The Hobo: The Sociology of the Homeless Man

by Nels Anderson

FOOTNOTES:

[65] According to the financial statement for the I.W.W. for May and June of 1922, there were in good standing 18,234 members. This, it must be remembered, was just before the summer membership drive, which is said to have recruited over 18,000 additional members.

[66] The Chicago branch of the “Hobo College” is located at present (1922-23) at 913 West Washington Boulevard. It has taken the name temporarily of “Brotherhood College,” because the owners of the property would not rent the hall so long as the word “hobo” was connected with the movement. The change was made rather reluctantly. The second and third floors are in use; the second floor for reading-room and kitchen, the third floor is a lecture-hall.

CHAPTER XVII
MISSIONS AND WELFARE ORGANIZATIONS

In the winter of 1921-22 there were twenty-five missions in the Hobohemian areas of the city. This number tends to expand and to contract with the increase or the decrease in number of men out of work. The number of missions in the West Madison Street section is larger than the number in the South State Street and North Clark Street regions combined. The influence of the Salvation Army, which has outgrown the status of a mission, upon similar organizations is profound. The names of many of the missions suggest their origin in imitation of this pioneer body in religious work for the “down-and-outs”: Christian Army, Samaritan Army, Saved Army, Volunteer Rescue Army. The names of other missions are as interesting: Bible Rescue Mission, Cathedral Shelter, Helping Hand Mission, Pacific Garden Mission, Sunshine Gospel Mission.

The uniforms of the “armies” that make up the working force of certain of the missions are often so nearly alike that it is difficult to tell them apart. A short time ago the Salvation Army brought suit against the Saved Army to prevent it from using the poke bonnets, the blue uniform, the song “The War Cry” on the ground that they were so similar to those of the Salvation Army that the public was confused. It is claimed by representatives of the Salvation Army that individuals contribute to these other missions and “armies” under the impression that the contribution is for the Salvation Army.

TYPES OF MISSIONS[67]

Aside from the religious work of the Salvation Army and the Volunteers of America, three types of missions are to be found in Hobohemia: (1) the permanently established local mission, (2) the migratory national mission, and (3) the “wild cat” local mission.

1) The permanently established local mission either owns its building or holds it on a long lease. These missions are sponsored by some church or by a board of directors composed of business men of more or less local prominence. Not infrequently these contributors are successful converts.

These local missions dispense charity in the form of food, clothing, and beds for homeless men.[68] They differ, however, in their methods of relief as well as in their policies of relief. One mission may care for every man who asks for aid without question as to his worthiness, another feels that better service can be done by helping only those who are willing to work, or those who are incapacitated for manual labor. Only the verbose intoxicant is ever ejected from the mission—all others may come and go as they wish.

In the permanently established mission is found the better type of mission worker who is compensated by a definite salary rather than paid on a commission basis. The permanent workers consist of a superintendent and a secretary assisted by converts who have made good, usually old men who use the mission as a refuge. Still further help comes from students of the various religious institutions in the city and from the friends of the mission.

2) The national migratory missions may have headquarters in Chicago or some other metropolitan center with branches or sub-missions in nearby towns and cities. These organizations are generally financed by solicitations. Men and women are employed to canvass places of business; to “drum” on the streets and to make house-to-house calls. This practice of drumming on the streets is known as “ballyhooing.” These solicitors receive, in most cases, as much as 50 per cent of the amount they collect, which greatly lessens the sum to be used for the homeless men after the rent for the building, the salaries of the men in charge, and other expenses have been deducted from the remaining 50 per cent.

The shifting of these missions is proverbial. If they are not moving from city to city they are moving from one street to another, or from one location to another on the same street. The workers are as transient as the institutions themselves: migrating back and forth between cities, and affiliating themselves first with one mission and then with another. Often they are rural folk who, through urban mission work, find expression for the wishes of adventure and recognition. The fascination of the city has an attraction for the migratory mission worker as for the migratory laborer. They prefer this life, even under adverse conditions, to any other field of service. Others are veterans, who have been in mission work for years with four or five different organizations in as many cities.

3) The “wild cat” local mission, more or less ephemeral in nature, springs up during some crisis as an unemployment situation. Using the crisis as an excuse for soliciting funds to aid the unemployed, they operate for awhile, and when conditions have been ameliorated, they go out of existence. The workers, enthralled by a few months in the service, then affiliate with another mission.