Women Meet at IVeiw Orleans 



By NELL FLATT GOODMAN. 

 Home Bureau Editor 



I 



^^^HE hand that rocks the cradle 

 ^*~— ^may not rule the world but 



^J it is going to be a firm hand 

 in brihging about better schools for 

 rural America, according to the talks 

 and discussions at the fourth annual 

 meeting of the Associated Women of 

 AFBF held in New Orleans. 



Beginning with the public speaking 

 contest, through the talks of the prom- 

 inent speakers, and in the formal res- 

 olutions of the organization, the better 

 schools theme was emphasized. 



"I would ask our rural schools to 

 enlarge and develop a child's capacity 

 to find enjoyment in rural living," said 

 Mrs. Delia Justice Norton, mother of 

 two young boys, winner of the na- 

 tional public speaking contest. "In 

 Montana one-half the real estate taxes 

 we farmers pay goes for support of 

 the public schools. To get more ef- 

 ficient use of this tax money we should 

 study the reports. 



"The least satisfactory schools to be 

 found in America today are for the 

 most part in the rural areas, Mrs. 

 Norton quoted from a government re- 

 port. Therefore, she continued to in- 

 crease the educational opportunities of 

 rural children and to lessen the gaps 

 between various rural districts and be- 

 tween rural and urban areas should be 

 our goal as farm people." 



Contests were held in 25 states, be- 

 ginning with districts, the state, re- 

 gional and finally the national. 



Best of all, Mrs. Charles W. Sewell, 

 administrative director of the Associ- 

 ated Women said in her report, "the 

 contest has helped to direct the think- 

 ing of rural women in every section of 

 America toward one common problem 

 and to suggest possible solutions." 



In telling of her work as county 

 superintendent of schools in Shelby 

 county, Tennessee, Miss Sue Powers 

 pointed out the advantages of consoli- 

 dation. "Consolidation will never be 

 a cheaper form," she said. "The point 

 is not so much difference where a child 

 goes to school but how much he gets 

 out of it. We believe our six high 

 schools consolidated give better results 

 than when we had twelve high schools 

 in the one county." 



In this county, in the vocational 

 trades work, boys make furniture and 

 supplies for use in the schools of the 



county. Girls do actual canning on 

 the farm. 



"We believe the nation as a whole 

 will prosper to the extent to which 

 it provides equalized educational op- 

 portunities for all its citizens," said 

 Mrs. Elsie Mies of Illinois, chairman 

 of the resolution committee and re- 

 elected vice president. 



When they were not discussing edu- 

 cational problems, the speakers and 

 leaders turned their attention to health 

 problems and civic responsibilities. 



In her address asking the audience 

 to follow the gleam from pine-knots 

 to Mazda, Miss Mamie F. Butler, for 

 twelve years visiting teacher for chil- 

 dren with defective eyesight in the 

 New Orleans public schools, rapidly 

 and clearly explained the transitions 

 from the lard lamps of old to the latest 

 lES lamp of today. 



Because of her interest in sight- 

 saving and light. Miss Butler started 

 collecting lamps as a hobby. After 

 only two years she has 125 lamps in 

 her collection which she used to illus- 

 trate her survey. 



"The thing that interests me is that 

 so much can be done to save unneces- 

 sary suffering with very little cost," Miss 

 Butler commented, "because a great 

 deal of eyestrain is caused, not from 

 inadequate light but because of the 

 incorrect use of light." 



Mrs. H. W. Ahart, president, in her 

 annual message "New Lamps for Old," 

 suggested, first, lamps of justice 

 founded on rational thinking; lamps 

 of fairness and unselfishness founded 

 on correct thinking; and lamps of ser- 

 vice founded on altruistic thinking. 



"These are the new lamps which 

 should be installed in our homes, in 

 our schools, in all of our public in- 

 stitutions," she said. 



Mrs. Raymond Sayre of Iowa, mid- 

 west director, conducted a panel dis- 

 cussion on community affairs. "No 

 longer do we think of home as one 

 small apartment, or one small farm. 

 Home is our community, our district, 

 our state and even our nation," said 

 Mrs. Mies commenting on the changed 

 outlook since modern means of com- 

 munication and transportation have 

 come. 



Dr. Martha M. Eliot, assistant chief. 

 Children's Bureau, Washington, ex- 

 plained the progress made and the 

 help needed for better care for mothers 



and babies. While much has been 

 done more needs to be done. 



"During 22 years, deaths of new- 

 born infants on the first day of life 

 have not decreased at all" Dr. Eliot 

 reported. "In all probability half the 

 babies who die in the first month of 

 life can be saved, if adequate care is 

 given to both mother and baby." 



In a lighter vein, Dorothy Dix, pa- 

 tron saint of New Orleans, entertained 

 the 400 banqueteers in the Grand Ball 

 Room of the Hotel Roosevelt with 

 some of her experiences in giving 

 "Advice to the Lovelorn." Said she, 

 in answer to a woman who wondered 

 if she should tell her prospective hus- 

 band about her false teeth, "Marry the 

 man. But keep your mouth shut." 



With a stirring talk on international 

 affairs, Lena Madesin Phillips, presi- 

 dent. International Federation of Busi- 

 ness and Professional Women coun- 

 seled the women to "Go back to your 

 homes and begin work not only as 

 wives and mothers but as citizens." 



"It is to your advantage that this 

 world be changed into a place of peace, 

 of plenty, of culture, and of high 

 mortality."' Miss Madesin told them. 

 "You cannot leave enough money to 

 protect the future of your children. 

 Whatever the rest of the world may 

 do, let us keep America still the land 

 of freedom, of tolerance, and of good 

 will among ourselves and toward 

 others. America must lift again its 

 spiritual grail."" 



The convention was a colorful one. 

 With a profusion of flowers in the 

 discussion room, besides the many bo- 

 quets sent to the rooms of the leaders, 

 Louisiana and New Orleans welcomed 

 the guests with gifts. Each person 

 registering was presented with a cello- 

 phane bag of cotton. As the voting 

 delegates qualified, established their 

 credentials, a boquet of artificial fruit, 

 corn or vegetables was presented. Some 

 wore red strawberries, others yellow 

 carrots, others white corn. To sweeten 

 it all then came the little cotton bags 

 of Louisiana sugar. 



Louisiana 'cottoned' to the conven- 

 tion, and to return the compliment, 

 the convention "Honey" Chile"d them 

 right back. 



The 21 production credit associations in 



Illinois will hold their annual meetings ac- 

 cording to the following schedule: January 

 6 — Illinois Fruit Growers at Carbondale; 

 February 6 — Kewanee, Monmouth, Belle- 

 ville) February 7 — Bloomington, Rock 

 River at Dixon, Macomb, Harrisburg; Feb- 

 ruary 8 — Ottawa, Biackhawk at Freeport, 

 Jacksonville, Wabash at Lawrenceville; Feb- 

 ruary 9 — Lotus at Woodstock, Joliet, 

 Mississippi Valley at Pittsfield, Charleston; 

 February 10 — Vermilion County at Dan- 

 ville, Carlinville; February 14 — Decatur, 

 Champaign; February 15 — Fox Valley at 

 Geneva. . 



JANUARY. 1939 



