Moving Picture Age (Jan-Dec 1922)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

The role of the film and slide in assimilation of the foreign element is too often ignored, according to this noted visual educator STRESSING AMERICAN TRADITIONS A. G. Balcom Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Newark, New Jersey Attendance of Foreign-Born at an Americanization Film Showing, Lafayette Evening School ONE of the serious problems confronting our American civilization is the assimilation of the vast numbers of people that come to our shores from other lands. Can this be done without receding from the standards of liberty, justice, and equality set forth by our forefathers? It is a question of many sides and angles, and there are many forces at work in this process of Americanization. It was my privilege to be the head of a large school in the city of Newark for over twenty years, and during that time the character of the population served by the school completely changed. 1 learned during those years that the attitude of the average American toward the foreigner made this problem of assimilation difficult. We deprecate the segregation of the foreigner in colonies in the congested areas of our population, and yet this condition obtains everywhere — in the small town as well as the large city, where there has been ah influx of foreign population in recent years. We deplore the living conditions of the foreigner where large families are hundled together in a few rooms ; but what have we done, through legislation and otherwise, to make this impossible? The Charge Is Admitted! As soon as the foreigner appears on the block, a so-called American seeks living quarters elsewhere. This goes on until the neighborhood becomes entirely "foreignized." Now, if this segregation be an obstacle in the process of Americanization, who is more at fault, the foreigner or the native? The problems of administering a school in such a community, as I have indicated, made it necessary for me frequently to visit the homes represented in the school. I was always accorded the most courteous treatment. I found these people with hearts like other human beings, and most responsive to suggestions concerning the good of their children. The boys and girls from these homes soon became amenable to the discipline of the school, and imbibed its spirit. Through the daily routine of work, habits of industry were formed, minds were trained to think, and poise was given to the bodies. Through the study of history, insight was given to the fundamental purposes of our form of government, and through the spirit of song there was fostered a devotion to American ideals. Many of those boys and girls, of twenty years ago, are among the best citizens of Newark today, and -are doing their part in various walks of life' to make it a greater and better city. My friend Peter MacQueen, who used to appear frequently on the lecture platform in Newark, and who had visited almost every country on the face of the globe, once said in commenting upon the different peoples of the world : "There are no bad races of people,. but bad people belong to all races." The longer I live the more impressed I am with this statement. The Natural Center for Americanization Work Without detracting from the work done by the church, the Y. M. C. A., and other organizations that might be mentioned in Americanization (and these are all doing splendid work), the public school is, by virtue of what it stands for, the natural center for work of this character. It is where religious prejudice and political differences are thrown aside and people meet on the common ground of community interest. The clientage of the public school embraces a larger number of people than are connected with any other single American institution. About a year ago the question of Americanization in the congested sections of our city was brought to my attention by the board of education, through the city superintendent of schools, and T was requested to report upon plans for this project. These plans, with which I was authorized to proceed, were as follows : The giving of selected programs of films and slides in evening schools where there was a large attendance of adult foreigners. The holding of a series of school and home meetings in schools serving a large foreign population at which film programs should dominate. The use of outdoor film and slide programs, stressing American ideals and traditions, in playgrounds during the months of July and August. Foreign Adults in Evening Schools The evening schools of the city enrol a large number of adult foreigners who .attend primarily to learn English. It has been my pleasure and privilege to observe a good many teachers of these classes who were very successful in their methods of teaching. I have observed, further, that the outstanding characteristics of these teachers were sympathy and a keen love of the work. Their methods were largely based on the appeal of the eye, particularly in the beginning stages. Happily, we were running in Newark at this time, in the day schools, "A Son of Democracy," Ben Chapin's 13