THE DEVELOPMENT OF WORKERS’ EDUCATION

 

to widen their financial backing and at the same time to curtail expenses.
They have changed curriculum in order to reach more groups and to relate
study to community activity, and they have retained and strengthened those

parts of their programs which they believe are more vital than workers’ edu-
cation in the community.

THE BRYN MAWR SUMMER SCHOOL FOR WOMEN WORKERS IN INDUSTRY

The Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers in Industry was
founded at Bryn Mawr in 1921 as an experiment in workers’ education. Since
the institution was the first resident summer school, its development has been
by a trial and error method. The Wisconsin School for Workers, the Pacific
Coast School for Workers, the Southern Summer School for Workers, and the
Summer School for Office Workers were started later and naturally have
been guided to a great degree by the findings of the pioneer.

Since the Bryn Mawr Summer School has been in the field so long, a descrip-
tion of its development may help to illustrate the forces which have affected
the other institutions. Moreover, an analysis of the School's program may
reveal whether particular criticisms of resident programs are justified. Two
studies in 1929 described how the Bryn Mawr Summer School had developed
from its beginning in 1921 through the year 1927.° In 1938 the Board of
Directors of the School asked the Carola Woerishoffer Graduate Department
of Social Economy and Social Research of Bryn Mawr College to bring the
former research up to date. The analysis of the Bryn Mawr Summer School
in this volume is the result of the writer’s participation in the survey.’

In the winter of 1938, plans were made to move the Bryn Mawr Summer
School for Women Workers in Industry from the college campus to a new
home. A location on the Hudson River was chosen and the name of the
School changed to the Hudson Shore Labor School. The present study is
designed to describe the development of the Bryn Mawr program up to this
point and to indicate whether its original aims have been fulfilled in relation-
ship to the movement of which it has been a part.

* Hilda W. Smith, Women Workers at the Bryn Mawr Summer School, and Helen D.
Hill, The Effect of the Bryn Mawr Summer School as Measured in the Activities of Its
Students, New York, American Association of Adult Education, 1929.

7 Mildred Fairchild and Florence Hemley, The Bryn Mawr Summer School for
Women Workers in Industry and the Workers’ Education Movement. A Survey of the
Years 1928-1938. (A Confidential Report to the Board of Directors of the Bryn Mawr
Summer School.)

11