Simultaneously with the Americani zation program of the Department of the Interior, the Department of Labor, through its Bureau of Naturalization, has been active in stimulating a pro gram of education in citizenship through out the country, working through State and local boards of education, as well as through the courts and the industries.
State and City Programs.—Prior to the war, practically nothing had been done in the individual States toward develop ing a definite policy toward immigration. Notable exceptions to this rule were Cali fornia and New York, where permanent Commissions on Immigration have been functioning for some years. During 1917 and 1918, thirty States organized Americanization committees—usually as a part of State Defense Council pro grams—and six had appointed State di rectors of Americanization. A large number of these States passed laws pro viding facilities for the education of adult immigrants; a few made attendance at school compulsory for non-English speaking adults under 45. Most of these State committees went out of existence with the Defense Councils, but a number have been continued and developed, either as departments of State Divisions of Uni versity Extension (e. g.. Massachusetts, New York) or as separate departments, attached more or less closely to the State Boards of Education (e. g., Connecticut Delaware, Maryland). A number of city Americanization committees survived the armistice and developed constructive pro grams. Outstanding features of typical State and city programs follow: (1) The drive against illiteracy (as in New York State, where the elimination of illiteracy has been adopted as a definite goal).
(2) Improvement of facilities for im migrant education (as in Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Ohio, California, and other States, where teachers have been given special train ing, methods have been standardized, attendance stimulated, and definite studies of results made).
(3) Intensive training of aliens in constructive citizenship—particularly in Massachusetts, where standards have been greatly improved.
(4) Home classes for immigrant women—particularly in California, where teachers are paid by the State to teach groups of women in their own homes.
(5) Industrial classes in which im migrant workers are given lessons in English and citizenship in factories and shops, either on their own time, or on the employer's, or both. This work is
usually run under private auspices, but is often under the direction of State or city educational authorities, as in Mas sachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Ohio, and other States.
(6) Prevention of exploitation of the immigrant, handled by private agencies in many States and cities, but an in tegral part of the Americanization pro grams of California, Massachusetts, New York, Delaware, and other States.
(7) Stimulation of self-expression of the foreign born and of mutual sympathy among all groups through pageants, parades, homeland exhibits, etc. This has been done by scores of city com mittees and notably by the New York State Division of University Extension.
(8) Recreational work and commun ity organization. (Chiefly by city com mittees and boards of education, but sometimes as a part of a State pro gram, as in Delaware.) Private Organizations.—Huge sums have been raised by numerous religious and patriotic organizations for various activities among immigrants. In some instances the contribution made by these programs to the process of American ization, or race assimilation, is neces sarily subordinated to the special aims and interests for which these groups were organized; in other cases the work is exactly similar to the public programs outlined above. Among the religious groups carrying on systematic pro grams of work among immigrants are most of the larger Protestant denomina tions, the National Catholic War Coun cil, the Y. M. C. A., the Y. W. C. A., the Knights of Columbus, the Y. M. H. A., and the W. C. T. U. Extensive cam paigns have been conducted by such pa triotic organizations as the National Se curity League, the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Co lonial Dames of America. The National Chamber of Commerce and hundreds of city chambers have done systematic and successful work. The National Federa tion of Women's Clubs and the National Council of Jewish Women have adopted definite and comprehensive programs of work. Incidentally, the contribution to the process of race assimilation made steadily for many years by the public libraries, countless social settlements, immigrant aid societies, and legal aid bureaus has been more widely recog nized as the Americanization movement developed.