CULTURAL CENTERS IN THE OTHER AMERICAN REPURLICS Article by DOROTHY GREENE and SHERLY GOODMAN ESMAN DEPARTMENT OF STATE PUBLICATION 2503 U. S. Government Printing Office Washington 25,D.C. CULTURAL CENTERS IN THE OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS r THE CLOSING SESSION of the San Francisco conference President Truman told the as- sembled delegates that “we must set up an effective agency for constant and thorough interchange of thought and ideas”. One such effective agency for the type of inter- change of which the President spoke is already well established on a hemisphere basis — the cul- tural-center idea, which has fanned out into a net- work covering South and Central America, includ- ing Mexico, and the Caribbean area. During the war years the peoples of the Western Hemisphere, removed from the scene of conflict, were able to continue and broaden avenues of un- derstanding through scientific and cultural ex- changes. In each of the other American republics, cultural centers were founded by nationals of the country and resident American citizens who were moved by a spontaneous desire for an organiza- Miss Greene and Mrs. Esman are Divisional Assistants in the Division of Libraries and Institutes, OflBce of Inter- national Information and Cultural Affairs, Department of State. 689766—46 1 ( 1 ) 2 tion which would express mutual good-will and increase understanding of their different ways of life. Development The founders became the nucleus of a member- ship that included the outstanding intellectual leaders of each country. Under the auspices of these interested leaders, suitable quarters were se- lected for the newly conceived centers and a cul- tural-cooperation program was launched. In the course of developing the new centers it became obvious to the members that their effective- ness was limited by the absence of trained English instructors and trained administrative personnel and by the difficulties encountered in obtaining books and cultural materials from the United States. Through the American embassies and consulates requests were made, first to the Office of the Coordinator of Inter- American Affairs and then, after July 1943, to the Department of State, for assistance in personnel and materials. Today the United States Government, through the De- partment of State, assists in the maintenance of 27 independent and 20 branch cultural centers in the other American republics : it pays the salaries of 20 directors and 27 American teachers of Eng- lish in the centers, amounting to $110,000; it sup- plies them annually with almost $50,000 worth of American cultural materials ; it pays about 20 per- cent ($42,700) of their local operating expenses. The other 80 percent is raised locally by the insti- tutes as contributions, membership dues, and class fees. These centers serve as important channels for scientific and cultural interchange between the people of the United States and the people of the other American republics. They are meeting- places where Americans and local residents can become acquainted in a friendly informal atmos- phere, where American citizens can learn Spanish and Portuguese and the local citizens can learn English. As host to the best in the national cul- tures, the centers provide evidence of American appreciation of the culture of other countries; as information hubs, they aid in the creation of an enlightened and cordial public opinion, based on familiarity with the intellectual aspects of American life, as a complement to the already wide-spread knowledge of the material develop- ment of the United States. Before the war eight centers were in existence in major capitals; eight more were organized in 1942 and six in 1943 and 1944. During 1945 ur- gent requests from the field resulted in the pro- gram’s being expanded to lend assistance to new independent centers in La Paz, Bolivia ; San Jose, Costa Eica ; Guatemala, Guatemala ; Medellin, Colombia; and Cochabamba, Bolivia. English- teaching programs were fostered in Ciudad Tru- jillo, Dominican Kepublic; Managua, Nicaragua; Montevideo, Uruguay; Barranquilla, Colombia; and Cap Haitien, Haiti. New branch centers were aided in Blumenau, Joinville, and Itajai, Brazil; 4 Temuco, Valdivia, and Valparaiso, Chile; and Ambato, Guayaquil, Riobamba, and Cuenca, Ecuador. A typical large center, such as that at Bogota, employs a director requested from the United States who carries out the decisions of the center’s elected board of directors according to this Gov- ernment’s policy in the cultural-cooperation field. Under his direction are five American teachers of English who provide expert instruction to stu- dents in the center and first-hand information on past and present American life. Between 10 and 15 more teachers of English and Portuguese or Spanish are employed locally by the center, some of whom are resident American citizens and some local nationals. Each center employs a small ad- ministrative staff. In general the physical plant of the center is an attractively furnished building located in the cen- tral business section of its host city; it contains about 10 classrooms, a large auditorium, a well- stocked library and reading-room, several offices, a comfortable lounge, and an inviting tearoom. Outside are well-planned patios and gardens. Activities English-Language Classes The main activity of each center is the teaching of English to nationals and Spanish or Portuguese to American residents. Classes are held in the evening and are usually divided into elementary. 5 intermediate, and advanced groups. F or advanced students special conversation classes are organized, and courses are offered in the literature and history of the United States. Student bodies, which range in size from 500 to 1,500, include representatives of almost every profession : doctors, dentists, law- yers, teachers, university students, housewives, of- fice workers, government employees, and even cabinet ministers. Total student enrollment has increased from 12,000 in July 1913 to 17,000 in July 1941 and to 20,000 in July 1915, with resulting increase in income from class fees. The demand for English courses has been so great that in Brazil the Sao Paulo Institute found it necessary to extend the center’s services to out- ^ lying districts. In June 1915 Dr. Joseph Privi- tera, director of courses of the Uniao Cultural Brasil - Estados Unidos, Sao Paulo, assisted in the opening of three English classes in the cultural in- stitute at Sorocaba. The classes, which meet once a week, are taught by an instructor from the Uniao who makes ’the trip for that purpose. Similar ar- rangements are being worked out for Piracicaba, and plans have been set up to provide supervision in English teaching for Sao Joao de Boa Vista. Other classes which have proved to be of great value to the center students are those held in com- mercial subjects, which consist of shorthand in Spanish and English, typing, and commercial English. A practical demonstration of increasing interest in the English language was the commencement 6 ceremony held in May 1945 in the Blue Room of the National Palace at Managua, at which the Nicaraguan Minister of Education awarded 250 certificates. This number was in contrast to the 72 awarded in 1944. Of particular interest during the war years in the field of language activities were the evening programs of the Instituto Brasil - Estados Unidos in Fortaleza, where American soldiers and sailors from nearb}^ bases and Brazilian members of a center exchanged English lessons and American ideas for Portuguese lessons and Brazilian ideas. ISew Language Texts The value of the centers’ classes can be found in more than the individual student’s mastery of English as spoken in the United States. Instruc- tors at the centers are developing new methods in the field of teaching English as a foreign lan- guage. Several language texts have appeared, largely as a result of the practical experience in this field.^ From the Instituto Cultural Peruano-Norte- americano at Lima in 1945 came three books writ- ten with the practical approach of progressive education in the United States: Second Year English, by Miss Hazel M. Messimore, formerly a teacher at this institute; Third Year English, in- troducing commercial language, by Dr. Pies Har- ^ For an article entitled “English Is Also a Foreign Lan- guage” by Harry H, Pierson, see Bulletin of Mar. 18; 1945, p. 453. T per, administrative secretary of the Lima insti- tute; and Fourth Year English^ including a wide selection of English-language literature, by Dr. Esther J. Crooks, now teaching English at Curi- tiba. These complete the series of English texts for secondary schools which was initiated in 1944 witli the publication of Dr. Crook’s book. First Year English. Primer Libro de Ingles., consisting of 24 brief lessons, is the product of the Centro Ecuatoriano- Norteamericano de Relaciones Culturales in Quito and is published by Editorial Colon of that city. Each lesson, including vocabulary, rules of gram- mar, translation exercises, and written exercises, is designed to be supplemented with extensive oral classwork. From Caracas, Venezuela, comes Ingles Mod- erno^ a short intensive pamphlet in beginning English, by Dr. John G. Varner, executive secre- tary of the Centro Venezolano-Americano, and Dr Jeannette J. Varner, professor of English there. As supplementary material, the Department of State has authorized, for distribution for class use in the English-teaching programs, a special edi- tion of 5,000 copies of Ingles Prdctico., an English text for Spanish-speaking students written by J ames Paul Stoakes while he was a member of the staff of the Centro Colombo-Americano at Bogota. An interesting example of the popularized tech- nical works so much needed in the bilingual field is Lecturas en ingles para medicos y enfermeras^ published by Ediciones Selca, Bogota, Colombia. 689766-46 2 8 The authors are Charles N. Staubach, assistant professor of Spanish, University of Michigan, and visiting professor of English, Universidad Na- cional de Colombia, and Arturo Serrano M., pro- fessor of English at the Escuela Nacional Superior de Enfermeras and professor of English and Spanish at the Centro Colombo- Americano, Bogota. The Regions of the United States consists of five' lectures prepared by the staff of the Centro Colombo-Americano, with introductory papers in Spanish by Koberto Garcia Pena and Forney A. Eankin, Director of Information for Colombia of the Office of Inter-American Affairs. The book is a joint publication of the Office of Inter- Ameri- can Affairs and the center. Intended as geographic orientation material, the lectures, in simple Eng- lish, embrace the Southern States, New England, the Middle Atlantic States, the Middle West, and the West. Fundamentos de la conversacion inglesa (2d ed. Editorial ABC, Bogota), by Frederick Sparks Stimson of the Academia Inter-Americana at Medellin, Colombia, presents the basic essentials of English grammar in 25 lessons. The book em- ploys both English and Spanish with an abundance of simple drill materials given in both languages. Seminars in the T eaching of English Successful summer English seminars for teachers in the other American republics have convinced center directors of the need for con- 9 tinuous expert instruction for Spanish- and Portu- guese-speaking teachers in language and method- ology. Among the most successful of the English- teaching seminars held at centers during the school-vacation period were those of the institutes in Bogota, Colombia; Lima, Peru; Quito, Ecua- dor; and Kio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Through the United States Office of Education and the Office of Inter- American Affairs, the two outstanding participants in each of the courses at these five centers were awarded travel grants for a period of study and practical experience in the United States. Arrangements were made for each of these teachers to conduct a course in language teaching in high schools and experimental schools in vari- ous parts of the United States. Upon completion of their teaching, the ten gathered at the Univer- sity of Indiana for a six weeks’ course in English- teaching techniques and methods, following which they spent two weeks visiting New York City, Boston, and Washington. Several other centers held highly successful English-teaching programs during the vacation period. The first Congress of Paraguayan Teachers of English was held at the Centro Paraguayo- Americano in Asuncion from December 11 to 16, 1914. At tliis meeting a program of lectures, demonstration classes, and discussions, was held under the direction of Administrative Secretary Haven Henslei*. A six weeks’ summer course was offer-ed from December 18, 1944 to January 26, 12 1945 at the Institute Chileno-Norteamericano in Concepcion, Chile. In Montevideo, Uruguay, Dr. Albert B. Franklin, American Cultural Relations Attache, directed an English-teaching seminar at the Biblioteca Artigas-Washington from January 22 to February 15, 1945. One outgrowth of Dr. Franklin’s course was the formation of the Asocia- cion Uruguaya de Professores de Ingles. Typical of the year-round courses available to national teachers of English which are being initi- ated in many institutes is the class opened during the summer of 1945 at the Centro Cultural Para- guayo-Americano. Dr. Juan Dario Quiroz, Para- guayan Minister of Education, himself a student at the center, gave his support to the organization of the new class by calling for an explanatory ses- sion an official meeting of all Asuncion teachers of English. These seminars, which supplement the regular English-teaching functions of the centers, have brought about the exchange of new ideas and methods of teaching. The Centro Venezolano- Americano in Caracas, Venezuela, is currently using a series of special vocabularies to accompany Walt Disney’s animated films and other motion pictures. Slide projectors, viewmasters, and song and speech records are being integrated with regu- lar classwork, and it is planned to organize a spe- cial class which will utilize these methods only. In addition to increasing the effectiveness of Eng- lish-teaching in the other American republics, the 13 seminars have benefited professionally the local English teachers. The certificates issued as evidence of the success- ful completion of the summer school in the Centro Cultural Inter-Americano at Curitiba, Brazil, have aided the holders in securing teaching posi- tions. The plan inaugurated at the Sao Paulo center, to award certificates on the completion of a six-year program of studies, of which the first four years are devoted to the study of the English language and the last two to the study of American life and literature, will probably have the same effect. In Kosario, Argentina, a competitive contest was held to choose teachers for the new department of English courses at the institute. Within two days after the announcement of the contest in the local papers, 25 candidates had applied, and by the close of the allotted period a total of 46 had indicated their interest. A jury then interviewed the candi- dates and made a preliminary selection of 10, who were asked to prepare themselves to teach a trial class. One candidate dropped out, and the re- maining nine were rated according to their teach- ing ability as demonstrated in the trial classes. Eight were hired. Center Libraries Serving the students of the center and the com- munity as well, the center libraries have become an important part of the cultural-cooperation pro- gram. The library of a cultural center strives to 14 be ii well-rounded library, containing representa- tive American literature in the humanities and social sciences, as well as those reference and technical works which may prove to be useful to the particular community. Each represents also an attempt to establish in a South American set- ting an American public library in miniature. When it is established, each library is furnished with a small basic collection of standard American works. This collection is augmented with packets of current materials sent periodically from the State Department, locally purchased translations into Spanish and Portuguese of American works, and gifts provided through the duplicate collection of the Library of Congress. The collections in the larger center libraries contain about 5,000 books which circulate freely each month to some 2,000 readers of all ages. The organization of the center library is being perfected so that it may serve as a laboratory for the study of library economy and techniques in the United States. Each center library is organized on the basis of the Dewey Decimal System; the books are well arranged and cared for, in some cases by young local nationals who have had train- ing in American library schools. Occasional sum- mer seminars are held by the center librarians to introduce American library methods to local libra- rians. A technical library expert from the United States travels from center to center, organizing the collections and suggesting improvements in their administration in order to meet in the best 15 manner the needs of the various countries. The library of the center in many cases is the first example in the community of a free circulatinc: library. Other Activities The social activities which the cultural centers provide are an important part of the program, though their benefits cannot easily be evaluated. At Concepcion the Institute Chileno-Norteameri- cano has become a meeting-place for students at- tending the university in that city. This devel- opment has come about through the initiative of the students themselves, who gather there par- ticularly on the weekends to participate in the center’s activities, to read, listen to the radio, and meet their friends. In Bahia, Brazil, a volleyball court and basketball court are being built on the grounds as a gift from tlie city government — evi- dence of the center’s popularity. In some of the centers such as the Instituto Brasil - Estados Unidos de Ceara at Fortaleza the program includes the publication of a monthly news bulletin of information on the institute’s activities. In another case the radio is being used to disseminate such information. The committee on publicity of the Kio institute has begun a weekly broadcast on Thursday evenings at 10 o’clock over the Ministry of Education station. This broadcast consists of a talk and announce- ments of the institute’s activities for the coming weekv So far the series has included : A talk on 16 the broader aspects of cultural relations with the United States by Afranio Peixoto, president of the institute; a history of the institute by Jose Nabuco, vice president; a description of Thanks- giving Day by Mrs. Joseph Piazza, board mem- ber; a talk on the institute library by Rex Craw- ford, American Cultural-Relations Attache ; a comparison of the peoples of the United States and Hispanic America by the Chilean poet, Gabri- ela Mistral; and an appeal for a united America by Marico de Millo Franco Alves, mayor of Petrop- olis and a graduate of the Massachusetts Insti- tute of Technology. Lectures in English, Spanish, or Portuguese on subjects of special interest to local audiences are given at all the centers on an average of once a week. Visiting American professors give series of lectures in the form of university extension courses, which in some cases lead to a certificate from a local university. Outstanding intellectual leaders are invited regularly to discuss a wide variety of topics. Institute staff members often travel to remote communities to fulfil lecture engagements. Music is part of the regular schedule at the cul- tural centers. Recitals by local American and national musicians are given, as well as concert perfoitnances by well-known American artists. As a result of the State Department’s gift to the larger centers of 25 radio-phonograph combina- tions equipped with amplifiers and microphones, together with music loan libraries of records. IT scores, and song-books, frequent record concerts are held. At Fortaleza, under the auspices of the insti- tute, a concert was given by the United States 628th Army Air Forces Band, which was attended by more than 12,000 persons. Among those regularly planned activities which are being held are art exhibitions, including photo- graphs of the American scene, reproductions of American or national paintings, and occasionally original works of American or national artists. The Centro Cultural Venezolano- Americano at Caracas prevailed upon Adolf Dehn, distinguished American artist, to hold an exhibition of his paint- ings. Mr. Dehn had gone to Venezuela under the auspices of the Standard Oil Company to do a series of paintings for that company but found time to arrange an exhibition of his original water- colors and lithographs at the institute. The ex- hibition, which attracted overflow crowds, was attended by notable Venezuelan critics and painters. Another example of the use of exhibitions in the cultural-cooperation program comes from the center at Caracas, where an exhibit was held of photographic prints by Carlos Herrera, aerial photographer for the Venezuelan Ministry of the Interior. Copies of the prints are being sent to the Hispanic Foundation of the Library of Con- gress, which provided Sr. Herrera with the film. The Rosenwald collection of nineteenth- century French prints was well received when 18 shown in Habana, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Montevideo, Santiago, Concepcion, Lima, Bogota, and Mexico City. Other activities include the production of plays by American authors in English and by local au- thors in Spanish and Portuguese. An example of the expansion in this direction is the formation of an amateur theatrical group at the Instituto Chileno-Norteamericano de Cultura, Santiago, Chile. The activities of this center embrace a wide field of the arts, including choral singing, painting, the teaching of the history of music, and drama. Several centers sponsor teas and luncheons to introduce American citizens and local nationals informally to one another and to the activities of the center. The position of the cultural centers in the life of their respective communities is illustrated by the fact that, when news of the death of President Roosevelt reached them, people of the other American republics from all walks of life came to the centers to mourn with members of the American colony. In Rosario an impressive cere- mony was held in the El Circulo theater under the joint auspices of the Asociacion Rosarina de In- tercambio Cultural and a number of other cultural and civic organizations. From 3 p.m. to midnight a stream of men, women, and children visited the theater to pay homage to the late President. Over 10,000 people of Rosario signed a register which was brought to the United States for presentation 19 to President Truman as a token of Argentine sympathy. In the Caracas center a flag-draped portrait of the late President was hung in the main patio, and a large Venezuelan flag in front of the building was at half-mast. In addition to many public demonstrations in the city, on April 15 several thousand people gathered before the center for a memorial service. The cultural insti- tute at Concepcion also reported that crowds of people from all classes, many not members of the institute, called to express their sympathy. Dur- ing the four days of mourning designated by the Chilean Government, Chilean and American flags ^ remained at half-mast before the institute, and classes were suspended. Achievements As a result of these varied programs the im- portance of the center to the community has been established. The Centro Venezolano- Americano in Caracas provides an example of the development of a cul- tural center during a one-year period. With little change in its staff of 1 director, 9 teachers, and 5 administrative employees, its student attendance increased from 206 to 471; the library grew from 1,585 volumes to 2,464; monthly circulation in- creased from 146 to 911; average monthly attend- ance at concerts, exhibits, and movies trebled, 515 to 1,560. By charging moderate fees for English classes and supplementing that income with membership 20 dues and contributions from business firms and national governments, the centers have maintained a high standard of financial independence. Larger centers pay all their local operating costs out of their locally derived income; on an average the centers pay 80 percent of their local expenses. During 1943 the institutes raised over $153,000, and during 1944 over $171,000, 80 percent of local expenses. During these two years the State Department’s subvention of $202,700 included; $110,000 for American directors and teachers, $50,000 for American books and other cultural materials, and $42,700 to aid in meeting local expenses. The success of the cultural centers, as evidenced by the already large and rapidly increasing num- ber of Americans and local citizens who flock to their activities, is a direct result of the spontaneous interest of their founders and the truly cooperative spirit of their maintenance. o