Ear on Chicago; The Return of the Wildcat: Homecoming at Northwestern University

We are standing in the woodshop of Hallhouse, which is located at 800 South Hallstead Street in Chicago, and this is the story of this famous institution which was founded by Jane Adams. I'd like to read from a brochure which is put out from Hallhouse as part of our introduction to this program. In 1889, Jane Adams, at the age of 29, opened the old Hall Mansion in Chicago's Hallstead to offer neighborliness to recently emigrating families of many backgrounds to assist in their welfare and good citizenship to help to create for them opportunities for useful happy living. In 16 years, 10 of the present 13 buildings had been added with help of generous friends throughout the city. Hallhouse had become a teaming center of education in citizenship and constructive recreation, a bulwark of protection for youth, a power for reform in city and state. Later, Jane Adams, from her experience with many nationality and nationality and racial backgrounds, became a great advocate for international understanding. Receiving before her death in 1935, the Nobel Prize for Leadership toward

Peace. Today, Hallhouse, Chicago's oldest social settlement, carries forward her ideal of sharing programs, problems and opportunities with the neighborhood and city she loved, where new times bring new social needs. This is part of the new social needs. This woodshop, we're going to talk to Miss Lois McConnell, who is a group work supervisor of Hallhouse. Miss McConnell, as I said, this is something that Jane Adams would be, I suppose rather surprised at, seeing a woodshop with boys in here working on things that they're building for their families and so on. Tell us something about this. Well, I don't if she would be surprised because there's been a woodshop group here, various such classes for a long time. This woodshop is 12 and 13 -year -old boys and girls who are working on various wood articles. Let me introduce you to Mr. Farrell, who is a group worker on the Hallhouse staff and is the teacher in this woodshop class. Well, how do you do, Mr. Farrell? I know.

May I tell you, and may I ask you about some of the things the boys are working on over here? For example, what's that? Well, he's making a shoebox over there, and he's just about to finish it up like that when he's finished. He's always making a shoebox here. Yes, he's making a shoebox here. He's making an angel here. A candle holder, actually. Hold on, won't you, please? Well, now, how many boys do you have here, Mr. Farrell? Well, we have about 12 boys and about three girls. And how often do they come over? They meet once a week. Every Wednesday afternoon. At what time? At three o 'clock. They stay here for how long? Until about 5 '15. And they can work on anything they choose? Anything they select. Well, that's wonderful. Where do the children come from? This neighborhood, I suppose. This neighborhood, particularly, yes. Yes. And all nationalities? All national. And gang groups, yes. What are the boys in there working on? There's another room in there, and I see an electric drill and a large power saw. In fact, two large power saws. One of them is a band saw. You have a very well -equipped workroom. Well, the tools are well -equipped well, but they're kind of old. And I think that they want to use that table saw there in just a minute. The young man was using the drill press

over there. He's making some wheels on that. He's drawing now. And this boy is cutting some very heavy wood on a table saw. I see that they're going to go to work. Maybe we can hear some of the sounds of that they're going to be making. I'll have to stand in here because it'll be rather noisy. That's the table saw. It's on now. It's going to be quite noisy, but you'll hear it. I don't know what they're sawing, some piece of wood for some purpose or other. And what's the other boy working on over there? He's working on the drill press. He's going to get set up now, putting his drill in, and then he'll start drilling his wood. Some of the boys get pretty handy, I'll bet. Quite handy. Very handy indeed. They can help me fight a bit. What's he going to make? Well, he's just doing a piece of wood now. He's probably going to drill this hole in this wood

here. So drill holes in this wood after a while. He's going to get his drill set, and he's going to get through a test, and he'll drill right in this wood here. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Ferrell. You're welcome. Mr. McConnell, I wonder if we could see some of the other parts of hull house. I know that it is a very expansive organization, and we won't have time, obviously, to cover everything. But I do know that you have some dramatic classes, and suppose we go visit them. All right, I think that'd be a good place to go next. Fine, let's move. We are now in the hull house theater, where a group of children are prepared to begin rehearsal on a play. I think the play is the golden goose. Let's listen in. My dear, what ever shall we do? Can't we try and make her laugh? But we tried everything. Oh, dear, what should we do? Let's call the doctor. Maybe there's something wrong with her.

Here comes some boys in with a golden goose here. She's leaving! Look at her! I'm glad something made her laugh. The man who made her laugh shall marry her. Oh, no. But it's the only thing that made her laugh. We must reward him. Okay. Let me go. Leave me alone. Let me go. All right, let's round the scene over again now. Well, the scene is over. Oh, no. Now, let's talk to the man who is in charge of this little group here. Mr. Schmidt. That's right. What was the play they were rehearsing? The golden goose? It's taken from the grim story of the golden goose. And what was a little boy saying at the end there? Let me go. Was he the goose? Well, no, that wasn't the goose. Those are all the people that get stuck to the goose. And you see the fact that these people stick to the goose makes this poor princess who cannot laugh.

Cry. I mean, she starts to laugh, you see. And he gets the princess in the end. You know, all of them. It's a fairy tale. It's a happy little story. A happy little story. Why was she crying in the first place? Because she peeled an onion. Oh, and the onion made her cry. The onion made her cry. And you see, since she had never peeled an onion before, she thought that since she started crying, she had to keep on crying. And what about the other two girls? Are they princesses? Well, one is playing the part of the king, her father. The other one is the queen, the mother. And naturally, having a daughter who doesn't know how to stop. Crying, they're very, very concerned. And finally, they came in with a golden goose and she started to laugh. That's all part of the original grim story. The part about the onion is made up. I see. Well, now, tell us a little bit more about what you do here. Now, for example, do you actually perform plays before an audience in this theater? Oh, yes. Yes. These children are from eight to twelve years of age. And they dramatize fairy tales. Sometimes they make them up. Sometimes they work from a regular written script. And we do simple little things to things that are quite elaborate, like this

golden goose story. This is one of the more elaborate ones that you do. Yes. And who comes to see your plays? The children who come to Hallhouse and their others and fathers. The whole neighborhood. So we pack our theater. Mr. Schmidt, do you have another play that we might be able to listen to? Yes, there's one we just finished the other day. A story of pushing boots. Could we hear a few lines from that? Yes, the children are right here and are ready to go ahead, aren't you? All right, let's listen. Ladies and gentlemen, we were supposed to have a storyteller for you out here to tell you when the scene changed and who the different people are. But unfortunately, our storyteller isn't here. I have to play all written out here on the book, and it isn't very difficult. Is there anyone here who can act as our storyteller? I will. I know the story very well. Well, sir, could you come up here then? He looks rather old, doesn't he? Do you suppose he'll do? Of course I'll do. I know this play very well. Let me have the book. Here you are. It tells you what to do all the way

through. Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to see a play. Yes, a play. This play has a very old story, and I think that before it begins, I should refresh your memories a little by. To refresh your memories a little by, go away. The people came to see the play, not to listen to you. But I have to explain the play to them. It doesn't need explaining. It's a fairy tale. But it says right here that I speak first, then you shouldn't come on to the curtain opens. Well, you'd better hurry because everyone's ready back there, and they'll be opening the curtains any minute. Don't worry, we'll get rid of you soon. Yes, I believe they are ready. Well, in that case, I suppose I could omit the first part. Yes, and the second, and the third. I'll just tell them, shall I? The name of the play in a few of the characters. And don't rush me so. Ladies and gentlemen, the name of our play is... Oops!

The master cat, or a pus, invokes. Oh, dear, dear, dear. What's the matter with him? What's the matter with him? Oh, dear, dear, dear. Youngest son of the miller, why'd you wait? Oh, dear, I wait because my father is dead. Youngest son of the miller, why'd you wait alone? Oh, dear, I wait alone because my two elder brothers have turned me out. Youngest son of the miller, why'd you wait alone in ranks? Oh, dear, I wait alone in ranks because my father has divided the property among us three sons to my eldest brother, he left the mill. Well, Mr. Schmidt, I think we're about to record it enough. And I'd like to talk to you just briefly while they go ahead rehearsing. All right. Tell me something about the puppeteers that you have here. Well, we teach puppetry here to the children who come in the afternoon, also to the teenagers who come in the evening and also to adults. Where does that take place? Well, we have a special room which is all set up. It's my studio where we make puppets and puppets.

Can we go down there and take a look at some of them? Why, you're certain they can. All right, let's go down. All right. Now back to the puppeteer room where Mr. Schmidt has a number of puppets out and some of the children are here looking at them and playing with them. Tell us about them, Mr. Schmidt. Well, we make several different kinds of puppets. Let me show you the most recent one that we've made. We make these on Christmas tree ornaments. You know, these styrofoam balls that you can buy? Yes. Decorate your tree. Well, we take one of these balls about a two and a half -inch ball, drill a hole into it to put the finger in. And then we make a mace out of either asbestos and paste or paper and paste. We use felt for ears and we build out the features. Mike, let me see this puppet. Here, you see a mic, by the way. What is this character that you're making here? A man. A man. Well, he is a man because he's got short hair. Well, that doesn't always mean a man these days. And then they paint them with poster paints and varnish them. And they make a very nice light puppet. Now, the other kind of

puppet, Marie. Now, this is... This one is a very fancy one. It has hair and everything. And that, I can see, is the devil. That is the devil himself. Many of our boys like to make the devil, as you see. I suppose they get rid of some of their feelings. Now, this is made on an electric light bulb. Covered over with paper and paste. And then after it dries, the shell is taken off. We pull out the bulb. And then we paint it with poster paints. And you, as you see in this one, fur for hair. And then we make costumes out of cast -off materials. I wish we had a few of the things that you've practiced on to be able to record them, but you're not prepared today. Not today. The children just haven't worked up a puppet show available today. Although they do work on little skits. Many of these puppets, by the way, find a home in the neighborhood schools. The children take them to the schools. And we have a very interesting story of how one boy, about 12 years of age, took his puppets over to one of the local public schools. God is teacher -interested. So much so, in fact, that she came to ask me how to make puppets. And

between the boy and I, we taught her. And the next time I visited her class, there she was. Teaching 40 children in that classroom how to make puppets. Well, that's an interesting story. And how many children do you have here in your class? Oh, we average about 18 a day twice a week. God, that keeps you pretty busy. Oh, yes, it does. But when they walk out with a puppet, I had two angel puppets yesterday. You should have seen them. I think they're going to find their place on somebody's Christmas tree. Well, wonderful. Well, Mr. Schmidt, thank you for showing us the puppets and also allowing us to go up on stage of the whole house theater and record some of your rehearsing of the dramatic class. Thank you very much. We are in the playroom of Hallhouse. As you heard, the children are playing a game called Duck Grey Goose, I guess it is. Now, Mr. McConnell, first of all, tell me a little bit about what goes on in here. These children are young. How young are they? This is the

playroom. They're six and seven -year -old children here only. They come four days a week. After school, they're here until five o 'clock. They play games. They have some free play periods. When they do what they would like to do in a way of game playing, they have some music and some art training here. Well, I heard them playing a game and saw them playing a game. Did I say it right? Duck, Duck Grey Goose. Duck, Duck Grey Goose, that's right. And the extra noise you hear is the people being chased. I noticed some painting over there in the wall. Is that some that the children have done? Yes, that's where the children do themselves on their painting gate here. What about the checker games? Did they play that too, I suppose? Yes, there are many of them who are this age here in the playroom are just learning to play checkers. They're not too good yet. They're just learning how. They like table games and they get a good opportunity to learn how to play with someone else's own age, with the table games. I see they're still playing the Duck Game, Miss McConnell. Let's listen to the children play for just a moment.

Well, that's the game, Duck, Duck Grey Goose. and we better move on to another part of Hallhouse. Before we go, the children are going to sing a song now. I think they're going to sing Farmer in the Dell. Let's listen. Farmer takes a ride. Farmer y 'all will never be alone. Farmer takes a ride in the Dell. Farmer takes a ride in the Dell. Farmer takes a ride in the Dell. Farmer takes a ride in the Dell. Farmer takes a ride in the Dell. Farmer takes a ride in the Dell. Farmer takes a ride in the Dell. Farmer takes a ride in the Dell. Farmer takes a ride in the

Dell. Farmer takes a ride in the Dell. Farmer takes a ride in the Dell. Now we're going to have to move on. But I want, first of all, to thank Miss McConnell for accompanying us this far. We're going to pick up some other guides at the other locations. Miss McConnell, thank you so much for traveling with us after this point. You're welcome. It's been nice having you and taking you around Hallhouse. We're going to pick up some other guides. We're going to pick up some other guides. We're going to pick up some other guides. We're going to pick up some other guides. We're going to pick up some other guides. We're going to pick up some other guides. We're going to pick up some other guides. We're going to pick up some other guides. We're going to pick up some other guides. We're going to pick up some other guides. The children singing those carols are retarded children. Some of them are very severely

retarded. We're doing the story now as part of Hallhouse of the retarded children's aid training center. It's located in Hallhouse and its director is Mr. George Prentice. Mr. Prentice, suppose you and I step outside of the room and a little way where we can talk and talk briefly about the children's aid training here at Hallhouse. First of all, tell us something about the children who are singing these carols. These children are all 16 years old or older with IQs of 70 or lower. Some have IQs as low as in the lower 30s. Where do they come from, Mr. Prentice? The people here, the majority of them are from the southern half of Chicago, although some of them are from the northern part. And they are eligible regardless of where they live in the cosmopolitan area providing their parents can arrange for the transportation. A little while ago when we came in, Mr. Prentice, the children were dancing. They had a drum and some symbols and they had

a piano player. Some of the children were actually providing some of the music themselves, although an adult was playing a piano. Now they are singing Christmas carols. What are some of the other activities that you have? We have arts and crafts activities. We have group recreational activities. And we have subcontract work obtained from industries in the Chicago area when we can find work from these companies which we are capable of handling. What's the purpose of this program? We are attempting to develop these people socially, physically, emotionally, academically. We prefer to think of this as an activities training program rather than a regular sheltered workshop because we are trying to develop well -rounded personalities through a well -balanced program. I've seen a lot of children's groups and dances and singing, Mr. Prentice, but I don't think I've ever seen one as happy as this group and we walked in here today.

Every single one was joining in the dancing and really having himself a good time. It's a very encouraging to hear, to me, to hear you say these things. We have observed this and we feel that this is one of the indications that our program is succeeding. We have a lot to accomplish it. We aren't doing everything that we want to. The program is new, less than a year old, in fact. And there's many aspects of it that we can see ourselves need development, but it does take time. It's amazing to me, at least to see some of the children who you know are retarded from just looking at them, who are very shy and I'm sure that on the outside they must be extremely shy and backward. But when they come here, I suppose they meet with people on their own level and therefore they can have an enjoyable time. We feel that meeting and playing and working with people of their own level does tend to draw them out, make it possible for them to participate to attempt things that they never would have attempted before and to have experienced success, or maybe they would have never experienced it

before. We also hope that some of the spontaneity will carry over into their home life and their community life and we have indications from parents' statements that this is true. I suppose some of them, when they are on the outside, was normal children or somewhat unhappy, aren't they? Well, I think that there must be considerable truth in this, yes. I haven't had much contact with these people outside of the training center, although last fall, I had the privilege of attending camp at the Bowen Country Club with a small group of these people and some of their parents. It was the first camping experience that had been offered that mentally retarded in the Chicago area as far as I know. Now, how long do they go to this training center here? Well, first of all, how many hours per day? From nine to two, five days a week. And we have not at this stage decided that they can only go for two years or four years during a certain length of time. Thank you very much, Mr. Fenner, for talking with you, sir.

The children are now filing out. I think I'll just ask a couple of questions to some of them. Do you have fun here, son? Rod times. How old are you? Twenty. Twenty years old. How old are you, son? Ninety. You have fun over here? Yes. What do you like more than anything? The singing? Yes. You like dancing, too? Yes. Well, good for you. What's your name? William McGuire. How old are you? Twenty -six. Twenty -six. What do you like most over here? Well, I like cooking a lot. Cooking. Good. What's your name? Dr. Osharnaki. How old are you, Jordan? Twenty -eight. Twenty -eight years old. Yes, sir. What do you like, best of all? And carpenter and everything else. You're like carpenter, where? Yes, sir. How about you? Well, I go for everything, too. I'm sort of what they call a right -hand man around here. I sort of do their special messaging, you know, going on. I started delivering a pop form, you know, and different in their different classes. I say, well, good

for you. Well, there you have a few of the retarded children here at the Retarded Children's Aid at the Hell House, all part of the program of Hell House. This is one of the finest program developments I think I've ever seen. Here they are happy and enjoy themselves with people who are on their own level. Hello. The music you're hearing is coming from what is known here at Hell House as the young old timers. We're in the main part of Hell House, actually in the dining room, where this activity is taking place. We're going to talk to Miss Joe Chidimo, who is a group worker at Hell House.

Joe tell us something about the old timers. How old are they? Well, on the whole, these people are 60 years of age and over. Where do they come from? They are mainly from the neighborhood, and have children coming to the house and have been coming to the house for many years themselves. We just recorded some singing by the young retarded children, some of them not so young. From 16 years and older, I'm sure you're acquainted with that group. And it's amazing to come from the young group over here to the large group and older group. Here they don't do much singing, they just play their instruments. Joe, it's a wonderful program. We want to thank you very much for talking to us. You're quite welcome. I see they've stopped. I wonder if they're going to have another number we'll record if they do, or at least part of it. Yes, I think they will have. Bells! Triangles!

Everybody! We are now in the office of Mr. Russell Ballard, who is the director of Hallhouse. We would like to ask him just a few questions about the organization. However, he's a very busy man and he has to run away to a meeting in just a few moments so we'll only take a couple of minutes of your time, Mr. Ballard. First of all, may I ask you how the organization here at Hallhouse obtains funds? Hallhouse has a board of trustees of 30 members and it's their primary responsibility to set policies and to solicit funds for the organization. As I want to say too, it's an envy that we're very proud to be a community fund agency, one of the red feather agencies, and we got a subsidy from the community fund, but we have to raise some $82 ,000 from the Friends

of the Settlement. Mr. Ballard, is it still the purpose of the Hallhouse to cater to just the neighborhood, or does it bring in people from all over the city now? Well, Hallhouse primarily is a neighborhood family agency, but because of the varied activities we do draw people from throughout the city. For instance, you have recently interviewed the director of our retarded children's program, and those children come from throughout the city. Our art classes, our music classes, do draw beyond the neighborhood. If you were going to hear this evening, you would enjoy watching the young lap of the unfold dancers who come from over the city. They are the Displaced Person Group, who have been here about five years. They come weekly. Their parents come to participate in the little theater. We have a great many cultural activities in which the Latvian Displaced Person participate, and they come from the wider community. Well, Hallhouse is certainly an old and honored organization, and you have had many famous people who have shared in the activities here, and as I said earlier, it was established

many, many years ago by the famous Jane Adams. One of the most famous personalities to come out of Hallhouse, of course, as everybody probably knows, is Benny Goodman, the famous orchestra leader. Does Benny ever get back here, Mr. Ballard? Yes, Benny made a visit here about ten years ago, and made a major contribution to Hallhouse, and we saw him in February this year at our first benefit in honor of Benny Goodman before the opening of his motion picture. Yes, the Goodman story. The Goodman story. That's right. Well, we have certainly enjoyed touring parts of Hallhouse. I know that it's so expensive that we couldn't possibly tell the entire story in only a half an hour, but we have enjoyed it, Mr. Ballard, and we hope to come back and pay you another visit sometime. We want to thank you very much. Pleasure to have you here. Thank you. We have talked about the old folks, the children's playroom. We visited the wood shop, but we did not see, for example, a sewing machine operation where they have sewing classes. We did not go to the art school nor the gym. Are the modern dance,

but we have visited the dramatics, and we've talked to the retarded children. And that's the story of Hallhouse, one of the famous and oldest institutions of its kind in the United States. And this is Hugh Hill speaking.