Citizens

Cuyahoga River

Industry

Architecture

Leisure Time

Did You Know?

Documents & Records

History Books

AND this was Akron. For six long years Bill and Mary had struggled with the stubborn hills of Tennessee to save enough money to make the tiresome trip to this wonderful industrial city "up North" and now they were stepping from the train into the city of promise.

They had often heard of the great opportunities which it offered for those who wanted more than the bare necessities of life and Bill was sure he would be able to find work in one of the factories and then they would buy a home and send little four-year-old Betty to school. 

Twenty-five years of hard work in the healthy mountain air had given Bill a remarkable physique and when he applied for work on the morning after their arrival he was immediately accepted. He was assigned to the second shift and was in­structed to report that afternoon at three-thirty. During the first few weeks, or until he became an efficient worker, his wages would be rather small but he had planned for that. In fact, he and Mary had dreamed of just what they would do with each penny of the first pay. There would be an inexpensive dress, a pair of shoes for Betty and a down payment on one of those big, comfortable chairs where they could sit and read the evening paper.  

But Bill did not get his first pay as they had expected. Two minutes after he had kissed his wife goodbye and started for the factory, his unconscious and broken body was picked up from the street. Some said he had been careless in crossing the street, others said the driver of the speeding car which had struck and hurried away was at fault. One fact alone was clear—Bill was badly hurt and when he opened his eyes two days later in a ward at the City Hospital he was almost completely covered with a mass of clean, white bandages. Most of these were because of minor cuts and bruises but his leg had been broken and that would mean several weeks in bed. 

Play Time of the Mary Day Nursery with Members of the Junior League Instructing the Children

It was not a very bright outlook. Here he was in a strange city, almost penniless and with a wife and child to support. And then there would be those tiresome weeks lying in bed with nothing to do but stare at the four walls of the room. Six years of dreams seemed to have been shattered in these few days. But a silver lining had been prepared for this cloud of unhappiness by a group of girls, who had found joy in doing something worth while for those who had encountered misfortune in life. 

They are known as the Junior League and were organized by several girls who had outgrown the Babies Aid Sewing Society and had realized the great amount of good that could come from doing volunteer service in the various public institutions. It was truly a philanthropic venture and they began by making surgical dressings. Each year more dressings were needed and the junior League was always ready to work a little harder and meet this demand. Last year a total of over 148,000 were turned over to Akron's Hospitals. 

Their only contribution from the Better Akron Federation is $4,800 a year which is used to operate the Mary Day Nursery. The Children's Hospital gives the space rent free, takes care of the medical work, supplies them with a doctor once each week and a dentist on the hospital staff gives an hour of his time each week. 

Mothers have found that the Junior League girls in this work are very competent in the care of their children and an average of 25 children is cared for each day. They are given pre-kindergarten work by the girls and this summer the League has employed a recreational director who will teach the older boys and girls how to become good citizens and the elements of good manners. 

In the City Hospital a complete library containing 2,384 books has been furnished by the League together with a force of six regular workers and twelve substitutes who take care of the distribution among the patients and see that each has change of books twice weekly. A library is now being started at the Children's Hospital and workers will be supplied for the distribution. The League is also very active in clinic work do the work of two paid workers at the City Hospital clinic. Two hours each week is given to keeping the records in the clinic at the Children's Hospital. 

One of their latest undertakings is the organization of the Akron Junior Red Cross, consisting of over 10,000 school children. It is the purpose of this group to promote world peace through the exchange of the work, which is produced by the children, with that made by the children of other nations. It is through their efforts that occupational therapy will be introduced into the City Hospital and later at the Children's Hospital. This work is one of the most modern phases of hospital work and is intended, through instructions and actual: working in the arts and crafts, to keep the .patients busy and relieve their minds from the constant worry over their condition.

Aside from making a house-to-house canvass for funds during the Children's Hospital drive, they made a contribution of $1,700 to furnish a room and provide for its upkeep. They furnish transportation to and from the Hospital for children taking the sunlight treatment. At the Y. W. C. A. they do general work wilt the girl reserves and teach classes in the International Institute, a branch of the Y. W. C. A. 

Bill will soon be discharged from the hospital with his leg; completely mended and a determination to make the dream come true. It did seem a long time to be kept in bed but was not nearly so unpleasant as he had expected. Twice each week a girl, who seemed always to be smiling, brought in a new and interesting book for him to read. It was not always the same girl, but the same smile was always there. And then there was the work in the arts and crafts that the instructor had called by a name which he had never heard before – “Occupational Therapy.” He had often become so interested in the making of a basket or some other object that he completely forgot his broken limb.

Every day while her mother works in a downtown department store, Betty is enjoying herself and learning new things at the Mary Day Nursery. In the evening she tells her mother about the nice girls that take care of her and her little friends, or of the dentist that stopped the ache in her tooth or of the nurse who tied up the little cut in her finger. But most of all she talks about her daddy and how happy she will be when he comes home again. 

And complete happiness will soon come back to their home and they will always remember and appreciate the work of the Junior League – an organization with worthy purpose.