FROM BRYN MAWR TO THE HUDSON SHORE

 

their own sectional resident schools, have reduced their contributions as they
have shifted interest to their own institutions. Believing that “a more united
effort in finance work might result in wider publicity and increased funds for
all these schools, considered not as separate enterprises but as meeting different
needs of industrial workers, in one general movement,” the Bryn Mawr group
has been urged to avoid separate drives when the other schools have attempted
to raise money in the same locality.” Some of the reporting committees, there-
fore, are American Labor Education Service Committees,

Generally there is no sub-committee on finance; treasurers, with or without
the help of other individuals, have been responsible for the major part of
the work. On the whole, few groups have worked according to a definite
plan, the method of raising money depending upon the particular committees.
All use solicitation of individuals and groups; some give benefits and parties
and some supplement written requests with interpretative bulletins and letters.
Former students have written poems and stories for bulletins and have
addressed community organizations.” Interpretation of the School to the
public has been emphasized in recent years, in order that well-to-do contrib-
utors may give with new understanding and that those less able to help may
justify their choice of workers’ education in preference to another cause.
Emphasis has been placed upon concrete leadership and trade union respon-

While all committees have kept some records, varying in detail and form,
few have paid attention to specific details about disbursements or contribu-
tions. Reported expenses have seemed to be of a minor nature, being devoted
to printing, postage, teas and other incidentals, and transportation of some
students to the School. Records have not always indicated what proportion
of funds are spent for or given to the School.

The nature of the records and the methods of reporting also make it impos-
sible to discover precise contributions, whether from individuals or from
organizations. Total sums from all sources have seemed to vary within a
specific area from as low as $200 in one year to as much as $1200 in another,
but specific amounts cannot be given tabular outline since communities do

 

* Statement by Hilda W. Smith, at meeting of Joint Committee of Affiliated Summer
Schools, November 22, 1930.

See the Worker Student, issued by the Buffalo Affiliated Schools Committee, Feb-
ruary, 1938.

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