pular Recreation and Public
Morality (Sage Foundation). Hartt: The People at Play. W. S. Jevons:
Amusements of the People.
This is one of the most important programs of the year, and deserves
special preparation and study.
The modern tendency is to plan everywhere for clean, wholesome
amusements for old and young, and the woman's club can cooeperate with
the mayor, school trustees, and intelligent men and women, to carry out
their plans.
Discuss especially what has been done to provide a substitute for the
attractions of the saloon; the dangers and the value of the
moving-picture show, and how far there may be a public sentiment created
for the regulation of these and other amusements.
VI--THE TOWN CHILDREN
1. _Town versus Country for Children_--Discussion of the advantages and
the disadvantages of each. How to make the most of town life for
children.
2. _Outdoor Occupations_--Gardens for children. Games. Athletics. Riding
and walking parties, picnics, etc. Study of birds. Nature classes
(butterflies, etc.).
3. _Indoor Occupations_--Classes in carpentry, weaving, and sewing.
Musical classes, the children's chorus, the children's orchestra.
Pantomimes, plays, and dances.
4. _Public Provision for Children_--Museums for children. Public
playgrounds. The children's room in the public library. Exhibitions of
pictures for children. Illustrated lectures in the public school.
BOOKS TO CONSULT--G. Stanley Hall: Educational Problems. L. H. Gulick:
Children of the Century. Mangold: Child Problems. Jekyll: Children and
Gardens.
Women's clubs should definitely interest themselves in the children of
the city or country, and do for them what is not done by the public. The
value of playgrounds and gardens in cities, and of children's classes in
sloyd or manual training in the country, cannot be over-estimated.
Musical training is also valuable, not merely for its esthetic results;
and children's choruses, with cantatas and oratorios, may be most
interesting. Motion dances and national dances are easily taught, the
latter especially in towns and cities where different nationalities are
represented in the population.
VII--PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS
1. _Civic_--The court-house: the proper architecture--simplicity and
dignity. Improving an old structure. The grounds. Decorations. The
jail: what are the present local conditions? Is improvement possible?
Modern ideas of imprisonment and the housing of prisoners.
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