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No-4---39 r T H~E--=--=W--.:::.O-"Rc.:... . ~K,_:::_S_.c::.P_R~O~G~R....:!A~M Works Progress Administration --FOR RELEASE MOID:ING PAPERS, Tuesday, July 2, 1935. Dr, .Alderman speaks on charP.cter-building aspects of Works Program. Reviewing activities of the FERA work-relief program in the fiGld of education and character building, Dr. L. R. Alderman, Director of Emergency Education Program, Federal Emorgency Relief Administr '.'! tion, doclo..red that under the new Works Progr"..ID:. 11 we shE,11 continue the educational and character-building activities for adults and add to them the new activities designed especially for the needs of youth. 11 Dr. Alderman will have a leading part in the ed~cation~l aspects of the Works Progress Administration under Harry L. Hopkins, Works Progress Administrator. He spoke Wed,.,esd.Ry n.fternoon from Washington over a nntion-\vide h0okup of the National Broadcasting Company in the Greo..ter New York Forum on Character Buildine. Other speakers were Oswald Knauth, Director of Emergency Relief in Now York City, and Frederick I. Daniels, Executive Director of the New York State Temporary Emergency Relief Administra tion, who spoke from New York. <'. The full text of Dr. Alderman's talk follows: I have been asked to talk on the character-building aspects of the Federal Works Program. To some people there mey seem to be little or no con- nection bet;-;een the Works Program and character building. But, as a m2.ttcr of fact, since the beginning of Federal relief activities under the FERA, we have . continually strived to prevent the depression from destroying the courP..ge and hope of men and women. The FERA has had to combat at all times the character- destroying aspects of unemployment. It is a truism that character building is the supreme objective of human life. Human institutions are successful to the degree th~t they tend to strengthen the character of the people. Ev-erything we do should be considered as to its effect upon character. During this depression we probably have been thinking more about real human values than ever before. I think it is because of this fact that here in Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4---39 -2- Washington, Governmental affnirs have taken on new significance, because what is tr.king place has to do TTi th things thn.t affect humAJl -oeings in a more vital ,,ay. The depression has quickened. our thinking and forced us all to think of those things that have to do uith hurnrui welfare. This is the first great depression this country has he.d since we no longer have an undeveloped frontier. Our frontier has heretofore been the natural cure for depressions because the unemployed and the venturesome could go to the fr0ntier and there, by building roads, bridges and cities, escape the effects 0f the depressbn. This time we could not run a'\7ay, and our great task is to learn ho'\7 to read.just our relationships and live together in peace and harmony even during the depression. The ideals of a Der.iocracy, unlike the ideals of some other forms of government, are that the TThole people should be taken into account, and that they should have a part in the consideration of an.v public policy. The establishment of the FERA '17as our Der.ocracy 1 s plM for providing for the whole people TThen our industrial syster.i, because of the depression, had failed. The history of the Emergency Relief Ad.ministration shows that its management has had clearly in mind the importance of giving relief in such a manner that the elenents of character '\7ould be strengthened and not weakened. Men and women, out of employnent and discouraged, needed sonething besides food, shelter and clothing. They needed to keep up their cournge, and this could be done only if they gave work in exchange for the relief which they rccciveil. Everyone has known that a dole in the form of cash or an order on a grocery store is temporarily cheaper than to provide work relief. It is estimated that it costs about fifteen percent more to provide work relief than it does to provide a dole, if we do not consider secondary employment and do not consider the value of the work performed. There is no question in the minds of those who have been close to people on relief ru.t that the greater immediate costs of work relief have paid very large returns, not only in the Usefulness of the projects done, but more important, in terms of character-building. We all should rejoice in the fact that the character of the .American people is such that they demand work instead of a dole. It was this strong demand for work that brought about the establishment of the Civil Works Administration last year. There are those that believe that if funds had been avail- able to enable the continuation of the CWA for three or four months longer, the depression would have been whipped long before this. Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY --- 4-.--39 -3- The CWA was a now VP.st experiment. it better than others. Some comnnmities succeeded ,lith Unmistakable evidence has como to the FERA that tho C11.A provided conditions of charact ,3 r building thr~t ".7cro lA.cking in a progrrun of mere relief. There nre those who clamor for a :pro;;re.m, uho insist that something must be done to ameliorate conditions, yet who decry uhatever is done. These people seem to lack tho patience necosse.ry for the carrying out of a public policy where planning is necessary for its installation, and uhere time is necessary for its applic2.tion. Let me name some of the more notico~blo accomplishments of the FERA that have lmd a bearing upon chn.racter build:1.ng. ' Eighte,.::m hundred new school houses have been built, And 30,000 school houses have been rehabilitated; 500 hospitals have been constructed, and thous2nd. s and thousmtds of malarious surunps have been drained. T'lvo hundred new stndiums hn.ve b e en built. Four hundred and seventy-one cornrr!'~nity centers h~ve been built, and 250 repaired and enlarged. Recreationnl parks have been provided in all parts of the country. 2,000 have been constructed, and 3,000 lmvo bocn im2rov-od.. Nonrly To accomplish all this 125,000 men and t.omen have b e en given employment, and 147,000 others have found er.iployment in supervising playgrounds, helping rrith dramas, music, and other recreational and culturcl nctivitos. Over 40,000 u.~employed teachers have boon given employment. They have earned their relief by teaching adults in classes f ·J r general education, by teaching vocations to those uho had lost their skills c1nd to those uho wished to go.in neiT skills. Thoy have also taught norr skills to large numbers who, through sickness or accident, have beon incapaci tatod. for their regular jobs. We have had classes in ,;rorkers I educFi,tion, parent education, and we h~ve taught approximately 500,000 men and. uomen to read and t.rite. There are probably ten tines this number of illiterates or near illiterates uho are TTaiting for opportunities to learn the ::ian take their full part as citizens. Jn character building. rudi □ents of education so that they These nctivities all have hrui a bearing · Under another part of the FERA educational program, l00,000 young men and uonen, uho othel'\1isc couia. not do so, '\7ere enabled to ~o to college, not by accepting a gift or a loan, but by doing t.ork for their rulief that was socially useful. While this aid for so oany worthy young ~en and women has been a ;remondous, tangible contribution to character building, ue realize it certainly 1as not been a comprehensive ans'\7er to all the needs of Anerican youth. ~rou.p of our citizens cluring the depression, uhich probably has been more Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY One 4---39 -4neglected than any other, is that group of young people who never had had a j-ob. Up u.~til now, if work relief were to be provided, it had to be provided for the heads of the far.iilies. There is now ready for action a Youth Progran of work and educational opportunities for very large nunbers of young nen and to 25 years of age. wo□en fron 16 Guid.ance, work, and educational opportunities are to be pro- vided. Now the Federal Gover~~ent is ready to give even a fuller answer to the continuous and widespread denand for work by people on relief. We shall continue the educational and character building activities for adults and add to then the new activities that are de3igned especially for the needs of youth. Our experience under CWA and the work-relief program of the FERA has given us much to guide our future course of action. We see the new Works Progress Administration ready to go into action to provide work sponsored by local communities in all parts of the country. This program of providing work at this time is necessary if the essential elements of character are to be Maintained. This work will build self-respect, will strengthen muscle and nerve, and will toughen the fibres of ch~racter. to work 3,500,000 men and women. This plan is to put It is to call into action the planning and cooperation of citizens in all parts cf the country. control, it is local in operation. While it is Federal in its It is expected that this WPA will mobilize the unselfish leadership of this country, as no other movement has done since the national efforts during the world war. --0-- Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
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