The leisure time activities of the Negro youth of Terre Haute, Indiana Item Type Thesis Authors Edwards, Macye Leora Download date 30/09/2021 20:38:47 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10484/4793 THE LEISURE TIME ACTIVITIES OF' TILS; NEGRO YOUTH OF A Thesis Presented to the Department of Education Indiana State Teachers College -~:...~._. _._. -'" " , ..... In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in Education by Macye Leora Edwards June 194El The thesi s of J:c1E'.cye Leora Ed1,r8rds Contribution of the Gr8clua.te . School , Indiana 2tate Teachers College, Number 613 , under the title: THE LEISURE Tn,;]; ACTIVITIES OF' Trill NEGEO YOUTH OF TERHE HAlTTE, INDIANA is hereby approved as countinG toward the cornnletion of the Master's degree in the amount of 8 hours • creclit. Committeetl!oon thesis: . ~ Department: Date of Acceptence __~J~a~n~u~a~r~y__~1~9~J~1~9~4~9 __ TJl..BLE OF' CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. THE PROBLEM AND DEFIHITIONS OF' TERNS USED • 1 The problem ••..... 2 Stetement of the Droblem 2 IrnyortEnce of the study 3 Definitions of terms used •. 3 ," Leisure ....... 3 Hyte Community Cent er 8n6. hoover BuilcUng 3 II. REVIE':I OF TEE LITEf"tA'l'1.JRE 5 III. l1ETEOD OF RT~SEA..'-\CB 10 Li witations • 10 Procedure 10 Nuuilier of Questionnaires Bent out ~n~ the number returned .... 11 IV. THE ~UE, STIm~l'::AIRE P.E EU:L.TS • 12 V. SUl41vIPBY AIm R2COi,~>Il\mA'I'IOh2, 71 Summery . 71 Recommenc.ations • 75 Proposed progrsrn 77 BIBLIOGRAPHY •. • 01 APPENDIX ••••.• 54 LI::'l' G.b' TAS LE S TABLE PAGE I. ','!ha.t Do You Do When You Heve Time to Do as You Lil:e? • 12 II. ~',rhe.t GPffiE: S Do You Play After Sc11001? 14 III. V!.h2.t Do You Lil<,:e to :CIa After School? 15 IV. 1dhat Do You Do Pi'ter School? . 16 V. VJhat Do You Do p..fter SU1:::::)er? • .. 1 o'" VI. ',,'here Do You Go to hc:,ve Fun? . .. 19 VII. Do You E&ve a Pet? 20 VIII. 1IhEt 'rays &.nci ITools Do lou Eeve 8t Eo lEe? . 21 Do You TTorl: to .,.2.rn honey? Do You Like to ReEd? . XI. Ho1'.T huch 'l'iJJle Outside of School Do You Spend for Reading Just for Fun? .. 25 XII. Neme Some Books Thet You Like • 26 XIII. Fhet Books Do You Ovm? 29 XIV. DoYal). E8ve a Library Card? •. 31 XV. How Often Do You Go to the Library? . 31 XVI. Whet lJie.gazines Do You Read? •. 32 . XVII. Do You Take ArlY Special Lessons Outside of School? • XVIII. 1vhat KinO. of cpecia,l Lessons? •• 34 XIX. Do You Like to Have Friends Come to See You? 35 XX. To ~Vhat Clubs Do You Belong? . .. 36 v TABLE PAGE XXI. Do You Go to Church? . 37 XXII. Do You Go to Sunday School? • 37 XXIII. Do You Belong to a Church Club? •. 38 XXIV. V!hat Is the ?~8.me of the Church Club You Belong To? 38 XXV. D6 You Belong to a Gang? 39 XXVI. HO"'T g8J1~r Are in Your (rang? 40 XXVII. \~h8t Is the Feme of Your LTan;? 41 XXVI 11. lvl1at Do esthe :} 8.ng Do? 42 XXIX. How Late Do You Stay Out at Night? 43 XXX. ~mere Do lOU Go '.~1en You Are Out Late? 45 XXXI. VJhat Do You :;:)0 ~:hen You Are Out L8.te? 47 XXXII. Do You Like to Go to the Show? 48 XXXIII. 48 X,"'{XIV. 49 X:XXV. 50 X,"'{XVI. 51 XXXVII. Name T1,ro l'Jlovies You Liked. 51 XXXVIII. Do You Listen to the Radio? 1:;4./ What Are Your Favorit e R8cdio ProgrEJIls? 55 XL. What Kind of Radio Programs Do You Like? . 57 XLI. Do You Like to Read the Funnies? . 58 XLII. What Funnies Do You Like Best? .. 58 XLIII. \rImat Hobbies Do You Have? ••. 60 vi . TABLE PAGE XLIV. Uhat Collections H8Ye You I·lade This Year'? . • 61 XLV. Do You Smoke? 62 XLVI. Do You P18.y Cards? 63 XLVII.' With Vlhom Do You Like to Pl&y Cc;rc1s? 63 XLVIII. l,\Thet Carel GE3lneS Do You Play? • 64 XLIX. Do You Like to Dance? L. 1,1here Do You Go to De.nce? LI. Do You Go to Parties? 66 LII. Haye You Ever Given 8 Party? 66 LIII. Check the Things lou r"!')uld Like to :80 :Cut Do nIt Do Eo "tv • LIV. Ncune the Snorts You i.\Toulc1 Like to Take Part In •• 68 LV. VnlY Donlt You Do the Things You Would Like to Do? ••..• CHAPTER I THE PROBLEN AND DEFINITIONS OF TERlviS USED The purpose of this thesis was to study the leisure time activities of the Negro youth of Terre Haute, Indiana. In this study, certain conclusions" may be reached, tendencies discovered, and recomrnenctations made. The knowledge gained should be an incentive to seek more knol,rlectge and to under- stand more about the leisure time of the Negro youth in order that horne, school, and sot:iecN' :a3.;)~ :beJ:p' h~L:n" to the worthiest use of that leisure. 4"\'" .. ", " The problem of the leisure time of the Negro youth is some1.·,rhat distinct from that of other yout11, bece.use of en- vironment, home conditions, aneL comtiJUnity agencies. A few Negro youths he.ve good horne conditions, many fair, . and some ere i'n the clasE' described by Lena Morton: IIAt three 0 'clock we senet thi s little army back to dive s and. (:Lens, expo sed to all manner of wickedness. }Jley they be sent baclc as little soldiers with helmets able to withstand the array of sin and to emerge at morning unstained and eager to get back to the world of wisdom and beauty. III 1 Lena Morton, IIRevision of the Curriculum as SU~bested by the Social Needs of the CommunitY,1I (unpublished Master's thesis, The University of Cincinnati, 1925), p. 88. 2 In a study by E. B. Reuter it was found that the characteristics of Negro children in their play life differ from th2t of white children. It was found that the Negro child's play life is a function of his economic wei. social status rather than his intelligence. Negro boys 1.r-Tere found to enbage less frequently than white boys in ricting in autos, in making and assemblinG radios ancl other mechanical apparatus, and in participatin6 in athletic sports. They neither had the means nor the opportunity to participate in such activities. On the other hand it vTas found that Negro children are more sociable; they :participate more frequentl;y in such socie~ activities as: " go int; to church,1I "go ing to Sunday School, II 1I2 and "tellinb stories. I. THE PROBLEI·1 St atement of the problem. It was the 9urrO se of thi s study (1) to show how the Negro youth of Terre H&ute, Indiana spend their lei sure time, (2) to di scovel" what they vwuld like to do 'Vlith their leisure time, (3) to cletermine hO'H adequately community institutions meet the leisure tilJ1e needs of these children, as revealed through a questionnaire study, and (4) to set up recommendations for a ~J'Orth\'Jhile lei sure time program. 2 Martin H. Neumeyer and Esther S. Neumeyer, Leisure and Recreation (New York: A. S. Barnes and Company, 1936), p. 191. 3 Importance of the study. To use leisure time well requires a sense of values. Children should be educated to kno\IIT worthy lei sure time acti vi ties. Training for lei sure is one of the cardinal principles of education. Individuals need to be guided in the wise use of leisure time. Studies and observations shovl that leisure time when misused results in crime, delinquency, racketeering, immorality, and gambling. They also show that most crimes are committed during the non--v-.rorking hours. 3 . Whether or not leisure is put to good use in the in- dividual case <lepends on the type of educational and cultural developwent 1'1Thich has been achieved through study and ex­ perience.4. II. DEFINITIONS OF TER11S USED · Leisure. Leisure me.y be definec1 as the surplus time remaining after the normal necessities of life ha..ve been per­ formed.5 It is free time enabling a person to do as he chooses. Hyte Center and Hoover Building. The Byte Community Center and the Hoover Building are referred to frequently in · this study. These agencies are part of the present recreational 3 Ibid., p. 47. 4 Ibid., p. 39. ' 5 ·rbid., p. 1. / ~ i 4 ;~ ,1 facilities available for the Negro youth of rrerre haute, j' ,I Ind.iana. f j CHAPTER II REVIEvj OF PREVIOUS LITERNI'UHE There are many books aveilable on the subj ect of leisure; however, mo st of the mat erial wes obtained from re- cent periodicals. There is a greet need for 1'11"ell nlanned leisure time activities. There is a tremendous need for baseballs, bats, and all kinds of recreational equipment. The space, the centere, anci. the leisure time 8.ctivities should create an inner spirit of preventing children from going dead, of keeping youth really keen, of making it impossible for young married. folks to feel that they have gone stale, of helping old people in their wisdom to be willing to be happy. All living cannot be taken out of the home, the church, the club, and the factory and be tr8nsf'erred to recreational center s.