Entertainment as Part of the Educational Program
The problem of providing proper entertainment for people in the city and proper places for the coming together of social groups in country and city communities is one of the serious problems of modern life. The church serves less than it used to the purposes of a meeting place for the community. The schools have been called on to help solve this problem. The extent to which the demand exists is illustrated by the following quotation from the Cleveland survey[51]:
According to the custodians’ reports the total after-class lettings of school accommodations during 1914-15 numbered 3,469. Of these, 462 were for mothers’ club meetings, class dances, pupil society meetings, pay entertainments, bazaars, or some other kind of purely school function and 3,007 were lettings to outside organizations. A large part of the latter consisted of clubs or Sunday-school classes connected with some 27 different churches which, along with two dozen or more specifically named athletic societies, sought the use of school gymnasiums and showers for basketball and similar indoor games. The varied character of the bodies which hired the auditoriums, club and classrooms can best be discovered from a perusal of the following partial but representative list.
GROUPS USING SCHOOL ACCOMMODATIONS
| Twentieth Ward Improvement Association | D. A. R. Clubs |
| East End Chamber of Commerce | G. A. R. Post |
| East End Neighborhood Club | Normal Alumni |
| Women’s Suffrage Political League | Alumni Club |
| Municipal School League | Sanitation Club |
| Spanish War Veterans | Civic League |
| Ladies’ Relief Corps | Boy Scouts |
| Knights of Pythias Lodge | Boy Cadets |
| Public School Association | Camp Fire Girls |
| Garment Workers’ Union | Y. W. C. A. |
| Warner Civic Association | Mothers’ Club |
| Social Center Club | Anti-Fly Campaign |
| Teachers’ and Mothers’ Club | Boys’ Chef Club |
| Western Reserve Dental Club | Patrons’ Club |
| Thespian Dramatic Club | Social Club |
| South End Choral Society | German Club |
| Mendelssohn Choir | Latin Club |
| Boys’ Glee Club | Syrian Club |
These names show concretely what a wide range of Cleveland’s social elements are nowadays seeking the kind of facilities which a modern school edifice possesses. In the majority of cases these groups were obliged to pay custodians’ fees ranging from 30 cents to $5.00 an evening depending on the size of the quarters used. That fact attests the genuineness of this demand and its vigor is further evidenced by the rapid growth in volume which, as shown in the following table, has practically doubled during the past two years.
GROWTH OF AFTER-SCHOOL USE OF SCHOOL FACILITIES BY NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATIONS
| 1913-1914 | 1914-1915 | Per Cent Increase | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organizations using buildings | 298 | 596 | 100 |
| Total lettings | 1,932 | 3,007 | 56 |
| Fees paid to custodians by organizations | $1,729.91 | $2,813.55 | 62 |
| Aggregate attendance | 120,511 | 276,253 | 129 |