Show alu ax v 19 S J VV i 1 I 1 ilja i uj J community center idea Is old as schoolhouse the development of the community y center both na as a city und and as a rural institution li Is comparatively recent twenty or thirty 3 cius cars perhaps count lug from the modest beginnings made by plon cers in the movement but the essential idea Is old almost as old as the 10 western country coun tri school schoolhouse louse I 1 la im fact the community center whatever its namu or form forin is essentially the early eat 1 prairie schoolhouse school honse often it WE was s the alio old sod se devoted to lessons from the school books by day for five days of the week on sunday it became the meeting housell house for church services and I 1 sunday school and on wednesday or thursday night it housed the prayer meeting on friday night there ft was as thy school or maybe the kyeo lyceum um 0 or the debating society saturday night it was vas the meeting hall ball of the grange or the farmers alliance more than ulily something else was going on some of the other nights ahn was un tin excellent thing for the community it gave opportunity for the satisfaction of the gregarious instinct the social craving hut but it was lively likely to be a hardship upon the poor teacher and trial to her soul thus the institution flourished even if unnamed the was the natural center and la Is yet of corn inanity interest Inte iest and around it revolved tile the social activities tile the result was a very real community feeling and spirit the grow growth groothof of towns to ans und cities the multiplication oc of church lodges theaters the increased facility in traveling eventuated eventuate in the gradual desuetude of the country honse as a center of interest other than that for which it was primarily pilm arlly instituted the education of the children of the community in ill the lie cities there Is no longer a real community life tiny any more than there Is in the country without such a community interest there can c an be little lita ilta concerted nation looking toward tho conserva timi of community and larger civic concerns concer nh to establish reestablish re community solidarity and bring opportunities tuni tunIt ties les not otherwise berwise ot available into the community especially poor neighborhoods bo social settlements were invented and developed tho the next step was to revive the idea of using the school building to house community activities syracuse N Y was mis one of the first cities to try to orl ork it out milwaukee did a good deal new york gave lecture courses anti and conducted a few other activities wore or less under the educational ad |