warrior; and his play activities are close imita- tions of these specific pursuits. The child of civi- lized parents in a modern city, on the other hand, has a bewildering variety of activities presented for his imitation, and the form of his play is governed by those which most strongly impress him at the time. Their future value depends upon their typical character and the degree in which they result in adjustments and habits of general utility. Dr. Groos has made a very suggestive contribu- tion to the proper understanding of the problem. Play is educational; through its activities, there are developed qualities of body, mind, and spirit which are of use in adult experience. What these qual- ities afe to be, and the value of the play life in developing them, depend very largely upon the manner in which that play is directed. § 3. PL.AY and the racial-epochs THEORY Dr. G. Stanley Hall has added still another item for consideration by pointing out the relationship 6 Recreation and the Church between play and the theory of recapitulation. The theory is that each animal, before or after birth, or both, passes through certain stages of development and that these stages recapitulate the epochs of animal and racial evolution. In the plays and games of childhood through all the ages Dr. Hall finds evidence of such develop- ment, and also the explanation of many oi the forms in which the play instinct expresses itself. The fa\-orite games of children of different ages are influenced by the instincts and impulses nat- ural to the stage of racial development in which the child is living. Thus, as Dr. Fiske has out- lined it in his Boy-Life and Self -Government, in the hunting and capture, or savage, epoch we find games of stealth and stalking: Bo-peep, hide and seek, prisoner's base, and the like; in the pastoral epoch we find children keeping pets, digging caves, and building huts; in the agri- cultural epoch we find them planting, gardening, and so on. This theory has been overworked. As a guide to educational practice it has led many astray, but as a help to a more sympathetic understanding of the instinctive expressions of child life it may have some value. Each of these theories helps toward the total concept of play, and all together they help to demonstrate its value for religious education. Value of Play and Recreation 7 § 4. the value of play I. Play is instinctive, a universal element in life. — Mr. Henry S. Curtis, in his Education through Play, says: Pictured in the earliest records, standing on the far hori- zon of history, the chOdren appear, and even as today they are playing, and much the same games. All down the ages, whether on the hilltop or in the city streets, in the sunlit meadow or in the slime of the gutter, everywhere the child and play have seemed to go together. We go out to a base- ball game and see the boy step up to bat. He dashes around the bases and returns to the home plate exhausted. What has he gained by it ? Apparently he is no richer or wiser, no better clothed or fed. The only possible answer is that play must everywhere have served some great purpose, or it would not everywhere have survived. It is marvelous how it does survive even in untoward circumstances. I once saw a little girl in an alley in one of our great cities. Mud lay thick upon the ground; barren brick walls, garbage cans, ash boxes, and ugly refuse were the only physi- cal surroundings. There was seemingly nothing to suggest an ideal or to stimulate the imagination. And yet she was playing — playing a game as old as childhood or as the instinct of motherhood. She was giving her doll a ride, and the doll carriage was an old sardine can, with the cover turned up to form a back and a string to drag it by, and the doll was a dead rat vidth a bit of rag tied round its neck. It was a sight to grip one's heart and to leave one 8 Recreatiox axd the Chtirch uncertain whether to cr\- out in angr}- protest against conditions that could reduce childhood to such straits, or to thank God for the instinct that enabled the child to find this glimpse of the ideal in such sordid en\-ironment. Here is a great outstanding fact about play that gives it significance for education, reUgious or any other kind: it is a universal instinct and cannot be crushed out except by subjecting the child to a life of such deadening drudger}- as to rob him of all surplus energy and thus make play impossible. This means that children must and wdll play, and it forces us to consider our responsibihty for the proper direction of that play and for decent facilities. Some years ago the Russell Sage Foundation conducted a study of the contributing causes of juvenile delinquency. The records of thousands of boys and girls who had come under the care of the juvenile court were tabulated and compared. Looking over some of these records. I noted par- ticularly the character of the complaints upon which these children had first been brought into court, and was struck ^-ith the fact that the large majority of the acts committed were exactly like the things that I did when a boy. Whether this means that I ought to have been brought into court or that many of these youngsters ought not to have been, I shall not here attempt to argue, though I Value of Play and Recreation 10 Recreation ant) the Church have mj' convictions. These things were not dehberate and wilful attacks upon society; they were simply mischievous play. Most of them were the kind of thing that people in less crowded quarters and with more chance to be good-natured would have dismissed with a laugh and the remark, "Boys will be boys." ]Many of them were things that never would have been done had the boys and girls concerned had more suitable opportunities for the exercise of the play impulse. One cannot but wonder how severe will be the ultimate judg- ment upon a society that denies to the boy the chance to play wholesomely and properly, and then punishes him for plajing improperly. Dr. Forbush tells of a httle boy who was brought into the juvenile court for stealing apples. He was warned and dismissed only to return on a second and then a third complaint of the same nature. Finally, the probation officer took him aside and said: "Now, Tim, tell me honest, why do you steal those apples? Do you get so hungry for them you just can't help it?" The boy looked surprised, then said, "Why, I don't care about eating them, but it is such fun to have old Smudge chase me." 2. In play the child expresses his real personality and his strongest interests. — This fact is of supreme importance for rehgious education. The task of the church is not mereh' to give instruction. It Value of Play and Recreation ii is not enough simply to give information about the Bible and other religious truth, important and basal as this may be. We must aim at the develop- ment of Christian character, and character comes through self-expressive activity. Religious educa- tion must reach the will, the real personality, and must seek to lead that personality to express itself in ways that will develop the right kind of char- acter. The evolution of organic life has proceeded through the response of the individual to the influ- ences of environment. This is true of mental and moral, as well as of physical, life. The task of the teacher in either sphere is that of so controlhng and modifying the environment of the child as to call forth those reactions that are likely to form the desired habits of thought and conduct. In this training the reactions that are of greatest value are those that are most genuinely and completely self-expressive and, with children and youth at least, these are most readily discovered in the play life. Here we touch the springs of interest and we may utilize that interest as a powerful factor in the accomplishment of our purpose. Play furnishes the teacher or parent the most immediate point of contact with child life. This fact alone would justify our plea for recognition of its religious educa- tional value. 3. Play is the serious business of child life. — This is another phase of the play life that gives it added 12 Recreation axd the Church importance in the development of character. It is not trivial to the child or to the youth. Its requirements, its rules, its rewards, have for him all the authority that work will have later. This is a point that many adults fail to understand, and so fail to appreciate the full significance of play in young life. Mr. Joseph Lee has well explained the matter in his Play in Education: There is one consequence of the existence of successive stages of growth, with their different prepossessions about what is worth doing and the resulting forms of play, which is of some importance in itself and of ver\- great importance in its effect upon the grown-up \'iew of children's play. I mean the passing of a given sort of play activity from a primary to a secondary place in the life and interest of the individual. At various stages in the growth of the child cer- tain games are necessary to his physical and mental development. He instinctively feels this require- ment and enters into the game with all the energy and zeal of which he is capable. In the course of time he reaches mature years, and the duties of home, social, commercial, and professional life take the predominance and make the first claim upon his time and energy. Notwithstanding, if he be a normal person, he still plays and seeks various forms of recreation, but these arc now clearly under- stood by him as pla>-. He knows that he is amus- ing himself, and he sets these activities o^-er against his work, estimating them as of secondary impor- Value of Play axd Recreation 13 tance, even reproving himself if he allows them to encroach upon the field of major interests. Mr. Lee continues: And so, because what was once advance has now become review, because what formerly, possessed the seriousness of life and death is now only a matter of recreation, we think it was always so. The "old man" thinks basebaO is base- ball and, forgetful of his own boyhood, assumes that what it now is to him it always was, and must be to his son. He concedes the necessity of "wholesome exercise," believes in walks, and even thinks amusement a good thing; but asks what is the fun of going at it with such disproportioned seriousness, getting tired, worrying about who wins. He may not ask the hero of the winning team, as his mother sometimes does, whether he is not getting overheated; but he is only a little less out of it than that. Hence the mis- understanding between fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, the grown-up world and that forgotten world of childhood; hence the failure to see in play the one most serious business of every child. When we consider the significance of this fact, that in play we deal with the "serious business" of the child, we shall understand that whatever prin- ciples of action and success we may teach in play will have for the child all the authority and lasting quality that similar principles have for the adult in the prosecution of his business or profession. Many a lad has learned lessons of co-operation with his team-mates, of self-denial in training, of persistence, endurance, and courage in turning defeat into victory, only to have these same lessons 14 Recreatiox axd the Church stay by him in the stern contests of later life and make him the \vinner there. Clear thinking here also helps us to avoid the common error of suppos- ing that enthusiasm in play unfits the child for work, which is untrue. Excessive and um\-ise indulgence in pla\- may unlit the lad for real work, just as similar indulgence in work may unfit him for play, and it is a question which is the greater e\'il. 4. Play has direct educational value, moral and religious, as well as physical and mental. — Of the phj'sical-training value of play there is little doubt and no need for arguing. The mental qualities which are developed thereb}- are almost as generally recognized. Xo one who has ever played tennis or baseball or football can fail to understand the demand which such sports make for quick and sure judgment, the nice balance between alertness and self-restraint, the line adjustment of muscular response to sense-perception, and many other quahties requiring discipline of the mental powers. ^\nd the game which demands these qualities also helps to develop them. ]\Iore closely related to our consideration, but by no means so universally recognized, is the value of these same acti\"ities. under proper guidance, in the development of ethical traits both social and indi- vidual. Even in the earliest years and in the simplest forms of play between brothers and sisters Value of Play and Recreation IS in the home, children learn to share with one another and to respect individual rights and prop- erty. As soon as the cliild issues from the home life into the wider circle of school relationships, these lessons increase in number. When the boy reaches the baseball age and joins a team, he begins A CLOSE FINISH End of a 6o-yard dash at an inter-Sunday-school meet, Rochester, N.Y. These boys are doing their best for the honor of their respective schools. to be taught the value of self-restraint and co- operation in no uncertain manner. It is natural for any boy to love the glory of lining out the ball for two or three bases, and it is no small matter for him to defer that satisfaction for the good of the team and to play for a sacrifice hit at the captain's orders. And if he fails to learn the lesson and persists in playing for his own glorification, he 1 6 Recreation and the Church hears from his team-mates remarks about "grand- stand play" that leave him with no illusions as to its unpopularity. If there be a coach, he hears from him also; and persistence in the anti-social spirit is likely to result in retirement from the team in favor of one who will better "deny himself" and follow the leader. Exactly such a situation was described by a boy in a certain Sunday-school class in illustration of the statemeix. Xo man liveth unto himself alone." The spirit of fairness and justice may be most effectively taught through supervised play. I recall the case of a boy who came into the gymna- sium of an Association boys' department. He was somewhat of a weakling, had been kept too closely at home for a boy of his age, and found it difficult to hold his own in the ordinary rough-and-tumble of boy life. As a consequence he had developed considerable facility in achieving his ends by round- about and underhand methods. He was in a fair way of becoming a sneak. The director studied his case and found one thing that he could do well. He could run, having practiced that of stern neces- sity. He was encouraged to enter the track-meets, and before long he tasted the sweet fruits of \ictory by his own honest efforts. One day the race was close and he was hard pushed. A thrust of the elbow at the turn, his opponent was thrown out of his stride and fell behind. With elation the lad Value of Play axd Recreation 17 turned to the referee at the close of the race only to be greeted with a shake of the head and "Too bad; you are disqualilied." Then and there he learned that in an honestly managed race he could not hope to win by foul means. But winning had become too precious to be given up, and, moreover. THE BEST FCra OF ALL Scene at the diving platform of Camp lola, conducterl by the Boys' De- partment of the Rochester (N.Y.) Y.M.C.A., at Canandaigua Lake. The morning dip and the daily swims mean good sport and personal health and cleanliness. he knew that honest \TCtory left the better taste. He determined, therefore, that he would win fairly. In six months' time the change in that boy, not only in the gymnasium, but at home and at school, was so marked as to be noticed and commented upon by parents and teachers alike. It was a late October afternoon. On the grid- iron twenty-two young men toiled and struggled 1 8 Recreatiox axd the Chi-rch in a contest of nerve and muscle that was to decide an important football game. On the bleachers several hundreds of other young men strained their vocal cords in the effort to cheer Alma Mater on to \-ictory. Suddenly from out the scrimmage a lithe form darted with the ball under one arm, eluded the tackles, dodged the full-back, and never stopped until safe behind the goal line. The captain of the opposing team did not join the chase, but rushed up to the referee and protested the score on the ground that the man was offside when he got the ball. The official shook his head; he had seen no foul, neither had the umpire. The captain of the team that had scored glanced over to the side lines where a quiet man sat watching. One quick look of under- standing passed between captain and coach, and the former walked up to the referee with the re- mark: "He was offside all right; we don't want the score." The points were lost, but never was victory more heartily cheered than the one that there was gained. In addition, a moral lesson was taught that went on repeating itself in the training quarters and about the fraternity firesides of both colleges for many a day thereafter. It is a pity that such chances are so often lost in the heat of conflict. The spirit that takes for its motto "Anything to win" finds expression in business life in "Anything for dividends," and vice versa. Value of Play and Recreation 19 Not only ethical, but distinctively religious attitudes may be cultivated in the play of children and youth. We recall one inspiring Christian mother who looked back to the family prayers she used to have with her dolls as one of the strongest influences in fixing the habit of prayer in her own life. More than one child has worshiped most sincerely when playing "church." Even the ethi- cal lessons of the game may, and should, be con- sciously linked up with their Christian basis. I knew one young man in college who used to pray regularly and earnestly for grace to control his temper when playing football, and who definitely recognized success in this respect as a victory in his own struggle for Christian living. 5. The influence of play upon character is inevi- table. — All that has been said tends to show the possibilities of play as an influence in Christian training if it be wisely directed. One thing more needs to be said before we leave this aspect of the case: play is not only a possible, but an inevitable, factor in the formation of character. The possi- bilities between which we may choose are those of good or bad influences; as to there being some influence one way or the other, we have no choice. The fact that in play and recreation the child expresses his real self, interestedly and seriously, throwing every atom of himself into it, makes in- evitable the establishment of appropriate attitudes 20 Receeatiox and the Church of mind and habits of life. No boy can be allowed to play dishonestly without becomuig less trustworthy in other respects. Xo girl can spend her time in excessi\'e attendance upon the theater or moving-picture show, or in the reading of senti- mental novels, without becoming more or less frivolous and shallow. The responsibility for providing adequate and proper play facihties for the children and youth of any community is a moral duty that cannot be lightly e^•aded, and the church must take at least an intelligent interest therein. The boy who can find no better place to play than the crowded street or the alley, and who is driven to stealing apples or snowballing wagon-drivers for the lack of variety, is not alone to blame if he gets into trouble. The girl who can find no better outlet for her cra\-ing for social fellowship than the cheap dance hall has a just cause of complaint against those who fail to do their part in providing something more ele- vating. Alore might be said of the importance of play in human life, of the \"alue of the play spirit carried over into work and gi\"ing zest to life because of its joyousness, but enough has surely been said to establish the point that we seek to make, that plav and recreation have a definite relationship to religious education, that they possess inherent value as means of training in Christian character, Value of Play and Recreation 21 and that they therefore have a valid claim upon the thoughtful attention of those in the church whose task it is to lead the unfolding life of childhood and youth to its highest and best expression. Life is a growth; its development is going on all about us and we shall never be fully successful in direct- ing that development aright if we ignore this phase of life's activity. People will play, thank God! We may play with them if we will, and thereby help them to realize the best that this instinct has to offer; or we may hold aloof, adopt an attitude of narrow, indiscriminate condemna- tion or at best of cold indifference, and allow the boys and girls to play on without us and without our sympathetic guidance. If the latter be our choice, we shall have to face the evil results of our policy. CHAPTER II STUDYING THE RECREATIONAL NEEDS OF THE COIMMUNITY A common criticism upon the methods of institu- tional work adopted by the church is that they are haphazard and scattering and that they fail to secure the best results by a proper adaptation of means to ends. The criticism is undoubtedly just, and the reasons for this defect are not hard to find. Too often the recreational program of the church results, not from any clear \'ision of the value of such work in religious education, or from thorough understanding of the needs of children and youth, on the part of the church as a whole or even of its responsible leaders. Such vision as there may be is often limited to a single group or indi\-idual who decides that something should be done and who goes to work without any comprehensive plan. Sometimes there is no real vision of educational opportunity, but mereh' a desire to amuse the chil- dren and youth, laudable in itself, but not suffi- ciently far-reaching. Sometimes the underlying cause is a still less worthy desire to get into the game and hold the children before some other more enterprising church lures them away b)- superior attractions. Studying Needs of the Community 23 It is comforting to be able to remind those who are a little too willing to criticize the church for her methods that she has no monopoly in this defect. Charity organization societies have been found in 1 i ' ApBLi^ftAflH ■ PYRAAUD-BUILDING Athletic stunts are highly interesting to boys in the early adolescent period. They are good material for exhibitions and entertainments. whose work the same shortcomings may be noted. School boards are in existence which are failing to provide adequately for the educational needs of the children. An illustration may be found in the recreational line which it is worth while to give in some detail, not with any desire to evade just 24 Recreation axd the Church criticism of the church's methods by shifting atten- tion to others, but because it shows so clearly the faults that the church, as well as other agencies, needs to avoid. The illustration is the more valu- able because it represents, not an extremely bad case, but one in which conditions were above the average. The city of Rochester had made much of recrea- tion for many years, and had done a great deal of useful work, when in 1913 it in\'ited Air. Haynes, field secretary of the Playground and Recreation Association of America, to make a thorough survey of the field and its needs as a step toward still more effective methods. After commenting favorably upon the evident desire of the city officials, the individual workers, and the general public to see good work done, and the mllingness of all to spend money and to work earnestly toward that end, Mr. Haynes pointed out the defects that needed correction : The recreation needs of neighborhoods where playground and recreation work is being done are not being adequately met. In some cases whole groups are not being reached .... and in other cases of groups touched, not all are being reached who might bo. Thus, in sc\'cn school playgrounds we find that of those children within the quarter-mile radius only about 41 per cent out of a possible 75 per cent are being reached. The chief causes for this difficulty assigned by Mr. Haynes were as follows: the playground and Studying Needs of the Community 25 recreation directors did not know the neighbor- hoods in which they were working; the neighbor- hood needs were not being treated as a unit, but piecemeal by many different hands ; in some neigh- borhoods work was being done by from two to five different agencies, "yet no one seemed to know the recreation needs of the neighborhood as a whole, or what proportion of them were being met." Another cause was that work was being carried on by topical, rather than by neighborhood, specializa- tion. In other words, the kind of activities pro- moted and the facilities furnished were determined by the particular abihties or ideas of those in charge rather than by an intelhgent understanding of neighborhood needs or desires. A playground leader especially interested and capable in basket- ball might have a group of boys enthusiastically playing that game almost to the exclusion of other things, when in that particular neighborhood there was a much larger number of little children who needed sand piles and a wading pool. Still another defect was the lack of a definite aim on the part of all the workers, comparatively few having any large vision of their opportunity for individual character development or general neighborhood improvement. The only difference between this situation in Rochester and that which prevails in the recrea- tional work of the large majority of churches is 26 Recreation and the Chltrch that the city had the perception and the means to call in an expert investigator and to act upon his suggestions. Today the public recreational activ- ities of the city are under the supervision of a central bureau of recreation with a competent director, and the defects pointed out above are rapidly disappearing. For the church to which has come a \-ision of its opportunit}' the first step should be a comprehen- sive study of the recreational needs of the children and }'outh in the communit}- and of the existing facilities for meeting those needs. With this information in hand, the church can decide more intelligently what additional facilities should be provided, what needs to be done in the improve- ment of those already existing, and just what its particular share in the task should be. Such a study should by all means be undertaken as a community enterprise b}- all the churches in co- operation. Every dictate of common-sense favors this course. The information to be gained is of common interest to all; much of the work to be done must be done co-operatively or fail of its highest effecti\'eness, and to undertake it separately is a foolish waste of time and money. To an in- creasing extent our church federations are demon- strating this point. It is undoubtedly better in such cases to call in the serA-ices of an expert in survey work. Such Studying Needs of the Community 27 may be secured through the social service depart- ments of various denominations, the Playground and Recreation Association of America, or the recreation department of the Russell Sage Founda- tion. The expense will vary according to the size of the community and the complexity of the prob- lem. It is safe to say, however, that the cost will not be considered prohibitive if the churches work together in it and have an adequate conception of its importance. Usually such surveys are made to cover, not alone the recreational problem, but the general social conditions and needs of which this is a part. Examples of such surveys are those made by the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, the Clinton Avenue Congregational Church of Brook- lyn, the Epworth Memorial Church of Cleveland, and the Moravian Country Church Commission in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania. While the trained expert is usually able to get at the salient facts and to evaluate them more readily and accurately than the average untrained worker, such leaders will make use of volunteer forces and give them valuable experience in doing the work; and even without the expert the chilrches may make very satisfactory studies and secure informa- tion that will make their future work much more effective. From the published reports of such sur- veys, made by the above-mentioned agencies, it is possible to determine the kind of facts that should 28 Recreatiox and the Church be ascertained and their relation to the problem of recreation. The following outHne is a composite from se\-eral such studies and may be suggestive to churches wishing to know their problem. The chief points on which information is needed are as follows.: § I. HOW ARE THE CHILDREN AXD YOUXG PEOPLE ACTL^ALLY SPEXDIXG THEIR LEISURE TIME? \MLAT FORMS OF PLAY AXD RECREATION PREDOMIXATE ? This information may be secured in at least three ways, all of which should be adopted so that the results may check and supplement each other. I. Ask the children to write papers telling just what they did to amuse themsehxs during a given time, as "last Saturday," "last week after school," ''during the Easter or Christmas vacation," etc. The accounts should be made \'er\' definite and concrete. If the writer played games, he should tell what game; if he went to a show, he should tell what show. This may be done b}- the pupils in the Sunday school, but they should be told to \vrite frankly, and should understand that the in- formation they give will be treated as confidential, that the papers will not be read by their teachers, but only b}' a certain committee whose purpose in getting the information is to help pro\'ide better opportunities for their recreation. Studying Needs of the Community 29 -^ 2. Send out competent investigators, people of good judgment and tact, to observe the children on the streets in the various districts of the com- munity or parish to see just what they are doing. Such reports should give the number of children of each sex observed, their ages, as closely as pos- sible, the nature of their pursuits, names of the games played, and general conditions. 3. Send investigators to visit the various places of public and commercial amusement, such as parks, playgrounds, theaters, moving-picture shows, dance halls, and the like. These visits should be repeated frequently enough within a given period to be sure that the resulting informa- tion will be typical. Information reported should cover an average week's attendance, the proportion of boys and girls of different ages, as grammar- school age, high-school age, adults, etc.; general conditions both physical and moral, such as venti- lation, protection in case of fire, character of the entertainment, etc. This part of the investiga- tion will give information, not only as to the manner in which a certain proportion of the children and youth are spending their time, but also as to the character of these recreational facilities. A study of ten different surveys made by various organizations in as many cities east and west, the cities ranging in population from five or six thou- sand to over two hundred thousand, and covering 30 Recreatiox axd the Chuech many thousands of children, reveals essentially the same facts, some of which are highly suggestive as to the problem which confronts the church and the community. At least one-half of the children observed during their leisure hours were idling or walking aimlessh*. An}'one \\'ith the slightest recollection of his own childhood da}-s knows the danger of mischief, not to use a stronger term, which alwa}-s exists when groups of boys or girls are hang- ing around, "waiting for someone to start some- thing." ]More than half of these children were seen to be upon the streets, from lo per cent to 20 per cent in backyards, a smaller percentage in vacant lots, and a still smaller, averaging about 5 per cent, in playgrounds. The obvious unfitness of the public streets, with their physical and moral perils as playgrounds for our children, makes this sig- nificant. Still another fact to command attention is the limited range of games and amusements par- ticipated in by the average child. Baseball and football appear to be about the only games played by a majority of the boys, and tag and hide and seek by a majority of the girls. This means that a large number of the games which are valuable for their physical, mental, and moral qualities are unknown or neglected by the majority of children. Any child will tire of one or two games in time, and undoubtedly the large percentage of time spent in idling or loafing, with its attendant dangers, could Studyikg Needs of the Community 31 be reduced by a leadership which would enlarge the repertoire of games. The large part which the theater, and especially the moving-picture show, plays in the amusement of children is another fact which calls for serious thought. In the papers written by school children the moving -picture show is mentioned by 75 per cent or more, and from 30 per cent to 40 per cent are in the habit of attending it at least once a week. To view the matter from another angle, the reports of investigators who attended these shows and estimated the weekly attendance indicate this to be nearly, if not quite, equal to the entire popula- tion of the city. Of this attendance, about 20 per cent are estimated to be children and young people under twenty-five years of age. The full signifi- cance of this fact will be seen when we come to discuss the character of these entertainments. § 2. WHAT ARE THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR FREE PLAY AND RECREATION AS REGARDS THE AMOUNT OF OPEN SPACE AVAILABLE ? The surveys which include this point, as most of them do, secure the necessary information as follows : 1. Total population of the city, ward, or district; from the census. 2. Population of children of different age groups; from the school census. ^2 Recreatiox and the Church 3. Distribution of this population by blocks or other convenient areas. 4. Proportion of space in each district occupied by (a) streets and alle}-s, (b) private yards, (c) build- ings and interspaces less than 25X25 feet, this measurement being accepted as the smallest amount of space on which four or live children or the minimum game group can and will play with any satisfaction. The remaining space, not thus occupied, gives us the available area for proper play. If this space includes playgrounds or parks, the facts concern- ing their location, equipment, and super^'ision need to be taken into account before any correct judg- ment can be formed as to their adequacy. These points will be noted later. A comparison of the total number of children and young people in a given district -n-ith the avail- able play space will often give interesting, and even startling, results. It answers the question as to why so many children play in the streets. For many of them there is no other place in which to play. The growth of our cities is rapidl}' doing away with the vacant lots. In my owti boyhood in Chicago "our gang" used to roam over a large area of unimproved property near our homes. There was ample space for baseball and football. There was even one place where some excavation had been made in which we used to dig caves, Studying Needs of the Community 33 make fires, and roast potatoes and corn. We were in turn castaways, pirates, Indians, soldiers, and seekers for treasure, and all in good spirit. Today there is not a vacant lot of any size in that district. The paper of one thirteen-year-old school boy quoted by Mr. Haynes portrays most graphically the plight of thousands like him : I went to the moving pictures and stayed until late. I would have kicked football, but the people would not allow it because of the dust. I threw a few rocks at some negroes. For fun I get the football and kick it until I am told to go away and then I go to the alley. It cuts the football to have it kicked on the cobblestones. I, with several other boys, play on the railroad bridge, jumping, resting from the heat of the sun, and learning to run fast and to do tricks on the ties. If we are careful we don't often skin our shins. In another city there recently appeared in the paper a letter from a "Taxpayer" complaining of the racket made by the children roller-skating on the sidewalks, and calling upon the city authorities to put a stop to the nuisance. Another resident was moved to write a letter suggesting that the children needed some chance to play, and pleading for a little consideration for them. That was the signal for a series of letters from other "Taxpayers " in the course of which complaints were made against the children for skating on the walks, playing in the streets, playing ball in vacant lots, rattling sticks against fences, running over lawns, and a few other misdemeanors. Finally, another correspondent, 34 Recreation and the Church who evidently had some appreciation of the child's point of ^^ew and a sense of humor as well, sar- castically suggested as a remedy that there should be no boys, and that parents who had them should be fined. All of which is highly suggestive to the person interested in child life and rehgious train- ing and the strongest possible argument for an adequate provision of playgrounds in every com- munity. § 3. WHAT FACILITIES FOR PLAY AXD RECREATION EXIST AND WHAT IS THEIR CHAR,\CTER ? The information needed on this point may be sought for under three heads: private facihties, including homes, churches, clubs, and other insti- tutions, such as the Y.]\I.C.A., Y.W.C.A., etc.; commercial facilities, such as theaters, amusement parks, dance halls, poolrooms, or any other centers of recreation conducted for financial profit; and public facilities, maintained and conducted by the city, such as parks, playgrounds, schools, and the like. I. Private facUilics. — a) Homes: The home is the natural center of the child's life, and under normal conditions the children and youth will have their standards of amusement set and will find many of their pleasures there. Such conditions un- fortunately do not always prevail. In the home of poverty, in which there is barely space enough to Studying Needs of the Community 35 live and not enough for even that in any true sense of the word, the children must perforce seek their amusements elsewhere. There is not money enough for any but the cheapest and poorest of commercial recreation, and often not even that. Idealism of any kind is crushed out by the burden of struggle for mere existence, and proper standards of amusement cannot be expected. Another problem is presented by the home of the average wage-earner who manages to keep a fairly comfortable home for his family, but whose margin between living expenses and income is so scant that there is little available for recreation. The temptations which assail the children and youth of such a home are very great, for their desires for good times are strong. They probably have to go to work at an early age, a fact which only increases the craving for amusement and relaxation in what leisure they may have ; but they too are limited to the less expensive, and often undesirable, type of commercial recreation. The motion-picture show, the cheap theater, the dance hall, and the amusement park constitute the major portion of their opportunity. Even the homes with means and opportunity are not wanting in their problems, for too often in these there is lack of vision or responsibility con- cerning this important phase of young life. Par- ents too often fail to recognize the power of the 36 Recreation antd the Chitich craving for amusement, or are too much concerned ^v-ith their own affairs to pay much attention to proper proxasion for recreation. All such conditions have an important bearing upon the recreational problem and should be studied by the church. In one citj- where the home and neighborhood conditions were studied b\' the Playground and Recreation Association, out of 64 school districts 28 were classed as poor or very poor, 13 as fair to poor, 11 as fair, 6 as fair to good, and 6 as good. A few topical descriptions under these heads will be suggestive: \'ery poor: "A social and recreation center would fill a great need. Very needy section. Majority of children have both parents at work." Poor; some fair: "Alostly small houses and large families. Street attracts. Young people loaf there and in stores, and attend shows. Parents say they cannot keep children at home." Fair: "Houses good, but not used as should be. Most parents in comfortable circumstances. ]Mo\'ing-picture shows draw largely. ]Much street pla>' for an open district. School yard too small. Park used considerably." Good: '■ .\ good residential district. Families of medium size. Some homes much used. Fairly good opportunities for outdoor sports. Recreation faciUties seem adequate for the present." This study of an a\orage city indicates that only a little more than one-third of the home and neigh- borhood conditions could be ranked as fair or better Studying Needs of the Community 37 from the recreational point of view, and less than one-tenth as good. Still another quotation from the survey made in Ipswich, Massachusetts, by the Russell Sage Foun- dation, throws light upon home conditions: An interesting side-light on the slight attention paid by the home to the play life of the children is seen in the reports on the parties which children have. Information concern- ing parties was received from 147 boys and 156 girls. One hundred boys had had no parties for their own friends dur- ing the past year, 24 had one party and 11 entertained twice. Twelve held more than two parties. A total of 95 parties was reported. The girls had been hostesses more frequently than the boys, 32 reporting one party, 14 two parties, and ' 21 more than two parties during the past year. Eighty- eight girls reported no parties. Twenty-one girls had 72 of all the parties. One hundred and thirty-seven parties were held in all by the girls. b) Associations and settlements: With these may be classed all organizations of semipublic nature, but under private auspices, which are religious or ethical in their purpose. They can usually be counted upon as in sympathy with the aims of the church, and the Young Men's Chris- tian Associations and Young Women's Christian Associations are making increasing effort to plan their work so that it will be co-operative and not competitive. The facts which it is important to learn concerning such organizations are the extent and nature of their equipment and leadership, the 38 Recreation and the Church numbers and ages of children and young people which they attract, and how well their activities are adapted to the interests and needs of the com- munit)-. Such information ^^411 serve to show what part these institutions are taking in the solution of the problem, how they may be supplemented or improved, and will suggest ways in which the churches may co-operate. c) Clubs: Still another t3pe of private organi- zation for recreational purposes is found in the various clubs with dues and more restricted mem- bership. These differ widely in character, ranging all the way from the small social and athletic clubs meeting in Hmited rented quarters to the large clubs with their own buildings, or the country club with buildings and grounds for golf, tennis, and similar sports. Such organizations are a considerable factor in the recreational problem, pro\dding as they do for the leisure time of large numbers of people. Many of them offer wholesome amusement and oppor- tunities for physical exercise of high order. Some of them, unfortunately, present a serious problem. Some of the smaller clubs are merely places of resort for tough gangs which are a menace to the neighborhood or to the entire community. Nor are the unfavorable conditions limited to the smaller and less expensive organizations. There are nu- merous instances like one reported in a survey of Stxjdying Needs of the Community 39 the Russell Sage Foundation from which I quote freely. "The event was held by a prominent club in their rooms. It was announced in the papers as an 'Athletic Show,' and it began with a 'battle royal' boxing bout among five negroes." The description that follows is of a free fight with not even the element of scientific or skilful boxing to commend it. "The third event was a six one- minute round boxing contest between two little boys, aged seven and nine years." These boys carried on a prize fight for the amusement of several hundred business men and sportsmen, and were rewarded at the close by a shower of nickles, dimes, and quarters. Highly objectionable entertainments of other kinds are promoted by some of these clubs, from the tough dances of the informal social club to the equally immoral, but more highly gilded, affairs that occasionally take place under auspices from which society has the right to expect better things. Such conditions, when discovered, call for vigorous and effective protest on the part of the church. 2. Commercial amusements. — This class of recrea- tional facilities constitutes a large and often very serious factor in the problem. In the first place such amusements are conducted for financial profit, and this fact usually makes it impossible to look to them for any serious leadership along educational or ethical lines. Though we fully recognize that 40 Recreation axd the Chtirch many owners desire to offer only that which is really worth wliile, the fact remains that such owners are limited by the popular demand. The theater or other place of commercial amusement is in business to sell what people will pay for; too many are not particular as to the moral quality of their offerings, while some are willing, and even eager, to pander to the lowest and most debased desires. The solution of this phase of the problem lies along the two Hues of cultivating the taste and demand for the best on the part of the public and restraining the worst through superAdsion and regulation. Each community has its own peculiar problem in this respect, but certain of these commercialized amusements and the facts that should be known regarding them are topical. a) The motion-picture show: The large place that this form of amusement holds in the recreation of children and youth has already been indicated. The fact that three-fourths of our school children attend the moying-picture shows, and at least half of that number as often as once a week, and the additional fact that statistics from several cities show the average weekly attendance to be equiva- lent to, or more than, the entire population of the city, give some indication as to the magnitude of the problem. Mr. Frederic C. Howe, chairman of the National Board of Censorship, in an article Studying Needs of the Community 41 published in the Outlook in June, 1914, estimates the number of motion-picture theaters in the United States at from sixteen thousand to twenty thou- sand and the average daily attendance at from seven to twelve milhon. He states that about $150,000,000 is invested in the enterprise, and that the American people spend $300,000,000 yearly on this form of amusement. These figures would cer- tainly be no smaller and undoubtedly much larger if brought down to date. No one will question the accuracy of his statement that "next to the press and the school the movie is the most influential educational and recreational agency in our daily life." He gives facts to show that the saloon, the theater, the public library, and, we may add, the church, have all felt its competition. No church can rightly estimate its recreational problem without knowing the facts about "the movies" in its community. The investigation conducted in Portland, Oregon, and described by President William T. Foster, of Reed College, in the Reed College Record for September, 1914, is very suggestive as to the method of making such a study and the information to be secured. The mayor of Portland appointed a committee to investigate both the motion-picture and the vaudeville shows. This committee held prelimi- nary meetings, first with the managers of vaudeville houses and then with those of the motion-picture 42 Recreation and the Church shows. Sixty investigators were appointed, repre- senting almost every social and educational element in the city. These investigators reported on fifty- one motion-picture houses, several different assign- ments being made for each house at different times so as to insure a fair representation of average conditions from the point of view of different investigators. The investigators made their reports upon blanks calling for the following information: Blank A I. Name of theater 2. Location 3. Date of visit p.m. to p.m. 4. Date of visit 5. Number in attendance 6. Lighting 7. X'entilation 8. General cleanliness 9. Behavior of audience ID. Children in attendance properly accompanied. Number 12 and under boys girls Number 13 to 15 inclusive. . boys girls Number 16 to 18 inclusive. . boys girls 11. Children in attendance not properly accompanied. [Same analysis as No. 10] 12. Notes as to general attitude and conduct of children. . . . 13. After making detailed report, please state if objection- able parts could easily be ehminated without ehminating the whole film. 14. Please prepare a report of 150 or more words, giving your conclusions as to the educational and recreational value of this performance to the children in attendance. (Please use separate sheets. Please be specific.) Please add any other information which might be useful for the purposes of this report. Invcslieator Studying Needs of the Community 43 Blank B detailed report on moving-picture shows 15. Describe each picture as follows: (a) Title of picture. (b) Classify as follows: comedy, farce, drama, melo- drama, tragedy, scenic, scientific, current events. (c) General description: Look for acts of heroism, chivalry, and kindness, examples of true love, faith- fulness, scenes of wholesome home life and Ufe out of doors, also for acts of brutality and violence, death scenes, seduction, cowardice, immorality, murder, rob- bery, cheating, (d) Estimate the moral value: Good, bad, or without, moral value. Does the wrongdoer prosper ? Is the way of the transgressor easy ? Are rascals held up for admiration ? Are virtues made sources of mirth ? (e) What would be the effect of the picture on sensitive and unsophisticated children? With the co-operation of the school authorities this investigation was carried farther by asking the school children to fill out cards on which the follow- ing questions were asked : " Do you attend moving- picture shows ? If so, how often ? At what hour of the day do you generally attend ? What kind of moving pictures do you like best ? " Such cards were filled out by 2,647 children of the Portland schools. The results are in harmony with the figures given above as to the percentage of children attending and the frequency with which they do so. The reports of the investigators as to the char- acter of the pictures shown, while giving full credit to much that was pleasing, instructive, and morally helpful, gave only too clear evidence of a 44 Recreation and the Church large amount that was coarse, vulgar, and degrad- ing. Even more pernicious than the pictures that are utterly bad are those more insidious repre- sentations of gilded \ice and of immoral conduct that had thrown about it the glamor of pleasure or success. Such an investigation in almost any city or town will reveal much that should cause serious concern in view of the great popularity and large patronage of this t\-pe of amusement. We state these facts with full recognition of the other side of the question and with appreciation of the many good points of the motion picture. b) Theaters: The problem presented by the theater, aside from the motion-picture house, is much the same in kind though much more re- stricted. There are not so many of these theaters, and the higher prices that usually prevail also tend to restrict the attendance especially of children. The virtues and defects of the theater, however, are greater in degree. The play or show which combines the elements of the living actors, speech, and song, if good, is more effective, and, if bad, is more harmful, than the pictured representation. The quality of such entertainment furnished in the community, the attendance, proportion of children, and similar facts should be studied as in the case of the motion picture. In such a study, moreover, care should be taken to scrutinize not only the cheap vaudeville or burlesque show; it is only too Studying Needs of the Community 45 manifest that many of the musical comedies given at the highest-priced theaters, and many features in the so-called "refined vaudeville houses," are quite as bad from the \aewpoint of immodesty, suggestiveness, and downright immorality as the THE DISCOVERY OF SHRIMP Scene from a play given by Troop 15, B.S. of A., Rochester, New York, and written by one of the troop. Dramatics combine enjoyment, good fellow- ship, and development of powers of self-expression, and often help to furnish funds for various objects. average burlesque or cheap vaudeville. Their demoralizing effect upon public taste and standards of morality are even more insidious because of their added attractiveness. About the best that can be said of them is that the people who can afford to pay their prices are in position to pick and choose the better type of amusement if they will, while the 46 Recreation- axd the Church cheap house that is bad is exploiting the recrea- tional necessities of those who can afford nothing better. In studpng this phase of the problem, atten- tion should be paid, not only to those influences that offend the best sense of modesty and sexual morality, but also to those lurid presentations of violence and crime that are such prolific sources of criminal impulse and deeds. c) Dance halls: Dancing holds a place in the social life of young people that cannot be ignored. While in point of numbers it is far behind the "movie" and the theater, its importance as a fac- tor in the recreational problem is hardly less. It appeals strongly to the desire to express in rh^iihmi- cal motion the abundant spirit and \dtality of youth, and also gratifies the craving for society and companionship. For many young people the dance is practically the onh" opportunity available for social fellowship in attractive form. In studying the conditions under which this form of amusement is practiced, one needs to take into account the conditions in homes and private organi- zations, which are often the most potent factors in setting the standards elsewhere. But our present topic is the commercial dance hall. Reports from ^'arious cities show a wide range of conditions. In most places the dance halls are under a fair degree of supervision. Cities are not Studying Needs of the Community 47 wanting in which the conditions in the average dance hall are as good as and often better than in the private homes and clubs. Almost every city has some halls, on the other hand, where moral conditions are bad and certain to work harm. It is well iirst of all to consult the existing ordi- nances or regulations governing such places in the community. This will enable the investigator to know how far the present law is being enforced and where it may need improvement. Are the dance halls licensed or run under permit ? What kind of supervision is required: police, matrons, or chap- erons? What limitations as to age are imposed, or as to the sale of liquor, or the giving of pass-out checks ? What provisions are required for the pro- tection of life, health, and morals in such matters as fire escapes, ventilation, cleanliness, late hours, toilet facilities, and the like ? With this information the next step is to investi- gate the dance halls themselves, taking care so to conduct the study as to insure average results as well as extremes, and to get the judgment of vari- ous persons on the same set of conditions. It should be carefully noted that in such investigation, as well as that of certain types of theaters, only persons of mature judgment and established char- acter should be engaged. It is an unwise and even dangerous thing to send young, untried, and highly impressionable young people on such work. 48 Recreation' axd the Church Many of the facts to be observed have been sug- gested in connection with the study of ordinances. The important ones may be briefly noted. What is the general character of the place? Is it con- nected with a saloon, or is liquor sold on the prem- ises? If not, are pass-out checks given, and are these used for the purpose of visiting near-by saloons, as is usually the case ? What is the char- acter of the attendance as to age? How many under fifteen ? How many from fifteen to twenty- five ? Do girls and young women come alone, and do they leave alone ? Are there parents or chap- erons present ? Is there pohce supervision and, if so, of what character ? Is there evidence of dan- cing without introduction or acquaintance ? Are there any evidences of drinking or intoxication? What is the conduct of the dancers as to boister- ousness, close holding, or immodest attitudes or actions ? Note the physical conditions as to ven- tilation, toilet facilities, etc. The hours should also be observed. A subtle influence that must not be overlooked is exercised by long hours of dancing in close, overheated atmosphere. This means fatigue, and fatigue means weakened powers of self-control. d) Saloons, biUiard- and pool-rooms, bowling alleys: For the purpose of this chapter this class of commercial amusement places may be taken to- gether, as they are often combined. They should be studied in much the same waj- as the foregoing. Studying Needs of the Community 49 Their number, character, the number and age of frequenters, and the type of amusement furnished should be noted. Is gambling in any form allowed ? What methods are used to attract trade ? What form of supervision is required by the city ordi- nances? Is the law governing these places being enforced ? If not, why ? Is it because of neglect, indifference, political corruption, or lack of a suffi- cient number of intelligent and capable officers? Such information as this and other points that may suggest themselves in various communities will give the basis for an intelligent judgment on the prob- lem involved, and will suggest ways and means of solving it. e) Amusement parks and excursion steamers: Almost all cities and many smaller places have their amusement parks conducted as commercial enter- prises, in which a great variety of recreation is offered to the public. ]\Iuch of it is good, especially the open-air concerts, which are often of high order. Unfortunately there is also too much that is ques- tionable, and some that is positively bad. Many of the side shows are of a type that would be con- demned if attempted by the regular theaters of the same community. In this connection one often meets a type of immoraUty that calls for special mention. A committee went to the manager of a certain exposition park under city control to protest against the character of some side shows to which 50 Recreatiox and the Church concessions had been given. After the committee had described in detail certain things that had been said and done by the "barkers" and actresses in front of these shows, the defense was offered: "Oh, well, the show itself is not as bad as that might lead one to suppose." In other words, the argument was that the promoters of the show were deceiving the public by leading them to expect something particularly risque, but after taking their money on these false pretenses they gave them in return a show that was merely stupid and coarse, but "not actually bad." I saw the same thing illustrated in an individual case in a penn}- arcade in another city. A boy was passing down before the row of picture machines. He stopped at one which was decorated with a particularly suggestive poster and dropped in his coin. After \aewing the picture he turned away with such an expression of disgust on his face that I at first thought it had been too bad even for him. I asked him about it and, with another scowl, he remarked: "It's a fake." It may be all well enough to take refuge in the cheap excuse that people should not be looking for immoral shows or pictures, but that does not alter the fact that such methods of advertising are a direct education in methods of dishonestv and false- hood. This same kind of dishonesty is constantly employed in the advertising posters displa}ed before moving-picture houses. Studying Needs of the Community 51 Cities which are situated upon large bodies of water have also the excursion steamer to reckon with as a factor in the recreational problem. The published reports of the Chicago Vice Commission and other similar investigations give only too vigor- ous testimony of the evils which flourish on some of these boats, and which are made the more diffi- cult to deal with on account of the mixed juris- diction under which they are conducted. 3. Public recreation. — Under this head we may class the public parks, playgrounds, libraries, schools, and the social centers or playgrounds connected with the latter. Here we are fortu- nately relieved from the necessity of investigating glaring evils or gross immoralities, except possibly in cases of rank political corruption or abuse. The questions to be determined concern the degree of merit in equipment and supervision, the adequacy or inadequacy of recreational provision in propor- tion to the need, and the possibilities of improve- ment in these respects. The public library is not only a great educational factor, but an important element in the recreational life of the community. Reading is one of the favorite diversions of children at certain ages, and the children's department of the public library with the story-hours conducted in so many of them is doing excellent service in meeting this demand. The direct moral lessons taught through good 52 Recreation axd the Chltrch stories and the formation of good taste in reading are valuable assets in character development. r^Iuseums of natural history and lectures and enter- tainments in school centers are also of high value and are a good field for volunteer ser\ice. The facts regarding the supph' of such facilities are easily obtained, and should be included in the study of the problem. The investigation of pla3'ground facihties, in which we may include the parks, neighborhood and school playgrounds, should note the same facts regarding the distribution of population as to num- bers and age as have been mentioned in § 2, pp. 31, 32 of this chapter. The recreation surveys of the Russell Sage Foundation and of the Playgroimd and Recreation Association of America give ample suggestions regarding the method of investigation. Some of the facts to be noted may be mentioned here in detail. a) The total acreage of parks and playgrounds in proportion to the population: The survey of Springfield, Illinois, made in 1914, gives figures from twelve cities, including its own, sho\nng a range of from 60 persons to the acre in Washington, D.C., to 493 in Chicago. The average is 254 to the acre. Even allo-\^^g for the fact that not everyone in a gi-\-en community would e\-er ^vish to occupy the same space at the same time, this allowance is manifestlv meager. Studying Needs of the Community 53 b) The area of playgrounds with reference to the child population, bearing in mind the fact that 625 square feet is the minimum area in which four or five children can readily play together. c) The location of parks and playgrounds with reference to centers of population : Studies in many cities show that the sphere of influence of play- grounds for small children is from one-fourth to one-third of a mile, with the weight of opinion tend- ing toward the shorter distance. For the parks and athletic fields, which cater to the boys and young people, one-half to three-fourths of a mile is the effective radius. Chicago has adopted the one-half-mile limit as the basis for its future park system. Testimony shows that children and young people living beyond these limits will seek easier ways of amusing themselves rather than go the longer distance; and this usually means the street. d) Surface conditions of playgrounds: Many cities have free space which might be available, but which is unusable because it is not properly graded or because of the surface. This is especially true of many school grounds which range from the one extreme of beautiful lawns, flower-beds, and shrub- bery — undoubtedly an aesthetic asset, which should not, however, be cultivated to the exclusion of the greater value of play space — to the other extreme of brick pavements or cinder-strewn yards which are neither sightly nor available for play. 54 Recreation and the Church e) Equipment: This will include such items as suitable and adequate provision for games and athletic sports, such as baseball, football, volley- ball, basket-ball, and track-meets; also such play- ground apparatus as swings, teeter-boards, slides^ sand piles, and the like; also such facilities as wading pools for little children, swimming pools for older ones, shelters and comfort stations, and the like. In estimating the adequacy of such pro- \-isions reference must be had to the proportion of children of varj-ing ages which the particular play- ground has to serve. Instances are not wanting of playgrounds finely equipped to meet the needs of a certain age, but situated in a neighborhood where the demand is for something quite different. Under the head of equipment also arises the question of field-houses and provision for indoor recreation during the winter or in inclement weather. /) Super\-ision : Nothing is more thoroughly demonstrated in the history of playground adminis- tration than the fact that adequate supervision is necessary if the facihties pro\'ided are to ser\'e their full purpose. We must not be misled, by the fact that play is instinctive, into thinking that children instinctively know how to pla}' freely and fully. Such a conclusion is as false as to think that be- cause feeding is instinctive children may be left to choose their own diet. There are those who hold Studying Needs of the Community 55 that this is true, but experience does not bear out the theory. The studies of the games that children play when left to themselves bear testi- mony to the poverty of their repertoire. Another fact which is revealed by many of the surveys is that children prefer the playgrounds in which there are proper supervision and leadership. E\ ERYBODY COMES Nearly eight hundred automobiles were parked in the field at the Somonauk United Presbyterian Church Fourth of July celebration. The event was of interest to the entire community for miles around. In cities having some playgrounds under supervi- sion and others without, pains have been taken to discover the relation of this fact to the voluntary attendance of children. It has been found that children will come after school hours and of their own accord to those playgrounds where adequate leadership is provided much more freely than to those where no such provision is made. 56 Recreation and the Church The character of this super^■ision is another important item. Is it exercised merely in the spirit of the caretaker, to prevent damage or de- struction of property, or is it real leadership, exercised from the educational viewpoint and with the object of interesting the children in the best games ? Are the playground directors trained for their task and have they a sympathetic apprecia- tion of the needs of the children ? It should be noted, furthermore, whether the leadership of the playgrounds is comprehensively intelligent. It is not enough merely to take proper care of the children who are actually coming to the ground, but those in charge should know the com- munity and its needs, and should so plan their schedule of activities as to make them attractive to all ages and to all the various elements in the neighborhood. The playground should not be a merely passive opportunit}- for those who wish to come, but an active and aggressive force making for the best welfare of all. Such an inquiry will discover various defects and lead to the further eiiort to ascertain their cause. And this will often be found in the general ad- ministration of the public recreational facilities. Defects here are fundamental and give rise to wide-spread shortcomings. In some cities we find the lack to be that of any central authority. The supervision of recreational facilities may be di\'ided Studying Needs of the Community 57 between park boards, school authorities, and both public and private playground boards. This usually results ih scattering efforts, duplication, or even conflicting standards and methods, as illustrated by the former conditions in Rochester described at the beginning of this chapter. The remedy lies in the direction taken by that city, the bringing together of all the public recreational interests into one board or commission, with a competent director in charge. Only on such a basis can there be any well-considered and compre- hensive plan for meeting the recreational need of the community as a whole. Another defect is often found in the attempt to do the work too cheaply, using untrained and inexperienced leaders, and paying them too little to make it possible for them really to acquaint themselves with the needs of the neighborhoods in which they work. The church will often find one of its most fruit- ful fields of service in the task of educating public opinion to the point at which it will duly appreciate the value of recreational work for its children, and not only justify but demand the expenditure of adequate funds for public playgrounds and for their proper equipment and supervision. What has been said thus far in this chapter has special reference to the city or town church. But the recreational problem is no less important, and 58 Recreation and the Church the need for studjing it no less pressing in the rural community. The country district is free from the problems arising from congested population and the lack of free space. Its difficulties are found rather in the lonesomeness and barrenness of social life, and the lack of suitable opportunities for good entertainment, and especially the lack of leader- ship in promoting wholesome recreation. The problem is also likely to be more acute with the older children and yoimg people than with the Uttle ones. The child who lives much out of doors and with the many opportunities that nature affords in the country readily finds a wide range of whole- some and attractive occupation. But when the craving for social fellowship begins to be a vital factor in the recreational life, the trouble begins. In these days of the trolley and the automobile the neighboring town or city is more accessible, and the young people seek the amusement they desire away from home and often amid conditions which lack wholesome restraint. The problem of the rural community, then, becomes that of enriching its own social and recreational life so as to lessen the power of the dangerous attractions just re- ferred to. The opportunity and responsibility of the churches are the greater because of the fact that they have the field much more to themselves. In many communities the churches and the schools Studying Needs of the Community 59 are practically the only agencies to which the people can look for social life and recreation. But here again we find another difficulty in that so many rural communities are over-churched, and each separate organization is therefore too weak INDOOR BASEBALL The Boys' Club is having a game which some of the members of the Men's Club have come in to watch. The church gymnasium provides enter- tainment for both players and spectators. financially to do a very adequate piece of work. Co-operation is therefore the more essential. A comparison of rural surveys made by church commissions in various parts of the country indi- cates that the following may be taken as a fair picture of rural social and recreational conditions. 6o Recreation and the Church The streets, stores, depots, and public buildings of the towns and villages are the chief meeting- places where people gather for informal conversa- tion or loafing. Courting is mostly done on buggy- rides or at home (under difficulties) . Opportunity for larger gatherings is found in the picnics, family and community reunions, and home-comings. The agencies which promote social fellowship and recreation are the fraternal organizations, in many places apparently weakening; the granges, seem- ingly a growing influence; the schools, which are in many locahties doing excellent work; and the churches. In no case was there evidence that these organizations were fully meeting the needs of the community. The forms of recreational hfe men- tioned include baseball, football, and other athletic sports, with evident need of leadership and organi- zation; dances, poolrooms, and picture shows, usually in the village or town; lectures and enter- tainments and home-talent dramatics held in schools, churches, or grange halls; Chautauquas, fairs, and traveling circuses; and church or church society picnics and socials, the larger portion of the latter being held for the purpose of raising money. The attitude of the churches in many of these communities is too largely that of indiscriminate condemnation of ^■arious forms of amusement, with little or no attempt to provide an}i;hing constructive. The following quotations from one Studying Needs of the Community 6i of these surveys fairly presents this phase of the difi&culty: Excepting the picnics, which are always free, 46 per cent of the social life is furnished for pay. The value of the pay social is difficult to judge. The main objection to it is that the motive is apt to be selfish. The church in giving such a social is likely to think not so much of the happiness it is bringing to those who attend as of the financial gain that is to result. The people, too, are giving their money, not as a free-will offering for the extension of the Kingdom, but as the price of a material return. On the other hand, many people, especially "outsiders," prefer to attend socials if they can pay for their entertainment. . . . The solution of this problem may be a wise combination of the two kinds. Socials for profit have certain abuses, but an occasional social where people can pay for the expense of their entertainment may interfere less with their self-respect than free socials. But whichever kind predominates, its aim should be to minister unselfishly to the social needs of all within its reach Eight per cent of the churches were found to be strenuously opposed to social activities on the part of the church, both in theory and practice. Some of the ministers are afraid of getting the "world." into the church. By such exclusion, however, they generally seem to keep out every- body, for only one of these churches is growing. The rest are stationary. Opposition to social life seems to be due principally to two misconceptions. In the first place, to many people the word "social" means a money-making scheme, and they think that the church ought not to resort to such means to make money. As one church member expressed it: "The devil can't pay our expenses. If he does, he wants an interest in the business." What is needed here is a broader idea of the unselfish purpose of social gatherings. The other misconception is the supposed 62 Recreatiox and the Church opposition between social life and spiritual life. One of the ministers made the statement that social life would not save anyone, "^\'hat the churches need is not social life but more spiritual Ufe" is a common expression. The two are thus divorced from each other instead of identified. Here we need a broader conception of spiritual life. Social life ought to be spiritual and true spiritual life is social. Everj'thing that brings men together in helpful com- panionship makes for the extension of the Kingdom of God. The rural church has the field open before it. The greatest lack is that of \ision and intelligent appreciation of its opportunity. The topic of "Studying the Recreational Needs of the Community" has been thus fully treated because it is fundamental to any clear knowledge of the church's problem and because it is so highly suggestive. Not only the things that need to be done, but the methods to be pursued are often revealed in such a study of the needs. Here, as always, "knowledge is power." CHAPTER III MEETING THE RECREATIONAL NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY Such a study of the field as suggested in the fore- going chapter will give some idea of the needs to be met and form the basis of a working policy. The necessity for such a basis cannot be too strongly emphasized, for, as already stated, it is the need of the particular community in question that is to be met, not that of some other. A most fruitful source of error and ultimate failure is the habit of indiscriminate imitation — the adoption of a policy or of some certain activity because some other church has done the same thing with good results. Every church may learn from the study of what others are doing, provided the study does not stop with the mere survey of activities, but goes behind these to the conditions and needs which they are planned to meet. The degree to which these needs are being met is the true measure of value by which to estimate the activities themselves. If these conditions are the same as those in the com- munity for which the study is being made, the activities may be imitated with safety; if not, the latter should be modiiied to meet existing condi- tions. 63 64 Recreation and the Chxjrch It is important to repeat this caution before attempting to outline any sort of program for general adoption. To prescribe such a program in detail with the idea of securing its wholesale adoption would be foolish and hurtful. We must limit ourselves, therefore, to general principles and to examples that are topical of general conditions. § I. the education of the church membership The lessons of a community survey will be ap- parent at first only to those who have participated in making it, and it is important that the}' should be made clear to a larger proportion of the church membership upon whose hearty support and co- operation success depends. There will be a con- siderable number of adults in ever}' church who need education with reference to the importance of recreation in the life of children and youth and its relation to the development of strong Christian character. This topic has already been treated in the first chapter. The survey of conditions actually existing in the communit}' will give prac- tical illustrations of needs, of the harmful results of neglect, and, if anything has been well done to meet the needs, of the good results to be enjoyed. Such facts will give ample material that should be used in the pulpit and in study groups. In this educational campaign greater interest will be aroused and more eftectiveness secured by Meeting Needs of the Community 65 the liberal use of charts, diagrams, and photo- graphs. The proportion of children in a commu- nity who have no place in which to play but the street will be more strikingly presented by a dia- gram than by simply a statement of the relative figures. The comparative advantages of the play- ground and the alley as places in which children may spend their leisure time can better be told by photographs or lantern slides than by hours of argument. The printed reports of the community study of the Clinton Avenue Congregational Church of Brooklyn and of many of the recrea- tional surveys that have been referred to are illustrative of this graphic method of presentation. Another point that will inevitably arise in any thorough discussion of recreation is that of the so-called questionable amusements: dancing, card playing, and the theater. Space forbids a complete treatment of this topic here. It has been admir- ably handled by Dr. Henry A. Atkinson in the second and fifth chapters of his book, The Church ■and the People's Play. Certain things, however, may be stated at once. That there have been evils connected with these forms of amusement is unquestionably true. We do not always stop to consider just how true the statement is in this form. The evils are not in- herent in the amusements themselves, but in the associations with which they have been connected. 66 Recreation and the Church There are too many earnest, useful, Christian men and women who share in these forms of recreation to allow anyone successfully to combat this state- ment. Card playing and the dance may be inno- cent and pleasurable diversions, and the theater may also be a source of genuine education and inspiration. To indulge in any of these amuse- ments to the accompaniment of drinking or gam- bling, or to devote to them time that should be given to work, study, or sleep, is hurtful and wrong; and such overindulgence is just as unrighteous in any other form of amusement. The wise, proper, and discriminating use of all amusements is the prin- ciple which sorely needs inculcating, rather than the indiscriminate condemnation of any certain class. Even if we grant the full force of what is said about the evil associations that have surrounded this class of amusements, this does not prove that such associations are necessary, and it leaves still to be met the question as to who is responsible for allowing them to hold the monopoly. For long years we have connected a certain class of tene- ments with insanitary living conditions, immoral- ity, and crime. We have not appro^'ed of these conditions, and we have distributed our condemna- tion rather impartially between the people who thus live and the landlords who thus enrich them- seh'cs. But of late years we ha\e begun to see it Meeting Needs of the Community 67 as a part of Christian duty to redeem these plague spots and to make such conditions impossible. May not the same principle hold equally good in the matter of amusements? We have heard the tenement problem dismissed with such statements as these: "People must live, and some of them will live like pigs"; "What is the use of providing bath tubs ? The people will continue to keep vegetables and coal in them." That such obstacles in the path of reform exist every practical worker for better housing conditions knows full well. But we have progressed far enough to know that the case is not hopeless and that people who have a fair chance do not eventually prefer to live like beasts. Those who have earnestly attacked the problem of recreation know just as well that young people as a whole prefer to be clean and decent and self- respecting in their amusements and that one great reason why they have not had a better chance to be so is that we have handed over so large a part of these amusements to commercial interests willing to exploit them for their own advantage. An excellent illustration of this is seen in the history of the theater. In almost any of the argu- ments against the theater, written twenty-five years or so ago, one finds the statement that clean and respectable plays cannot be made profitable, therefore stage managers will not present them. The same argument is occasionally used today as 68 Recreation and the Chxjrch an excuse by managers who prefer to present the unwholesome type. Grant that the argument was true twenty-five years ago; who was to blame? Was it alone the people who patronized the immoral play, or the manager who presented it, or may not some share be justly borne by those who, through indiscriminate condemnation of the theater as a whole and through their refusal to support the better type of plays, helped to make the statement true ? But what is the condition of affairs today ? By degrees we have come to see that the stage may not be all bad, and Christian people and cultivated men and women are lending their support to its elevation. As a result the person who says that the good play cannot be made financially successful is either indulging in a deliberate falsehood or is ignorant of the facts. The truth is that the plays which meet with the largest and most enduring success are those that have genuine merit, and many of them are of very high educational and moral value. What would be the further result if all those who have the culture essential to good taste and the character requisite to courageous action were actively to demand and support the best and resolutely refuse to tolerate the shady and suggestive performance ? Still another aspect of this question calls for careful consideration. It is highly important that the attitude of the church upon any vital subject Meeting Needs of the Community 69 should be logical and consistent. No one who knows young people can fail to realize how quickly they pick flaws in an inconsistent position, and how seriously such a defect undermines their confi- dence in leadership. The present attitude of many churches is full of such inconsistency as Dr. Atkin- son has shown in the work referred to. It would be far better to stand by the attitude of absolute condemnation than to condemn a performance under the name of a play and to accept it under the name of a pageant. The former attitude at least commands the respect of a thinking mind even though it may not win assent. The writer once talked with a young man who had listened to the sermon of a pastor on card playing in which scathing denunciation and con- signment to everlasting punishment had been heaped upon all those who indulged in this form of amusement. The statement had been made that no one could take part in a game of cards and be a Christian, and that anyone who claimed so to do was a liar and a hypocrite. During the following week this young man attended a social gathering at the same church. The entertainment provided was in part a progressive salmagundi of games. One of the first to which he was invited was called "worth while," a game played with cards bearing numbers and letters of the alphabet. Unfortu- nately for the effect of that sermon this young man 70 Recreatiox axd the Church happened to know that the game in question was none other than that of fan-tan, a diversion which has held for many generations in China about the same position as that of poker in our own land. Set o\'er against this another illustration. In the parish house of one of our large churches there has been conducted for some time a dance for young men and women who are employed in the stores and factories of the city. For many of these the dance affords practically the only opportunity they ha^'e for social fellowship, and all of them had been seeking this amusement in the pubhc dance halls, often under anything but helpful surround- ings. Here they found good music, good air, good fellowship, and the protection afforded by careful and wise super\asion. Young men were not allowed to dance with girls whom they had never met. Close holding, immodest conduct, and the objectionable features of the dance hall were pro- hibited, and the prohibition tactfully but firmly enforced. Sometimes it was necessarv to debar the few who failed to comply with the rules. Xe\xr was this done without many expressions of ap- proval and even of gratitude from the large major- ity of the \-oung people — a striking testimony to their preference for clean and wholesome condi- tions. ]\Iore than this, the instruction given as to the proper mode of dancing led to nianv con- fidences regarding matters of the most vital moral Meeting Needs of the Community 71 and religious import, and the influences exerted upon these young people were of untold value. The church that says to its young people: ''Play, by all means; despise not any form of wholesome amusement, rightly used; but be master of your play, not its slave; preserve your own self-respect and that of your Maker and God; scorn to degrade yourself and others by any form of un- worthy amusement," will find its message respected and its precepts followed more generally than we sometimes surmise. And courage of our convic- tions here will have a greater effect than we think upon the power of our message in other respects. We repeat : the principle that the church should emphasize is that of discrimination rather than universal prohibition. Young people should be trained to exercise moral judgment in the use of recreation. This is not so easy, but it makes for strength of character, while the other method too often weakens it. Having had opportunity for some years to observe closely large numbers of young people, I have taken pains to ascertain the nature of their early training in this respect. The inquiry has convinced me that young people who have been taught to exercise their own judgment and discrimination are most likely to continue doing so through life, while those who have been prohibited from participating in various amuse- ments without reasons that will stand the test of 72 Recreation axd the Church experience are the ones most liable to excessi\'e indulgence when once they escape the restraint of authority. Such a result is exactly what might be expected upon psychological grounds. Ever}- time a boy or girl reaches a decision of his or her own free will, character, which is the power to \\'ill and to do, is thereby strengthened. On the other hand, the old-fashioned idea of forcing compliance with the will of another with no genuine inner assent has exactly the opposite eiifect. There are too many instances of young people who have left home and its restraints only to continue this process of jdelding their own powers of choice to the will of the crowd. If they chance to get in with the right crowd, the worst result is that of comparatively passive goodness, but if not, the case becomes more serious. § 2. CO-OPEIL\TIVE .ACTIVITIES A ^^tal question with reference to needs that may be discovered in the community is whether the church can best be of ser\ice through recrea- tional activities in its own building and under its own supervision, or by using its influence in co- operation with other agencies. Xo general rule can be made on this point. It depends upon cir- cumstances. It is safe to adopt the principle that the church should not invest its time, effort, and money in any individual piece of work that can be Meeting Needs of the Community 73 done as well, or possibly better, by other agencies or by all working together. Whether this is the case is a matter for individual judgment, in view of existing conditions. Unnecessary duplication of effort should be avoided in the interest of economy. If one set of equipment and administrative machinery can meet the needs, it is wasteful to add to the number. In such an enterprise as a community playground, requiring a considerable amount of organization and equipment, there is always the question whether the church, in attempting to supply this, may not be led aside from its own distinctive task of religious leadership, although this result is by no means necessary. Still another danger is that of limiting the usefulness of what should be a service to the community through the fact of its being identified with one particular church. To illustrate, take the case of a community of moderate size needing playgrounds for its children. Suppose one church, stronger than the others and having in its membership a predominant share of the influence and financial ability of the town, recognizes the need, and proceeds of its own accord to establish and conduct a playground. Even though the work may be done in a spirit of gener- ous freedom and without narrow sectarian limita- tions, there will nevertheless be many who dis- trust the willingness or the ability of any church 74 Recreation and the Church to conduct such an enterprise without proselyting in its own favor. These people will stay away and keep their children away. If, therefore, the inter- est and money put into this particular piece of church work should weaken the total resources of the communit}' to such an extent as to prevent the establishment of a larger work for all, it would be a selfish and undesirable enterprise. Such an unfortunate result will be avoided if the church first recognizing the need proceeds to inspire others with the same vision and allows the enter- prise to be established and conducted in the name of all the churches or by the local administration with the churches in active co-operation. An excellent illustration of what may be done in this direction is found in the work of the Con- gregational Church of Winnetka, Illinois. For years this church has held an enviable position of leadership won through a spirit of broad and liberal service to the community, which has prevented the over-churching of the \'illage and has made easier the task of effective leadership. Through its com- munity house, well equipped with g}-mnasium and clubrooms, the church has given much attention to -the recreation of its children and young people. It has proceeded from the first upon the principle of discovering the conditions and needs, and then meeting them in such a manner as to be of the greatest service to all. So wise and suggestive Meeting Needs of the Community 75 has been this influence that a community senti- ment has developed, finding expression in a recrea- tion board, representing the village authorities, the school and park boards, and the churches. A skilled director is employed to plan and supervise the work, and thus all the equipment and facilities of the various local organizations are made avail- able for the purposes of a comprehensive and har- monious recreational scheme. Similar instances are found elsewhere and their number should increase. Cases will be found where the majority of the churches or community leaders are so lethargic or lacking in vision as to make such a co-operative movement impossible. Under such conditions it may become the plain duty of one church to initiate the movement and to demonstrate its value, but this should be done in a spirit of readi- ness to merge the individual enterprise into the larger community service whenever that may become possible. StOl another phase of this relationship between the individual church and the community interest needs to be considered. It has to do with the proper control of commercialized amusements, and may well be illustrated by the case of the motion- picture show. The standards of this type of amuse- ment are far from desirable in many places. There is undoubted need for something better. Shall this 76 Recreation and the Chusch be provided by the establishment of similar enter- tainments in the churches to compete with the com- mercial house, or by exerting the influence of the churches and the better sentiment that they may inspire for the proper supervision of all the picture theaters of the locality? If the former policy be chosen with the result of making good pictures available to those who will seek them, lea\'ing the rest to the mercy of managers with low standards, the service to the community would be partial only. In some cases effective competition may be neces- sary as a weapon, but the possibilities of raising all standards through co-operation and control should always be considered first. This is not to be taken as an argument against the use of motion pictures for educational purposes by the churches and Sunday schools. It thus appears that the whole question of co- operative or individual acti\'ities is to be decided in favor of that course which, under the existing circumstances, will render the largest service to the community. There should certainly be more of effective co-operation than now exists. Corre- spondence with \-arious church federations in all parts of the country reveals the fact that compara- tively little has l^ecn done through these organiza- tions in the way of constructive recreational work. Perhaps the largest contribution now being made is through the various Sunday-school athletic Meeting Needs of the Community 77 leagues, and these are for the most part hmited to a few games for boys and men, such as baseball, tennis, etc. In some cities the church federations have done something in the way of backing local enterprises, TENT INSPECTION Strict and careful inspection of tents is important for tlie maintenance of healtiiful conditions in camp. Each tent is marlied on a point system, and a banner is awarded for tiie day to tiie best tent. Tfiis stimulates a healthy rivalry and helps to inculcate habits of order and discipline. such as playgrounds and school centers. In many cities, too, the churches are co-operating informally through the Y.M.C.A. The following brief extracts from the corre- spondence referred to will serve to show some- thing of what has been done and to suggest the possibiHties. yS Recreation and the Chxjrch The secretary of the Federation of Churches in Portland, Maine, writes: Our Federation has done little work along recreational lines. With the co-operation of the Y.M.C.A., our Boys' '\\'ork Department conducted three years ago a boys' field day for the boys of the Sunday schools. Under the auspices of the Y.^M.C.A. are conducted Sunday-school basebaU and basket-ball leagues. The pubhc playground work of the city was begun through the instrumentality of the Civic Club, and has now come under municipal direction, a supervisor of playgroiinds having been added to the force of workers this spring by appointment of the city government. From Erie, Pennsylvania, comes this note: Our Men's Inter-Church Federation, with a committee of loo from the churches and a board of directors of 24, is the central organization for this work. We co-operate with the Y.M.C.A. in a summer camp for boys on Lake Erie. We hold a Summer Chautauqua even,- summer, with musical and educational features and entertainments through the week, and reUgious services on Simdays. Also a children's hour each day, with games, drills, stor>--telling, etc. The older boys and girls are brought together for social gatherings and games se\-cral times each year. These "get- togethers" are usually held in the social rooms of some church and close with a brief address on some five topic bv a Uve man. We also hold "Eats " for the purpose of acquaint- anceship and inspiration of the young people. In Hartford, Connecticut, the Federation of Churches through its committees on public amuse- ments, boys' work, and the like is backing up city Meeting Needs of the Community 79 efforts in the form of parks, playgrounds, and semi- public recreation centers. Most of the reports from federations speak of work that is being done by individual churches and of more or less co-operation between these churches. But there is little evidence that this subject of recreation in its relation to religious education has yet been seriously studied and its possibilities as a field of federated church work investigated. The need for co-operation is espe- cially felt in the rural districts where the strong tendency toward individualism is a serious ob- stacle to the solution of social and recreational problems. In the country field the churches and the school are practically the only available places for school activities, although the granges and similar organizations are beginning to offer such opportunities. But most country churches are hardly strong enough to carry out an adequate program single-handed. § 3. INDIVIDUAL CHURCH ACTIVITIES Even when the principle of co-operative activity is fully recognized, there will always remain enough work to occupy the resources of the individual church. Each will find needs in its own congrega- tion and parish that may and should be met without interfering with its wider obligations. Such individual activities will, on the contrary, 8o Recreation axd the Chtjrch be a contribution to the solution of the total problem if carried on in the spirit that has been indicated. The children and young people of any congrega- tion should feel that the church is interested in their whole life, their play as well as their work. Such feeling will bind them more closely to the church and will win their interest and loyalty. The Sunday-school teacher who never plays with the members of his class misses one of his best oppor- tunities for sympathetic acquaintance and personal influence. Many teachers are so situated that they cannot entertain their classes at home, but would gladly meet them at the church parish house or social rooms if proper facilities were provided. Such organizations as the Boy Scouts and Camp Fire Girls lend themselves admirably to organized work with the boys and girls of the church and, under right leadership, yield rich fruitage in Chris- tian character. In the following chapter on "The Recreational Program" we shall discuss the various t}pes of indi- vidual activities and their value for children and young people of different ages. In many of these, especially the athletic sports and contests, indi- vidual and co-operative action is blended. In fact, all such activities are co-operative to this extent at least, that they do their share toward meeting the recreational needs of that part of Meeting Needs of the Community 8i the community for which the individual church is especially responsible. § 4. SUPERVISION AND LEADERSHIP There is nothing more fundamental to the solu- tion of the recreational problem than adequate supervision. Probably more attempts in the way of recreational work have broken down through failure to recognize this factor than from any other cause. The point has already been touched upon, but its importance justifies added emphasis. The first necessity is seen in the need of supervi- sion for the safeguarding of equipment. This is the negative side and the least important, but it is the phase that usually appeals most strongly at the outset, especially to that portion of the adult con- gregation which is principally concerned with seeing that the church property is not damaged. This is by no means the most praiseworthy motive. Many of us need to learn that boys and girls are of more value than carpets and furniture. Those who complain of the ordinary and legitimate wear and tear which accompany all such activities, and who fail to see that the results amply justify them, should ponder the Master's query: "How much then is a man of more value than a sheep ?" We are often in danger of placing ourselves in the same category with those Gadarenes who besought the Master to leave them and their property in peace. 82 Recreation and the Church For the comfort of such careful souls, however, let us hasten to add that we are making no plea for the liberty of children and youth to destroy or misuse property. Exactly the contrary is true, but the motive should be found in the best interests of the child rather than in the safet}- of the property. The orderly and careful use of equipment is for the best interests of the child, and should therefore be secured. The key to the situation hes in tactful and com- petent leadership which shall result in the use and not the abuse of the privileges afforded. The best solution will be reached by emphasizing the idea of "leadership," and this word is better than "supervision." Leadership is needed for the enrichment of play life. Attention has already been called to the limited repertoire of games possessed by the average child. In the recreation survey of Ipswich. Massa- chusetts, covering a study of 153 boys and 185 girls, it was found that only two games, football and baseball, were commonly played by more than half of the boys, and tag and hide and seek by more than half of the girls. Similar findings in other studies confirm the fact that a very large number of games with high recreative and educational Nalue are quite unknown to the majority of children. These need to be taught under good leadership and when so taught are eagerly welcomed. Meeting Needs of the Community 83 But by far the most important demand for the right kind of leadership lies in the fact that without it the opportunities for bringing out the mental and moral values of play are sure to be lost in great measure. What these opportunities are has already been illustrated in our discussion of the "Religious LEADERS AT CAMP lOLA igij Good leadership is essential to the success of a camp. This Y.M.C.A. camp has its director, physician, chaplain, and instructors in physical work, nature study, manual training, and a leader for each tent. A leaders' meet- ing each morning takes up questions of discipline, camp activities, and other topics connected with the welfare of the camp. Educational Value of Play and Recreation" (chap- ter i). Such values are to be reahzed in full measure only under the leadership of a man or woman of high ideals, strong character, tact, good judgment, and winning personality. Such a leader finds abundant avenues of approach to the heart 84 Recreation axd the Church and will of the child in the \'arious situations that arise on the playground or in the game-room. The profession of playground director or director of boys' or girls' work is already established and gro^^•ing in importance. Such work requires, not onh- natural aptitude, but training and skill. As such it demands adequate compensation, ^^'he^- ever possible, the church should have on its staff such directors, one for boys and one for girls. The salary of such workers ranges from six hundred to fifteen hundred dollars a }-ear for church posi- tions, and from one thousand to eighteen hundred dollars for general school or plaj'ground work. It is by no means necessary to- wait untU this entire cost can be met before making a beginning. Many churches find it possible to secure suitable leadership on part time at very much less expense. Often there ^^"ill be found >'oung men and women who are glad to devote a part of their time to this work for the sake of the serWce rendered or the experience gained, and with but moderate compen- sation to enable them to purchase needed books or to pursue studies to fit themseh-es better for the discharge of their duties, ^^llere there are direc- tors in the schools or the playgrounds of the com- munity we find an excellent source of supph- for part-time workers in the churches. A\'hile the need for trained and salaried leaders to plan and direct acti\-ities is thus apparent, no Meeting Needs of the Community 85 church should lose sight of the opportunity to develop volunteer leadership from among its own members. It is a duty of the church to develop its membership in character and usefulness by offering them such tasks, and the results richly repay the trouble of the undertaking. There are many lines of opportunity for such service. Teachers of Sunday-school classes should be shown how they may increase their usefulness by leadership in week- day recreational pursuits as well as in the class sessions. The leadership of group clubs for boys and girls is another opportunity, and there is a constantly growing demand for the right kind of leaders in the Boy Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, and similar organizations both within and without the church. In many communities there is an increasing reali- zation of the opportunity for helpful co-operation between the churches and the Christian Associa- tions in the training of young men and women in the Association classes for leadership of boys and girls in the churches. Too much care can scarcely be exercised in this selection of leaders, for upon the right kind thereof success usually depends. The leader must know the child, his interests, his impulses, and his possi- bilities. He must know the resources at hand by which these possibilities may be brought to their highest realization. He must be firm but fair; 86 Recreation and the Church know when to command and when to suggest, when to go ahead and when to lead from the rear; and, above all, he must be able to win that con- fidence and that affection which are based only upon respect for e\'ident ability and untarnished character. Such a leader will prove to be one of the best investments that any church can make for the moral and religious education of its children and youth. CHAPTER IV THE RECREATIONAL PROGRAM § I. life-periods: their characteristics and TREATMENT If we are to make the best use of the educational values of recreation, due regard must be had for the proper grading of games and plays with refer- ence to the natural interests of the child at various ages. Each period has its characteristic traits which lead the child to desire different t}pes of games from those of other stages of growth. "In other words," as Miss Bancroft says, "his own powers, in their natural evolution, seek instinc- tively the elements in play that will contribute to their own growth." We must remember, however, that life is a continuous process and does not pro- gress by leaps and bounds. One period merges gradually into the next, and any program of games will contain those that may be used in more than one period. The best treatment of this topic is to be found in George Ellsworth Johnson's Education by Plays and Games, to which the reader is referred for fuller lists and descriptions of games than can here be given. Games for the Playground, Home, School 87 88 Recreation and the Church and Gymnasium by Jessie Bancroft is also a stand- ard work of great value. Other works are listed in the bibhography. Mr. Johnson names five periods, from infancy to fifteen years of age. We shall pass over the first two, including the years up to seven, not be- cause they lack importance, but because their problem is more particularly that of the home and its environment. This is to a certain measure true of the period from seven to nine, but in many communities the home is so utterly unable to care for these children that they may be in- cluded even in this brief sur\'ey. We also carry the discussion one period farther as the problem of the church with reference to young people demands. I. Childhood (ages seven to nine). — This is a period of transition. Growth is rapid, although not so rapid as in the earlier years, the increase in weight being about 13 per cent less and that in height about 1 2 per cent less than during the period from three to six years of age. At about the eighth year there is manifest a tendency to disease and fatigue which may be accounted for, in part at least, by the troubles incident to dentition, and to the increased strain upon the heart, which at this period is only about one-third of its full size, but which must furnish blood to a Ixxly that has reached two-thirds o\ adult size. The Recreational Program 89 We are still dealing wdth a little child, but with the difference that the entrance upon school life has given him a wider environment and introduced him to the beginnings of social relationships. Johnson says: "There is a transition from interest in the control of the body and in acti^'ity for its own sake to interest in the control of environment and in activity for the end's sake. It is a period of development of motor co-ordinations and sense judgments. The elements of skill and competition appear in the play." All this marks the change from mere play to games. Teamwork, however, has not yet developed. The child is individualistic rather than co-operative. Mr. Johnson also calls attention to the child's "disinclination to try unless assured of success," and his "sensitiveness to failure." It is important to note this tendency and not to mistake it for laziness or backwardness. The child should be protected as far as possible from hasty criticism or ridicule, and encouraged by due praise of his efforts. Active free play is natural to this period, and apparatus or facihties for games of running, jump- ing, climbing, sliding, and similar activities should be provided. On the playground the children of this age are eager patrons of the teeter-boards, swings of various kinds, climbing poles or ropes, slides, and apparatus of like nature. Weigle notes that "imaginative play, with its little dramas of go Recreatiox and the Chltrch make-believe, reaches its culmination in the first half of this period. It continues until adolescence, though constantly decreasing in importance, to be replaced by games of the competiti\'e sort." These dramatic and imitative pla^-s are another form of the constructive instinct and afford a large educa- tional opportunity. They help to develop the power of forming and following ideals, a ^^tal factor in character. The sand pile or garden, with imple- ments for digging, to}' carts and reins, dolls and doll-houses, in fact any kind of toys or materials which lend themsehes to the mimic reproduction of the activities of adult life are fa\-orites here. Johnson lists over one hundred games for this period, including games of chasing, hunting, guess- ing, singing, and dancing. Some of them are hide and seek, puss in the corner, Tommy Tiddler's ground, drop the handkerchief, follow the leader, going to Jerusalem, bean bags, jump the rope, hopscotch, bhndman's buff, Ruth and Jacob, magic music. There are man}- others less familiar but equally good. I\Iany of them are suitable for in- doors or out, and almost all of them are equal favorites with girls and boys. Indeed, there is liftle demand for the separation of the sexes in the play of this period. Some of the games listed for this age are ^■aluable for training the powers of obser^•ation and discrimination, and man^■ of them are suital)le for schoolroom drill. The Recreatioxal Program 91 2. Boyhood and girUwod (ages ten to twelve). — Weigle calls this "a period of slow growth, of health and hardihood. " The retarding of physical growth seems to be for the sake of giving opportunity for the inner structures to develop and for the estab- lishment of greater co-ordination between the in> uu\ loOL lit IX In the carpenter shop of the Brick Church Institute. Rochester, New York. Under a skilled instructor the boys are tauRht to make their own sleds, kites, wagons, and other toys, as well as bookcases, tabourets, and similar articles. Home tics are strengthened by the making of things for home use. nervous and muscular systems. It is the time when the power to resist disease seems to be at its height, also a time of ceaseless activity, both of body and of mind. It is a favorable opportunity for the formation of habits. The child is still decidedly individualistic, and this tendency is made more apparent by the fact that growing strength and ability lead to greater self-assertiveness. Toward 92 Recreation axd the Church the end of the period the social instinct begins to awaken, as is shown by growing interest in team games, although of the t}-pe which gives abundant opportunity for individual action. Control must be by wise and fair but firm authority; drill methods, both physical and intellectual, are of value in helping to estabhsh such control. The interest in all free and active games con- tinues strong throughout the period, rurming games being particularly popular. The dramatic instinct is still strong and the imitative pla3-s reach out into a wider and more strenuous circle of acti\-ity. "Now, certainly, if at no other time," says ^YeigIe, "the boy's interests reflect the acti^'ities of a more primitive generation. Fighting, hunting, fishing, exploring, collecting, go to make up his life." At this time the sexes begin to draw apart and bo}'s and girls do not enjoy the same games, or at least do not care to play them together. The transition of interest from the mere activity to the end in xiew, which began in the preceding period, now continues to the point where skill and the method of doing things begin to attract. Both boys and girls are interested in making things and the shop or workroom becomes a valuable equip- ment. A feature of the summer-school work for boys and girls in one of our large city churches has been for several years the making of toys and articles for home use. The girls like sewing, cook- The Recreational Program 93 ing, and basketry, and the boys, in the carpenter shop, make knife trays, ironing boards, and similar useful articles for the home. A copy of a good picture is given to each boy who makes a creditable frame for it, and interest in the home and its affairs has been greatly strengthened thereby. Among the popular games for this period are prisoner's base, pom pom pullaway, duck on the rock, wolf, relievo, whip tag, cross tag, drop the handkerchief, fox and geese, and hare and hounds. To encourage the development of the socializing instincts team games should be introduced, begin- ning with those that allow much individual play. Such in particular are the various kinds of relays in which each team has four or more players. At the signal the first player on each team starts and, upon completing the course or stunt, touches the next player on his side who takes up the race, and so on until the end. The team getting its last man in first wins. The relays include the simple running relay races, all up (played with Indian clubs or ten pins) , bag pile, circle relay, fetch and carry, pass ball, potato relays of various kinds, shuttle relay, and others. These will be found described in Miss Bancroft's Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium. Dodge ball and black and white, also described by Miss Bancroft, are two very popular games. 94 Recreation axd the Church In teaching games with many rules to children at this period, it is better to begin mth the most essential rules at first and to let the others be learned gradually. It is best, howe^■er, to keep to the simpler games for this age. 3. Early adolescence (ages twelve to fifteen). — This period is marked by rapid increase in bodily growth and in the development of the heart and lungs, the sexual organs, and associational brain fibers. With the transition from immaturity in the physical life comes self-consciousness and sex- consciousness. It is a time of emotional disturb- ance and of awkwardness and embarrassment heightened by the uneven growth and lack of easy control of movements characteristic of the period. It is characterized also by fits of rcAerie, day- dreaming, and indolence. It is a time of strange and marked contrast; mischievousness, practical joking, misdemeanors, and even criminal outbreaks, on the one hand, and, on the other, altruistic idealism and susceptibility to religious influence. Interest in organized forms of life marks the devel- opment of the social instincts and we find teams and gangs formed with loyalty to their leaders. With growing interest in more complex activities comes naturally an attention to methods and to skill, and this leads to greater interest in adults and their ways of doing things. The one who can do things better than the rest is readilv followed. In the The Recreational Program 95 various organizations that are voluntarily formed at this time, physical prowess is one of the surest claims to leadership. In all such organizations as well as in the team play that requires coaching, there is the best of t'^^i;3 K: ?W^ ' ^' \^'-'' 2^ i# PHh M 1 g^fe^^ ^^t^'^^m Sl^fc:;' :h fer-r I^^^MJ -. \*-'- If [»'., m n ^1 ON THE WAV TO THE DOCTOR Boy Scouts carrj'ins a patient, to whom First Aid lias been given, on a stretciier made o[ coats and scout staves, First-Aid drill combines good fun and useful knowledge. opportunities for the exercise of wholesome influ- ence through personality and through superior knowledge and ability. But the leader who would "make good'' must be able, in the vernacular of the time, to "put it across." 96 Recreation axd the Church The gymnasium, both indoor and open-air, is a valuable equipment from now on. All athletic stunts and games are popular, and the fact that they require hard work and considerable practice is an attraction rather than otherwise. There is a love of personal display which makes acrobatic feats, tumbhng, pyramid building, and similar exercises well liked. Interest increases steadily in all the famihar athletic sports, baseball, football, soccer, handball, tennis, basket-ball, and hockey. Competition and a high degree of physical activity are desirable qualities. Teamwork should be developed and great emphasis laid upon clean sport and fair play. Many of the games played in the preceding period are equally popular here, such as dodge ball, prisoner's base, hare and hounds, duck on the rock, and various forms of relays. Battle-ball, volley- ball, scrimmage-ball, are three other good games described by Miss Bancroft. Two others may be added: German bat-ball and slag-ball. German bat-ball is played by any number divided into equal sides. A volley-ball is used. A line is drawn for "home," and the side at bat is lined up behind this. About fifty feet distant, the exact distance depending upon the size of the room or ground and the strength of the runners, a base is established by placing a rock or other object. One player from the " in " side tosses up the ball and The Recreational Program 97 bats it with the iliit of the haiKJ, then runs to the base, around it, and back to "home." The batter is out if the baU is caught on the liy by a player of the opposing side or if he is touched or struck by the thrown ball before he gets back to the home line. Otherwise he scores a run for his side. The M,\KING BASKETS Recreation and instruction in useful arts are often comljined as in the case of this girls' clulj. They found it good fun to make Christmas presents in the basketry room. next player on the "in" side then goes to bat and that side continues until three outs have been made. The game is played by innings as in baseball. A player in the field securing the ball on the bound may either throw at the runner or to another mem- ber of his own team who has a better chance to put the runner out. The ball may not he held by a fielder for more than five seconds, nor may the gS Recreatiox and the Church fielder take more thaii one step in any direction in the act of fielding it. Slag-ball is played in much the same way as baseball, except that a basket or soccer ball is used, rather soft. The pitcher rolls the ball and the batter kicks it instead of striking it with a bat. He then runs bases, and may be put out as in the regular game of baseball, except that he may be put out by being hit with the ball while off base. It will be found that the girls are quite as much interested in these games as the boys, although, as has been said, the sexes will not care to play to- gether. It is at this period especially that the value of wise and sympathetic leadership becomes most ap- parent, and fortunately it is easily established, as noted above. It is the best of all times for the effective use of such organizations as the Boy Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, Knights of King Arthur, Woodcraft League for Boys and Girls, and other similar movements. The handbooks published by these organizations will give full descriptions and suggestions for work, as also the excellent work by Richardson and Loomis, The Boy Scout Move- ment Applied by the Church. Of all these the Boy Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, and Woodcraft League are undoubtedly the best in their thorough adaptation to the interests and needs of those whom thev are intended to benefit. The Recreational Program 99 The most recently organized, they may fairly be said to rest upon the best modern study of the adolescent boy and girl. Their ideals, as expressed in their laws and pledges, contain the fundamental elements of boy and girl religion, and the flexi- bihty of their system makes it possible to intro- duce as much or as little of distinctively religious instruction' as circumstances may make desirable. Their educational value is very high, this being amply recognized by the way in which some of our leading universities have established courses of training for scout masters and other leaders in the movement. Their appeal to the youth is many-sided and the possibilities for development of body, mind, and spirit are limited only by the skill and resourcefulness of the leader. As in any other form of organized work, the success depends entirely upon the leadership given, and in each of these movements every effort is made by the Headquarters Committee to safeguard the choice and appointment of leaders. A strong recom- mendation for them is the ease with which they may be inaugurated with little or no specialized equipment and the opportunity which they pre- sent for enlisting men and women of varied talents in the work of teaching interesting and useful subjects. These organizations are now so well known that detailed description seems unneces- sary, but further information may be secured by loo Recreation axd the Church addressing the Boy Scouts of America, 200 Fifth Avenue, Xew York City; the Camp Fire Girls, 118 East 28th Street, Xew York City; the Wood- craft League, 13 West 29th Street, Xew York City. The Woodcraft League is organized in five divi- sions as follows: the Big Lodge of the Woodcraft Boys, from twelve to eighteen; the Big Lodge of the Woodcraft Girls, from twelve to eighteen; the Little Lodge for children under twelve; the Wood- craft Club for men and women over eighteen ; and the Sun Lodge for men and women, twenty-one and over, interested in specializing in woodcraft. Each of these sections has its own printed matter and badge. The details of the work var}' according to the needs of the group. The manuals for the boys' and girls' divisions are now pubhshed and are listed in the Bibliography, section 13. 4. Later Adolescence (ages sixteen to twenty- one). — It is not so easy to set age limits for this period. The transition from early adolescence to the later period is ^•ery gradual and the cause of change is varied. To quote from Weigle, The Pupil and the Teacher, "in every life there is a more or less definite turning-point around sixteen to eighteen. It may be some moral or emotional crisis; it may be conversion. Or, it is the begin- ning work to support one's self, or leaving home to go to college. It may be nothing more than the attainment of full growth in height. To know, in The Recreational Program ioi any particular case, just what the turning-point has been, is essential to any real understanding of the succeeding years." Many writers recognize three stages in adoles- cence, early, middle, and later, making the second stage include the years from about sixteen to eighteen, and the last from eighteen to twenty- four or twenty-five. The best usage in the grading of athletic contests does recognize a group corre- sponding to this middle stage, but for our purposes the period may as well be described as stated above. As Weigle says, the deve lopment of individuality is the outstanding feature of this period, and that development is affected by external conditions as much as by physical or mental growth. It is a time of life-choices and their consequent modifica- tions of environment, and these have great influ- ence upon the interests, character, and mode of approach to the individual. The individualism of this period, however, is not that of the pre-adolescent years. The later ado- lescent is conscious of his relations to society. He responds to the social demand as he did not before, and he has greater possibilities of co- operative work and play; yet in matters of moral conduct he must be dealt with as an individual and with full recognition of his rights as such. Leader- ship must be suggestive, not arbitrary, and every I02 Recreation and the Church opportunity must be improved to develop his own powers of leadership and self-control. A large number of the games of the two pre- ceding periods will be found popular in this for the purpose of amusement, but the major interest and the greater educational opportunities will be found in the recognized athletic sports and games and in social recreation of the type that promotes fellowship and acquaintance. Basket-ball, baseball, indoor and outdoor, foot- ball and soccer, volley-ball, water polo, track athletics, and the like will occupy the prominent place and interchurch and school competitions will be very popular. With such competitive events the necessity arises for standardized rules govern- ing eligibility and similar problems. These will be treated more fully at a later point. Toward the latter part of the period especially interest in social events increases. Singing, glee clubs, dramatics, and dancing will be very popular. All of them fill a very real place in the life of j'oung people and, as has been clearly set forth in the pre- ceding chapter, they should be utilized and directed with a view to bringing out their highest values. One important feature of these social acti^'ities that has not been touched upon is the oppor- tunity they give to large numbers of }'oung people, especially those who are working and living away from home, to meet those of the other sex. It be- The Recreational Program 103 comes a very serious problem with many young men under such circumstances to know how and where they may form the acquaintance of young women whom they can respect and admire, and from among whom they may select their life- partners. Here is a service that the church and similar organizations may render through the wise promotion of such recreational activities. Many instances might be cited from personal experience of just such service issuing in marriage and happy home-life. There is hardly any influence that can come into the life of the young man at this age more potent for good or for evil than that of the young women with whom he associates, and the church may do much to control this influence. The converse of this statement is equally true. The character of her young-men friends and asso- ciates is equally potent in the development of the young woman's life. In these days when girls go to work almost as generally as young men, and are thus taken out from the more sheltered life of the home and thrown into the daily intercourse of busi- ness life, this problem assumes all the greater im- portance. The girl, being more restricted by social usage from exercising her own choice in the seeking of male companionship, may perhaps demand all the more strongly the protection of the church and of society from undesirable associates and the furnishing of opportunity for meeting the right sort. I04 Recreation akd the Church § 2. athletic competitions The element of rivalry in competitive events is a powerful factor in developing and maintaining interest. Without a certain amount of it the inter- est in the recreational activities of the school or church is likely to lag and the opportunities for good work are lessened. It is a thing that must be watched and safeguarded lest it lead youthful enthusiasm astray and bring in abuses that may do more harm than good. Most of the churches and Sunday schools that have gone into competi- tive athletics have thus far been far behind the Y.M.C.A. and the schools and colleges in this respect. The rules and standards of such organiza- tions as the Amateur Athletic Union (generally known as the A.A.U.), the Athletic League of the Y.M.C.A. of North America (the A.L.N.A.), and the Amateur Athletic Federation of Cook Coimty, Illinois, should be studied and all athletic competi- tions should be conducted in accordance ^-ith their spirit. The rules governing registration, transfers, and the eligibility of contestants to represent their respective organizations are especially important. Without them abuses are sure to creep in — pro- fessionahsm, proselyting, disputes which leave hard feehng, and such other difficulties as are sure to arise in the heat of competition. So important is this point that a few illustrations may be given The Recreational Program 105 from the work of the Amateur Athletic Federation, the organization which is of special interest to the churches and Sunday schools. This organization arose out of the definite need for some regulating influence in the indoor-baseball LEADERS' CLASS, BRICK CHURCH INSTITUTE, ROCHESTER, NEW YORK Training for future leadersfiip is a valuable item in the church's work. These boys have taken the volunteer leader's gymnasium course of the Y.M.C.A. Those who pass the examination are privileged to wear the leader's emblem of the church. circles in Cook County, Illinois. Professionahsm was rife, amateurs and professionals playing on the same teams, some of them on more than one team, and loyalty to any team was dependent upon material inducements. A similar situation ap- peared even in the Sunday-School Athletic League, io6 Recreatiox axd the Church star players being often influenced to leave one school to go to another sometimes through the inducements of friends and sometimes through more practical considerations. One may easily imagine the seriousness of a situation, from the standpoint of the church, in which loyalty to the Sunday school took second place to athletic interests. Within a year's time after the Federation was organized the indoor-baseball situation was cleared up and placed upon a sound basis of clean, amateur sport. The Federation extended its influence to other games, and now makes rules to govern four- teen different sports, in each of which it classifies athletes according to age and ability. This has been accomplished by uniting in this federation practically all the organizations conducting ama- teur athletics, and by standardizing and unifj-ing the rules and methods of all. The matter of prose- lyting is cared for by their eligibility rules, which are as follows: a) Each organization in the Federation must have regis- tration of some form, which shall vouch for the amateur standing and ehgibilily of its members. b) In all competitions between organizations in the Federation, only athletes in good standing under the rules of their respective organizations shall be eligible to compete. c) At each contest, eligibility lists showing athletes in good standing and eligible to compete in the events sched- uled should be exchanged by the organizations involved. The Recreational Program 107 d) An athlete who has represented any organization within a year shall not be eligible to represent any other organization without securing a written transfer signed by a responsible official of the organization first represented. e) An athlete transferred shall not be eligible to compete in Federation championships until thirty days after his transfer has been accepted by the organization receiving him. VOLLEY-BALL This ff.-irne ranks hi^h with physical instructors and playground leaders or its qualities of interest and physical training. It develops quickness of action without being over-strenuous. /) i\n athlete transferred a second time shall not be eligible to compete in Federation championships until six months after his transfer. The Federation rules also provide that each organization shall control its own athletes and that any penalties imposed shall be honored by all other organizations in the Federation. One con- crete example of the working of this rule will serve io8 Recreation and the Church to show its value and to illustrate a point that the churches should observe when putting teams into the field to represent them. In a city where the public-school boys are organized into clubs frequent meets are held with much rivalry between the different schools. It is a rule that a boy must maintain a certain standing in his school work to be eligible for competition in these meets. One boy fell below standard and was informed by his principal that he could not represent his school in the meets until he had made up his work. He was inclined to be insubordinate and said that "if he couldn't run for his school he would run against it," purposing to enter the next open meet as a representative of his Sunday school. The meet in question, however, was under the auspices of the Federation of that city, the officers of which were notified of his intention. On the day of the meet the lad appeared, ready to compete, only to find himself ruled out. It was a hard lesson, but a wholesome one. He found that the only means by which he could get back into the sports he craved was by becoming amenable to the rules of his school and making up his work. If the church and Sunday school are to get any- thing like the full moral ^•alue from such sports for their bt)ys and young men, they should have definite standards by which to decide ehgibility to represent them, and these should be rigidly The Recreational Program 109 maintained. Such standards should be higher than they usually are. Too often they consist of nothing more than membership in the Sunday school, meaning principally a more or less regular attendance. As a result, baseball games and ath- letic meets under church auspices have been marred by unsportsmanlike conduct, and even by profanity and similar abuses. The public schools and the Y.M.C.A. have learned much better how to control the personal conduct and standing of their athletes than the church has, simply because the leaders in church athletics have not realized the value of such regulations and of co-operation in maintaining standards. § 3. individual and team scoring Also important in the conduct of athletic sports is the development of loyalty to the group and to the church or school, and the active participation of the largest possible number in the games. A serious evil in athletics, as sometimes conducted, is the development of picked teams who then monopo- lize all the opportunities for practice, while the rest become mere onlookers, or, at best, rooters. The fellow who has not the ability to make the first team may indecfl be encouraged to play on the scrubs so as to give the first team practice and thus aid them to victory. But the lad who can make neither the first nor the second team no Recreation and the Church has no incenti\'e and gets no benefit from the sports. One of the objects stated in the constitution of the Amateur Athletic Federation is to place "com- petitive play activities \\ithin the reach of the largest number." This is well accomplished by all-round point contests in which every member participating may score a certain number of points, and thus add to the total score of his team. This distributes the incentive and helps to develop group-consciousness and loyalty. The system of scoring for such contests is based upon the principle of a definite percentage value for all degrees of athletic abiUty, these percentage values being estab- lished by translating record units into percentage units. The .4 .L.X.A . Handbook (" Spalding's Ath- letic Library") describes in detail how the percent- ages are worked out, and also gi^'es tables for scoring the standard athletic events. These contests may be participated in by an}- number of organiza- tions, each in its own gymnasium, according to the rules laid down for all, the scores being sent to, and compared by, a central committee. Such an inter- national meet was held in December, 191 5, com- prising organizations in all parts of the world. An important feature of these team contests is that ever)- participant makes some score and thus adds to the total for his team. This encourages general participation instead of lea\-ing it only to The Recreational Program hi a picked team of a few best athletes. This same feature is also found in the all-round point contests used in many playgrounds. It is thus extended to a wider range of activities, as in the Rochester playgrounds, which is so suggestive as to merit full description. In the contest of 1916 the following organized activities were included: Boy Scout work, banking, basketry (or paper crepe work), dancing, intra- playground contests, interplayground contests. Playground Pioneers (or Camp Fire Girls), sewing, singing, swimming, weekly athletic contests, work done on playground. The method of scoring will be illustrated by the following examples: Boy Scout work. — Each boy meeting the require- ments in the activities named receives points as indicated. Learning oath and law, 5 points; knot- tying, 5 points; marching and gymnastic dancing, 25 points; signaling, 20 points; first aid, 25 points; cooking, 10 points; respect due to flag, 5 points; nature-study, 10 points; fire-making, 5 points; participation in meetings, 5 points; playground hikes, 5 points; interplayground hikes, 20 points; and field day, 10 points. Banking. — 2 points for every five cents deposited up to two dollars, maximum points for banking 80. Playground Pioneers. — Each girl meeting the re- quirements receives points as indicated: physical tests, 25 points; reciting law and pledge, 15 points; 112 Recreatiox axd the Church signaling, 40 points; first aid, 25 points; knot- tying, 10 points; cooking, 10 points; home occu- pations, 35 points. Sewing: Neat work, 5 points; helping otlier chil- dren, 5 points; not losing needles, pins, etc., 5 points; finishing a costume or any piece of work, 8 points; helping to put things in order after class, 2 points. In the playground contests, including such games as quoits, tennis, and miscellaneous games, 5 points are awarded to each one \^'ho enters the contest and plays until eliminated, 10 additional points to the winner in the finals, and 5 to the loser in the finals. In interplayground contests, including for the boys baseball, tennis, and quoits, and for the girls field hockey, indoor baseball, volley-ball, German bat- ball, end-ball, and playground-ball, 10 points are awarded to each one taking part in a contest, 5 additional points to each one on a winning team, and 5 to each "rooter" who goes along to cheer the team and who conducts himself in a sportsmanlike manner. Additional information regarding the details of these contests and awards ma}- be secured from I\Ir. Herman J. Norton, Board of Education, Rochester, New York. The Playground and Recreation Association of America has adopted certain standards of physical efficiency for children of x-arious ages and furnishes The Recreational Program 113 a badge for each of the various tests which are awarded by the director of the local playground to those who meet the requirements. The recrea- tion survey of Ipswich, Massachusetts, made by the department of recreation of the Russell Sage Foundation and entitled Play and Recreation in a Town of Six Thousand, describes in an appendix these tests, also rules for various group competitions similar to those above mentioned. The following introductory note concerning these group competi- tions is worth quoting: In group athletics the record is made by a class, club, or any convenient group of boys (or girls). The object is not the competition of selected representatives, but the partici- pation of all in athletic activity. The entire membership of the group should be required to take part, physical incapaci- tation being the only valid excuse for non-participation. No record should be allowed for less than 80 per cent of the group membership. The full benefits of group athletics come, not alone from the final competition, but also from the great amount of preliminary practice within the group. In this way the physical fitness of the individual is developed and the spirit of teamwork and of social responsibility 'is fostered. It should be arranged that the competition be between groups of about the same physical ability. It should also be remembered that the number of boys in the group makes no difference, as the sum of individual records divided by the number of competitors equals the group record. A trophy in the form of a pennant, plaque, or cup awarded to the winning group adds interest to this form of athletics and stimulates group spirit. This trophy should be held only until the next competition. 114 Recreation and the Church The competition may be in one or more events. An all-around test should be the aim. Almost all forms of track and field athletics lend themselves easily to this plan. Then follow typical programs and suggestions as to rules for the conduct of the competitions. § 4. THE AWARD OF INSIGNIA A helpful stimulus to interest and also an aid to the maintaining of proper standards is to award to those who meet certain requirements the privi- lege of wearing the school or church insignia, usually an initial letter or monogram to be worn on gymnasium shirt or sweater. This is the cus- tom in most of our schools and colleges, in which the privilege of wearing the "letter" is highly coveted. In these institutions the award is usually made to those who make the varsity teams and play in a certain number of games or win certain events. But rules may be worked out in any church that will place the insignia within reach of all who reach certain individual standards. The following are the requirements at the Brick Church of Rochester, New York, and are given as suggestive. They may be modified to meet local conditions or needs. Four grades of letters are awarded : the first and second Junior "B" (a block letter for boys under sixteen) and the first and second Senior "B" (Old English letter for bovs over sixteen). The first The Recreational Program 115 and second letters are distinguished by their size, the first "B" in each class being awarded for par- ticipation in inter-Sunday-school activities, and the second for intra-Sunday-school and church com- petitions. The requirements in the various activ- ities are as follows: basket-ball, participation in at least 15 halves of 10 games; baseball, participation in at least 50 innings of 8 games; track athletics and swimming, winning a first place in a Sunday- school athletic league or athletic federation meet, or a total of at least 10 points in one season. In order to compete in any of these events as represent- ing the church the boy must measure up to certain satisfactory standards as to character, school mem- bership and attendance, and clean sport. The results of this plan have been to increase interest in the athletic sports, and to engender a wholesome respect for the standards maintained by the church. Failure to measure up to them meets with quick disapproval on the part of the majority of the young people as well as of the leaders. CHAPTER V SOME TYPICYL CHURCH PROGR.\MS Concrete examples are better than theories, pro- viding they illustrate the best principles that theory can work out. At any rate the}- help to establish the theory by pro^■ing the practicabilit}- and usefulness of the scheme. I have therefore selected from letters received from \'arious churches some illustrations that seem tj'pical for report in this chapter. The correspondence carried on with pastors in both city and rural districts indicates a growing sense of the \-ital importance of recreation in reK- gious educational work. It also indicates that comparati\-eIy few have }-et realized to the full just how important this branch of their work is, and how worthy it is of the best possible leadership and of adequate expenditures of money and effort. It might be fairer to say that this lack of recognition exists not so much in the minds of the leaders as in the thought of the church membership at large. As the work of many churches is planned, it seems a large request to ask for the emploj-ment of a trained physical director, or director of young people's work, who shall be capable of doing a really scientific and adequate work. ii6 Some Typical Church Programs 117 There are many churches having gymnasiums and game-rooms that do not seem to have pro- gressed much beyond the stage of furnishing amuse- ment and useful occupation to keep boys and girls off the street. This is good, but more is needed. We need a clearer recognition of the direct values of recreational work in the formation of character, and a leadership capable of studying the individual needs and characteristics, and of properly applying the best principles and methods of recreation to bring out the best that lies in each young life. There has been no attempt to classify the examples given according to merit or importance, but simply to give enough from various sections of the country and from churches of varying types to indicate what is being done, with some of the results that have been achieved. § I. WINNETKA CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, OF WINNETKA, ILLINOIS This is a strong church in a suburban community about eighteen miles north of Chicago. One other Protestant church, the Episcopalian, exists in the town, which is not over-churched and weakened in its religious resources. The congregation consists for the most part of well-educated, cultured, and energetic people, who are alert to the opportunities for real service and willing to meet their responsi- bilities. The work has developed for years under ii8 Recreation and the Church the leadership of Rev. J. W. F. Davies, the religious educational director, who writes as follows of the recreational work: In the beginning I carried on an investigation primarily among the boys themselves, finding out what they did with their leisure time, and then I did some among the girls. Then I found out what the youngsters were doing at recess period, and found need of supervision here. Second, I found that it was very hard for us to compete with what was done in the leisure time among the boys and girls in the way of developing unmoral character, with just the Sunday-school period. Third, our recreational policy is to find the thing which would be of most advantage to the boys and girls in their unoccupied time. We do not believe in duplication. We happen largely to control the situation in this matter. Fourth, our recreational program is worked out on the basis of the mass and small group. We have classes in the gymnasium for the boys and girls, and for men and women. We have opportunities for dancing for boys and girls from five years of age and up. There is dancing for groups. We have social groups with programs suited to the indi- vidual group. We have now in the pubhc schools the supervised playground work. Fifth, we employ directors in the gymnasium work for the boys and men, and for tlie girls and women. We are able to get the same people who are used in the pubHc schools. The largest proportion of our help is volunteer. A large number of these helpers are coming to be from those who have taken our own work, and who have been with us for years. This church has a well-equipped building, called Community House, with gymnasium, clubrooms, Some Typical Church Programs 119 facilities for dramatics, equipment for motion pic- tures, and other recreational activities. For ad- ministrative purposes the house is organized with Mr. Davies as director, a board of governors which controls general policies, and a house committee which carries out the activities. The only charge is the house membership of two dollars a year, which includes gymnasium classes and club mem- berships. The gymnasium class program shows afternoon classes for boys in four grades, each meeting once a week, one afternoon and two evening classes for men, three afternoon and one evening class for girls, and one evening class for young ladies. All gymnasium work is organized on the basis of supervised play, the public schools meeting the need for systematic drill. Other items included in the schedule are after- noon graded classes in dancing for children, Satur- day evening dances, entertainments, etc., tennis, baseball, and other athletics for boys and men, clubs for boys and girls. Boy Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, a hikers' club for Saturday afternoon walks for men, and entertainments of various types. A regular motion-picture entertainment is given on two evenings in the week, showing high-grade films, and charging an admission fee of ten cents. Motion pictures are also shown at the Pleasant Sunday Evening, at which no admission is charged ; 120 Recreation and the Church religious services are held, and films are selected for their appropriateness to the occasion. This feature carries its own expense, and has met the need for this tjqDC of recreation sufficiently to ob- viate the necessity for other motion-picture theaters in the town. As has already been noted, the work of this church has developed into a community-wide recreational program carried out by a board repre- senting all the churches and other social and educa- tional organizations, employing expert leadership, and having at its disposal all the various recrea- tional facilities of the community. By this means a program has been worked out which largely solves the problem of unoccupied time for the children and young people, and at the same time harmonizes the legitimate demands of home, school, and church. Most valuable of all is the careful and system- atic supervision of the work of the director, whose thorough knowledge and sympathetic appreciation of individual conditions, characteristics, and tend- encies make him a trusted and helpful counselor and friend. The results, as observed by those who have known the work for years, are summed up in the one fact that the church is the dominant factor in the social and recreational life of the town, and that the principles and ideals for which it stands are more and more permeating the life of old and young. Some Typical Church Programs 121 § 2. second baptist church of st. louis, missouri Rev. Albert C. Thomas, director of religious education and assistant minister, writes of the work of this church : All the educational work of the church is unified under one system known as the Church School. Various groups of pupils in this school, ranging from early adolescence to the Brotherhood and the Woman's Society for adults, are organized for fellowship, service, and recreation. In most cases a class or group of classes constitutes the nucleus of such organizations, which we call clubs. This seems to us superior to calling them organized classes, as very often there are those who need the work of a club who, for some reason or other, cannot be associated in the work of a class. Each of these groups or clubs has its own program, which provides for recreational needs in the way of social events, entertainments, picnics, outings, etc. This work is super- vised by officers of the organizations, under adult leadership when necessary, and is checked up by the director of religious education of the church, who in turn reports to the board of education, which reports back to the church itself. In addition to these "grade clubs" we have activity clubs, which federate people of all grades and ages that are interested in certain lines of recreation. Thus, we have our athletic association with teams and gjnnnasium groups for all ages and all sports, with a system of managers and class leaders. Also a dramatic club, which federates all the people who are interested in dramatics. This club presents plays for entertainment and social events as well as plays for reUgious instruction and outside benevolent causes. We have a musical organization with orchestra, boys' glee club, and girls' glee club, which sometimes combine in choruses. 122 ReCREATIOX AXD THE ChURCH Members of these choruses sing solos, duets, quartettes, as occasion requires. The school also has a school social committee with a general chairman and a representative from every class in the school. This committee conducts events for the entire school and departmental socials for graded groups. Our teachers' association conducts a parents' and teachers' social annually. This is our scheme of organization for recreational work at this church. We endeavor to keep in mind throughout all of it a twofold object: first, the provision of wholesome recreation for the young people of the community that shall help to build character; and second, the pro\-ision of good fellowship and esprit dc corps that shall make our regular religious work more efiicient. The printed literature from this church shows a large number of social organizations engaged in work that is recreational, educational, and benevo- lent, and a varied and wholesome round of activity along athletic lines. § 3. KIXGSHIGHW.A.Y PRESBYTERL.\X CHURCH OF ST. Loris, MISSOrRI This church conducts a schedule of g}-mnasium classes for all ages and both sexes, the gATnnasium being open every day of the week. Separate days are observed for boys and girls, and the hours are mutually exclusi^'e, the boj's not being allowed in the building at girls' hours, and vice versa. Special times are set aside for athletic sports, and numerous teams and leagues are organized. The Boy Scouts, Hearth Fire Girls, a ^■ariation of the Some Typical Church Programs 123 Camp Fire Girls, the Goodsonian Literary Society, meeting once a week, the Kingshighway Karol Klub, a musical organization, are some of the other organizations. The Young People's Society gives an annual play of which much is made, and a story hour for children is conducted weekly during the school year. § 4. ST. Paul's methodist episcopal church OE CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA This church has a membership of about twelve hundred and a Sunday-school membership of about the same size ; it is situated in a city of 40,000 popu- lation, the parish being partly residential, partly industrial. A new building was dedicated in 1914, having been built after plans which were chosen out of twelve submitted by architects from all parts of the country. The building committee spent nearly four years in studying the problem of secur- ing plans that should adequately provide for the Sunday school of the church and for the various social and recreational needs. This method is cited as a worthy example of a serious and thorough- going attempt to solve an important problem. The gymnasium is open every week day from four until ten o'clock, with a schedule of gymnasium classes and athletic sports under competent super- vision. The Epworth League holds an "At Home" 124 Recreation and the Church every week, and there are many social occasions conducted by the organized classes of the school. Of the results the pastor, Rev. E. J. Lockwood, writes : The gymnasium and social work has enlisted many families out of touch with the church before we went into the new building, and has resulted in restoring many to their church life and in bringing many into a Christian life and fellowship never before known by them. The outcome of a year and a half in this church with these facilities has been a great spiritual quickening of the entire church. The church faUs of its fullest and best work if it fails to be interested in the whole life of the man from childhood to old age. § 5. PLYMOUTH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA Oakland is a city of 225,000 population. The church membership and Sunday-school member- ship are each about eight hundred. It is in a resi- dential and mostly well-to-do district with a fair proportion of needy families. A parish house, called Plymouth Center, is in operation every day as a "social center for all the people." Its equip- ment includes a well-furnished gymnasium in the charge of trained directors, bowHng alleys, pocket- billiard tables, together with cue-roque, shufBe- board, and smaller table games, a circulating library, and a reading-room. The gymnasium contains a stage providing for dramatic entertainments. This Some Typical Church Programs 125 gymnasium is also used by the high schools two afternoons a week. The schedule of activities includes gymnasium classes and clubs for boys and girls, men and women, and a full line of athletic contests in all the popular sports. The Civic Forum, lecture course, and entertainment course provide recrea- tion of a type both entertaining and instructive. The pastor. Rev. Albert W. Palmer, lists the following results discernible: 1 . We have kept saloons out of our part of. the city both by fighting all applications and by providing something better. 2. We have a remarkably high percentage of young people, especially young men, in our C.E. societies and church services. 3. The neighborhood attitude toward the church has changed from one of indifference to one of hearty approval even by people of other denominations or of none. Such work links up the church to its immediate com- munity. The church which studies its community needs and then serves those needs intelligently will be loved and will speak with authority. The concrete, practical service is not a substitute for a spiritual message, but it does accredit that message to the prejudiced and indifierent. § 6. FORT STREET PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN The pastor, Rev. Edward H. Pence, of this the only strictly downtown church .left in the city, writes : During the past sixteen years we have undergone an entire revolution of objectives for our existence and con- 126 Recreation and the Church tinuance where we are. The Bible School has grown from an enrolment of about three hundred, fifteen years ago, to something over a thousand now. The Church has accumu- lated an endowment of about $130,000 with prospects of a further specially defined endowment of about a quarter of a million. This latter comes under a will making us residuary legatees to a widow, the income being defined for maintenance of the Fort Street Presbyterian Simday School, its charitable, missionary, and benevolent work. This means practically for the benefit of the youth of the parish. A large and amply equipped Church House has been built. We have maintained an athletic field during the past seven years, although not owning it. The church maintains regular scheduled g^in- nasium classes during the fall, winter, and early spring months with a trained physical director in charge. Groups of men use the gymnasium daily at the noon hour for indoor baseball, lunch being prepared in the church kitchen. During the sum- mer a schedule of outdoor sports is carried out on the athletic field. A summer camp is conducted during the summer months on Watkins Lake, near Pontiac, ^Michigan. This camp is supervised fey an expert director, and is open to boys of ten years of age and over and to girls of fourteen and over at a cost of one dollar for registration fee. The program for July, 191 5, was as follows: first week, "Volunteers" or boys ten to fourteen years of age; second week, Boy Scouts; third week, "Defenders" or boys fifteen years of Some Typical Church Programs 127 age and over; fourth week, young women and girls, with the announcement of another week for girls if enough should register. The schedule of camp activities occupies the time thoroughly from the rising-hour to bedtime with games, hikes, swim- ming, athletic meets, religious services, and the like, in the manner of the best organized camps. A genuinely religious atmosphere pervades the camp, resulting in the bringing into the Christian life and church membership of about sixty boys and girls. A daily tent inspection helps to inculcate habits of order and neatness. About one hundred and fifty boys and girls took advantage of this oppor- tunity for an outing during the year named. A daily vacation Bible school is conducted during the summer with recreational activities and instruc- tion in various useful pursuits. § 7. ASHLAND AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH OF TOLEDO, OHIO This church has a membership of 867 in a city of 200,000 population. It is in a residential district of well-to-do and middle-class people. It has a gymnasium open two nights a week, and also holds basket-ball games for the boys in the high-school gymnasium. Other features are two troops of Boy Scouts, an "Open House" for men once a month, social gatherings in the church and "At Homes" at least once a week and sometimes 128 Recreatiox axd the Church oftener, a camera club and tennis club during the summer, and various athletic sports in co-operation mththe Y.M.C.A., Y.W.C.A., and physical depart- ment of the county Sunday School Association. The special equipment comprises social rooms with kitchen and dining-room, boys' clubrooms with game tables, a well-equipped g\Tanasium, library, and rest-room, and a dark-room for the camera club. The educational director, Rev. Charles W. Shinn, reports the following results: Increased regularity in Sunday-school attendance, hon- esty in play, and many additions to the church. Has given me a hold on the young people as a result of which I have eighty of them in training classes. Seventy-five per cent of our young people are members of the church. This work is religious and stimulates interest in all the church activities. It makes a point of contact and binds the home to the church. § 8. BRICK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK Rochester is a city of about 250,000, rapidly ex- tending into the outhing districts. Brick Church is one of several downtown churches, its parish covering the entire cit}-, and the large majority of its membership living at some distance from the church. Eighteen years ago the church purchased the property adjoining the building, on which there was an old residence. Various forms of institu- Some Typical Church Programs 129 130 Recreation and the Church tional work were begun here, especially a boys' evening club, this part of the work being given the name of the Brick Church Institute. Six years ago a new building was erected for the Institute work, with gymnasium, swimming-pool, bowling alleys, billiard-room, assembly halls, and club- rooms, and on the two upper floors dormitories for eighty men. The plans of this building are described on pages 92-96 of Evans, The Sunday School Building and Its Equipment, published by the University of Chicago Press in the same series with this volume. The staff consists of the superintendent of the Institute, who is also director of religious edu- cation of the church, a director of boys' work, a director of girls' work, a housekeeper, and the necessary force of office clerks, swimming in- structor, gymnasium assistants, and janitors and chambermaids. The work has been conducted in the closest pos- sible harmony with that of the church and Sundav school, the aim being to make all the social and recreational work contribute as directly as possible to the development of Christian character. Owins: to the nature of the parish, the social and recrea- tional work has fallen into two fairly well-defined divisions: the ministry to the members of the church and Sunday school, and the service to the more immediate neighborhood in the center of Some Typical Church Programs 131 the city. The afternoon classes for boys and the men's classes draw their members mostly from the former and the evening classes from the latter group. The gymnasium is open every day, the schedule providing twice a week for each group being shown on p. 132. During the last year two other classes were added, one for high-school boys and the other for a younger group in the Boys' Club. Many of the vacant periods in the accompanying schedule are taken up with athletic contests and games. All athletic contests, both indoor and outdoor, are con- ducted in accordance with the Amateur Athletic Federation rules, and insignia are awarded as described in §§ 3 and 4 of chapter iv. Instruction in swimming is given by a competent teacher and hundreds have been taught to swim here. This has proved a most valuable service in several cases of accident when swimmers taught in this pool have saved themselves and others. A general membership of one dollar a year entitles the holder to all general house privileges. Gymnasium and swimming tickets range in price from one dollar to five dollars a year. In the clubs for boys and girls the membership fee is nominal and adapted to the financial ability of the indi- vidual. It is the object to have each one pay something toward the cost of the privileges he enjoys without making any fee prohibitive. 132 Recreation and the Church '-'fi fip. a -S S « .,- E £2>. 5- S~ E 5 2 1^ 3 /=^ c -S : £ i' ? a< ft c — C -C E - - '^■- I; _3 ^ i Some Typical Church Programs 133 The boys' and girls' clubs provide a program of games, entertainments, instruction in various use- ful arts, and benevolent activities. Instruction is given to the girls in dancing and deportment, and on Saturday evenings a dance is held, supervised by the committee of the young people and by a corps of experienced and conscientious volunteer chaperons. This has proven, not only a popular recreational feature, but a source of helpful moral and religious training. There are two troops of Boy Scouts and two Camp Fires for girls. The building affords oppor- tunity for social gathering on the part of the Sunday-school classes, many teachers who could not meet their classes at home finding every facility here. The Boys' Sunday-School Council, com- prised of representatives from each organized boys' class of twelve years of age and over, promotes many social, physical, and religious activities. Some additional organizations are a camera club, with dark-room and equipment, a wireless club, a stamp club, and others. During the summer a vacation school is con- ducted with expert teachers, both employed and volunteer. This includes games, athletics, out- door hikes, nature-study, instruction in useful arts, especially such as increase interest in the home, and in moral and religious instruction. 134 Recreation axd the Church Summer camps are provided partly in co- operation with the Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A. and partly independent, the Scouts having a two weeks' camp of their own. Concerning the effect of this work in the life of the church, the pastor, Rev. William R. Taylor, D.D., writes: Our recreational work has not lured the irreligious into our church. \\'e did not expect that it would. "In vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird." But it has brought rich reward in other ways — tens of thousands of hours of boy- and girl-time that might have been dangerous made safe; honor, cleanness, and self- control developed in sport for use in the more serious busi- ness of life; opportunities for teaching manners that are an aid to morals; healthier, stronger, lither, more efficient, purer bodies ; drudgery and loneliness relieved by the joy of play and companionship; strong friendships formed between f eUow-members ; increased interest in, and devotion to, the church and Sunday school, and, perhaps best of all, a field for service in which a constant supply of trained leaders is being raised up. The work is not evangelistic; some would not even call it "spiritual." But it makes for Christian character, and is therefore regarded by us as a substantial aid to the preaching and teaching of the gospel \\hich is the Church's supreme task. § 9. FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA This church is co-operating acti\ely with the Pittsburgh Pla}-ground Association, one of its Some Typical Church Programs 135 workers having had a large share in initiating that movement. It has helped to promote the use of the larger parks, small breathing-spots, swimming- pools, ball grounds, etc., all under competent supervision. The individual church work includes a full schedule of gymnasium classes and athletic sports under the leadership of a trained director at a salary of fifteen hundred dollars, whose wife also gives much of her time as chaperon, pianist, and in similar services. The work is graded and con- ducted on much the same lines as the Y.M.C.A. This work is carried on as a piece of community service independent of any sectarian bias. A summer camp is maintained with a superin- tendent, physician, and an adult leader for each group of eight. The campers are taken in squads of from forty to sixty of uniform age and sex. This camp is known as Camp Myler and is located on a branch of the Juniata River in the mountains near Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. The pastor, Rev. Frederic Tower Galpin, D.D., writes: Delinquencies of various kinds are prevented by such work as we are conducting. The effort is to democratize. We have boys from wealthy families and poor boys. When they are in uniform athletic garb the test is not a social, but a physical one. They are on a common platform and special privilege is absent. 136 Recreation axd the Church § 10. first church of christ, center congre- gational of hartford, connecticut Center Church House is the parish house of this church and conducts an extensive program of acti\'ities, of which a large proportion are social and recreational. The activities of the organized Sunday-school classes. Boy Scouts, and Knights of King Arthur show a valuable mingling of recrea- tional and educational features. In Warburton Chapel, also maintained by the church, work for boys and young men is carried on through the athletic club, gymnasium classes, Boy Scouts, and the Junior Abraham Lincoln Club. Similar work with many educational features is done for girls and young women. A story-hour and Loyal Legion are conducted for younger bo>'s and girls, and fresh-air outings are conducted dur- ing the summer. Center Church Camp, located on Lake Colum- bia, twenty-five miles east of Hartford, has been managed for six years by the Boys' Work Com- mittee of the church. A director is in charge with leaders for each group. A girls' camp is also main- tained at the same place. Rev. Rockwell Harmon Potter, D.D., pastor of Center Church, \\Tites: We feel that the camp is a particularly valuable meJans of getting religious educational results through a recreational method. The opportunity of the directors in both camps Some Typical Church Programs 137 to come into close touch with the campers has been used very effectively, and has contributed much to the vitality of our young people's work in the church. I also feel that dramatic entertainments provide a most valuable means of getting educational results through a means that has a good deal of recreation in it for young VOLLEY-BALL IN CAMP Scene in a championship game at Camp lola, the Boys' Camp of the Rochester Y.M.C.A, at Canandaigua Lake, New York. Volley-ball is a good outdoor game as well as in the gymnasium. people who are engaged in factory or office. Missionary plays have been given which impart a great deal of valuable missionary information to many who could not be induced to enter mission-study classes. Such a biblical play as van Dyke's House of Rimmon was most useful in giving biblical information. Trask's In the Vanguard, a peace play, and van Dyke's The Other Wise Man have also been given with good results. 138 Recreatiox axd the Chubch § ii. first baptist church of pottghkeepsie, NEW YORK This is a church in a small town of 32,000 and with a membership of 500. The parish comprises residential, boarding-house, and ofhce districts. The organized work includes Boy Scouts. Camp Fire Girls, ]\Ien's Brotherhood, Junior Choir, Adult Choir, and similar groups. A Church Tues- da\' afternoon and evening is a feature of the work, with supper and earh--evening group meetings of various types. At eight o'clock all come together for entertainment, concert, motion pictures, lecture, or some form of social gathering. The equipment includes plaj-TOoms, social par- lors, an elaborate motion-picture apparatus, and constantly increasing material for pageants, dramas, entertainments, and the like. Dramatic entertain- ments have been used extensively both for recrea- tional and for educational purposes. The pastor. Rev. Franklin D. Elmer, reports good results from all these features, which help in bringing bo}-s and girls into church membership and active service. § 12. SECOND COXGREG.\TIOXAL CHURCH OF GREENFIELD, MASS.\CHUSETTS This is another small-town church in a citv of about 14,000, with a parish house conducted upon a plan that makes it useful to a very large propor- tion of the entire congregation and communitv. It Some Typical Church Programs 139 is equipped for basket-ball, volley-ball, indoor baseball, and similar games. In the clubrooms various kinds of table games are provided, and on the lower floor a squash tennis court and four pocket-billiard tables. Maintenance is provided through the Parish House Association memberships at the rate of five dollars a year for family memberships, two and a half dollars for individuals, and ten dollars a year for a sustaining membership which may be either family or individual. The Parish House increased the church budget by one-third, but induced enough additional interest to change a chronic deficit into a balance on the credit side. Rev. Charles W. Merriam, the former pastor, now at Grand Rapids, Michigan, writes in terms of heartiest appreciation of the results of this work in increasing attendance at church and Sunday school, the percentage of losses in the latter being cut 50 per cent, and the church membership in- creasing 250 per cent. The next two examples are of churches in rural communities and each illustrates something of what may be done there. § 13. SOMONAUK UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF SANDWICH, ILLINOIS This church is situated in the open country five miles from the nearest railway station. It is a farming community, about one-half the people 140 Recreation and the Church owning the farms they occupy, the rest being ten- ants. The district was originally settled by Scotch people from New York state, who brought the church with them. They are strict, reverent Bible students. With the deaths, removals, and changes of three-quarters of a century many people came in who held more liberal views as to religious mat- ters. While good people, they did not affiliate readily with the old remnant, and the task of the church at present is the bringing together of these two types. The equipment is rather meager, the usual type of country-church building, but the church has its face set toward better provisions for a com- munity work. Meanwhile a great deal has been done with a very little. A prominent feature of the social and recrea- tional work has been the successful observance of all national holidays. Fourth of July, Thanks- giving, Memorial Day, and the like. These are community affairs and pack the church with people from the entire community. The Fourth of July observance of 19 15 drew an attendance of four thousand, with sports and games held on the church lawn and in an adjoining field, and exercises appropriate to the occasion. There are numerous other social gatherings for men and women and young people. Of the results the pastor. Rev. John Acheson, writes: Some Typical Church Programs 141 142 Recreation and the Church The community has been unified. For many miles in every direction the people point to our church as the center and, best of all, many have been saved and have united with the church. Our aim is to save men and before they can be saved they must be interested. All things to all men is the old, old plan. § 14. FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF PLEASANT LAKE, INDIANA The work of this church is thus described in the letter from the pastor, Rev. Waif red Lindstrom: W'e are tr3'ing to solve the so-called rural problem. After years of study and experience, I am convinced that the church should be made the center of community life, that it should be the most vital thing in that life. In order to do this, the church should not only provide for the religious, but also the moral and the social life of the people. During our busy season, which with us is from September to jMay, our church is open practically every night in the week. Much of the recreational work is cared for by the various organizations of the church. W'e have, for instance, a very successful Brotherhood which is both educational and social. It meets twice a month during our busy season, for lectures, entertainments, and religious services. Special nights are held such as an annual ladies" night, farmers' night, hunters' night, etc. At the last hunters' night, held in the basement of the church, the room was decorated with buck heads, stuffed birds, wolf skins, firearms and pictures of hunting scenes, making a regular hunter's lodge of it. Refreshments are served in connection with these meetings. Our boys' club carries on the general work usual in such organizations. In leaving the church one night after a boys' meeting, one of them said: "Gee! if I had something Some Typical Church Prograiis 143 to eat I'd stay all night." It is wortti while to make the boy feel that he can have a good time in the right way, and in the church. I take the boys on hikes and for an annual encampment. For our young men we have an athletic association. Our apparatus is not fancy, but we have a horse, parallel bars, jumping standards, all made by the pastor's own hands; a tumbling mat, and twenty pairs of dumb-bells. OFF FOR A HIKE A leader and four boys starting for a three days' hike during a summer encampment. .A good test of endurance both physical and moral. Boys should be in good physical condition before undertaking a long hike. The women are organized for the usual line of women's work. The Camp Fire Girls is another of our organizations. There are class parties, house parties, hayrack rides, bob- sled rides, marshmallow, sausage, and corn roasts. We aim to have at least one social meeting a month for the young people beside these other activities. We do not believe in preaching to our young people, don't do this or don't do that, but, rather, come and enjoy what we have provided. 144 Recreation axd the Chxirch The results of this work are certamly splendid. Men are coming to our Brotherhood who have not been in the church for years, and many of them have joined the church. Last Hallowe'en we had a party in our church basement. A public dance was on in town the same night. The boys had to import girls from neighboring towns to have dancing partners, and at nine-thirty many of the boys came down to our social, leaving the dance. Our church is wide-awake and very much alive. The opportunities are wonderful and there is certainly a great field for such work. These examples culled from a considerable amount of correspondence will serve to indicate that the suggestions and contentions of this volume are by no means pure theorizing, and that many of the principles for which we contend are already in process of being realized in actual practice. 'Slay the good work go on. CHAPTER VI EQUIPMENT AND ORGANIZATION § I. BUILDING AND EQUIPMENT One of the stumbling-blocks that exists in the minds of many when adequate recreational work is proposed is the idea that it requires a large amount of complex equipment. Such is not the case. It is true that suitable rooms or a special building and a certain amount of equipment are highly desirable and enable the church to do more than might be possible without them. But a great deal is being done by churches which have the vision with a very small amount of equipment and with quite limited quarters. The writer recalls one church which had not even adequate Sunday- school rooms, only a chapel adjoining the church, which had formerly served as the church building. In this building there were only two rooms, the large room in front where the Sunday school met, and another in the rear for the primary depart- ment. Nevertheless, the leaders became con- vinced that they had a duty toward the recreational problems of their boys and young men. A hard- wood floor was laid over one-half of the larger room. Basket-ball goals were placed on the walls, the windows and lights in that part of the room were 145 146 Recreation and the Church protected by wire gratings, and the sport began. Later, between the two buildings was discovered an unused space in which some showers and lockers were established, much of the work being done by the young men themselves. It was a rather meager equipment, but some royal good games were played in that space and a lively interest was created among the boys and young men, which did much toward tiding that church over some pretty hard times. The main thing is to recognize the right of such activities to a place in the church. This settled, space will be found that can do double dut}' and serve purposes of both religious instruction and worship and recreational work. .Another church in a small country town, mostly industrial in character, found itself confronted vdih the problem of unused time on the part of its young people. To relieve the deadly monotony of life in a place largely wanting in social or recreational opportunity, something had to be done. There was a large and rather barren-looking room in the basement that had been used for some of the Sunday-school classes. It was not very expensive to tint the walls and ceiling, lay a carpet, and pur- chase some games, beginning with a few crokinole and checker tables. A number of books and maga- zines were donated for a quiet corner. Other games were added as their value became more ap- Equipment and Organization 147 parent. At the start this room was thrown open on certain evenings for informal good times. There were music and singing, group games as well as individual games, and a great deal of genial social fellowship. Then classes and groups began to take the initiative in promoting social affairs, and almost before the people were aware of it that church had become a social center for the town. As a matter of fact, the most popuJar indoor games require very little special equipment. Two baskets and clear space with windows and lights protected are all that is needed for basket-ball, one of the most popular of indoor sports. For club meetings any room suitable for Sunday purposes is available. When it comes to such equipment as gymnasium apparatus simpUcity is not only economical but desirable, as will be noted later. In many churches the boys and young men are ready and glad to club together and furnish the funds necessary for the first modest equipment if they can only be assured of the chance to use them. Where this opportunity is given in anything like the right spirit and under proper leadership, it is almost certain to bring a fuller appreciation of the value of the work and the needed support. For recreational work on a larger and more adequate scale the parish house or special building is highly desirable and even necessary. In another 148 Recreatiox and the Church volume of this series, Evans, The Sunday-School Building and Its Equipment, the plans and descrip- tions of about twenty such buildings are given. Many of these are designed for Sunday-school purposes primarily, and many of them make little or no provision for much recreational work, but the plans of Plymouth Center, Oakland, California (pp. 45-50), Community House, Winnetka, Illi- nois (pp. 64-68), Jefferson Street Church of Christ, Buffalo, New York (pp. 79-81), San Diego Baptist Church, California (pp. S2-84), Canadian Commis- sion plan (pp. 88-92), Brick Church Institute, Rochester, New York (pp. 92-96), and St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa (pp. 98-103), all make pro\dsion, more or less com- plete, for the recreational side of the church's life. Reference will be made to these plans as illus- trating some of the following points which should be kept in mind in the construction of a church house : a) Plan for the work it is intended to do. It is. of course, not possible to foresee every need, nor is it possible to anticipate all the future developments of an active work, once it is begun. The church has no monopoly in regard to this difficulty. ^lany a business firm has spent large sums of money in the construction of what seemed to be a thoroughly adequate plant, only to find that the development of its business or the changes in methods of produc- Equipment and Organization 149 tion and distribution make necessary alterations or even complete rebuilding. In such cases the business house realizes that the necessary changes must be met to produce results and continued profits. Unfortunately the church does not always recognize the validity of the same principle and will be content with inferior or greatly reduced results rather than meet the expense of further develop- ment. It is possible, however, to do much better than we often do by careful study of the problems con- fronting the church, the needs of the community, and the best ways of meeting them. Before the Winnetka church erected its Community House a long period was spent in studying the needs of the work. The director of religious education was sent, at the expense of the church, to investigate plants in various parts of the country and to secure ideas. The result was an equipment admirably fitted for the work of that community. Note also the example of the St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, referred to in the preceding chapter. Care should be taken in the choice of an architect to see that someone is secured who has had experi- ence in planning buildings of this tj-pe. There are many architects of high standing and unquestioned ability who have had little or no experience in this particular phase of construction. There are spe- 150 Recreation axd the Church cialists in church architecture as well as in other lines of work, and such should be consulted. Y.M.C.A. secretaries and architects who have designed Association buildings are valuable coun- selors. It is not to be expected that a pastor or building committee, whose previous experience has had to do only with the ordinary demands of wor- ship and Sunday-school work, should be able to judge of the requirements of institutional and recreational activities; and such should seek com- petent advice. b) Plan for the largest possible usefulness of each room. Both economy and efficiency may be secured by a, plan of construction that will permit a given room to be used for as many different pur- poses as possible. Note, for example, the main floor plan of Plymouth Center (Evans, The Sunday- School Building and Its Equipment , p. 47) where the large room is planned to serve as a gymnasium, a hall for dramatic or other entertainments, and a Sunday-school room with divisions for classes. The gymnasium of the Winnetka Community House, shown on page 66 of the same volume, is equipped with a stage, and is also used for Sunday school and Sunday afternoon gatherings. If the work to be done justi&es the constant use of the gymnasium for its own purposes and a separate hall can be provided, as in the plans of the Brick Church Institute and St. Paul's Methodist Epis- Equipment and Organization 151 copal Church, so much the better, but where economy of space and money is necessary, much can be done through such combinations as are here suggested. c) Build walls and floors as solidly and as nearly soundproof as possible. There are numerous in- stances of such buildings which have been con- structed with an idea of economy in the wrong place. If the plant is used to its full capacity, as it should be, there will be many different activities going on at the same time. In one of the buildings mentioned there are rooms which are often used for meetings of an educational, musical, or literary character. These have been seriously interfered with by the fact that the bowling alley is under one of them and the swimming-pool under another. Neither of these forms of recreation is quiet in char- acter and the floors are by no means soundproof. Consequently, when the ladies of the church wished to have a missionary afternoon, or some class wanted to have a banquet with speaking, there were constant complaints and requests that the boys or girls in the swimming-pool should be told to keep quiet. Imagine trying to persuade forty or fifty youngsters to enjoy a swim without loud splashing or yelling. One might as well try to train a goldfinch to fly without singing. d) Separate as widely as possible rooms that are to be used for conflicting purposes. This item is 152 Recreatiox axd the Church closely akin to the preceding and is an additional precaution in the same direction. Such features as gymnasium, swimming-pool, bowling alle\-s, and the like should be grouped as closely as possible in one part of the building. If the gymnasium is over the swimming-pool or bowling alley's, neither will interfere with the other. Under this head may be noted another point, now well understood by the Y.M.C.A., the com- plete separation of the boys' department from that of the men. The two do not combine well. It is the nature of boys to take their sport gleefully, enthusiastically, and with many audible expres- sions of their enjoyment. Boisterousness is by no means a sign of moral depravity in boys. But men want their recreation in quieter forms and are often annoyed b}- the superabundant enthusiasm of youth. In the best modern Y.^I.C.A. buildings the boys' departments are so arranged as to permit of this separation. An entirely separate entrance is provided in most cases; the game-rooms, locker- rooms, and such equipment are separate, and the entrances from their quarters to gymnasium and swimming-pool are usually separate, the schedule being so arranged as to reserve different hours for the use of these facilities by boys and men. Care in planning at this point will obviate much friction and serious detriment to the work. Without it the attempt to use the building for both purposes Equipment and Organization 153 at the same time will inevitably result in an at- mosphere of repression for the boys that spoils their enjoyment and results in kilhng their in- terest. e) Plan for the greatest possible centralization of control and supervision. This also is important in the interests of economy and efficiency. The need of supervision has already been sufficiently explained and this item in planning may be illus- trated by one or two examples. In the modern Y.M.C.A. buildings it will usually be found that the billiard tables are placed on the ground floor in the lobby, within full view of the general office. With such an arrangement it is possible to give all the supervision necessary, except possibly at the busiest times, without an extra attendant in the billiard-room. In the new building of the Rochester Y.M.C.A. the main lobby, with its billiard-room, game tables, reading- room, and cozy corners, is upon one side of the office, and all in full view. Just back of the office desk are the administrative offices, clerks, stenog- raphers, etc., and adjoining them on the other side are the office and desk for the boys' department which also commands a full view of the game-room for their use. Such an arrangement makes it possible during the vacation period when activities are fewer in number to control the entire plant with a smaller number of attendants. 154 Recreation and the Church The means of access to the physical department is another point to be carefully watched. The plans of the Brick Church Institute present a serious defect in this respect (Evans, The Sunday- School Building and Its Equipment, p. 93). The gymnasium is reached by a door opening from the main corridor in the basement. Access to this cor- ridor may be had either from the front stairway opposite the basement office, or by the rear stair- way which goes to the top of the building. The only possibility of complete control of the gyva.- nasium entrance is by someone continuously sta- tioned at that door, which is out of the question. Again, the swimming-pool has three entrances, one at each end and one at the side, near the showers. Such a multiplicity of entrances makes economical and efficient control practically impossible. Here again the experience of the Y.M.C.A. is valuable. We find its buildings planned, as a rule, so as to give entrance to the gymnasium and swimming-pool only through an office controlling the locker-rooms from which members pass into the gymnasium or pool. In this office may be centralized such mat- ters as the care of towels, sale of gymnasium sup- plies, and supervision of the locker-rooms. The Y.M.C.A. is, of course, reheved of the complication caused by having to care for girls and women as well as boys and men, but these two classes should be provided for as separate departments, each with Equipment and Organization 155 its own separate entrance to be used at the specified times. /) Consider simplicity, durability, and usefulness in the equipment. This appHes to the rooms for social purposes as well as to the physical depart- ment. Attractiveness in decoration and comfort in furnishings are a decided asset in the lobbies and halls used for social gatherings, but these desirable features may be combined with simplicity and durability. For a lobby or room that is to be used as a reading- or rest-room furniture of the mission type, plain, without carving or ornamenta- tion that accumulates dust and' suffers damage, is desirable. It is not foolish to spend money on anything that makes for good taste and real beauty in furnishings and decoration. All these things are an important factor in the culture of the best in human life. But simphcity and adaptation to the main purposes in view are a part of good taste. In the equipment of a gymnasium the demand for simplicity should be carefully considered. Many churches, in fitting out a gymnasium, are likely to purchase apparatus and special equipment that would be of value in a large Y.M.C.A. or athletic club where much specialized work for men is done. But the main part of the church's work will be in the line of organized and supervised play for boys and girls, for which very little special apparatus is needed. For the average church 156 Recreation and the Church gymnasium the desirable outfit will consist of about six good floor mats, a jump-board and standards, horse, a horizontal bar, climbing rope, and perhaps some traveling or swinging rings. An outfit of dumb-bells or Indian clubs, or both, will be useful for drillwork, the number to be purchased depend- ing of course on the numbers to be handled. Avoid as far as possible any apparatus that is fastened to the walls, or projections that may cause injury to players in basket-ball or similar games. Heating-pipes, radiators, and the hke should be so placed as to guard against this same danger. The walls should be left as free as possible from such projections. In many gymnasiums dumb-bells and Indian clubs are hung on hooks around the walls. It is better to provide chests or lockers for their storage. If a swimming-pool is included in the equipment, precautions should be taken to avoid accidents. The use of a springboard is not advisable except in the large pools with a depth of eight or nine feet of water. A trolley and swimming belt are a very useful apparatus for instruction to beginners. Shower baths are a practical necessity, as violent physical exercise not followed by a bath and rub- down is neither sanitary nor safe, especially in cold weather. In the installation of showers be sure that the main feed pipes from which each shower draws its supply are of generous size. Otherwise Equipment axd Orgaxizath: 157 S i 8-3 158 Recreation axd the Church the showers will interfere with each other, those near the end of the Hne failing to get the proper suppl}' of water when those nearer the source are in use. This is particularly important in connec- tion with the hot water. An important economy in space may be secured by using the system of storage lockers of a size just large enough for the keeping of gymnasium suits, together with larger open lockers in which clothing may be placed while the owner is using the gymnasium or pool. About six of these storage lockers will occupy the space of two full-sized lockers of the ordinary type. In some gymnasiums net bags are used in the boys' department, each boy having a numbered bag in which to keep his gym- nasium suit. When he comes to class he is given the key to an open locker and his bag. He leaves his clothing and also the bag in the locker while exercising, after which he dresses, leaves the locker open for the next comer, and returns his bag and the key to the of&ce. After being aired and dried the bag is hung in its place on the storage racks. Man}- times the number of boys can thus be accommodated in the same amount of locker space. g) Secure adequate lighting, heating, and venti- lation. Too much trouble cannot be taken to instal the best possible heating plant with a view to economical operation. Ventilation is also a Equipment and Organization 159 vital factor. Nothing will kill the enjoyment of an entertainment or lecture more surely than stuffy, impure air. The proper ventilation of locker -rooms is a matter of the highest importance to health and general sanitation, and yet is often completely overlooked. In many plans it seems as if the designer considered any little corner that was not to be otherwise employed as suitable for a locker- room. On the contrary, it should provide ample space for the number to be accommodated to dress without crowding, and the ventilation should be ample. A room filled with lockers containing fifty or sixty gymnasium suits heavy with perspira- tion and without a good circulation of air is a problem for the board of health. U) Provide ample storage-room. This also is frequently overlooked, but is important. In one church house where there are a number of rooms all used for various purposes the lack of storage- room for the chairs has limited the usefulness of many parts of the building. If the assembly hall, which has three hundred chairs, is to be used for any purpose requiring a free floor, some other room must be given up to the storage of those chairs. If the room in which the portable billiard tables for the boys are set up is to be used for any other pur- pose, the tables must be piled against the wall, a proceeding which is both unsightly and detrimental to the walls. i6o Recreation akd the Church Here is a use for the stray nook. It is surprising how much storage-room can be planned for if the point is only kept in mind. Space under a stair- way, under a stage or platform, or sometimes above a stairway can be utilized. There should also be ample locker or cupboard space for the safekeeping of games, material for sewdng, and other industrial work. Scrutinize plans carefully to see that no odd corner which might be thus employed is wasted. These are only a few suggestions that come to the mind of the writer as the result of experience. They do not by any means exhaust the list of pos- sible items. The main thing, however, is to spend sufficient time, thought, and money in the pre- hminar}' investigation of needs, and, in consulta- tion with others who ha^■e had experience in such work, to reduce the ine\atable mistakes to the minimum. § 2. ORGANIZATION Under this head a few suggestions may be of value. In most churches having parish houses and programs of institutional work we find a more or less distinct organization with its own board of directors or managers. Some such plan of com- mittees is, of course, necessar\- to care for the vari- ous activities involved. It is highh' important, however, that this organization be related closely to, and completely identified with, the church. Equipment and Organization i6i 1 62 Recreation axd the Church All such work conducted by or under the auspices of the church is an integral part of its own work. It must be so recognized or there is danger of divi- sion and even direct competition. If young people come to think of the church as one thing and the church house as another and quite different thing, they choose between them, not alwa}'s to the ad- vantage of the former. If the church membership is in the habit of thinking of the institutional work as a separate enterprise, there is again room for division of interest and energy. And just to the extent that the institutional part of the work is suc- cessful, to that degree will it become a formidable competitor unless occupying its rightful place as a part of the church work, alongside of the Sunday school or any other branch. The church house should be under the direct care of the official board of the church, with such com- mittees as are needed to carry out its activities. Likewise the director or superintendent of the church house should hold a close relationship to the religious educational work of the church itself. In some churches this officer is the assistant pastor or the director of religious education, and such a combination works well. Enough has already been said regarding admin- istration and leadership, but a word may be added with reference to general organization of com- mittees. One of the greatest values of such work Equipment and Organization 163 as has been described is the field it opens for Chris- tian service by volunteer workers. In the Brick Church Institute, with which the writer is con- nected, there are many in the church who pay grateful testimony to the influence of the work in which they have shared in giving concreteness and vitality to their Christian experience and church membership. Care therefore should be taken to avoid falling into a rut in the selection of com- mittees. It is very easy to make up a committee and to keep the members year after year with few changes, leaving the details of the work to the employed workers and neglecting the duty of con- tinually bringing in new volunteers. It has been the policy of this church for some years, in the annual election of directors for the Institute, to make a few changes e9.ch year for no other reason than the one just stated, and the subcommittees in charge of the various special activities are con- stantly bringing in new workers, particularly from among the young people who are being trained in the work itself. It is no uncommon thing to hear effective and earnest workers in this field declare that they re- ceive more good from it than they give. Allowing for becoming modesty, it may still be said that the worker is likely to receive fully as much as he gives, and one of the surest tests of the real effectiveness of any such service is the degree to which it is 164 Recreation axd the Church developing leaders for its own perpetuation. But leaders may be potentially developed and then lost because they are not given opportunity to exercise the powers that are in them. The writer once heard a certain woman who had been engaged in committee work in connection with a girls' club complain that there did not seem to be anything for her to do of late. The truth was that the work was going on with increased efiEecti\'eness and closer adaptation to the needs because its manage- ment was being more and more committed to the older girls, whose abilit}- had been developed in the earlier years of work. Perhaps the highest com- pliment that could be paid to the work of this woman was her success in working herself "out of a job." CHAPTER VII BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PLAY AND RECREATION The following list is by no means exhaustive, yet it will give most of the best references avail- able on the subjects of play and recreation with special reference to their rehgious educational value. The Department of Recreation of the Russell Sage Foundation, 130 East 22d Street, New York City, issues a pamphlet by Lee F. Hanmer and Howard R. Knight, entitled Sources of Information on Play and Recreation (10 cents), which will furnish a fuller list for those who wish it. I. GENERAL WORKS ON PLAY Addams, Jane. The Spirit of Youth and tlic City Streets. Macmillan, 1909. Pp. 162. Si 25. Atkinson, Henry A. The Church and tite People's Play. Pilgrim Press, 1915. Pp. 200. $1 00. Bowen, Mrs. Louise Haddock (de Koven). Safeguards for City Youth at Work and at Play. Macmillan, 1914. Pp. 241. $1 . 50. Braucher, H. S. "How to Aid the Cause of Public Recrea- tion," American City, X (February, 1914), 136-41. Cabot, Richard Clarke. What Men Live By. Houghton MiiBin Co., 1914. Pp. 341. $1.50. Coulter, Ernest K. Children of the Shadow. MacBride, Nast, 1913. Pp.277. $1.50. 16s 1 66 Recreation and the Church Curtis, Henry S. Education through Play. Macmillan, 1915. Pp- 359- $1.50- Edwards, Richard Henry. Christianity and Amusements. Association Press, 1915. Pp. 157. $0 50. Forbush, William B. Coming Generation. Appleton, 1912. Pp. 402. $1 . 50. Goldmark, Pauline. Boyhood and Lawlessness and the Neglected Girl. West-Side Studies, Survey Associates, 1914. Pp. 142. $2.00. Groos, Karl. The Play of Animals. Appleton, 1898. Pp.341. $1.50. . The Play of Man. Appleton, 1901. Pp. 412. $1.50. Hanmer, Lee F., and Brunner, August H. Recreation Legislation. Revised to 1915. Russell Sage Founda- tion, Department of Recreation, 191 5. $0.20. Johnson, George E. Education by Plays aiul Games. Ginn, 1907. Pp. 234. $0.90. Lee, Joseph. Play in Education. IMacmillan, 1915. Pp. 500. $1 . 50. Patrick, G. T: W. "Psychology of Play," Pedagogical Seminary, XXI (September, 1914), 469-84. Schoenfeld, Julia. "Commercial Recreation Legislation," Playground, VII (March, 1914), 461-S1. Wood, Walter. Children's Play aiid Its Place in Education. Duffield, 1913. Pp.218. $1.25. Reference should also be made to the Year Book of the Playground and Recreation Association of .America, i Madison Avenue, New York City, and to the following magazines, which contain frequent articles on this topic: American City, .imerican Physical Education Review, Assq- ciation Monthly, Boy's Life, Mind and Body, Playground, Rural Manhood (V.M.C..\.), Scouting, Survey, and Work with Bovs. Bibliography 167 2. EQUIPMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF PLAYGROUNDS, ETC. Angel, Herbert E. "A Farm That Became a Public Park," American City, XI (August, 1914), 110-13. Corbin, Alice M. "How to Equip a Play-Room: the Pitts- burg Plan," Playground, VH (April, 1913), 8-15. Curtis, Henry S. "Playground Equipment," Playground, VII (November, 1913), 301-29. . Practical Conduct of Play. Macmillan, 1915. Pp.330. $1.50. DeGroot, Edward B. "Recreation Facilities in Public Parks," American City, X (January and February, 1914), 9-1S, 127-30. Leland, Arthur. Playground Technique and Player aft. Bassette, 1909. Pp.284. $2.50. Playground and Recreation Association of America, Proceed- ings, 1909. The bound volume for 1909 contains a course in play for grade teachers, institute course in play, and normal course in play for professional directors. 3. GAMES FOR HOME, SCHOOL, GYMNASIUM, AND PLAYGROUND Angell, Emmett Dunn. Play. Games for the Kindergarten, Playground, Schoolroom and College. Little, 1910. Pp. 90. $1 . 50. Bancroft, Jessie H. Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium. ]\Iacmillan, 1909. Pp. 456. $1.50. Benson, J. K. Book of Indoor Games. Lippincott, 1904. Pp. 354- 15. 50- Crozier, Gladys B. Indoor Games for Children. Button, 1914. Pp. 120. $0.40. . Outdoor Games for Children. Button, 1914. Pp. 114. $0.40. 1 68 Recreation and the Church Forbush, William B. Manual of Play. Jacobs, 1914. Pp. 3 S3. Si. SO. Johnson, George E. Education by Plays and Games. Ginn, 1907. Pp. 234. $0.90. . What to Do at Recess. Ginn, 1910. Pp. ^^. $0.25. Lucas, E. V. and E. Three Hundred Games and Pastimes. Macmillan, 1910. Pp. 392. $2.00. Newell, W. W. Games and Songs of American Children. Harper, 1903. Pp.282. $i.so. Stecher, William A. Games and Dances. Mc\'ey, 1912. Pp. 165. $I.2S. White, Mary. Book of Gatnes. Scribner, 1905. Pp. 191. |i .00. 4. ATHLETIC SPORTS Amateur Athletic Federation. Official Rule and Year Book. Pubhshed by the Federation, Chicago, 111. Ball, W. H. "An Honor Code for All Competitive Ath- letics," American Physical Education Review, XX (February, 191s), 75-79. Beard, Daniel C. Outdoor Handy Book. Scribner, 1910. Pp.496. $2.00. Camp, Waher. "What Are Athletics Good For?" Out- ing, LXni (December, 1913), 259-72. Dier, J. C. Book of Winter Sports. Macmillan, 1912. Pp. 3Si. $1.50. Dudley, Gertrude, and Kellor, Frances A. Athletic Games for Women. Holt, 1909. Pp.268. $1.25. Hutchinson, Dr. Woods. Exercise and Health, Outing Co., 1911. Pp. 156. $0.70. Maydol, H. D. "Modern Athletic Contest Socialized," Rural Manhood, IX (April, 1913), 12S-31. Bibliography 169 Spalding's Athletic Library. Published annually by the American Sports Pubhshing Co., New York. This series contains a large number of books of rules for all kinds of games, as well as treatises on training, method of play, etc. The following wiU be of special interest : Girls' Athletics. Official handbook of the girls' branch of the Public Schools Athletic League of New York City. $0.10. Public Schools Athletic League Handbook. Boys' branch. $0.10. Y.M.C.A. Official Handbook. The A.L.N.A. $0.10. Steams, Alfred E. "Athletics and the School," Atlantic Monthly, CXIII (February, 1914), 148-52. Withington, Paul. Book of Athletics. Lothrop, 1914. Pp. 512. fi.so. 5. DANCING Anderson, John Murray. Social Dancing of Today. Stokes, 1914. Pp.49. $1.00. Bergquist, Nils W. Swedish Folk Dances. Barnes, 1910. Pp. 54. $1 , 50. Burchenal, Elizabeth. Dances of the People. Schirmer, 1913. Paper, $1.50; cloth, $2. 50. (A second volume, same prices.) . Folk Dances and Singing Games. Schirmer, 1910. Pp.92. $1.50. Crampton, Dr. C. Ward. Folk Dance Book. Barnes, 1910. Pp.81. $1.50. Crawford, Caroline. Dramatic Games and Dances for Little Children. Barnes, 1914. Pp. 77. $1.50. Gulick, Luther H. Healthful Art of Dancing. Doubleday, 1910. Pp. 237. $1.40. 1 70 Recreation and the Church Hinman, Mary Wood. Gymnastic Dancing. University of Chicago High School. (Published by the author.) $2.00. Hofer, Mari R. Popular Folk Games and Dances. Flana- gan, 1907. Pp. 56. So. 75. Kinney, Troy and Margaret. The Dance: Its Place in Art and Life. Stokes, 1914. Pp. 368. S3 • SO- Rath, Emil. Aesthetic Dancing. Barnes, 1914. Pp. 136. Si. so. 6. DRAMATICS Carter, Elsie Hobart. Christmas Candles. Holt, 1915. $1.25. A collection of little plays written for Christmas celebrations. Clapp, John M. Plays for Amateurs. Drama League of America, 1915. Pp.44. So. 25. A classified Hst of plays giving information as to cast, scenes, length of time required, pubKsher, and price. Curtis, Eleanora Whitman. Dramatic Instinct in Educa- tion. Houghton Mifflin Co., 1914. Pp. 245. $1.00. Fry, Emma Sheridan. Educational Dramatics. Moffat, 1913. Pp.69. $0.50. Guide and Index to Plays, Festivals, and Masques; Suitable for Use in Schools, Clubs, and Neighborhood Centers. Compiled by the Association of Neighborhood Workers. Harper, 1913. Pp.44. $0.25. Liitkenhaus, Anna M. Plays for School Children. Cen- tury, 191 5. Pp. 250. $1.25. Oglevay, Kate. Plays for Children. Drama League of America, 1915. Pp. 15. So. 25. Bibliography 171 Walker, Alice Johnstone. Little Plays from American History for Young Folks. Holt, 1914. Pp. 155. 7. STORIES AND STORY-TELLING Bailey, Carolyn Sherwin. For the Story-Teller. Bradley, 1913. Pp. 261. $1 .50. Bryant, Sarah Cone. Stories to Tell Children. Houghton Mifflin Co., 1907. Pp. 243. $1.00. Burr, Hanford M. Around the Fire: Stories of Beginnings. Association Press, 1912. Pp.238. $0.75. Cheley, F. H. Told by the Camp Fire. Association Press, 1914. Pp. 212. $0.75. Cowles, Julia D. Art of Story-Telling: with Nearly Half a Hundred Stories. McClurg, 1914. Pp.269, fi.oo. Dickinson, Asa D. Children's Book of Christmas Stories. Doubleday, 1913. Pp.335. $1.25. Houghton, Louise Seymour. Telling Bible Stories. Scrib- ner, 1905. Pp.286. $1.50. Lyman, Edna. Story-Telling. What to Tell and How to Tell It. McClurg, 1910. Pp.229. So. 75. Olcott, Frances Jenkins. Children's Reading. Houghton Mifflin Co., 1912. Pp.344. $1.25. St. John, Edward Porter. Stories and Story-Telling. Pil- grim Press, 1910. Pp. 100. $0. 50. Wyche, Richard T. Some Great Stories and How to Tell Them. Newson,ji9io. Pp.181. $1.00. 8. HANDICRAFT Adams, Joseph H. Harper's Electricity Book for Boys. Harper, 1907. Pp.407. $1.50. . Harper's Indoor Book for Boys. Harper, 1908. Pp.364. I1.50. . Harper's Machinery Book for Boys. Harper, 1909. Pp.373- 81.50- 172 Recreation and the Church Armstrong, Douglas B. Boys' Book of Stamp Collecting. Stokes, 1914. Pp.227. Si. 50. Beard, Daniel C. American Boy's Handy Book. Scribner, 1903. Pp.441. $2.00. . Outdoor Handy Book. Scribner, 1914. Pp. 496. Si. so. Beard, Lina and Adelia B. American Girl's Handy Booh. Scribner, 1907. Pp. 559. $2.00. Collins, A. Frederic. Book of Wireless. Appleton, 1915. Pp. 238. Si. 00. Jessup, L. Anne, and Logue, Annie E. The Handicraft Book. Barnes, 1913. Pp.123. $100. Paret, Anna Parmly. Harper's Handy Book for Girls. Harper, 1910. Pp. 348. Si . 50. Verrill, Alpheus Hyatt. Harper's Aircraft Book. Harper, 1913. Pp.344- fi.oo. . Harper's Book for Young Naturalists. Harper, 1913. Pp.381. 81.50. . Harper's Gasoline Engine Book. Harper, 1914. Pp. 289. $1.00. . Harper's Wireless Book. Harper, 1913. Pp. 1S5. Si. 00. 9. holidays, testivals, pageants Bates, Esther Willard. Pageants and Pageantry. Ginn, 1912. Pp. 294. $1.50. Chessire, J. K. C. Bethlehem Tableau.x. Dutton, 1913. Pp. 102. $2.00. Chubb, Percival. Festivals and Plays in Schools a^id Else- where. Harper, 191 2. Pp.403. $2.00. Davol, Ralph. Handbook of American Pageantry. Davol Publishing Co., 1914. Pp. 236. S2 50. Langdon, WiUiam C. Celebrating the Fourth of July by Means of Pageantry. Russell Sage Foundation, 1912. Pp. 55. $0.15. Bibliography 173 Lincoln, Jeanette E. C. Festival Book. Barnes, 191 2. Pp. 74. ft . so- Mackay, Constance D'Arcy. Patriotic Pageants and Plays for Young People. Holt, 1912. Pp.225. $i-35- . Plays of the Pioneers. Harper, 1915. Pp. 174. $1.00. Merington, Marguerite. Festival Plays. Duffield, 1913. Pp.302. $1.25. Needham, Mary Master. Folk Festivals; Their Growth and How to Give Them. Huebsch, 1912. Pp.244. $1.25. Schauffler, R. H. Our Atnerican Holidays. Moffat. $1.00 each. Several volumes, each treating of a separate holiday, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Independence Day, Memo- rial Day, etc. Stevens, Thomas W., and Goodman, Kenneth S. Pageant for Independence Day. Stage Guild. $0.35. Thobum, Helen. "Pageantry in Country Places," Rural Manhood, IV (November, 1913), 323-27. Many of the reports of the park commissioners of various cities give helpful suggestions and descriptions of play festivals and pageants. Hanmer and Knight list the fol- lowing: Report of the Annual Play Festival, Chicago, Illinois; Annual Children's Day at Belle Isle, Detroit, Michigan; Neighborhood Playground Festivals, Minne- apoHs, Minnesota; Field Meet and Picnic of Summer Schools and Playgrounds, St. Paul, Minnesota. 10. ENTERTAINMENTS AND SOCIALS Baker, G. C. Indoor Games and Socials for Boys. Asso- ciation Press, 191 2. Pp.200. $0.75. Chelsey, A. M. Social Activities. Association Press, 1910. Pp. 304. $1.00. 174 Recreation axd the Church Crozier, Gladys B. Children's Parlies. Button, 1914. Pp. 119. $0.40. Day, Mrs. Lillian Catherine. Social Entertainmcnls. Moffat, 1914. Pp.138. $1.00. Kingsland, Mrs. Burton. The Book of hidoor and Outdoor Games, with Suggestions for Entertainments. Double- day, 1904. Pp. 610. Si . 50. Ordway, Edith Bertha. Handbook 0} Conundrums. Sully, 1913. Pp. 198. $0.50. Reisner, Christian F. Social Plans for Young People, for Pleasure and Profit. Abingdon Press, 1908. Pp. 254. $0.75. White, Mary and Sarah. Book of Children's Parties. Cen- tury, 1911. Pp. 173. $1.00. II. MOTION PICTURES Cocks, Orrin G. "Applying Standards to Motion-Picture Films," Survey, XXXII (June 27, 1914), 337-38. Collier, John. "Censorship in Action," Stirvey, XXXIV (August 7, 1915), 423-27. Folks, Ralph. "Motion-Picture Legislation," Playground, VII (September, 1913), 227-34. Howe, Frederic C. "What to Do with the Motion-Picture Show," Outlook, CVII (June, 1914), 412-16. Hurlbert, Dorothy. "Moving Pictures," ^Minnesota Pub- lic Library Commission, Library Notes and News, TV (December, 1914), 132-39. Saunders, A. H. "Motion Pictures as an Aid to Educa- tion," National Education Association, 1914, pp. 743-48- Stockton, E. Boudinot. "Moving Pictures Suitable for Educational Purposes," Moving Picture World, 1915. Bibliography 175 Willard,.F. R. "Motion-Picture Theatre and the Child," Education, XXXV (February, 1915), 350-61. The National Board of Censorship, 70 Fifth Avenue, New York City, publishes reports, lists of films censored, and much other information on the subject. 12. boys' and girls' clubs Bernheimer, Charles S., and Cohen, Jacob M. Boys Clubs. Baker, 1914. Pp.136. $1.00. Buck, Winifred. Boys' Self-governing Clubs. Macmillan, 1903. Pp. 218. $0. 50. Fiske, George W. Boy-life and Self-government. Asso- ciation Press, 1910. Pp.310. $1.00. Hoben, Allan. The Minister and the Boy. The University of Chicago Press, 1912. Pp. 171. $1.00. McCormick, William. The Boy and His Clubs. Revell, 191 2. Pp. 96. $0.50. Merrill, Lilburn. Winning the Boy. Revell, 1908. Pp.160, $0.75. Mills, Charles H. "Boys' Clubs in the Recreation Center," Playground, VII (October, 1913), 279-84. Porter, David R. Clubs and Other Work with Boys. Asso- ciation Press, 1914. Pp.34, lo.io. Puffer, J. Adams. The Boy and His Gang. Houghton MifHin Co., 1912. Pp. 188. $1.00. 13. BOY SCOUTS, CAMP FIRE GIRLS, WOODCRAFT LEAGUE Baden-Powell, Sir Robert. Boy Scouts beyond the Seas. Lippincott, 1913. Pp.250. $1.00. Boy Scouts of America. Handbook for Boys. 1916. Pp.470. $0.50. . Handbook for Scoutmasters. 1914. Pp. 352. $0,50. 176 Recreation and the Church Camp Fire Girls. Book of the Camp Fire Girls. Doran, 1913. 3d ed. Pp.64. $0.23. . Camp Fire Girls Handbook. Camp Fire Girls of America. So. 25. Carey, Arthur A. Scoutlaw in Practice. Little, Brown, 1915. Pp. 171. $0.60. Cave, Edward. The Boy Scout's Hike Book. Doubleday, 1913. Pp. 243. So 50. Reany, M. Jane. "The Psychology of the Boy Scout Movement," Pedagogical Seminary, XXI (September, 1914), 407-11. Richardson, Norman E., and Loomis, Ormond E. Boy Scout Movement Applied by the Church. Scribner, 1915. Pp. 400. Si .50. Riis, Jacob. "The Boy Scouts," Outlook, CV (October 25, I9i3),4i2. Rogers, Ethel. Sebago-Wohelo Camp Fire Girls. Good Health PubUshing Co. Pp.249. Si. 25. Seton, Ernest Thompson. The Woodcraft Manual for Boys. Doubleday, 1917. Pp. 441. So. 50. . The Woodcraft Manual for Girls. Doubleday, 1917. Pp.424. So. 50. 14. CAMPING Beard, Daniel C. Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties. Scribner, 1914. Pp.243. 81.25. Beard, Lina and Adelia B. On the Trail. Scribner, 1915. Pp. 271. 81.25. Cheley, F. H., and Baker, G. C. Camp and Outing Activities. Association Press, 1915. Pp.400. $1.50. Gibson, H. \V. Camping for Boys. Association Press, 1911. Pp. 249. $1.00. Bibliography 177 Gibson, , William H. Camp Life in the Woods. Harper, 1905. Pp.300. $1.00. Hanks, Charles S. Camp Kits and Camp Life. Scribner, 1906. Pp. 259. $1.50. Hinckley, George W. Roughing It with Boys. Associa- tion Press, 19 13. Pp.266. $0.75. Kephart, Horace. Book of Camping and Woodcraft. Outing Co., 1908. Pp.331. $1.50. . Camp Cookery. Outing Co., 1910. Pp. 153. $1 . 00. Marks, Jeanette A. Vacation Camping for Girls. Apple- ton, 1913. Pp.228. $1.00. Miller, Warren H. Camp-craft. Scribner, 1915. Pp. 282. $1.50- Moody, Dr. Charles S. Backwoods Surgery and Medicine. Outing Co., 1911. Pp.99. $0.70. Seton, Ernest Thompson. Book of Woodcraft and Indian Lore. Doubleday, 1913. Pp. 567. $1.75. Stevens, W. C. "Sensible Outfit for Amateur Hikers," Outing, LXIV (May, 1914), 172-77- Verrill, A. Hyatt. Boys' Outdoor Vacation Book. Dodd, 1915. Pp.321. $1.25. 15. PHYSICAL TRAINING Anderson, W. G. and W. L. Manual of Physical Training for Boys and Girls. Christian Endeavor, 1914. Pp. 145. fi.oo. Athletic Badge Test for Boys. Playground and Recreation Association of America. $0.05. Athletic Badge Test for Girls. Playground and Recreation Association of America. $0.05. Group Athletics for Boys. Russell Sage Foundation, De- partment of Recreation. I0.02. lyS Recreation axd the Church Group Athletics for Girls. Russell Sage Foundation, Department of Recreation. So. 02. Kaull, Lavinia H. Physical Education Complete for Schools and Playgrounds. Kaull, 1915. Pp. 272. S2.00. Robinson, A. J. Physical Training and Athletics. Bulletin of the University of Texas, Extension Series, No. 41, January 22, 1914. Pp. 65. Stecher, WiUiam A. Handbook of Lessons in Physical Training and Games. iMc\'ey, 1908. Pp.23. Parts I and II, So 35; Part III, So. 50. 16. RECREATIONAL SURVEYS Aronovici, Carol. KnowingOne' s Ov.n Community. Ameri- can Unitarian Association, So, 10. Clinton Avenue Congregational Church, Brooklyn, X.Y. Community study of the parish made by a committee of the church under the direction of Henry A. Atkinson and Morrison R. Boynton. Pp. 69. Collier, John, and Barrows, Edward Tsl. The City Where Crime Is Play. People's Institute, 1914. Pp. 44. So. 10. Curtis, Henry S. "Playground Survey," American Journal of Sociology, XIX (May, 1914), 792-812. Foster, William T. ''\'audeville and Motion-Picture Shows," Bulletin of Reed College, Portland, Oregon, 1Q14. Pp. 63. Hanmer, Lee F., and Perry, Clarence .A. Recreation in Springfield, Illinois. Russell Sage Foundation, 1914. Pp. 156. So 25. Haynes, Rowland. Recreation Survey, Detroit, Michigan. Playground and Recreation Association of .\merica, 1913. Pp. 71. Bibliography 179 Haynes, Rowland. Recreation Survey of Kansas City, Missouri. Second Annual Report, Recreation Depart- ment of the Public Welfare Board, 1911-12. . "Recreation Survey of Milwaukee, Wisconsin," Playground, VI (May, 1912), 38-67. Hubbard, H. V. Size and Distribution of Playgrounds and Similar Recreation Facilities in American Cities. 1914. Knigiit, Howard R. Play atid Recreation in a Town of 6000. Recreation Survey of Ipswich, Massachusetts. Russell Sage Foundation, 1915. $0.25. Nolen, John. Replanning Small Cities; Six Typical Studies. Huebsch, 1912. Pp.218. I2.50. North, Francis R. Recreation Survey of Indianapolis, India?ia. Playground and Recreation Association of America, 1914. Free. . Recreation Survey of Providence, Rhode Island. Playground and Recreation Association of America. Free. Robinson, Charles M. "Recreation from a City-Planning Standpoint," Playground, VII (September, 1913), 220-27. Rural Surveys. Department of Church and Country Life, Board of Home Missions, Presbyterian Church. $0. 10 each. Surveys of Indiana; Missouri; Maryland; Ohio; Tulare Co., California; Arkansas; Redwood Co., Minnesota. 17. MANTTFACTURERS OF GAMES AN'D PLAYGROUND AND GYMNASIUM APPARATUS American Playground Device Company, Anderson, Ind. Ashland Manufacturing Company, Ashland, Ohio. Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, 29 West 32d St., New York City. i8o Recreation and the Church Child Welfare Company, i86 Insurance Exchange Building, Chicago, lU. Everwear Manufacturing Company, Springfield, Ohio. Giant Manufacturing Company, Council Bluffs, Iowa. Health Merry-Go-Round Company, Quincy, lU. Howard, George, Playground Outfitter, Philadelphia, Pa. Kindermart, Baltimore, Md. (Carved animals and wooden toys.) Medart Manufacturing Company, St. Louis, Mo. Miller, Harry, 127 N. MiUick St., Philadelphia, Pa. Milton Bradley Company, 221 Fourth Avenue, New York City. Narragansett Machine Company, Providence, R.I. Partridge, Horace Partridge Company, 75 Hawley St., Boston, Mass. Playground Apparatus Manufacturing Company, Temple- ton, Mass. Spalding, A. G., Bros., Chicopee, Mass. Tothill Manufacturing Company, Chicago, 111. Tuck, Raphael, and Sons Company, 122 Fifth Avenue, New York City. (Mechanical dolls, rocking and walking animals.) Winters and Reinecke, 822 Arch St., Philadelphia, Pa. (Sand molds and toys.) INDEX INDEX Administration of recreational activities, i6o ff. Adolescence: early, 94 ff.; later, looff. Amateur Athletic Federation, 105 ff. Amusement parks, 49 f. Amusements and the church, 65 ff. Apparatus, dealers in, 179 f. Ashland Avenue Baptist Church, Toledo, Ohio, 127 f. Athletics: 104 ff.; bibliogra- phy, 168 f. Bibliography: athletic sports, 168 f.; Boy Scouts, 175 f.; Camp Fire Girls, 17s f.; camping, 1761.; dancing, 169!.; dramatics, 170; en- tertainments, 173 f.; festi- vals, 172 f.; games, 167 f.; general works on play, 1651.; handicraft, 171 f.; holidays, 172 f.; motion pictures, 174 f.; pageants, 172 f.; physical training, 177 f.; playground equipment and administration, 167; recrea- tional surveys, 178 f.; socials, 173 f.; stories and story- telling, 171; Woodcraft League, 175 f. Billiard rooms, 48 f . Bowling alleys, 48 f. Boyhood: games for, 93; recre- ational needs of, 91 f. Boy Scouts of America, 98 ff. Brick Presbyterian Church, Rochester, New York, 158 B. Buildings for recreational work, 145 ff. Camp Fire Girls, 98 ff. Camping, books on, 176 f. Center Congregational Church, Hartford, Conn., 136 f. ^ Character, influence of play upon, 19 ff. Childhood: games for, 90; recreational needs of, 88 ff. Church camps, 126 f., 134, 136 f. Church federations, 77 ff. Church surveys, 27. Commercial amusements, study of, 39 ff. Committee work, 162 ff. Community House, Winnetka, 111., 118 ff. Community needs, study of, 22 ff. Co-operation in community work, 72 ff. Dance halls, 46 ff. Dancing, 55 ff., 133, 169 f. Dealers in games and appara- tus, 179 f. Dramatics, 170 f. Equipment for recreational work, 145 ff. First Baptist Church, Pitts- burgh, Pa., 134 f. 183 i84 Recreation and the Chltich First Baptist Church, Pleasant Lake, Ind., 142 ff. First Baptist Church, Pough- keepsie, N.Y., 138. First Church of Christ, Hart- ford, Conn., 136 f. Fort Street Presbyterian Church, Detroit, Mich., Games : for boys and girls, 93 ; for children, 90; for early adolescence, 96 ff.; for later adolescence, 102. German bat-ball, 96 f. Girlhood: games for 93; recre- ational needs of, 91 f. Groos, Carl, Theory of Play, 4 f. Group athletics, 109 ff. Home recreation, 34 ff. Insignia, award of, 1 14 f. Instinctive nature of play, 7 ff. Kingshighway Presbyterian Church, St. Louis, Mo. ,122 f. Knights of King Arthur, 98 f. Leadership of recreational activities, 71 ff. Leisure time of children, how used, 28 ff. Life periods, characteristics and treatment, 87 ff. Moral teaching in games, 14 ff. Motion pictures : bibliography, 174 f.; investigation of, 40 ff. Organization of recreational activities, 160 ff. Parks, 52 ff. Planning of church houses for recreation work, 148 ff. Play : commercial facilities, 139 ff.; home facilities, 134 ff.; interest in, 10 f.; religious educational value of, iff.; space available for, in cities, 31 ff. Playgrounds: organized activi- ties in, inf.; study of, 152 ff- Plymouth Congregational Church, Oakland, Cal., 124 f. Portland, Ore. ; motion-picture survey, 41 ff. Programs of church work, 116 ff. Psychology of play, 3 ff. Public recreation, 51 ff. Recreational sur\'ey, method of, 22 ff. Recreational surveys, bibliog- raphy, 1 78 f . Rural church programs, 139 ff. Rural church, recreation in, 57 ff- Rural community, recreational needs of, 59 ff. St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 123 f. Saloons, 48 f. Second Baptist Church, St. Louis, Mo., 121 f. Second Congregational Church, Greenfield, Mass., 138 f. Simplicity in equipment, 135 ff. Slag-ball, 98. Index 185 Somonauk United Presbyterian Church, Sandwich, 111., 139 ff. Stories and story-telling, books on, 171. Sunday-school building, 148 ff. Supervision of recreational ac- tivities, 71 ff. Supplies, dealers in, 179 f. Surplus-energy theory of play, 3f- Team scoring, log ff. Theaters, 44 ff. Ventilation of buildings for recreational work, 158 f. Volunteer service, 162 ff. Winnetka Congregational Church, Winnetka, 111., 74 ff., 117 ff. Woodcraft League, 98 f . ; books on, 175 f.