Miss Vittum Reviews Work of Settlement

At the end of this fiscal year we look back over one of the hardest in the lives of our neighbors, and forward to what we fear will be a still harder one. At the same time, we look back upon a field of usefulness larger than we have known before; forward to a year when people's hearts, touched by a great and common sorrow, will open as never before to larger work made possible by large means.
Never before have we been so touched by the people among whom we live, never has the best been wrung from us who are at work as will be during the coming year, never have we done so fine a work as we must do in the year just beginning.
The organized work for 1913-1914 followed the same lines as for several years, with gratifying results.

Interested in Music
The music department flourished under Dean Lutkin, Mrs. Hoake [Hoske ?] and Miss Coulin, progress being made both in increased registration and fineness of quality. Besides the regular classes and lessons, mention should be made, of the the spring festiva., and of the monthly Sunday afternoon programs which were arranged under the direction of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Hoake [Hoske ?] where the people from the land of Chopin and Paderewski enjoyed the music they love.
[damaged] the game room in which organized work was done this year, the manifest pleasure of the children while making their toys or playing with their work was always a joy to those in charge.

Playground Enjoyed
The J. Scott Clark playground, which the children call "our playground," was a relief from the dust and heat of the city during the summer months, both for the children who crowded it constantly, and for the Settlement resident looking for rest and refreshment.
Two features of the Settlement this summer were the two new camps which were opened, "Camp Channig" for boys, burnished by Mr. Frank Baker, Vice-president of the Public Service Co. of northern Illinois, located seventeen miles from Joliet, where two hundred and eight boys during the summer reported two hundred and eight good times; and the "House in the Woods," enlarged and refitted, by Mrs. H. Haddon MacLean, on the Des Plaines river where three hundred and forty-eight girls found rest and recreation.
Nor were the babies neglected during the hot months. The Infant Welfare Society made the house its headquarters, and the second floor was given over entirely to the babies. The Elisabeth McCormick Hospital Tent was increased by another tent, thus enabling twenty-three babies to receive care at one time, allowing one child to a bed.

The Political Contact
The year has been marked by two great crises which have shaped the current of our neighborhood activities and changed somewhat the character of the work.
The coming of municipal suffrage for women of the state imposed upon us the task of working out with the women about us their preparation for citizenship. My candidacy for a seat in the city coucncil on a non-partisan ticket with a platform that was just the Settlement platform opened a door that will never again be closed. The neighborhood become conscious of the relation of the alterman to the lives of the people he represents, and turned the tide in the direction of more independence of thought and action by all of the people.
The hard times of the last year brought to our little employment office a procession of men, women and children seeking emoployment for whom finally we could do little for even our oldest and most reliable friends would say "Sorry, but we are not taking on a man, " etc.
Most soon turned to depression ,the group of discouraged men sitting every morning in our reception room soon grew to mean to us wives going to the County Agent for relief, and hungry children. When the heat of summer came, it found the children too depleated to resist and as a result our infant death rate was shockingly high. We are facing a winter of unemployment with men, women and children depleted by from eight to ten months of half rations, having all gone and discouragement and hopelessness written everywhere. We can get no work, we can give little relief, but we can open friendly doors and loving understanding hearts, and cheer them on from day to day--this is our opportunity.