Industry-Provided Education

H. H. Wheaton, the leader of the Connecticut Americanization Bureau was an avid supporter of speaking English in the workplace. Not only was he mentioned in an article in The Hartford Courant, he stated in a 1918 address to the Chairman and Members of the Bar Association:

We desire to move upon the industrial side of the problem upon a perfectly sound basis, and we have therefore asked the State Chamber of Commerce and the State Manufacturers’ Association, each, to appoint committees to help us deal with this subject and advise us the proper methods to pursue.  We believe that preference in promotion, for example, should be given in an industrial plant to a man who is learning or has learned the English language; that preference should be given to the man who is learning English and may be subject to discharge in an industrial plant; that is, between the man who has not learned English and the man who has learned English, preference should be given in not discharging the man who is learning English.

 If it its possible preference should be given in increased wages to the man who has learned English. Now, that means the establishment in industrial plants of certain fundamental policies; and, once those policies are established all over the state, you will see that we will begin to get somewhere in stimulating night school attendance…

 …For him not to learn English is a liability to any industrial plant. It means increased cost in explanations, in instructions. Every time that a machine is stopped for a foreman to explain to a non English-speaking man about the operation of that machine, it means a loss in production and in efficiency.

Two good examples of courses given by industries to foreign-born employees come from the Sicher system and the Ford English School. 

Sicher system: D. E. Sicher Company of NYC manufactured cotton goods and led in work of Americanization in industrial plants. In 1913, with the New York Board of Education, the Sicher Company provided courses for foreign-born employees. They furnished a classroom in the factory and the Board of Education provided a teacher, supplies, and supervision and arrangements were made so employees could receive: practical instruction in speaking and writing English, composing personal and business letters, fundamentals of arithmetic, history and civil government, good citizenship, local ordinances, and hygiene and sanitation. They also were taught how to use a telephone and city directory, the sending of telegrams and letters, and how to find their way around the city.

The class met for 45 minutes a day for 35 weeks of the year.

The Ford English School: The Ford Motor Company in Detroit, Michigan was one of the most extensive and best-organized efforts made by an industry in Americanization of its foreign-born employees.

In the Survey Report of the Detroit Board of Commerce, it was stated that 1700 men were learning English in 28 specially built classrooms provided by Ford. Each class had between 25-30 students and a total of 80 classes. There were 3 shifts of workers, each having an 8-hour work day, which meant that 25 classrooms were used during 3 different periods- 8:00 am, 1:00 pm, and 3:30 pm). There were 2 sessions for each class, one on Monday/Thursday and the other Tuesday/Friday. Wednesday was set aside for a Teachers’ Training Course because the teachers were volunteers who were employed in the factory. There were 90 teachers for the 80 classes.