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II>rDIA?sTA UNIVERSITY 



part along with social enjoyment. The mother and father clubs 

 have a more serious purpose, although much effort is put forth 

 to prevent them from being dry and uninteresting. 



Gradually, month by month, and year by year, the influence 

 of the settlement is broadening; the good accomplished is be- 

 coming more far-reaching. At times reactions may set in, but 

 in the long run the settlement will always be a great social power 

 in the district. 



We visited the homes of five hundred families in which we 

 were given the information we desired. These people are di- 

 vided into two classes not greatly differing in size, two hundred 

 and ninety-one families being white, and two hundred and nine 

 colored. All over the district it is a common thing to see negroes 

 and whites living side by side in a very neighborly manner. On 

 one or two streets in the eastern part of the district very few, 

 if any, negroes are found. The converse is true of Yandes, 

 Lewis and Alvord streets in the west part of the district. Here 

 the white family is the rare exception. It is the belief of the 

 managers of Christamore that the color line is not drawn closely 

 enough in the district. Hence they, as part of their plan of 

 action, have decided to exclude negroes. The settlement is open 

 only to white people. 



A few years ago this district was inhabited almost entirely 

 by white people, most of whom worked in the Atlas Engine 

 Works. At that time this company was employing large num- 

 bers of laborers, both skilled and unskilled. Most of their men 

 had regular work and were fairly prosperous. Later there came 

 a time when the Atlas works ran only part time. Then they 

 decreased their capacity and materially cut down the number of 

 men employed. As a result many laborers began to look for 

 work elsewhere. They went either to other cities or to other 

 parts of Indianapolis. Thus many houses were left empty and 

 for rent. Negroes began moving" into the district because they 

 here found relief from the congested conditions of the Indiana 

 AA^enue district. This movement of negroes, which was at first 

 very gradual, became quite rapid until at the present time we 

 find that nearly half the population of the district consists of 

 colored people. Their coming had an effect upon the other 

 people of the district. Many of the better families who formerly 

 lived here have moved away because they object to living in a 

 colored district. AYhile the statement itself is scarcely suscept- 



