The development of organization and disorganization in the social life of a rapidly growing working-class suburb within a metropolitan district

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Content THE DErALOPMENT o:H' ORGJ~NI~:..TION AND DISORGL.NIZA'riON TI~ Tm.; SOCIAL LIFE OF A RAPIDLY GRONING WORIITNG-CIASS 3U5URB WITHIN A 1IL'l 1 ROPOUTAN DISTRICT A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Sociology University of Southern California In ?artial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy by Charles B. Spaulding .June 1939 This dissertation 1 written by ·----------------------------C:Il-1.?.~~E.S ___ 3_. ____ S_:?~t:.#<.l~LD.IJJ.Q- _____________ _ under the guidance of his ___ Faculty Committee on Studies 1 and approved by all its members 1 has been presented to and accepted by the Council on Graduate Study and Research 1 in partial ful fillment of requirements for the degree of DOCTOJYJ -~~ILOSOPHY ~········ dean ... P~~~;;f);z£{' Secretary \.._ - Date ____ l!li.Y-,- ___ l~_3.9 _______________________ _ Committee on Studies ~-rW~"f_4~ ~-~~ / Chairman ~-~-ff~ . C(;~ ~ -~----------------------------------------- ~~::t .................... , Jz~53;=~ ~ ~J TABLE OF CO~~ENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. STATEMENT OF THE ffiOBIEM AND IlliviEW OF REIJ~.TED LITERATURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Purpose of the study and definition of the terms "organization" and "disorganizationu . 1 II. Use of the terffiS "organization" and "disorgani zation" in current literature •. . . . . . . Justification of the study . . . . . . Related literature • . . . . . . . . . . . . . Development of the point of view • • . . . . studies of city life . . . . . . . . r.n:ethods and sources of data. • • • • . . . . . Organization of this report •• . . . . . . ECOLOGICAL PAT'rE.RNS. . . . . . . . The natural area • Physical history • • . . . A distinct culture area. Concentration of population. . . Ji:arly inhabitants •..•.•• Recent growth of population. • . . . . . . . . . . . Values sought •. Origins of newcomers . . . . . . . . . . Centralization and segregation . . . . . . . . 5 13 14 14 22 30 35 38 38 38 44 48 48 50 54 58 63 CHAPTER Centralization of business and location of major streets •••••• . . . . . . . . Culture differences between sections of iii PAGE 64 Bell Gardens • • • • • • • • • • • . 68 Fluidity and dispersion. • • • • • • • • . • 87 Mobility and stability • • • • • • • • • • • 91 Attitudes of residents towe.rd the commu- nity--favorable. • • • • • • • • • • • • 95 Attitudes toward the community--unfavorable 99 Economic necessity and mobility. . . . Ho~e for the future •. . . . . . . Social distances between Bell Gardens and 105 106 adjacent towns • • • • • • • • • • 107 Interest in early development. . . Friendly business relations. Evident social distances •• . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conclusions ••• . . . . . . . . . . . . . . III. ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION. . . . . . . . 108 109 110 113 115 116 116 Activities of the principal subdivider • Methods of sales promotion • • • • • Supervision of community activities. • • • 119 Early history of the subdivision • • • • • 119 The Borg Company . . . . . The struggle for existence • • • Housing and home ownership • . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 127 127 CHAPTER Methods of securing an income Planes and standards of living Business in Bell Gardens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conclusions • • • • • • • • . . . • • . . . . . iv PAGE 132 144 147 153 IV. FAMILY LIFE, LEISURE-TIME ACTIVITIES AND MALADJUSTMENT OF INDIVIDUALS . . . . . . . Patterns of family life • • • • • • • . . . Dominance of the family pattern Children in the family group Deily routine • • • • • • • • • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Acceptance of outsiders into the home • Marriage and courtship • • • • • • • • The social significance of leisure-time activities • • • • • • • • • • • • • . . . . . . .. . . . 155 156 156 162 166 167 168 171 Much time spent in the home community • • • • 171 Activities which take people outside Bell Gardens • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 176 Delinquency in Bell Gardens • • • • • . • • 179 Moderate rate of delinquency • • • • • • • • 179 Attitudes toward desirability of area • • • • 184 Individual weaknesses and embryo gangs • • • Conclusions • • • • • • . . . . . . . . . . 185 188 CHAPTER V. I'Hb PRACTICE OF r..ELIGIOh. • • . . . . . VI. Contacts with the churches. . . . . . The :.!ormons . . . . . The Full Goepel churches .•• The Baptist Church. • • • The Nazarene Church • . . . . Four SQuare Gospel Church The Church of Christ ••••• . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Catholic Cburch • • . . . . . . . . . . Ecological distribution of church memberships Characteristics of religious groups in Bell Gardens • • • . . . . . . . . . . . . . Small place of religious activities • . . . Sectarian and "fundam.entalistic" nature of church groups . • • . . . • • • • • • Democratic organization of churches and abeence of larger demoninations • . . Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . THE FOill~TION OF 3bCULAR GROUP3 • . . . . . . . Informal organizations .•.••• . . . . . . Neighboring • • ••••• . . . The coterie . . . . . The primary club. . . . Coterie of community leaders. . . . . . . v PAGE 190 190 190 196 202 203 205 207 210 211 215 215 220 222 224 226 226 227 230 231 234 CHAPTER For~al organizations. . . . . . . . . . . 1 ;\felfare purposes of all formal organiza- t ions . . . . . . . . . . . Impediments to welfare objectives . Borrowing of formal patterns by self- . . . vi ?AGJ:; 238 238 239 conscious groups. • . • . • . • • . • . • 241 The Vloman' s Club and the c;hamber of Commerce. • . . .. 241 The Boy Scout troops. • • • • • • • • 244 Townsend and Utopian clubs. • • • • • • • 244 The Democratic Club • . • • • . • • • 246 Community Center Club • • • • . • • • 248 The Home Buyers' Association. . . Non-Partisan League • • • • . . . . . . . The Coordinating Council. • The Parent-Teacher Associations • The Five Point Club The American Legion Club. . . . The Business Mens' Association. 249 252 252 256 258 260 262 Reasons for borrowing patterns. • 263 Suspicion between competing groups. 265 •rendency of members of formal organizations to belittle competing groups. . . • . 265 The place of the energetic leader • 266 vii PAGE Conflict of the tendency toward intramural coteries with welfare objectives. • . . . 267 Place of formal organizations in community life. • . . . . . . . . . . . . . I.:emberships outside of Bell Gardens Conclusions • . . VII. EDUCATIONAL PR OBIJ.!MS. • • The schools • • . • • . . . . . History of the school district •• Educational difficulties. • • • . . . Conservative policies of the Montebello district. . . . . . . . . . . . . Conflict over the schools • . . . . . . . Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . VIII. ATTITUDES OF THE PEOPLE TOWARD GOV.QU,L:...J:~T AND POLITICS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Attitudes toward incorporation •. Relationships ~dth governmental agencies. . . Goverrlinental services • • • • . . . . . . . 270 276 276 279 279 279 281 284 289 297 298 298 300 300 Attitudes toward local officials. • 304 Attitudes toward state and federal officials 308 • Political activities in Bell Gardens. Conclusions •..... . . 310 314 CHAPTER viii PAGE IX. Sln:.!IviARI ~D CONCLUSim~-.s. . . • . . . . • . . 316 Social organization and disorganization in Bell Gardens • . • . . • . • • • • • • • • . 317 Socio-organic diversification. . . . 317 The evolution of social organization and disorganization ••••••••. Isolation of the physical area • Concentration of population. • . . . . . . . Development of a neighborhood. Diversification of informal organization • Appearance of internal segregation and centralization . . • • . . . . . • . . . Rise of formal organizations and of suspicion among them • • • . . Increase in the rate of community growth • Increase of external social distances. lack of organization • • . • . • • • . • • Some implications of this study for social theory • . . • • • • • • • • . . . . Complexity of social evolution . . . Conflicts resulting from socio-organic diversification. • • • • • • • • . • • Causes of diversification and conflicts. Personality factors in conflict and cooperation. . . . . . . . 319 320 320 325 326 328 329 336 336 339 340 341 342 344 344 CHAPTER Interaction between primary and secondary groups. . . • • • •••• Results of diversification and conflicts .• Continuity of culture patterns •.. Usefulness of ecological concepts • • . Methodological note BIBLIOGP~PHY • . • • • • • • • . . . . . . . . . . . APPENDICES • . • • • . . . ix PAG_i!; 351 353 355 356 35? 358 369 LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE I. t!:stimated Attendance. from Bell Gardens and Transfers in and out of the Elementary Schools in Bell Gardens from September, 1934 to April, 1938. • • • • . • • • • • • • 52 II. 3tates in Which One Hundred Adult Residents of Bell Gardens Have Spent Most of Their Lives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . III. number of Years' Residence in California of One Hundred Adult Residents of Bell Gardens 59 Selected at Random • • • • • • • • . . . • • 60 IV. ~lumber of Families Known to the Nursing Division of the County Department of Health in July, 1938, According to Section. • • • • 78 V. Number of Lots and of Houses in Different Sections of Bell Gardens in July, 1938, According to Time of Subdivision, and Percentages of Houses to Lots. • • • • • • . 80 VI. Number of Children per Family and Total Number of Children in One Hundred Selected Families from Each of Three Major sections of Bell Gardens. • • . . . . . ~ . . .. . VII. Number of Families Who Withdrew Children from the Schools in Bell Gardens During the 3chool 81 Year of 1937-1938, by Section. • • • • • 92 xi TAB IE .P.h.GE VIII. Source of Income for One Hundred and Twelve Bell Gardens Men. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 IX. Types of Businesses in Which One Hundred and Twelve Bell Gardens Uen Are Iwnployed. . . • 135 X. Families Receiving Aid from Bureau of Indigent Relief or State Relief Administra- tion in July, 1938, 'by Sections • • • • • • 13? XI. Incomes Reported by One Hundred Bell Gardens Families for the Month Preceding the Inter- views, by Sections. • • • • • • . • • • 143 XII. Ages of Persons Living in One Hundred House- holds in Bell Gardens by Type of Family • • 159 XIII. Reasons for Arrest of Known Juvenile Delin~uents Living in Bell Gardens in 193? and 1938. • • • . • • • • • • • . • • • • • 18? XIV. Estimated Number of Active Adult Members in the Formal Organizations Existing in Bell · Gardens in July, 1938 • . . . . . . . . . . X.V. Perceptages of Pupils Who Vlere Overage in the Schools of the Montebello School District 271 in the Fall of 1937 • • • • • • • • • • • • 285 LI3 T OF I.IAP5 I. Location of 5ell Gardens . . . . . . . . . II. Order of Subdivision of, and Number of Lots in, the sections of Bell Gardens, Location of Businesses, Churches, and Schools • III. Home .A.ddresses of Families Known to the .PAGE 40 51 ~uraing Division of the Department of Health 77 IV. Home Addresses of Families Who Transferred Children from the School District During the School Year, 1937-1938 • • • • • • • • • • • 93 V. Home .t1..ddresses of .l!,amilies Receiving ..: ... id through Bureau of Indigent Relief or st~te Relief Administrution in July, 1938. . . • • 138 VI. Home hddresses of Juveniles Arrested between January, 1937 and May, 1938 and of iJ..dul t and Juvenile Probationers, as of July, 1938. • • 182 VII. Home Addresses of Fam.5.lies Belongir:g to the !f.ormon Church of Be 11 Gardens, July, 1938. • 213 VIII. Horn.e Addresses of the 1iember s of the Church of Christ and of Its Sunday School, July, 1938 • • • • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IX. Home Addresses of the Members of the Older Full Gospel Church of Bell Gardens and of Its Sunday School, August, 1938 •• . . . 214 215 xiii MAP PAGE X. Home Addresses of the Members of the Bell Gardens Chamber of Commerce . . . . . . 243 XI. Home Addresses of Members of the VJomen' s Club, 1938 ••••••• . . . 245 XII. Home Addresses of Members of the Home Buyers' Association, July, 1938 • • • • . • • . • • • 253 XIII. Home Addresses of Parent-Teacher Association 1:embers , July, 1938 • • . . . . . . . . . 259 XIV. .dome Addresses of Members and Former :rv:embers of the Five Point Club, July, 1938. • . . . . 261 CHAPTER I STAThMENT OF THE PROBLEM AND REVIE'Vv OF RELATED LIT.ERATURE I. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY AND D.6FINITION OF 'IHE T.E.RMS "ORGANIZATION" AND "DISORGANIZATION" The purpose of this study has been to describe the development of social organization and disorganization in a recently populated natural areal located on the outskirts of the contiguously populated district of Los Angeles, California. In this new community an influx of working people has been rapidly turning the open fields into quarter-acre lots with small dwellings of various types upon them. In the study of this area certain concepts or mental tools2 have been used, and some of them need to be defined. As used in the title of this report the term "social organi zation" implies that this stud¥ has concerned itself with the way in which the human beings in contact within this area have developed various specialized but interacting social 1 Harvey w. Zorbaugh, "The Natural Areas of the City," The Urban Community (Ernest w. Burgess, editor; Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1926), p. 233. As will be shown in Chapter II, section I, this area fulfills Zorbaugh's defi nition of a natural area, since it is a physically distinct area inhabited by a culture group different from those in surrounding communities. 2 Emory s. Bogardus, Contampdrary Sociology (Los Angeles: University of Southern California Press, 1931), p. 19. 2 structures or organs for the satisfaction of their needs, and also the way in which these social structures have or have not functioned harmoniously together for the achievement of common purposes. An organization is a functional arrangement of organs3 having systematic coordination. 4 It has one or more rune- tions or purposes to perform and develops specialized parts for doing specific portions of its tasks. The functioning of each of these specialized structures affects that of some or all of the others, and the peak of organized perfection is reached at the point where all the parts work together in such a way that the activities of each one are of assistance to all the others. However, if the various active units impede each other's progress to such an extent that major objectives are defeated, the resulting situation may be described as one of disorganization. Considered as a state, rather than as a process, the opposite of organization is disorganization, or chaos. The term "social," as here used, refers to two or more ' people in interaction, i.e., two or more people who are 3 Clarence Marsh Case, Outlines of Introductor~ Sociology (New York: Harcourt Brace and~ompany, 1924 , p. 579. 4 Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language (Springfield, Massachusetts: G. and c. Merriam Company, 1935), p. 1719, Def. 2. 3 influencing each other's behavior.5 When human beings are thrown together in aggregations of any permanency they begin to develop interacting behavior patterns through which they seek to obtain the satisfaction of their desires.6 Writers in sociology are apparently well agreed that such aggregates seldom, if ever, display complete and perfect organization nor absolute disorganization. There are almost always some relatively stable social patterns which aid in meeting certain needs and among which at least some rudimentary coordination exists. On the other hand, practically all societies afford illustrations of areas in which human needs go unmet because of the conflict, disinte gration, or lack of appropriate social structures.? Furthermore, patterns of social behavior are constantly changing, even though slowly, and frequently the state of organization and disorganization existing in a society at any given time can only be explained in terms of a long series of evolutionary processes8--the term "process" being here 5 Bogardus, 2£• cit., p. 118. 6 Edward Alsworth Ross, Social Control (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1916), especially Chaps. VI and VII. ? William I. Thomas, and Florian Znaniecki, The Polish Peasant in Europe and America (New York: Alfred A. Knoff, 192?), pP7 1129-1130. . 8 Charles Horton Cooley, Social Process (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1926), especially Chap. III. 4 defined, following Earle E. Eubank, as an orderly, related, sequential social change. 9 If organization and disorganization are defined as opposing states of social aggregates, and if they are the result of social changes, surely one of the problems of such a study as this must be to try to describe the social proc esses which may be discovered by an analysis of the develop ment of these phases of the life of this community. This study, then, has proposed to analyse the way in which the people in the area known as Bell Gardens have developed organizations, or social patterns of behavior, for the achievement of their purposes and to discover how these structures have affected one another and how much harmony and conflict exists among them. An effort has also been made to analyze the factors which have aided, directed, or retarded the development and harmonious functioning of these social organs •. ·Such an analysis has necessarily led into a study of the attitudes of the human beings involved, for the attitudes of human personality are the basic elements in social organization and disorganization.l 0 9 Earle ~. Eubank, The Concepts of Sociology (Boston: D. c. Heath and Company, 1932), p. 266. 10 Mabel A. Elliott and Francis E. Merrill, Social Disorganization (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1934), p. 22. 5 II. USE OF THE TERMS "ORGANIZATION" AND "DISORGANIZATION" IN CURRENT LITERATURE The use of the phrases "social organization" and "social disorganization" as outlined above seems to be justified in the light of their usage in American sociologi cal literature. Ferhaps the definitions which are most closely similar to the ones suggested here are those adopted by Queen, Bodenhafer, and Harper in their volume, Social Organization and Disorganization, except that they treat both concepts as though they were the names of processes. Never- theless, their fundamental criteria for determining the types of given processes appear to be the relationships be tween people which result from the action sequences being considered, and these criteria are of the same nature as those to be used in this study. These authors say: It must be apparent from what has gone before that disorganization is simply the opposite of organization. If the latter consists of those processes through which groups are built up, strengthened, enabled to meet crises and to control their own members, social disorganization consists of those processes through which groups are weakened, defeated, demoralized, and broken up. If social organization is a matter of developing institu tional structures which perfor.m functions acceptable to the people concerned, then disorganization is a matter of the breaking down of such institutions, their failure to function as intended, or continuance after their useful ness has ended. If social organization means the devel opment of relationships which persons and groups find mutually satisfactory, then disorganization means their 6 replacement by relationships which bring disappointment, thwarted wishes, irritation, and unhappiness.ll Charles Horton Cooley treated organization and dis organization as states and emphasized the facts that the term "social organization" covers the whole range of social patterns from the simplest to the most complex, that such organization arises to serve the needs of human beings, and that out of the complex organic interactions within itself any society selects those patterns of behavior which will serve its needs in the light of the total situation, in cluding other institutions and social patterns. The follow ing quotations selected from different portions of his work illustrate these points. This differential unity of mental or social life, present in the simplest intercourse but capable of indefinite growth and adaptation, is what I mean in this work by social organization.l2 The aim of all organization is to express human nature, and it does this through a system of symbols, which are the embodiment and vehicle of the idea. So long as spirit and symbol are vitally united and the idea is really conveyed, all is well, but so fast as they are separated the symbol becomes an empty shell, to which, however, custom, pride or interest may still cling.l3 11 Stewart A. Queen, Walter B. Bodenhafer, and Ernest B. Harper, ·social Organization and Disorganization (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1935},p: 53. 12 Charles H. Cooley, Social Organization (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1920), pp. 3-5. 13 Ibid., pp. 342-343. A process of adaptive "working" such as I have de scribed is a process of organization, because it tends 7 to bring about a system of co-ordinated activities fitted to the conditions, and that is what organization is.l4 Cooley's use of the concept "disorganization" tended to emphasize the fact that such disorganization is frequently a result of inflexibility on the part of established insti tutions in the face of changing human needs.l5 This is illustrated by the second quotation immediately above; and, a~ may be seen from an examination of the second and third quotations together, he regarded disorganization as a rela tively normal accompaniment of the processes whereby social structures are adapted to changed conditions. Clarence M. Case has expressed a viewpoint closely similar to that illustrated by'the third quotation from Cooley. He has said: The spirit [i.e. attitudes] of unity and harmonious working together resulting from individual and social ascendancy, mutual aid, and other unifying factors, must become embodied in the social structure in order to function effectively and systematically. This is ac complished through the process of organization.l6 It will be noted that both Cooley and Case emphasize coordination or unity as an essential part of organization, 14 Ibid., p. 19. 1 5 Charles H. Cooley, Robert C. Angell, and Lowell J. Carr, Introducto£1 Sociology (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1933), pp. 406-415. 16 Case, ££• cit., p. 579. 8 and this is also true of the works of Franklin H. Giddings.l7 The choice of sociological terms is always difficult, due to the differences in meanings and shades of meanings given to the same word by different writers and in different contexts. This is true of the terms here under discussion,l8 but at the same time there seems to be a strong similarity of fundamental meaning in the use of these terms. Surface differences appear, to be sure, and differences in emphasis, but there is almost always a basic similarity. One of the most inclusive definitions is used by Emory s. Bogardus when he says, ~social organization is the working arrangement whereby people react in a common universe of attitudes and values." 19 We should note, perhaps, that he speaks of a "working" arrangement and that this arrangement takes place in "a common [italics mine] universe of attitudes and values." In other words, Dr. Bogardus seems to assume that organization implies a degree, at least, of cooperation. The same writer tends to look upon disorganization as a normal aspect of social change and to emphasize its processual 17 Franklin H. Giddings, Inductive Sociology (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1914), p. 182. 18 Bogardus, 2E• cit., p. 299. 19 Loc. cit. 9 nature.20 He gives two closely related but slightly dif ferent definitions: (1) "Social disorganization is the upsetting of an established group life," and (2) in the same paragraph (citing Thomas in a footnote), "Social disorganiza tion is the decrease of the influence of existing social rules of behavior upon individual members of the group.n21 The first definition points out the place of disorganization as a process in society, while the second emphasizes the problems of social control which arise in situations where social structures thwart human desires. w. I. Thomas and Florian Znaniecki in their joint work emphasize the aspect of social control in social organ- ization and the lack of such control in social disorganiza tion. Effective control is effective organization. On the surface it would seem that their usage differed essentially from that proposed in this document, 22 but when one stops to consider that a great portion of their work is devoted to the demonstration of the fact that, when the social behavior patterns of immigrant groups fail to function harmoniously in American life, social disorganization follows, one sees 20 Ib "d . l. ., p. 345. 21 L . OC. Cl. t • I /" 22 Thomas and Znaniecki, .212• cit., pp. 1127-1130. that the two are closely related.23 There is a real dif ference, however. In the one case social organization is the condition existing when there is a stability of social life due to the dominant position of the behavior patterns approved by the group. In the other, social organization ~ the condition which exists when various individuals or groups in contact are working effectively together toward 10 the attainment of common purposes, and are not unreasonably impeding each other. Of course, that situation in which the existing social machinery is meeting reasonably satisfac torily the ~ needs of the people will probably be the same situation in which the authority of existing ways of doing will be held in high esteem. Therefore,it seems that in practioe, the two sets of criteria for determining the presence or absence of social organization or disorganization are likely to return similar verdicts for the situations to which they may be applied. Robert H. Lowie's use of the phrase social organiza tion is perhaps the most variant of those here discussed. When Lowie uses the word he seems to mean simply the sum total of the established relationships between the individ uals in any group. From this point of vie~ it would seem that a dog fight and a dog team are equally organized, 23 Ibid., part III. 11 although the organization is surely of a different type. 2 4 From the point of view of this study a dog fight probably shows little evidence of organization because the individual members are impeding rather than promoting the expressed purposes of one another. Yet the article of Lowie's which has been cited is a discussion of different types of insti tutional arrangements among primitive peoples. It would seem that these are primarily accepted "working arrange- menta." Elliott and Merrill apparently attempt to define social organization much as does Lowie, 25 and to look upon social disorganization simply as the breakdown of social structures, a continuous process which brings with it a certain amount of attendant confusion. 26 But in their actual treatment of community disorganization their usage of the terms indicates an association of organization with the idea of community efficiency and of disorganization with the reverse. 27 Good working bibliographies on both of these terms 24 Robert H. Lowie, "Social Disorganization," Encyclopedia of \he Social Sciences, Vol. XIV, p. 140. -25 Elliott and Merrill, £E• cit., p. 8. 26 Ibid., p. 20. 27 Ibid., p. 578. 12 may be round in Eubank's Concepts of Sociology. 2 8 Perhaps it may be well to note also that this is a study of social organization and not of community organiza tion in the narrow meaning of that phrase. "Social organi zation is the changing relationships of people growing out of their conscious and unconscious efforts to live together in same degree of harmony.»29 The phrase "community organi zation" has come to have a connotation all its own. It refers to the efforts put forth to improve the effectiveness of the institutions operating in a community30 or the attempts to solve community problems by the development of service agencies.31 The weapon of the community organization move ment is the community 32 or social33 survey which seeks data on needs and agencies rather than upon the nature of social evolution. Such surveys usually have an immediate practical 28 Eubank, ~· cit., pp. 452 and 560. 29 Bessie A. McClenahan, "The Changing Nature of an Urban Residential Area," (unpublished Doctor's dissertation, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, 1928), p. 319. . 30 Jesse F. Steiner, Community Organization (New York: The Century Company, 1930), p. 162. 31 Walter w. Pettit, Case Studies in Community Or~ani- zation (New York: The Centur~mpany, 19!8), preface,~- passim. 32 McClenahan, 2P• cit., p. 252. 33 . Philip Klein, A Social rtud! Qf Pittsburg (New York: Columbia University Press, 938 ,-p. xi. 13 objective. That the data gathered during the course of such a survey frequently approaches in character the material collected in a research of the present type may be seen by a cursory examination of such a volume as that of Klein's. 34 III. JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY Los Angeles and its surrounding district constitute one of those great new urban centers which have had such a large part in disrupting the peacefulness of modern life and putting a strain upon the social institutions inherited from past generations. This wrenching of the institutions of the past, together with the great mass of new ways of doing which have sprung up in the myriads of different types of areas which are to be found in the environs of the modern metropolis, have made modern wildernesses35 of these great regions. They provide the hunting grounds for modern corporate business and raise a host of problems of baffling complexity for the educator, the social worker, and the public official. A number of studies have already been made of the general organization of these regions and several special studies have appeared depicting the organization of life 34 Ibid., p. xi and part I. 35 Robert A. Woods, editor, The Citl Wilderness (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1899), 319 pp. within specific smaller areas. 36 It is hoped that this study may add further light to the searching analysis of this intricate problem by describing social life in yet another type of area. 14 Such studies are of value both to the theoretician and to the social engineer. A gradual accumulation of stud ies of social organization in these small areas within the larger regions aids in the comprehension of the whole, just as a careful analysis of the hand, foot, or heart leads to a better understanding of the functioning of the whole human body. The continual study of the rise of social structures in many different situations seems to be the only road to the development of valid principles or laws of social or ganization. Finally, such studies are of immediate use to I the social worker, the educator, or the public official who is dealing with individuals and groups in these districts; for they give him an insight into the nature of many of the problems which he is called upon to face. They are detailed maps of the social wilderness. IV. RELATED LITERATURE Development ~ ~ point ~ ~· In the development 36 See the following section on related studies for titles and descriptions of some of these works. 15 of the series of studies concerning the modern city as well as in the growth of the whole American sociological movement two impulses have been of fundamental importance. The first of these was the effort to reduce social life to a science comparable to the physic~l sciences. 37 This tendency orig inated in Europe, notably at the hands of Comte and Spencer, and was relayed to the United States by a series of writers among wham Lester F. Ward and Albion W. Small were preeminent. The second great impulse was a surge of humanitarian feeling which blossomed in the United States in the latter half of the nineteenth century. 38 After 1885, it led to a discussion of many social problems in special university courses in this country.39 These two fields of study with the courses which developed about them were brought together in the new departments of sociology which began to spring up in the colleges and universities. At first there was little contact between them. The science of sociology proceeded on a grandiose philosophical scale, and students of social prob lems found little that was helpful to them therein. 37 Floyd Nelson House, The Development of Sociology (New York: The McGraw-Hill Bo~Company, 19361: p. 220. 38 12.2 • cit • 39 Ibid., p. -225. 16 But constant rubbing of shoulders is bound to have its effect in the sphere of ideas as well as in the relations of human beings, and between 1915 and 1918 those sociologists who wished to be scientists began to exchange their social telescopes for social microscopes and to examine in detail the social matrix around them. Thus House remarks: For convenience, the history of American sociology may be divided into two periods: (1) from the publication of W~rd's Rfnamic Sociology in 1883 to the publication of Thomas and Znaniecki's The Polish Peasant in 1918 and (2) from 1918 to the present. The publication of The Polish Peasant serves to signalize the shift of American soclo!ogy from a speculative to a research basis •••• 40 In that area of modern sociology within which this study lies, this shift of viewpoint had already been empha sized by a signal event. This was the publication in the American Journal £! Sociology of an article from the pen of Robert E. Park ~efining the approach to, and indicating the nature of, the researches required for a more complete under standing of the modern city.41 The viewpoint expressed in this article may be indicated by selected quotations from a later and revised presentation which appeared in 1925:42 40 Ibid., p. 294. 4 1 Robert E. Park, "The City: SUggestions for the Investigation of Human Behavior in the City Environment," The American Journal of Sociology, 20:577-612, March, 1915. --- Steiner, 2E:-cit., p. 17. 42 Robert E. Park, Ernest w. Burgess, and Roderick D. McKenzie, The Citl (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1925), pp.~46. 17 The city from the point of view of this paper, is something more than a congeries of individual men and of social conveniences •••• The city is, rather, a state of mind, a body of customs and traditions, and of the organized attitudes and sentiments that inhere in these customs and are transmitted with this tradition. The city is not, in other words, merely a physical mechanism and an artificial construction. It is involved in the vital processes of the people who compose it; it is a product of nature, and particularly of human nature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . From this point of view, we may, if we choose, think of the city, that is to say, the place and the people, with all the machinery and administrative devices that go with them, as organically related; a kind of psycho logical mechanism in and through which private and po litical interes~find not merely a collective but a corporate expression. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Anthropology, the science of man, has been mainly concerned up to the present with the study of primitive people. But civilized man is quite as interesting an object of investigation, and at the same time his life is more open to observation and study. Urban life and culture are more varied, subtle, and complicated, but the fundamental motives are in both instances the same. The same patient methods of observation which anthropol ogists like Boas and Lowie have expended on the study of the life and manners of the North American Indian might be even more fruitfully employed in the investigation of the customs, beliefs, social practices, and general con ceptions of life prevalent in Little Italy on the lower North Side in Chicago, or in recording the more sophis ticated folkways of the inhabitants of Greenwich Village and the neighborhood of Washington Square, New York.43 This article marks the beginning of a somewhat or ganized and self-conscious attack upon the sociology, or \ . perhaps the anthropology, of the city. But before mentioning the writers who have contributed to this development, notice 43 Ibid., pp. 1-3. 18 must be taken of some earlier but related work. Steiner points out three general groups of earlier materials: (1) a few scattered researches which were primarily oriented toward the comprehending of human relations by scientific research, 44 (2) the consideration of community problems by conferences of social workers,45 and (3) the development of the social survey movement.46 The first group of works is represented by scattered books and dissertations produced at Columbia and at the University of Chicago. Of the half-dozen titles listed by Steiner perhaps the attempt of Vincent to intro duce the community study point of view into the Introduction to ~ Study of Society47 which he wrote in collaboration with Albion w. Small and the volume entitled An American Town by Williams are the most important--the first because it was a formal textbook and the latter because of its rela tively wide circulation. 4 8 In addition to these studies which seem to have been rather closely associated with the main trend of sociological 44 Steiner, ~· cit., pp. 124-125. 45 Ibid., Chap. II. 46 Ibid., Chap. VII. 47 George E. Vincent and Albion s. Small, An Intro duction to the Study of Society (New York: American Book Campany,-r894), Book II. 48 Steiner, ££• cit., p. 125. 19 development in this country, a search through a good library using the Dewey decimal system in the sections numbered 352 and immediately following will produce a whole series of books on city life written from the viewpoint of city plan ning, city government, or merely humanitarian interest. Of these only one will be mentioned here, because of its fame and because it deals with metropolitan suburbs. Satellite Cities by Graham R. Taylor is a discussion of the upsurge of independence on the part of the populace in industrial sub urbs originally created by the "fiat" of some modern in dustrial giant.49 The history of the place of community studies in the discussions of the National Conference of Charities and Corrections and of its successor the National Conference of Social Work is the story of a gradually growing realization on the part of the directors of those bodies that the funda mental forces of community life must be given adequate con sideration if social workers are to be truly effective. By 1918 the advocates of this point of view had won a recognized place in the National Conference.50 Chapter seven of Steiner's book deals with the 4 9 Graham R. Taylor, Satellite Cities (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1915), 333 pp. 50 Steiner, 2E• cit., p. 16. well-known story of the evolution of the social survey. Citing in passing such early English studies as those of Booth and Roundtree, he hastens on to a discussion of the early writings of the settlement workers and advocates of 20 slum clearance, mentioning Jacob Riis, Jane Addams, Robert A. Woods, and others. OUt of these efforts to depict the evil conditions against which those writers were battling grew the modern survey movement, which is essentially an effort to measure and understand the difficulties confronting the community worker in order that more intelligent efforts may be made to deal with them. In contrast to the works of the research sociologists these surveys are likely to aim more immediately at the location of areas requiring "practical reform·•5l and less at the understanding of the fundamental social proc essas behind these problems. This difference becomes read ily apparent when one compares the .following quotation from ' the "Introductory" to one of the six volumes of the Pittsburg Survey with the quotations from the article by Dr. Park re produced above_: The plan of the survey proposed a careful and fairly comprehensive study of the conditions under which work ing people live and labor in a great industrial city;. and a fair public stateme~t of facts discovered. It was 51 ~·' p. 125. - hoped that the discovery of these facts would lead to the prompt application of some practical measures, 21 whose value to the community would be readily recognized, and that with respect to such conditions as are firmly rooted in custom and convention, they would afford a basis for efforts to secure legislative or other reme dies. It was hoped, too, that they would constitute a body of evidence, such as we had never had, bearing on ou~ national civilization, and that they would supply a foundation for further study in a deeper and more compre hensive way of conditions whose consequences are little understood, although they affect vitally our whole community life.52 The Pittsburg Survey was the first important American community survey and still ranks as one of the best. It not only presents a mighty array of facts concerning working people; but, in two of its volumes especially, it approaches the type of fundamental study of the social process attempted by later research students who aimed more directly at this phase of study.5 3 The other volumes of this survey also contain scattered material of this character. Since the Pittsburg Survey of 1907-1908, many surveys, good, bad, and indifferent, of many phases of American life have been completed; but since our interest in the history of the survey lies only in pointing out that it was one of 52 Elizabeth B. Butler, Women and the Trades: Pittsburg, 1907-1908 (Pittsburg Survey. New York: Charities Publication Committee, 1911), p. 1. 53 Paul u. Kellogg, editor, Wage-Earning Pittsburs (The Pittsburg Survey. New York: Survey Associates, Inc., 1914 ). Margaret F. Byington, Homestead: The Households of a Mill Town (The Pittsburg Survey. New York: Charities PuDI!Cation Committee, 1910). 22 the movements which impelled American sociologists toward a more realistic study of the city, we may leave a more de tailed exposition of this story to others and return to our main theme. Studies of city life. Following the publication of Dr. Park's article indicating the need for an anthropologi cal approach to that psychic organism known as the city, several years elapsed before any concrete study appeared to begin filling in the outline which he had prepared. In the meantime, however, the attention of students of sociology had been much more effectively focused upon monographic studies of contemporary civilized communities by the appear ance of Thomas and Znaniecki's ~Polish Peasant in Europe and .America in 1918. Finally, Roderick D. McKenzie presented as a doctoral thesis to the Department of Sociology at the University of Chicago The Neighborhood: ! Study of Social Life in Columbus, Ohio.54 Since that time a number of stud- --- - ies have appeared in this field, many of them directly acknowledging the leadership of the Department of Sociology at Chicago and frequently published by the press of that university. 54 Roderick D. McKenzie, The Neighborhood: A Studl of Social Life in Columbus, Ohio·(Chlcago: University-of Ch oago Press, ~}-;-108 pp. - 23 Several research works have been devoted to the general aspects of city growth. Perhaps the most popular of these is the relatively new book by Lewis Mumford entitled The Culture of Cities.55 It is devoted to a broad-scale discussion of the growth of cities since the Middle Ages and to a profound analysis of the place and problems of the city in modern life. Another inclusive approach to the under standing of the city as a modern phenomenon was presented by the article on "The Rise of Metropolitan Communities" by R. D. McKenzie in Recent Sooial Trends. 56 This study was elaborated in one of the series of monographs which accom panied that work.57 The approach in these reports is ecological, and emphasis is placed not only upon the place of the city in modern life, but also upon its internal structure, its effects upon its inhabitants, and its rela tionships to its region. Another recent work which provides primaTily an analysis of the larger institutional framework of city life in the United States during the last fifty years 55 Lewis Mumford, The Culture of Cities (New York: Harcourt Brace and Compan~l938), 58~pp. 56 Roderick D. McKenzie, "The Rise of Metropolitan Communities," Recent Social Trends (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1933), pp. 443-496 • . 57 Roderick D. McKenzie, The Metropolitan Communitt (monographs in Recent Social TrendS. New York: McGraw-Hi 1 Book Company, Inc., 1933}, 352 pp. . 24 is Metropolis: ! Studz of Urban Communities by Howard Woolston of the University of Washington. 58 Two small vol umes from the University of Chicago Press also treat of the more general aspects of the problem of the city. The Citz by Park, Burgess, and McKenzie appeared in 1925, and contains statements concerning the general viewpoints of these men toward the study of this particular phase of human associa tion, together with a review of several studies which had been made since 1915. 59 In 1926,Dr. E. w. Burgess edited a volume composed of selected papers read at the meeting of the American Sociological Society in 1925. 60 Lacking the unity of a work carefully prepared by one or two men, it presents a good cross-section view of the various efforts which were being made by sociologists in their efforts to understand metropolitan life. Another work of unique interest is the volume entitled ~ American Corm:nunitz in Action, by Steiner.61 It presents a series of brief descriptions of 58 Howard Woolston, Metropolis: f:: st 0 dz of Urban Communities (New York: D. Appletron-Century ompany, 1938), 325 pp. 59 Park, Burgess, and McKenzie, £E• cit., 239 pp. 60 Ernest w. Burgess, editor, The Urban Communitz (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1926~68 pp. 61 ' Jesse F. Steiner, editor, The American Communitz in Acti~ (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1928}, 392 pp. 25 the development and organization of the home communities of a number of graduate students who have participated in Professor Steiner's graduate classes, accompanied by comments from the editor. Also of peculiar interest is a recent publication of the Government Printing Office entitled Our Cities. 62 It is a report by the Urbanism Committee of the National Resources Board outlining the role of cities in "our national economy." 63 Interestingly enough, Louis Wirth, a member of the sociology faculty at the University of Chicago, is a member of this Urbanism Committee, and parts one and two of this study reflect the trend of thought here under discussion. From the pens of many different writers has come a considerable group of works describing some particular as- pact of city life. Clifford Shaw has studied delinquency areas in Chicasoey 4 and elsewhere.65 Thrasher has written 62 Urbanism Committee of the National Resources Board, Our Cities (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1937), 87 pp. 63 Ibid., p. i. 6 4 Clifford R. Shaw, Delinquenc~ Areas (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1929f; 214 pp. 65 Clifford R. Shaw,, and Henry D. McKay, Social Factors in Juvenile Delinquency (National Commission on Law Enforce ment Relort on Causes of Crime. Washington, D.C.: Govern- ment Pr nting-Office, 1931), Part II. . 26 on the boys' gang in Chicago. 66 Dr. Bogardus has studied the problems of boys in Los Angeles, 67 and Dr. Pauline v. Young has depicted the life and problems of an immigrant group of Russian peasants in the same city.68 The Ghetto69 and the Lower North Side70 in Chicago have been analysed as have also Greenwich Village in New York 7 1 and a changing urban residential area in Los Angeles.72 Cressey has studied the taxi-dance ha11, 73 and the hobo,74 the professional thief, 7 5 and the saleslady76 have had the honor of a volume 66 Frederic M. Thrasher, The ~ (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1927), 571 pp. 67 Emory s. Bogardus, ~ City Boy and His Problems (Los Angeles: Rotary Club of Los Angeles, 1926~148 pp. 68 Pauline V. Young, The Pilgrims of Russian .!2!!! (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 19~), 296 pp. 69 Louis Wirth, The Ghetto (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1928)~06 pp. '70 Harvey w. Zorbaugh, The Gold Coast and ~ Slum (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 19291, 302 pp. 71 Coraline F. Ware, Greenwich Village (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1935), 496 pp. 72 Bessie A. McClenahan, The Changing Urban Neighbor- hood (Los Angeles: University of Southern California, 1929), IiOpp. 73 Paul G. Cressey, ~ Taxi-dance Hall (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1932}, 300 pp. 74 Nels Anderson, The Hobo (Chicago: The University of Chicago ~ress, 1923), 302 pp. 75 Edwin H. Sutherland, editor, The Professional Thief (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1937), 257 pp. 76 Frances R. Donovan, The Saleslady (Chicago: The 27 each; while several volumes have _been devoted to the pre sentation of the life histories of juvenile delinquents from the city wilderness. 7 7 The work of the Mowrers in their studies of family life is also largely a report on the urban family. 7 8 The noted volume entitled Chicago:! More Intimate ~ of Urban Politics by Professor Merriam of Chicago does not owe its origin to the impulse in American sociology which we have been tracing, but the superior picture which it pre sents of the social forces that go into the making, or break ing, of a great city surely entitles it to a place in this array. 79 Passing mention should also be made of the books describing Middletown (Muncie, Indiana) prepared by Robert and Helen Lynd with the assistance of a staff of field 76 {continued University of Chicago Press, 1929), 267 pp. 77 Clifford R. Shaw, editor, The Jack-Roller: A Delinquent ~oy's Own Story (Chicago: The-University of Chicago Press, 1930 • - · Clifford R. Shaw, The Natural History of a Delin ~ Career (Chicago: The University of-chicago~ess, 1931), ~p. 78 Ernest R. Mowrer, The Family (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press,~32). Ernest R. Mowrer, Famill Disorganization (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 9~). 79 Charles E. Merriam, Chicago: A More Intimate View of Urban Politics (New York: The Macmil!an-GOmpany, 192gr:- 305 pp. 28 workers. 80 While these deal with a relatively small and somewhat more self-sufficient town in the great Middle West, they are excellent examples of the point of view and method ology which has grown out, of this particular strand in the growing network of sociology. In addition to these reports of research several books designed to serve as texts for classes in urban sociology have been placed on the market. Urban Society by Gist and Halbert is a well-rounded discussion of the contemporary city. It stresses the ecological approach. 81 Among other available texts, that by Niles Carpenter 82 and that by Anderson and Lindeman83 come nearest to representing the psycho-organic point of view represented by the series of researches mentioned above. A book of readings planned on a broad scale has been published by Scott Bedford. 84 Two books which present the institutional aspects of city problems are 80 Robert s. Lynd and Helen M. Lynd, Middletown (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1929), 550 pp. Robert s. Lynd and Helen M. Lynd, Middletown in Transition (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1937i;604PP• York: York: 81 Noel P. Gist, and L. A. Halbert, Urban Society (New Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1933), 724 pp. 82 Niles Carpenter, The Sociologl of ~ity Life (New Longmans, Green and Company, l931 , 50 pp. 83 Nels Anderson, and Edward c. Lindeman, Urban Sociologr (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1928), 414 pp. 84 Scott E. ,,AT. Bedford, ReadiHs !!!_Urban Sociologl (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 27), 9~p. 29 Urban Sociology by Muntz 85 and Problems of Citz Life written by Maurice R. Davie.86 This current in modern sociology has already been reflected in the dissertations presented to the Department of Sociology at the University of Southern California. George M. Day has studied the efforts of a group of aristo cratic Russian emigres to preserve their culture in the metropolitan life of Hollywood, 87 and Bessie A. McClenahan has studied the changing social organization of an urban residential district. 88 The impact of the city upon the behavior patterns of a relatively small sectarian religious 89 group in Los Angeles has been studied by Carl D. Wells. The Negroes and the Russian Molokans have had their problems 85 Earl E. Muntz~ Urban Sociol£SZ (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1938]. 86 Maurice R. Davie, Problems of City Life (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1932}, 730pp. -- 87 George M. Day, ttThe Russian Colony in Hollywood: A Study in Culture Conflict," (unpublished Doctor's disserta tion, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Cali fornia, 1930), 283 pp. 88 McClenahan, £E• cit., 140 pp. 89 Carl D. Wells,"A Changing Social Institution in an Urban Environment: A Study of Changing Behavior Patterns of the Disciples of Christ in Los Angeles," (unpublished Doctor's dissertation, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, 1931), 276 pp. I analysed by J. Max Bond90 and Pauline Vislick-Young91 respectiJ91Y. 30 The present study takes a large portion of its signifi cance from the fact that it is a minor skirmish in this mass attack upon the city. V. METHODS AND SOURCES OF DATA The object of this research has been to study a social group 92 in action, to comprehend the whole community 93 proc ess, and to discover how the interacting behavior of in dividuals has resulted in social organization and disorgani zation. Social organization is merely the outline pattern of 90 J. Max Bond, "The Negro in Los Angeles," (unpub lished Doctor's dissertation, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, 1936), 364 pp. 91 Pauline Vislick-Young,"Assimilation Problems of Russian Molokans in Los Angeles," (unpublished Doctor's dissertation, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, 1930), 524 pp. 92 "A Social Group is Any Number of Living Beings in Interaction," Enory s. Bogardus, Sociolosz (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1934), p. 4. 93 Bell Gardens is a community in the sense that it is a group of people who live together in a local area and in fluence each other. Robert L. Sutherland and Julian L. Woodward, Introductory Sociologz (Chicago: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1937), p. 347. There is also a certain amount of psychological unity among the people. Elliot and Merrill, 2£• cit., p. 569. ' the habitual or repeated behavior of individuals in inter action.94 And since this behavior results from the con junction of attitudes and~alues, 95 social behavior cannot 31 be understood without an analysis of the attitudes involved. 96 If we define an attitude as an established tendency to react in a certain ~anner to a situation defined 97 in a certain way, 9 8 the next problem is how to determine what are the attitudes of the people in the situations being studied. Something may be done toward the discovery of atti tudes by observation of behavior. Having observed many dogs one might conclude that most dogs have an attitude which causes them to bark at strangers who invade their masters' homes. But this method is cumbersome. It requires many repeated observations to determine the attitude and the 94 "The notion [of interaction] involves not merely the idea of bare collision and rebound, but something much more profound; namely, the internal modifiability of the colliding agents." Alexander T. Ormund, Foundations of Knowledge (London: 1900), pp. 70-72. Cited with approval by Robert E. Park and Ernest W. Burgess in their.discussion of interaction in Chapter VI of Introduction to the Science of Sociology (Chicago: University of' Chicago Press, 1921), 1040 pp. 95 Thomas and Znaniecki, QE• cit., pp. 44 and 1831. The viewpoint expressed in the remainder of this paragraph is based directly upon the methodological ideas developed by the above authors. 96 \ Ibid., p. 41. 97 ~-' p. 1852. 98 Bogardus, Contemporarl Sociology, p. 163 ff. 32 situation to which it prompts a response. The problem is complicated also by the fact that it is well nigh impossible to discover how the individual defines the situation without more intimate association than that which the traditional behaviorist has with the rat in his maze. - Nevertheless, observation has been used frequently in this study. The writer has sat and watched traffic on streets and bridges, children playing in the river bed, and men at work on their houses on SUnday morn-ings. Fortunately, human beings are able to communicate with one another--more or less imperfectly to be sure--and this makes possible a more or less direct revelation of the feel- 99 ing states which 100 direct or, if you like accompany the ex- plicit behavior of individuals. This process of communi- 101 -- 102 cation results from sympathy which in turn, is based upon the similar biological nature of human organisms. The mechanisms of communication are signs and symbols of many 99 Walter Lippman, Public Opinion (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1922), espec1ally Parts I, II, and III. This work treats certain aspects of this difficulty only. 100 Fleming A. c. Perrin~nd David B. Klein, Psychology: Its Methods ~ Principles (New York: Henry Holt and Company,-r926), p. 151. 101 \ Cooley, Angell, and Carr, 2£• cit., p. 35. 102 Charles H. Cooley, "The Roots of Social Knowledge," American Journal of Sociology, 32:60, July, 1936. Hornell~art, The Science of Social Relations (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 192?},-sl ff. 33 varieties, the most important group of symbols constituting that complex known as language.l03 In sociological research several standard methods have been devised for discovering the types of attitudes present in any group of individuals. 10 4 Of these, the methods used in this study were the interview, 105 the participant ob server,l05 and the study of documents.l 07 Many interviews have been used in the course of this study. People as individuals and in groups have been con- tacted, and conversations long, short, and intermediate have 108 been held. Formal appointments have been made. Chance conversations with men waiting for busses, women digging "crack grass," and boys selling magazines have also yielded valuable data. A fairly complex schedule was developed and the writer, with the assistance of two young women, called at one hundred houses selected at random to secure desired 103 Cooley, Angell, and Carr,~· cit., pp. 37-42. 104 Sutherland and Woodward, ~· cit., pp. 224-237. 105 Emory s. Bogardus, The New Social Research (Los Angeles: Jesse Ray Miller, 19261: pp. 69-70: and Part V. 105 Emory s. Bogardus, Introduction to Social Research (Los Angeles: Suttonhouse Ltd., 1936), pp. 70-73. 107 Emory s. Bogardus, The New Social Research, Chaps. I and VIII. - -- 108 For a definition and an excellent discussion of interviewing, Pauline V. Young, Interviewin~ in Social Work (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1935), Defin~ tions on pp. 1-5. 34 information. An effort was made to contact every twentieth house throughout the area plus a few extras chosen to com plete the desired number. Many opportunities were found to participate in group meetings and gatherings of various kinds. Perhaps the most valuable information was obtained through this participant observer technique. The documentary evidence available for this study was scarce indeed. A few political campaign documents, a few stray pieces of promotional material, and the partially com plete files of three weekly or semiweekly newspapers complete the list. In addition to these standard methods of discovering attitudes, statistical analysis and map studies were used to complete the picture of community life. The public records of the State Emergency Relief Administration, the County Bureau of Indigent Relief, the Huntington Park Health Center, the schools, the County Assessor's Office, and the County Probation Department each contributed valuable data. Much of the data obtained from public agencies and part of that obtained by means of the schedules was of a statistical character. These data have been presented in tables, and simple statistical averages have been obtained in some cases. The data did not seem to warrant the use of more complex statistical manipulations. Finally, considerable attention 35 has been given to the spatial distribution of people, in stitutions, and culture traits within the area studied. A base map was preparedl09 and several distributions of data made upon it. An attempt has been made to understand the social forces producing these patterns of distribution by means of the interviewing and~articipant observer techniques. VI. ORGANIZATION OF THIS REPORT Social life presents a certain psycho-organic unity;lo and actual responses to social situations are based on a kind of mental synthesis of the total situation 111 which it is almost impossible to reproduce in a series of written pages; for the very necessity of writing causes one to treat some things before others, thus artifically dismembering the living organism. It is hard to keep social physiology from being ·set forth in a framework of social anatomy; and it is, therefore,_always difficult to overcome the impression that 109 Earle F. Young, "The Social Base Map," Journal of Applied Sociology, 10:202-206, January-February, 1925. 110 Nicholas J. Spykman, The Social Theory of ~;org Simmel (Chicago: The University or-chicago Press, 192 , Book I, Chap. I, especially p. 27. 111 Earle E. Eubank, "The Concept of the Person," Sociologl_and Social Research, 12:360-364, March-April, 192e, especial y p. 360. 36 the different sections of a treatise describing any complex social situation are units in themselves, each treating its own separate and distinct class of phenomena. But this im pression must be overcame as far as possible, for the dif ferent chapters of such a treatise are merely selected aspects of a social whole around which it seems possible to arrange the data with the least possible distortion of per- spective. \ Many writers have faced this problem, and they seem to have evolved a somewhat standardized series of words which describe certain great functions or important phases of the life of most societies. .Among these terms are found: "the family," "religion," "education," "club life," etc. 112 Accordingly this work is devided into chapters which display such terms in their titles. Following this intro duction is a chapter on the fundamental ecological or dis tributive aspects of the community life. This is followed by chapters dealing with economic organization; family life, recreation and individual maladjustments; problems of indi viduals; and religious activities. Chapter VI, dealing with the formation of secular groups of all sorts, is a more important part of this work than of many because special attention was given to this phase of community organization 112 Lynd and Lynd, ~· cit., Contents, pp. ix and x. 37 in the study of which this is a report. The next two chapters constitute standard divisions of such studies and deal with education, and government and politics. The final chapter, the summary, attem~ts to collect the more important findings of the study and to emphasize in more explicit form some conclusions which may fail to stand out clearly in the main body of the text because the necessity of using a framework for the presentation of the data has made it impossible to display all the important tendencies in equal relief. CHAPTER II ECOLOGICAL PATTERNSl This chapter deals with certain basic data concerning the distribution of human beings, culture traits, and insti tutions within Bell Gardens. Two points of view are evident. Some of the data deal with the differences between this area and other areas within the metropolitan district. Among these are facts concerning the physical characteristics of the area, the reasons for the concentration of people, mobi lity of population, and relationships with surrounding com munities. Other materials indicate important structural characteristics within the area such as the centralization of institutions and differences between sections. Additional data of an ecological nature will be presented in later chapters where they seem to be of greater significance, but this chapter attempts to describe a series of basic factors of vital importance in the community life. I. THE NATURAL AREA 2 Physical history. Bell Gardens lies within a physically 1 McKenzie defines ecology as "• •• a study of the spatial and temporal relations of human beings as affected by the selective, distributive, and accommodative forces of the environment." Robert E. Park, Ernest W. Burgess, and Roderick D. McKenzie, The City, p. 63. 2 "A natural area is a geographical area characterized 39 distinct area which is bounded on the west by the dikes along the new channel of the Los Angeles River, on the south by the tracks of the Southern Pacific railway, on the east by the wandering course of the Rio Hondo, and on the north by the Pacific Electric right of way. Down through the center of this area in a general north and south direction runs the right of way of the Southern California Edison Company, a strip of land perhaps two hundred feet vrlde above which hang high ten- sion wires. These are the main-line wires from the big gener ating plant on the beach near Wilmington. This land under the electric lines is, of course, not suitable for homes, al though it is being used for truck gardens by a Japanese farmer. As can be seen by the map on the following page, Bell Gardens does not yet cover all of the land between the rivers and the tracks, but lots are now being sold in the large un developed area in the northeast corner. The cities of Bell and Cudahy straggle up to the Los Angeles River on the west bank, vrlth the exception that one small street along that bank between Florence and Gage Avenues was subdivided by the promoters of Bell Gardens. This small area is not freqllently mentioned in this study because its residents look toward Bell for social contacts. There are a few lots in the.very western end of area I in 2 (continued) both by physical individuality and by the cultural charac teristics of the people who live in it.tt Harvey w. Zorbaugh, "The Natural Areas of the City," The Urban Conununity, p. 223. • • • LOCATION Or BE:LL GARDE:NS • • • • ' • • • MAPr. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ' • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • • • • • • --------- GAT£ - -- --- ---- • Ye.presents an l,..,Ju:Jtrttd ., f s /rrr 1/o y f/<1 t1 fs . 40 - ------ ---- - - -~------R.J".. B ·13..._ I I I BELL I I I rGAADENSJ 41 Bell Gardens which were subdivided years ago when Cudahy was developed. On the east of the settled areas are grain fields, then the Rio Hondo, a mile-wide strip of farm land, and the outskirts of Downey. Within the natural area to the north and south are grain.fields. Across the tracks to the south rises the imposing bulk of a Rio Grande oil refinery, and in the open fields to the north stand scattered but important industrial plants. Some six miles away in a northeasterly direction lies the town of Montebello, separated from Bell Gardens by lands still devoted to farming. To the north and slightly west is a straggling but growing district known as East Los Angeles. Over one hundred years ago this part of the coastal . plain was covered with willows and spotted with marshes, for the water running down from the hills surrounding Southern California found no free passage to the sea. Then came a mighty flood,and the rushing torrents burst open a new channel to the ocean. The swamps were drained as the flood subsided. 3 For many years following this event the courses of the rivers in Southern California were open and shifting, and floods frequently changed the locations of the river beds. In 1912 the Los Angeles River ran between Maywood and 3 Henry W. O'Melveny, signed article in The Los Angeles Times, March 6, 1938, Part I, p. 4. 42 Huntington Park, several miles west of its present location. In that year a great pile of debris collected in the river, ••• and the farmers got together and refused to let them dynamite it. So the water ran out and covered the country and destroyed the old Laguna School, but left in its wake a deposit of rich silt all over the land. Before that the soil had been heavy and dark. That silt is the present fine dusty soil. It is good for gardens. There is no better.4 Water always used to be plentiful in the area. A well driven almost anywhere would produce an abundant supply for irrigation. But as people swarmed into Southern California, built cities, planted truck gardens and citrus orchards, and dug myriads of wells, the water level began to fall, and so we began to hear of flood control. Flood control aims not only to protect land and people from inundation but also to control the supply of underground water and the sur face waters. During the late teens, the twenties, and thir ties the present channel of the Los Angeles River was gradually improved by the United States Army Engineers until it now flows from Los Angeles to the sea in a carefully restricted course. At Bell Gardens, where the channel is straight and the elevation of the surrounding land varies from 110 to 130 feet above sea level,5 the rock-filled dikes 4 Interview with the subdivider. The date was probably not exactly 1912. 5 "Bell Quadrangle, Los Angeles County, California," The Topographic~! Maps of th~ United States (published by Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, 1936). 43 stand some twenty feet above the surface of the flat land. The Rio Hondo has also been diked in places, by the county engineers. The county flood control experts believe that there is relatively little danger to Bell Gardens from the bursting of the river channels. The dikes are strong, and dams are being constructed to impede the rush of waters in flood season. 6 There is always the possibility of a break, but it is a reasonably small risk. A greater danger of inundation by quiet water arises from the presence of a large drainage pipe which enters the Los Angeles River at the lower end of Bell Gardens. It drains waters from a large area to the north. When the river is at flood stage, traps are closed at the entrance point, and this water backs up into Bell Gardens. However, even in the great flood of 1938 only a few houses were seriously affected. The county flood control engineers are attempting to trap flood waters in the winter, run them down slowly in the summer, and soak them into the ground in order to keep the underground water table from sinking. The water table in Bell Gardens is now probably around forty or fifty feet below the surface of the ground. 6 This point and most of the related data,on flood control were obtained from an interview with a county flood control engineer wh~ lives and works near Bell Gardens. 44 ~distinct culture area. 7 A natural area is not only a distinct bit of terrain, but it is also devoted to some particular use or some group with a distinct culture. Bell Gardens has much in common with several similar communities in Southern California, and yet it is quite different from most of the other natural areas of this great region. The culture of this area is the topic of the remainder of this report, but it may be well to note here certain obvious aifferences which strike even the casual visitor. As one visits Bell Gardens for the first time, he is impressed by the large number of open spaces. The tiny houses set on large lots seem scattered about with little attempt at order, and tall weeds grow in between. Some streets are relatively free from this unkempt appearance, but for the most part an impression of disorder is predominant. If one invades Bell Gardens by automobile, he must travel along a narrow oiled road without curbs or sidewalks and bordered, in clear weather, by fine dust. The land is flat and seems even more so because of the scarcity of trees which are present only in a thin line of eucalyptus which runs along Florence Avenue from Eastern to Jaboneria and a few little clumps remaining on the sites of the old farm houses. A yellow two-story 7 Clark Wissler, Man and Culture (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1923), PP: 55-61. 45 house which projects itself above the surrounding landscape over in the North Side seems definitely out of place. If one should alight from his automobile and wander around the streets some bright afternoon he would experience contact with a type of social life which the great city sel dom offers. For when houses are small, and the whole family works at house building (along with a dozen other families on the same street}, when money is scarce, employment irregular, and problems common, people cannot avoid contacts with at least their immediate neighbors. Should one walk onto a side street in a relatively new area he would feel almost as if he had walked accidentally into the bosom of some one's family. In a well-to-do upper-middle-class district one may walk along the sidewalks on a Sunday after noon and seldom see a human being. Protected by high hedges, enclosed in large houses, or absent at some resort, the people are hidden from the eye of the casual passer-by. Not so in Bell Gardens. Children play in the streets, on lawns, and in dusty dooryards. Women dig industrously, sit in a spot of shade, or perhaps wash clothes in the open. Men work in gardens, on houses, or on automobiles. On a sunny after noon people are to be seen everywhere, and the stranger is necessarily in the midst of a dozen hpuseholds. As the areas grow older, hedges and houses begin ~o shield the populace, and the more urgent construction jobs have been done; but 46 even in the oldest sections, the streets are social gather ing places of no mean importance. A woman commented upon this common life as follows: When we came everyone lived in tents, and every morning we would look to see who was new. Everyone was so friendly that they would go right over and talk to them. After the first rain, when we all got wet, we built a big bonfire and all sat around it. It was almost like pioneering fifty years ago. If perchance you should visit Bell Gardens, do not expect to be considered one of the group, especially if you are wearing a business suit, for your dress will make it obvious that you ere not of this area; and while the resi- dents are friendly, they ere suspicious of strangers. The following quotation, the opening lines of which will be found in section II of this chapter presents the impressions gained by an outsider from a visit to this area: Each family owns a piece of ground. There are no building restrictions. They live in cracker boxes, trailers, shacks of tin, wood, tarpaper, tents and com binations of what have you. To them, Havens of Rest. Dream Castles. The storm's abatement. Trim little gardens. Protruding water spigots. Rows of growing vegetables. One electric washing machine serving four families. They each have their dey. A grazing goat provides milk for five children. An out door shower with an improvised hot water tank serving several families. A "free" load of wood trimmings from the lumber mill. They make an attractive fence. A patch of strawberries shared by three families. An old side-show carnival tent. Now the home of a young mother, two children and her husband. Modern electric refrigerator in a shack. It stands lopsided. There is no floor. Time was when it bulged with plenty. Today it contains today's half-rations. 47 Furniture with a feeble pretense at pride. An elderly woman hoeing. Chickens and rabbit pens. Cows and goats grazing on vacant lots. Family wash on the lines. Children in the sun. Hammers pounding. Gardens being spaded. Trim little lawns. A small cottage. A sign on the living room window "GROCERIES." No sidewalks. No curbs. No property lines. Just sheds, leantos, and hang-ons. Neat, trim, clean and fresh paint. No sheriff, no police. The rear of the lots show the still prevailing Chic Sale influence. Youngsters homeward bound from school. Idle chatter. Boy and girl pairs. (He's carrying her books.) Easy laughter. Sway-back autos that don't require garages. The ceil ing line is low. Everything is "Squatty." A group of kids with a dog. They're "rushing" the barefoot season. The boys need haircuts. I could pick 50 for Mark Twain. Neighborly women chatting over the wire fence. The appetizing aroma of stew cooking as we approach a trailer. 100 baby chicks in an abandoned auto body. The owner a crippled war veteran, is proud to show us around. Two trailers on this lot. That one pays him $5.00 a month rent. Two young men own and live in it. For their $5.00 they get ample space, elec.tric lights, out door shower, water and privilege of out-door laundry tub. They do their own cooking. They're happy. No, it didn •.t rain in on them. We stop to visit a ,family in a tent. Here's the usual procedure, $20. down, then $10. a month. (1-3 acre.} They move "on." They start with anything over their head. Everyone of them full of ambition. They buy a little second-hand lumber. They start to build. Piece by piece. Week by week. They make progress. Their expense is nil. With a little left over they buy more lumber. They add to. They improve. They sow a lawn. Plant a garden. They "connect the lights." They install a piece of plumbing. They paint, etc., etc. 48 Same are complete to the last detail. (Old~timers.) Others are just starting. You can tell ~ow long they've been there by the progress they've made. The publication of this article aroused a stor.m of protest in Bell Gardens, and yet there is much of truth in it. One suspects, however, that Mr. Brunstein, who wrote it, must have wandered in the lower South End or in a very new area, or else he noted those things that were different and chose to overlook the many houses and streets in which people live in small but comfortable quarters much as they do_in the better working-class sections of any town in Southern California. • II. CONCENTRATION OF POPULATION 9 Early inhabitants. In the days when the land in this area was covered with willows all San Antonio Township be longed, by Spanish Grant, to the first Lugo. He was a famous bandit, and took pleasure in relieving travelers of their possessions. Today some of his descendents own one tiny 8 Max Brunstein, signed article in the Hunti~ton Park Signal Shopling Ne~, quoted in full in the Bell Ga~ens Re~iew, Apr 1 22, 1938. 9 "Concentration: This is a tendency of an increasing number of human beings or human utilities to congregate within a definite area." R. D. McKenzie, "The Scope of Human Ecology," Journal of Applie? Sociology, 10:317, March-April, 1926. 49 section in Bell Gardens on which they operate a commercial picnic ground. When the first Lugo died the land was divided among his heirs and was then gradually sold off in chunks to the invading Yankees.lO By 1867 there must have been a thriving American colony in this area, for the strip of land close beside the river where the Bell Gardens School now stands was deeded to a school board consisting of Messrs. Patterson, Thomas, and Foster. 1 1 Many of the present owners of the land, which is being subdivided, came into this grain growing countryside around the turn of the last century, and their names are recorded on the contracts and street signs of the present community. By 1933, when Bell Gardens began to boom, some of the surrounding land had been leased by its American owners to Japanese and Mexican truck farmers, and the rest had been planted to grain. As the subdivision grew these farmers withdrew, until now they have gone, with few exceptions, from the whole area between the rivers and the tracks. As a matter of fact, the Japanese and Mexicans seem to have been withdrawing even before the subdividers pushed them out, for the enrollment of the old Laguna School began to fall before Mr. Borg had even thought of subdividing in --------- 10 Interview with the principal subdivider, whom we shall call Mr. Borg. 11 The Montebello (California) News, January 29, 1932. the north side of what is now Bell Gardens. The location of the schools in Bell Gardens is shown on Map II. 50 Recent growth of E2Eulation. A few families had moved onto small tracts in this area before the depression, but Mr. Borg (all names are fictitious) started selling quarter-acre "small farms" on the installment plan in January of 1933. This was the opening date of the present boom. The rapid influx of population may be seen by an examination of the school data presented in Table I. In 1933-1934 there was an actual drop in school enrollment. This was occasioned by the fact that the children from the new subdivision were not traveling to the Laguna School which was in their own school district but were being accepted at schools across the river in the Los Angeles system. The Laguna School was devoted to the education of a declining group of Japanese and Mexicans. In 1934-1935 the new Bell Gardens School was opened with an initial enrollment of approximately one hundred pupils. The very rapid increase of enrollment may be seen from the table. The continued attend ance of some students at schools in the Los Angeles system and of a few at private schools together with the imperfection of the records kept makes this a somewhat imperfect index, but it gives the best available statistical key to the growth of the area. It seems likely that the proportion of the MAP II ORDER OF SUBDIVISION OF, AND NUMBER OF LOTS m THE SECTIONS OF BELL GARDENS LOCATION OF BUSINESSES, CHURCHES, ~"''D SCHOOLS 51 / • I 52 TABLE I ESTIMATED ATTEND.ANCE FROM BELL GARDENS AND TRANSFERS IN AND OUT OF THE .ELEI'IiliNTARY SCHOOLS IN BELL GARDENS FROM SEPTEMB.EiR, 1934, TO APRIL, 1938 Direct tre.ns- Total Average Total trans- fers from out- transfers School daily fers in dur- side California out dur- year attend- ing school during schoo·l ing school ance year year year 1934-35 110.33 71 60 1935-36 201.87 110 23 80 1936-37 500.22 409 52 198 1937-38* 977.96 459* 90* 296*' *First eight months only. Note: From 1933-34 to 1936-37 data are available from Laguna and Bell Gardens Schools only, and for the last year they are ave.ilable from these two plus the Live Oak School. The number of Je.penese and Mexican children attending the Lagune. School in the years shown has been carefully estima.ted and deducted from the school enrollment as presented. These children do not live in Bell Gardens. No deduction has been made from the transfers in and out on this account, however, since no justifiable basis for so doing could be discovered. 53 children resident in Bell Gardens;who attended schools in the Los Angeles system decreased over the period covered by Table I. The rapidity of the apparent rise in population is thus slightly increased by this return of children to schools in their own district. In April of 1938 the average daily attendance at all the schools was 1,089.01 representing an enrollment of approximately twelve hundred pupils. Using the city of Montebello as a comparison one of the school prin• cipals estimated that this represented a population of not more than seventy-five hundred. In the early summer of 1938 the writer estimated by an entirely different procedurel2 that the population of the territory included in the ecologi cal base mapl3 had a total population of approximately 6,818 ·while the total subdivision including that section west of the Los Angeles River and scattered houses in the northeast corner boasted same 7,480 souls. Both the statistics of school attendance and a study of the order in which the land was subdivided reveal a rising rate of influx up to the spring of 1938. The school data indicate that enrollment climbed most rapidly during the calendar years of 1937 and 1938. Examination of Map II 12 Occupants of the one hundred visited houses were counted and the total compared to the total number of houses in the area. 13 See Map II, p. 51. \ 54 indicates that larger and larger areas were subdivided as time went on. On this map the Roman numerals indicate the approximate order in which the land was subdivided. The order is not perfectly accurate because the areas as drawn o£ the map sometimes include several parcels of land upon which sale was begun at slightly different periods. The small English letters accompanying the Roman numerals simply indicate separate sections developed at nearly the same time. The Arabic numerals indicate the number of lots in each section. Values sought. There is a persistent rumor among people who have a more or less casual acquaintance with Bell Gardens that most of its residents are dust bowl refugees. Among all groups--business men, social workers, students, and working people--persists the idea that the folk in this com munity are poverty stricken, homeless fugitives from the parched farm country. Even many of the people living in the area express the same idea. An early resident with a small business arose in a meeting to comment, "Of course, we know that we all came here because there was no other place on earth that we could go." A student turned up his nose in fine disdain and refered to "those Oklahomans." The classic expression of the poverty phase of this idea appeared in the Huntington ~ Signal Shopping News as the opening lines of the signed column quoted above and was copied with an answer / 55 in the Bell Gardens Review:l4 A pack of dogs after a deer. They tear and they claw. They try for his throat! Yard by yard he struggles for the nearest cliff. Bleeding and torn, with the cliff at his back, he turns on them. Neck bowed, horns down he stands his ground. He may not win, but he's got a fight ing chance. If he doesn't make the cliff, it's death. Just a simple law of nature. Man with his family. He can stand hunger and starva tion. He doesn't mind it so much for himself. It's the long dreary days of trying. It's the coming home nights to a patient wife and famished pop-eyed kids. It's the silence of them. It's their unshaken faith. It's the going to bed just to escape thoughts. It's the empty tomorrow. It's mental decay. Loss of job. No income. Idle promises, false hopes, bursting bubbles. The pack are after him. Responsibil ities, obligations, creditors. They try for his throat. Yard by yard he struggles for the nearest economic "cliff." Where is this cliff? Why--it's right next door to us. It's called "Bell Gardens." 16,000 recession refugees 1 have found the cliff. Being muoh smoke, there is unquestionably some fire. Most of the people in Bell Gardens are relatively poor working class people,l5 but there are many other reasons for coming to this area besides poverty, and only ten to fifteen per cent of the families can possibly be from the "dust bowl" even though we interpret that bowl as covering practically all of the regions reached by the great drought of 1934. 14 Bell Gardens Review, April 22, 1938. For the mild remainder of the article see sup~ Sec. I, p. 48. l5 Cf. ~~' Chapter III. A little prowling about the neighborhood revealed many of the factors which led people into moving to this 56 community. In an area opened in 1937 a sturdy young man of some twenty-five summers led a little black dog out in front of a small house built on the rear of the lot to make w~y for a future home. Two children played happily in the dirt beside the house; and one noticed a round brass badge im printed with a number and the name of a nearby pipe and steel company attached to the man's belt. With friendly manner he replied to the questioning strangerJLn this wise: Rents got too high in the city. You just can't pay them, and anyway out here what you pay for is your own. We like it here. There's room for the kids and the neighbors are a nice class of folks. They work in in dustries like Goodrich, Firestone, and General Motors. Of course, there's lots of unemployment now. Our neigh bor in back is losing his land, but then he hasn't made a payment for six months, and what can you expect? Hear they have had some trou~le with foreclosures over in the old district, but that was the fault of the landowner. Mr. Borg seems to be o. K. The next man, young and single, had been out of work in an Indiana town. He had heard there was work in California and came here to his brother. There was no work here. A little farther down the street a young householder put his foot on his shovel and replied very much as did the first young man but added, "We lived in an apartment near Fifty-sixth and Hoover in Los Angeles. The train went by every day and woke the baby up." A middle-aged grandmother said: 57 Well, we didn't intend to buy. We had heard a lot about Bell Gardens and one day we were out riding around and came over. The salesman kept insisting and insisting until finally we signed up. We like it very well •••• Much in the same vein a member of another family commented: We were sort of looking for a place and just rode through looking for rentals. They persuaded us to buy here because it was as cheap as we could rent anywhere else. The real estate man helped get us a tent to live in while we.were waiting to build. One question on the schedule used in one hundred in terviews asked why the family came to Bell Gardens. The data obtained in response to this question suggested the _./' following reasons for coming in the approximate order of their importance: relatives already here, e~pecially grown children; to "get ahead," better than paying rent; cheap lots and small payments make it possible to buy here; a place for children to play; rents in city too high; opportunity for garden and poultry; can have a "home" here; like the "country" or a "farm"; a roof for family during depression; "didn't want to be cooped up in the city"; quiet; "don't know, just heard about it"; close to work; health; business opportuni- ties. A woman reported that her sister-in-law, her brother in-law and her father-in-law (with families) all lived on adjoining lots because she urged them to come. A public health nurse in Huntington Park commented: 58 We had lops of these people before they moved out there. Of course, there is some bad housing, but in general it is all right. They are better off in Bell Gardens than in those little courts over here (eastern part of Huntington Park) on these crowded streets. Lots of them moved when the rents started to go\up. Origins of newcomers. In spite of the persistent rumor to the contrary most of these people may call them selves Californians with as much right as other millions in the population of that state. The figures displayed in Table II indicate that some two-fifths of the adult residents have spent most of their lives in California and have so in- dicated in reply to a question asking them for that informa tion. Many others have spent much of their lives in the southwestern or northwestern parts of the Middle West in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri or in Illinois and Indiana. There are representatives from all sections, but relatively few from New England and the Old South. Table III reveals that some 20 to 25 per cent of the adult residents of Bell Gardens have been in California for over twenty years. 16 In more recent years the present in- habitants of this area have flowed into California in a continuous stream. Starting slowly after the war the stream reached a peak during the middle of the prosperous twenties, 16 Of the persons recorded in Table III the percentage is 22.5. TABLE II STATES IN ~HICH ONE HUNDRED~DULT RESIDENTS OF BELL GARDENS, SELECT~D AT RANDOM, RAVE SPENT ~LOST OF THEIR LIVES 8 State California Oklahoma Illinois Kansas Indiana Missouri Pennsylvania New York Utah Nebraska Texas Washington Arizona Arkansas Colorado Georgia Iowa Kentucky Louisiana Minnesota Montana New Mexico North Dakota Oregon South Dakota West Virginia Number 39 8 3 4 5 5 4 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 a The data in this table and in Table III were taken from the schedules filled in for one hundred Bell Gardens' families, selected by calling at every twentieth house in the community plus a few extra houses at which calls were made for the purpose of obtaining an even hundred interviews. · 59 60 TABLE III NUMBER OF YEARS' RESIDENCE IN CALIFORNIA OF QNE HUNDRED ADULT RESIDENTS OF BELL GARDENS, SELECTED AT RANDQl Number of Number Number of Number of Numbers in years of persons persons in Section IV residence persons cumulated Section IV cumulated 4 4 4 4 1 3 7 2 3 10 l 5 3 4 14 1 6 4 5 lg 5 3 22 1 7 6 3 25 7 7 2 27 1 8 8 5 32 2 10 9 2 34 10 5 39 2 12 11 4 43 2 14 12 8 51 3 17 13 2 53 1 18 14 2 55 15 6 61 3 21 16 3 64 2 23 17 1 65 18 19 3 68 1 24 20 2 70 25 2 72 26 3 75 27 1 76 32 1 77 34 3 80 35 1 81 38 2 83 1 25 40 3 86 45 3 89 50 1 90 54 1 gl Life 2 93 2 27 Unknown 7 100 4 31 61 sank down slightly during the great depression, and continued with vigor in the face of business revival and drought. Slightly over one half of these people have come to California within the last twelve years, and about 20 per cent in the last five years. Only this 20 per cent could possibly be refugees from the dust bowl, for before 1934 it did not exist. Analysis of the records of the State Relief Adminis- tration suggests that many out of this 20 per cent have come from other parts of the country. Therefore, only about 15 per cent of Bell Gardens people could have come from the dust bowl in the last five years, even if we include in that bowl practically the whole Midwestern farming section from Texas to Michigan and from Colorado to Ohio, and all the cities therein. Many who cannot be fleeing from the plague of dust are still victims of the economics of agriculture and the plight of the farmer during the last eighteen years. This is indi cated by the data in Table II as well as by the places in which these people were born and their past occupations. 17 Over half of the people in this area were born in one of the following seven states named in order of their importance: California, Kansas, Illinois, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, 17 The data on occupations will be presented in Chapter III. 62 Texas, and Nebraska;l8 ·yet considerable numbers of them have never been farmers, and a relatively small group has come from states where farming is not the dominant livelihood. There are plenty of impoverished families from ........ California and from other states. A social worker said: We have lots of people who come to California broke. They can't get public relief here for a year, and we try to send them back home; but they won't go. It's better to starve for a year with a hope here than to return to nothing where they came from. Then relief is better here and the climate is milder.l9 Few indeed are the people who came to Bell Gardens directly from other states. A check of the last addresses before coming to Bell Gardens of one hundred families reveals that 89 per cent came from Southern California, while 70 per cent are from the great southern and eastern residential section of Los Angeles. Many of them have lived for years in Bell, Maywood, Huntington Park, Graham, South Gate, Florence, or Cudahy. One reason for this is that a man can not buy a lot in Bell Gardens unless he has cash (and none of them have) or a job. There is, thus, a certain element of economic selection which eliminates the drifters on their first rounds. In the light of the fact that the population of' 18 For more detailed data on this subject, see the Appendix, p. 370. 19 From a personal interview. 63 Los Angeles County grew from 936,455 in 1920 to 2,208,492 20 21 in 1930 and is now probably 2,650,000, it is really sur- prising that so many people of long residence in California are found in Bell Gardens. Their presence tends to support the conclusion that Bell Gardens is primarily a phenomenon of American economy and not a way station on the road from Oklahoma to California. For years the net result of popula tion mobility has been a movement from the country to the cities. 22 Many of these migrants have come to California. They have secured jobs in industry and have moved, in recent years, to Bell Gardens for any of a number of the reasons enumerated above, many of which are economic in their nature. III. CENTRALIZATION AND SEGREGATION23 As seven thousand people have rushed into Bell Gardens 20 Abstract of the Fifteenth Census of the United States Washington, n.c::-united States Government Printing Office, 1933), p. 52. 21 News item in ~he Los Angeles Times, June 5, 1938, Part V, p. 1. - 22 President's Research Committee on Social Trends, Recent Social Trends in the United States (New York: McGraw- Hill Book Company, 1933):-P. 8. ------ 23 "Centralization: • • • Centralization implies the integration of human beings or interests around certain pivotal locations. The inhabitants of a given area tend to come together at definite places for the satisfactions of specific common interests such as work, education, religion, 64 they have mingled with one another and have developed certain peculiar culture patterns. But this evolution of culture has been conditioned by the major geographic factors and by the more impressive characteristics of the material culture. These have modified the organization of social life, and have in their turn been modified by it. Centralization of business and location of major streets. Within the area between the rivers and the tracks, in which Bell Gardens lies, has developed a whole series of streets, stores, houses, churches, and other_ institutions which form the board upon whic~ the game of life is played; and the game tends to center around Eastern Avenue between Clara and Florence. The very first unit of the subdivision lay a block north of Clara Street on either side of Eastern Avenue and was reached by a narrow drive. Soon, however, a tract was opened up reaching down to Clara Street and com- pleting the section numbered I on Map II. Business houses began to spring up along Clara Street because it was the only through street to Los Angeles. But business came very slowly 23 ~ontinued) sociability •••• Centralization is a function of mobility. " • • • "Segregation is the tendency of like units to con centrate wi~hin a specific area." R. D. McKenzie, "The Scope of Human Ecology," Journal of Applied Sociologz, 10:319-320, March-April, 1926. 65 at first, and as the Borg Organization 24 subdivided more and more land both north and south of Clara, Mr. Borg became interested in Eastern Avenue. He began to investigate. The street was not open north of section I, but the county was slowly attempting to condemn the property along the line of what is now Eastern Avenue in order to construct a street along an easement for a sewer which drained Belvedere Gardens. The county proposed to issue bonds under the Mattoon Act to raise money with which to buy this property. Mr. Borg was afraid of the effect of these bonds upon his subdivision; for if some people should default on tax payments for bond retirement, the other property owners in the district would be assessed for the deficit. This is known as pyramiding, and has frequently resulted in most inequitable tax burdens. Mr. Borg, therefore, persuaded the county to buy the land outright and improve the road at its O\vn expense. Then, as he made contracts for subdivision with the landowners, he induced them to give the land for the road or to sell it for nominal prices. According to Mr. Borg: Since this was the only one hundred foot street which we had, we decided that it should be the business district. Everything was then down on Eastern and Clara, but Clara is only eighty feet wide.25 24 A corporation operated by the principal subdivider. 25 Personal interview. 66 Thus the major business street was established. Clara and Florence were already extensions of streets from Los Angeles, Clara constituting a main highway to Downey. Gage Avenue has been a road for many years. It was once a dirt road which was the only connecting link between a trad ing pos~ called Downey and the tiny pueblo of Los Angeles. \ The line of Compton-~aboneria Road apparently marks the line of the storm drain which runs through Bell Gardens from the north. These are the streets which form the skeleton of Bell Gardens. Other streets have been added in the process of subdivision. As the community developed, new interest was attached to Eastern Avenue. It has become the main business center and has been opened up to the north until it meets Industrial Avenue, which continues almost in a straight line and joins Atlantic Avenue. It thus becomes a major link between Bell Gardens and towns north as far as Pasadena. On the occasion of the opening of this outlet, Bell Gardens celebrated with a Pageant of Progress. A few business buildings had been built on Eastern near Clara in the early days of the subdivision,for Eastern was the main entrance into the first tracts. Mr. Borg established his own head office and his lumber agency on Eastern. One of the community's most energetic business men happened to own a piece of ground there which he had purchased 67 before the advent of Mr. Borg and the installment plan. On this land he erected a row of buildings for rent. Whenever people inquired for business property the salesmen showed them Eastern Avenue. Soon an increasing number of small businesses sprang up there. With the opening of the street to the north, traffic increased; and lo, the business center was established. There is still a small but growing center of business at Compton-Jaboneria and Clara, and several small shops are to be found on Clara east of the Edison right of way, but there can be no doubt where the major business interests will center. As the map shows there are numerous feed stores, repair shops, and gro·cery stores scattered throughout the area, but they are all small. The churches of Bell Gardens also tend to centralize. The early churches of Bell Gardens were located largely in terms of the conveniences or needs of their founders and were fairly well scattered. Of course, several of them are lo cated near the center of the community because that was where the established population was to be found. In the early part of 1938 an effort was made to find a lot in the center of the North Side for a Mormon church, but the people in the neighborhood objected to having a church next door. Therefore, the Borg Organization decided to sell lots for churches only in or near sections IIIa 68 and Va. At the present time the Baptist Church is located there. The Church of Christ is building on Jaboneria, and the Four Square and Latter-Day-Saints groups are purchasing lots in that vicinity. The Women's Club House located on Eastern just below Clara has had an important effect in centering community thought and action in this location. For several years it was the only building available for secular group meetings. It is a small building, perhaps twenty by twenty-five feet, with a lean-to kitchen; but around it have swirled all those currents of community interest which have resulted in the formation of organized groups. Culture differences between sections of Bell Gardens. -- This framework of streets, the order of_subdivision, the prices of lots, the location of the land, the growing business section, and other factors have had a profound effect upon the social life of the community. Just as Bell Gardens is an area distinct fram surrounding natural areas, many of its own inhabitants recognize differences between the various sections within the community. Three major divisions are of chief importance: Old Bell Gardens, the North Side, and the South End. Old Bell Gardens contains areas I and II on the base map. Sometimes the term is used in reference to area I only, for Clara Street forms an easily identifiable boundary; but, 69 from the viewpoint of social organization, section II is really a part of this area. In fact, the south boundary of Old Bell Gardens is difficult to locate. It is one of those unmarked social boundaries and gradually expresses itself somewhere in the blocks immediately south of the southern boundary of section II. The North Side is primarily the large section III which all belonged to one man and was sub divided in consecutive pieces. The South End is section IV, a large block of land originally belonging to several dif ferent owners and subdivided in irregular fashion. The smaller sections lying at the edge of these larger tracts tend to take on the characteristics of their larger neighbors. This is especially true where the smaller flank ing sections were sold after the major sectiona had been developed. Sections IIIa, Va, and IVc give indications that they will eventually take on many of the characteristics of "Old Bell Gardens." Section V seems destined to become part of the great North Side, but section IIa retains a certain difference from the rest of the North Side. Interestingly enough this difference shows up not in social distances 2 6 26 In his seminar on Social Distance at the University of Southern California, Dr. Emory s. Bogardus defined social distance as the "degree of sympathetic understanding existing between people or groups." Emory s. Bogardus, Contemporary Sociology, p. 328. 70 between people in the different sections but in the distri butions of poverty and mobility. The divisions of the community in the minds of its inhabitants do not always follow the actual nature of the various sections. For instance, little is heard in Bell Gardens about section IVa. It was one of the early sections in the IV group to be developed. The land was moderately priced and relatively poor in quality. The inhabitants show relatively few serious problems and join little in the social life of the community. Many people in Bell Gardens do not recognize the differences between sections; and in answer to the question, "Is Bell Gardens divided into different sections or neighbor- hoods?" reply, "No," or,, "I don't know." But the older residents and more active leaders clearly recognize the dif- ferences. One good-natured young man, speaking with the expressed approval of a dozen of his fellows said: The people in the oldest tract started out with better homes than those in the others, but in some of the areas where there are fairly nice homes now, they started in all sorts of ways. The people down in the corner next to the river and down next to the refinery [section IV] are the poorest class. They won't get anywhere. But then most every town has its slums. The land is cheaper there, and then the salesmen send the people wham they think won't make it down there. They're lsalesmen] interested in the area too. We feel sort of cheated though, for we bought down there first, and then they moved in these people around us. Of course, we live on Eastern and that will probably be business some day. Anotller youth from the same group volunteered, "You can tell the kind of people by the price of the land. The better people buy better land." 71 A very active leader who lives in the heart of Old Bell Gardens commented, "Oh yes, those people up on the North Side mostly have jobs in these industries around. But a lot of those fellows down in the South End are on Works Progress Administration. It just isn't as good a section." And an elderly Texan living just within the lower edge of section II waved his hand toward the South End and confided in a hushed voice, "Just- b"'etween you and me most of those folks down there are from Oklahoma or Arkansas." Most of the people who live in the South End are relatively new to the area and busy with their own problems. They engage very little in community activities, and most of them are inclined to think that Bell Gardens is all alike. But a woman on Gage believed that ttlere was a lower class on the other side of Clara. Many residents of the older sections of Bell Gardens may consider the South End inferior, but along Florence Avenue runs a shadowy social barrier of another kind. By the time the North Side was subdivided Old Bell Gardens had established a number of its own organizations, and was developing a well defined community life. It was separated from the new North Side by the strips of undivided land in sections IVc and Vb. As the process of subdivision brought the two developing 72 areas together, friendly gestures were made on either side. Invitations to join the organizations existing in the old sections were extended. A number of people journeyed down and joined either the Chamber of Commerce or the Women's Club. But these areas were physically distinct and soon dissension began to appear. Some residents of the North Side organized the Community Center Club and circularized the whole of Bell Gardens for members. 1 ThE;( people in Old Bell Gardens were busy with their own enterprises. ·It seemed a long way from the "real' center of community life to the proposed sight of the new building, and so just one adventurous spirit crossed Florence and joined the new movement. The Community Center Club backed up into its own territory and said, '~ery well, if other folks aren't interested, we'll go ahead on our own." And they did. 2 7 Soon improvements came to the community; especially the Live Oak School, and a strip of sidewalk on Clara street, both of which were located south of Florence. Many of the men from the North Side withdrew from the Chamber of Commerce and a woman from the North Side re marked, "Old Bell Gardens gets all the things that we sign petitions for." While a neighbor reported that the people from Old Bell Gardens, "· •• just don't seem to be interested 27 Of. post, Chapter VI. in helping us. When we wanted to get a mail route in here they wouldn't come up and help us." 73 Observation, statistics, and map studies all indicate that the people of Bell Gardens know whereof they speak, for there are real differences between the larger sections of the community. As one walks south from the boundary of section II there is a subtle change in the surroundings. Quinn Street has an air of progressiveness and a spirit of pride in life that grows less and less as one goes south and is noticeably lacking on Cecelia and Fostoria. What it is, is hard to determine. One senses it unmistakably, but the details of the general impression are hard to distinguish. There are, of course, a few more tents, and paper and board shacks, but that is not the real difference. The weeds are.a little taller and the houses are more likely to be set back at the rear of the lots, but the real difference seems to be not so much in what is done as in the way it is done. On Quinn Street the fences are more likely to be of lath or pickets neatly nailed in place and pos~ibly even painted, while on Fostoria they are likely to be of chicken wire, and that hung loosely from shaky posts. There is a nicety of design and a cleanness of edge to lawns and flower beds on Quinn, as also in the North Side, that is found-less often in the lower South End. But perhaps most important is the design of the • 74 houses. The design seems to be a more important factor in this general impression than the size. Many of the houses all over Bell Gardens are stark reminders of some architec tural nightmare, but there are more of these in this lower south section. In the other districts there are many houses which show by the careful detail of doorway, porch, and window design that the owners and builders have given much thought and effort to constructing a residence which should appear well to the eye as well as provide some shelter against sun, wind, and dust. Here is a colonial porch and there a house with green shutters. Here is a pleasing little bungalow with broad eaves and a neat trellis for future climbing vines. Some of the houses are finished with grooved siding produced by milling the edges of number-two knotty pine boards. Paint is likely to be reasonably plentiful and frequently harmonious in color. ... Also, scattered all through the area, but concentrated in this lower south section, are a collection of houses which seem to have been thrown together in any old way, in a mad rush to get in out of the rain. Just what it is that makes the proportions of a house attractive we may leave to the designing architects and the students of esthetics, but any layman may see that this strange box-like affair is much too tall and long for its depth and that the one next to it looks ' 75 for all the world like a stucco shoe box with a hole gouged in the side. Here is a perfectly cubical building about half the size of a one-car garage and covered with tar paper. It is not a chicken coop or a rabbit pen but the home of a family. There is a little bungalow which with the addition of a porch and the application of paint might prove to be attractive; but no, it is left porchless and eaveless, and the combinations of oranges and yellows used in the painting are enough to make even the soul of a toughened social worker writhe in agony. Of course, these people in this lower south side are probably poorer than those in the other parts of the community, but this does not seem to be the vital element in the im pression that one gains of the difference in the spirit of this area. It is rather the impression that the difference is that between those who care and those who don't. Why they do not care is another question, but the differences between Quinn Street and Cecelia, between Ajax (North Side) and Fostoria (South End) seem to be the differences between people who will go to a little extra trouble to improve the appear ance of their places (for their own enjoyment and to improve their standing in the eyes of their neighbors) and those whose sole objective is to get in out of the rain. Section V is a newer section than the South End, yet it already presents a more attractive appearance. There is 76 considerable poverty in this district, but the impression one gets from a stroll down its center is quite different from that obtained in the lower South End, especially in such sections as that corner on the east side next to the right of way and the Rio Hondo. In the center section buildings are more plentiful and vacant spaces less obvious. One cannot but be impressed that the area lies between the extremes in its neatness and archi tectural nicety, closer probably to the North Side. Yet there is an air of stability about it that is not found even in the North Side. One suspects that this, after all, is the heart of the community. Perhaps the bit of data which corresponds most closely to one's impression of the economic welfare of the people in the various sections is the distribution of the home addresses of families known to the nurses of the County Health Depart ment as shown on Map III and in Table IV. In an area such as Bell Gardens many people are known to some of the various services of the health authorities, but there are more in some sections than in others. Old Bell Gardens shows a rel atively light load, the South End a very heavy load, and the central North Side falls between the two in this respect. Section IIa also shows a fairly heavy load. The two areas which do not show exactly what one might expect on the basis of observation are areas V and IVa. Area V shows a slightly f.I.AR.A ------- • MAP III B~cc GAeot..NJ - f1AY 1.9c.J8 - HOME ADDRESSES OF· FAMILIES KNOWN TO THE NURSING DIVISION OF THE DEPAR'MNT 01' HEALTH 77 - • ' TABLE IV NUMBER OF FAMILIES KNOYVN TO THE NURSING DIVISION OF THE COUNTY DEPART1'.J:!.:NT OF HEALTH, IN JUI,Y, 1938, ACCORDING TO SECTION Section Number of Number of Percentage or the families houses in or families community known the section to houses I 9 152 5.9 II 21 205 10.2 II a 15 64 23.4 III 77 440 17.5 III a 4 33 12.1 IV 114 387 29.5 IVa 7 170 4.1 IVb 7 47 14.9 IVc 11 79 13.9 v 28 130 21.5 Va 6 64 9.4 Vb 6 38 15.8 Totals 305 1,823 78 heavier load and section IVa a somewhat lighter load than would have been expected, but these figures correlate with other data on the economic conditions in these sections. ?9 Many other indices establish the differences between these areas. In Chapter VI will be found a number of maps and considerable discussion indicating that the secular com munity organizations draw their memberships most largely from sections I and II, less extensively from the North Side, and practically not at all from the lower South End. Except for church and school activities Old Bell Gardens is the center of the community. "The other side is older, more settled; the leaders come from the other side," 28 remarked a woman from the North Side. The data on relief in Chapter III in dicate that poverty is more prevalent in the South End. Map IV in section V of this chapter shows that mobility is dis tributed in much the same fashion as the public health load. Table V indicates that concentration of houses upon the land is largely a function of time. And Table VI suggests some fundamental differences in social type, for the largest number of children per family and the largest number of families having children are round in section IV. Old Bell Gardens shows a smaller number of children and a slightly larger num ber of childless families, while the North Side has few 28 Schedule 10. 80 TABLE V NUN.BER OF LOTS .AND OF HOUSES IN DIFFERENT SECTIONS OF BELL GARDENS IN JULY, 1938, ACCORDING TO TIM.l!: OF SUBDIVISION, AND PERCENTAGES OF HOUSES TO LOTS Percentage Approximate Section Number Number of of houses date of sub- of lots houses to lots division I 130 152 116.9 1933 II 219 205 93.6 1934 II a 93 93 100.0 1934 III 454 440 96.9 1935-1936 III a 45 33 ?3.3 1935-1936 IV 424 387 91.3 1936-1937 IVa 170 155 91.2 1936-1937 IVb 57 47 82.5 1936-1937 IVc 94 79 84.0 1936-1937 v 151 130 86.1 1937-1938 Va 118 64 54.2 193?-H~38 Vb 38 1938 Total 1,955 1,823 TABLE VI NUMBER OF CHILDREN PER Fii.MILY AND TOTAL NU1IT3ER OF CHILDREN IN ONE HUNDRED SELBCT~D FAM~LIES FROM EACH OF 'rHREE Mli..JOR SECTIONS OF BELL GARDENS Number of Number of families children Old Bell North South per family Gardens side end 0 36 53 32 1 22 16 16 2 18 20 27 3 15 8 15 4 5 3 4 5 3 0 3 6 1 0 3 Total families 100 100 100 Total number of children in one hundred families 142 92 164 81 8£ children and many childless families. The data concerning the states in which adult residents of Bell Gardens have spent most of their lives reveal that the residents of the South End came from somewhat more widely scattered backgrounds than those from other sections of Bell Gardens, and suggest that they may have wandered more extensively. The data col lected in the schedules revealed that the mean incomes of the families in sections I and II were higher than those of fam ilies in section III, while those in section III enjoyed in comes higher than those in section IV. The classes within which the medians fell were--sections I and II, $120 to $129 per month; section III, $100 to $109; and section IV, $80 to $89. The differences between these areas seem to be dif ferences in economic status and way of life rather than dif ferences between the sections of the country from which the people have come. The analysis of the states in which the adults of Bell Gardens have spent most of their lives reveals no significant differences of origin except that the people in section IV seem to have come from somewhat more scattered sections of the country. The data on length of time spent in California reveal no significant differences. But poverty, dependence on public agencies, larger numbers of children and small participation in community activities seem to charac terize section IV more than the others; and it is from this 83 section that the largest number of delinquents, although the amount of data on this point is not very adequate, and the stories of t~e wildest family feuds seem to come. The con ventions of the great American Middle West seem to have the least hold on the people in the South End. The reasons for these differences between the type of life in each of these sections and for the community cleavages noted are many and devious. Perhaps the most fundamental has already been mentioned. It is the price of land. The prices of lots in the lower South End ranged from $400 to $600; in Old Bell Gardens they ran from $600 to $700; and in the North Side from $800 to $900 or even a $1,000. One of the sales- men, who knows Bell Gardens as no one else does, insisted that this was the fundamental factor. He said: Its just a difference in the people. Vllien a man drives up out here, and you go out, and he says he's looking for a lot, maybe you say you've got some up here for eight hundred and some down here for five or six; those are the ones he wants to see. He just isn't interested in the more expensive stuff. To say that the price of land is an important factor in the distribution of different types of people into dif- ferent sections is only the first step, for what causes the price of land to vary? In this area the prices of land are set by the Borg Company, and, in July 1938,Mr. Borg com- mented: The differences in prices of land in this area are due to several causes. The prices of the land are set 84 arbitrarily. You have to have different priced areas, or else you will lose too much business. The north area had higher prices. We have been more careful there be cause it is our front door, and then our own holdings are up in that section. We are now working to develop that section. The banks have begun to lend us money, and we are offering people the opportunity to complete their homes and refinance.29 In addition to the reasons mentioned by Mr. Borg the type of soil, the location of the refinery with its attendant odors, the danger from flood and standing drainage waters, and the proximity to the industrial district were all in favor of the North Side and against the South End. Mr. Borg set his prices with discretion. These factors do not apply with such force in Old Bell Gardens, for it is nearly as well situated as the North Side, but it was developed in an ear lier ·period. Later inhabitants have, however, been influenced by comparative prices and questions of surrounding conven~ iences and undesirable features. As noted above the Borg Company has been more careful in the selection of the people in the North Side and has tended to let those in the South ~d ndo as they like.n It has not been averse to shunting prospects who seemed undesir able, either from a personal or a financial viewpoint, into the less desirable sections wherever such shunting was pos- sible, and it has been more anxious about the type of housing 29 Personal interview. 85 developed in the north and center districts. 30 Also the fact that unsecured loans for small houses were available through Federal Housing Act just at the time that the major tract in the North Side was being developed has had its ef fect upon the appearance of the buildings in that area. The time of subdivision in relation to national events seems also to have been important, although the nature of this effect is to a considerable extent conjectural. Still there may be just a grain of truth in saying that the older center sections were filled with depression refugees--down but not out, people who fought and many of whom won. The North Side was filled with workers, most of whom had hung onto their jobs during the great depression, who sought Bell Gardens for any number of the reasons listed above. The South End was subdivided i~ a period of booming industry. Probably many of the people who settled there on the cheaper land were people who had only a tenuous toe-hold in the economic system and many of whom were soon dislodged. The years 1936 and 1937, were accompanied by rapidly rising rents, and it seems likely that this factor had a relatively larger influence upon the people who purchased land in section IV, and in the other later sections. There are people of all types in each area, and yet it seems possible that the time of subdivision 30 Interview with Mr. Borg. may have been a reasonably important factor in establishing the type of life in each area. This is suggested at least by the fact that many of the newcomers in Bell Gardens who are on State Relief Administration arrived in California in 1936. It seems possible that the push of moribund agriculture in many sections and the expanding opportunities for employ ment here in that year shunted a considerable number of mar ginal men into the South End of Bell Gardens. In the field of secular organizations this factor of age is again important, for by the time a new section is populated the people in the older sections have organized the more obviously needed groups, and the most dynamic leaders are busily engaged in running and protecting them. What will be the future of these various areas? On this point the people in Bell Gardens are divided. Many say that it is largely a matter of economics. If jobs are plenti ful these later areas will go ahead and build up and be like the others, but some of those who know Bell Gardens best are inclined to think that there are other fundamental factors besides time at work and that the South End will never be as desirable a residential district as the North Side or the center, until perhaps (and few besides the writer worry about this) the growing tendency to crowd rentals onto the vacant spaces on the large lots brings a new and mobile population to these now more stable sections. If they think of this possibility, the Borg Company and the people themselves think not in terms of transient neighbors, but of rising land values. It is given by salesmen as a reason for buying and by a woman from section I as a reason for the stability of the population in that section. People are waiting for values to rise as business grows • • IV. FLUIDITY AND DISPERSION 3 1 The people in Bell Gardens do a great deal of travel ing about without changing their place of residence. As modern American life is now organized, the daily or weekly routine of most people requires some linear movement, and the residents of Bell Gardens are no exceptions. Many things 31 In thissection and the next "fluidity" and "mo bility" are being used in somewhat narrow but accepted ways. Charles H. Cooley, R. c. Angell, and L. J. Carr, Introductory Sociol~, p. 166, define the terms as we are using them here-- obility is a change of residence; fluidity is change of place without change of residence." Mobility is fre quently used to mean change of social position out of the routine of life. Emory s. Bogardus, Sociology (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1934), pp. 353-354. The two uses are closely associated, for movements without change of residence and likely to be of the daily routine type. The term "dispersion" is here used to signify that there are some activities which cause the people from this area to scatter. It is opposed to centralization. It is a term borrowed from statistics. See, for instance, Robert Riegel, Elements of Business Statistics (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 19271: Chap. XII:- The only use of the term in ecological literature, known to the present writer, is a reference to the varying distribution of the homes of the population over the nation R. D. McKenzie, The Metropolitan Community, pp. 50-53. 88 cause this movement. The concentration of business institu tions and the location of churches require movement within the area, to say nothing of visits to nearby friends and relatives and attendance upon the functions of local organi zations. Even the children must travel to school. A host of things take people on trips outside the area without re quiring them to change their residences. If a man or a woman has a job, he or she must go to it daily. If a man has no job he is likely to go out to seek one or to call now and then at the relief stations in Belvedere. Contacts with other pub lic agencies frequently take people away from home. The health center is in Huntington Par~; the Justice of the Peace is located in Bell; and plans for buildings which are to be used by the public must be presented in downtown Los Angeles. Much retail buying is done in surrounding communities. Then there is the whole class of recreational and social activ ities--visits to old friends, trips to the beach, the moun tains, or the movies, attendance at churches, lodges, or unions in surrounding communities. All these take people out of the community and scatter them out over Southern California. Each of these items will be discussed in more detail in some following section, but it may be noted here that there seems to be a tendency for all of these functions to be lo cated in Bell Gardens with the exceptions of employment and outdoor recreation. Of course, this centralization of 89 activities in the home community will never be complete. There will always be some people who will belong to churches and other groups outside Bell Gardens. Some retail buying will also be done in downtown Los Angeles or in neighboring ' centers, but most of these needs are being more and more completely met in the area being studied. In spite of this large amount. of movement the people of Bell Gardens probably travel less than people in many other communities. The comments concerning recreation, the lack of money, the character of many of the people, and the difficulties of transportation all tend to indicate a rela- tively small amount of travel. Many people are working so hard on their homes and are so poor that they have little time, energy, or money for trips. The home building idea is dominant in Bell Gardens, and a butterfly existence is an ideal for very few people. There is sometimes criticism from social workers and others of the amount of money they spend on cars, yet the people are mostly plain but solid home builders. Transportation is frequently something of a problem in Bell Gardens. One sees a great many people walking on the streets, and frequently the promoters of churches and clubs comment upon the difficulties of providing transportation to meetings. Yet eighty-eight out of one hundred families stud ied had automobiles which were running, and three families 90 had more than one car among their various members. Some of these cars were very old, for instance, a sixteen year old Essex roadster and a 1926 Chevrolet; and, of course, one can't run even a good car without gasoline. There are many good cars in Bell Gardens, but many families depend upon a "jallopy." And when "Mister" has the car at work it doesn't assist the rest of the family with its transportation problem. One prime source of dissatisfaction in this community is the bus service. There are busses which run from the J car line in Huntington Park through Bell Gardens to Downey and Norwalk, but the equipment is old, the service infre quent, and the route limited. The co~~unity is practically without internal means of transportation other than by private automobiles or walking. The preachers of Bell Gardens are continually dis turbed because the people go to the beach instead of to church, but a few hours of visiting in the area will cause a feeling of surprise at the large number of people who are at home. Due to unemployment, one always finds many men at home in the area. A social worker commented, "Did you ever see so many men at home in the daytime in all your life?" To which a Bell Gardens'youth would probably have replied as here marked on another occasion, "When you're working you haven't got time to go anywhere, and when you're not working you're broke." 91 V. MOBILITY AND STABILITY High ~ate of mobilitl• The people who live in Bell Gardens move frequently, and the rate of movement is closely associated with the fundamental ecological pattern of the community. Table VII and Map IV give some indication of this movement. An estimate based on these data together with data on the number of families without children indicate that every year somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 per cent of the families living in Bell Gardens leave the community. And in addition families sometimes move from one house to another within this area. Of the one hundred families who answered the questions on the schedule, nearly half had been living in Bell Gardens .for one year or less, yet thirteen families had lived in more than one house in this community; and of this thirteen, seven were among those who had been here no longer than one year. From the comments of the school principals and real estate salesmen it appeared that some of the people who had lived in more than one house had probably moved away from Bell Gardens and moved back again.so that they have already been counted in the figures on movement from the community. Therefore, total mobility is somewhat less than the sum ~f those who moved from the community plus those who have lived in more than one house in Bell Gardens. Table VII and Map IV indicate a considerable variation ,TABLE VII :NU:MBER OF F:UCILIES VffiO WITHDRh'W CHILDREN FROM THE SCHOOLS IN BhLL GARDENS DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR OF 193?-1938, BY SECTION A B c D Section Number of Number of Per cent 92 families houses which B is of c I 13 152 8.6 II 20 205 9.8 II a 14 93 15.1 III 52 440 11.8 III a ? 33 21.0 IV 63 38? 16.3 IVa ? 155 4.5 IVb 6 4? 12.8 IVc 7 ?9 8.9 v 15 150 11.5 Va 4 64 6.3 . Vb 1 38 2.6 Totals 209 1,823 - B~cL 6AeD£Nu - - /'1AY 1..9~8 J CI_AR.A "--------- MAP IV HOME ADDRESSES OF FAMn.IES WHO TRANS FERRED CHILDREN FROM THE SCHOOL DISTRICT DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR, 1937-1938 93 • 94 in mobility among the various sections. Section IV shows a rate considerably higher than section III, and section III higher than sections I and II. This may indicate that as the sections grow older the population becomes more stable, or it may be simply another index of underlying differences between the sections. Sections IVa, Va, and Vb throw little light on the question, because a few of the children from section IVa are in the Downey school district, while the two latter sections are very small and were populated within the school year 1937-1938. The fairly high rate in section V, which was opened up at about the beginning of this same school year, suggests that time may be an important factor. Section IIIa is very small, and so its high rate is of no great importance, but section IIa is somewhat larger and its higher rate corresponds so closely to the general impression which one gets of the area that it seems to give the lie to an interpretation which emphasizes time as a factor in de creasing mobility. On the whole, the best guess seems to be that there is some decrease of mobility as time goes on, at least after the first few months, but that other factors than time are of greater importance in explaining differences in mobility between areas. This effect of time is probably due to the weeding out of the less fortunate financially, although Works Progress Administration and the various relief agencies go a long way to counteract this tendency. On the whole, the 95 rate of mobility seems to correspond more closely to the cultural and economic characteristics of the area than to its age. Attitudes of residents toward the community--favorable. The reasons for the high mobility are many and devious. They range all the way from fundamental economic necessity to whims, temperament, and neighborhood squabbles. They are intimately associated with the attitudes which people have toward the area and the kind of adjustments they make to it. The rea sons which have been bringing people into the area were dis cussed in section II of the present chapter. Many of them are also the reasons for peoples' staying. In answer to the question, "Do you like it here?" many people mentioned as desirable the fact that it is "country, not town"; "the air is different"; "the children have a place to play"; "you can have chickens and a garden"; and several other scattering replies corresponded to reasons given for coming. Many people appear to be quite happy in Bell Gardens. A Los Angeles city official commented that he had just been to se& a friend living in this area. "They have a two-room house and are just as happy as can be--much happier than where they lived before." Some eighty-five out of one hun dred people interviewed indicated that they intended to stay here. These answers ranged over a wide area in vigor, however. 96 Some were quite enthusiastic and determined. Others were less enthusiastic or were more impressed with the difficulty of permanency in the present economic system. The following quoted answers to a question concerning their intention of staying indicate the attitudes of some of the people in this regard: "Indeed I do." "We·built this house for a home." "We moved here to save but we have aspirations." "If we can scrape together the payments, we will stay here permanently." nTry to." ''You never know.t' "Depends on our job." "Guess so." Approximately 90 per cent of the people formally in- terviewed indicated that they liked to live here, but many chance conversations of the writer with people in the area have convinced him that that number should rather be inter- preted as indicating those who are reconciled to such a life. Many people are enthusiastically happy, but many are not. Among the chief reasons given by people for liking to live here were the facts that they liked their neighbors and that they saw themselves as sturdy pioneers. And after all it is not what one does, but what one thinks he does that is im- portant. A woman said: They are a fine group of people out here--the same kind of people that are always pioneers. At least it is better than always being bothered with landlords, but if you think it easy to start from raw land with weeds as high as my head, just you try it •••• A lot of these 97 folks in grand houses couldn't do this. 32 At least 90 per cent of the people interviewed thought that this was a friendly neighborhood, and here there was no qualification, although there was a considerable minority group who interpret good neighbors as those who "mind their own business, and let us mind ours." They said: Everybody is awfully nice. More friendly than any other neighborhood in which I have ever lived • • • • friendliest place I've been since I came from Kansas. Extremely so [friendly]--all working for,same end, and have more in common than in other places. Yes, it is a borrow, lend, and trade neighborhood. Nice people. More sociable than in town. Always ready to help the next fellow. If you're friendly yourself, you'll find people just as friendly. Yes, they're friendly. But I don't have much time to be neighborly. Neighbors just gossip anyway. We don't associate with our neighbors much. We mind our own business and make them mind theirs. Everyone tends to their own business, but are friendly enough when you speak. The gentleman from Kansas quoted above was typical of several people from rural regions who said, "People don't visit like they do in Montana," or "They don't need each 32 Schedule No. 17. 98 other like they did in Texas. They're not so hospitable." This~~ a small group, and yet it was large enough to suggest that people who come to Bell Gardens directly from the some what intimate associations of a rural community where they had lived for some time and into whose social life they had been well integrated felt a lack of cohesion in the life of this community. But people with such backgrounds were rela tively few. And after the chill blast of human indifference which others had found in the,great city, Bell Gardens seemed warm and friendly. Few persons felt that all their friends lived here. Many indicated that one or two of their best friends did but that they had other friends whom they counted among their closest scattered in many places where they had previously lived. A considerable number had no really close friends in this community. The tendency to visit old friends was men tioned above. There is in American culture a peculiar reverence for the word "home." And a considerable number of families in Bell Gardens wanted to stay because that feeling of security and of belonging had come to be associated with some spot there. One day a young man with black hair and strong hands was digging a trench in front of his shack, which consisted of an old trailer and an adjoining room made of a board frame covered with tar paper. It was a low lot, cheap in price. 99 But he said: The water only stood here for half a day last Thursday when it rained so hard. I was afraid we would be drowned out. I've been paying for over a year on this place, and I'd like to sell out. It cost $575 and I figure that I ought to get at least $200 more now. I'm two months be hind on my payments, and I've got some other bills. But I kind of hate to sell. It's like my wife said when we drove in after working a month in Bakersfield, "I'd like to stay right here awhile. It's home." Attitudes toward the ££_mmunitz--unfavorable. But Bell Gardens is not a bed of roses, and there is plenty of dis content. If one contacts many people throughout the area one is bound to find very lonely people here and there. This showed itself in a number of ways. Every once in a while the interviewer had trouble getting away from a home because some lonely soul wanted to talk. There were women who could not get "out" because of babies, housework, ill health, or lack of transportation. There was the profane oldster with a shock of curly gray hair who told the writer with his schedule that, "Its none of your damn business," and then answered readily and followed clear out into the street with a lively flow of conversation. There is also a kind of community inferiority complex. Some people are apparently just a bit ashamed of the community in which they live. One rather active woman leader remarked: ''We had been here several months and I had hardly been off the place. I was so mad because I had to live here." A strangely 100 understanding and kindly cripple, very evidently of Scandi navian origin, remarked in a lowered tone, "You know, there aren't any slum areas here. Its just one big slum." Several items concerning crimes or minor disasters had appeared in the Los Angeles papers fairly close together when a call was made on a vigorous uneducated woman who was fairly active in community affairs. She was fairly exploding with indignation over the adverse publicity. Deep and intricate run the our rents in the human soul, but it seemed to the writer that part of the turmoil over having the home community presented in such an undesirable light was a sneaking fear that perhaps this was the true light. A few of the more prosperous mem bers of the community in private conversation have assumed an attitude of ridicule as if to be sure that no one should assume that they were really part of this situation. They spoke of "these people" and remarked of a certain organiza tion, "Oh, its all right, but they do get into some of the damnedest messes. It's really good.n The people in surrounding communities look down on them. Many of the people in Bell Gardens know this and resent it, but some believe there is just cause for such an attitude and others are afraid there is. A minor executive from a nearby plant reported, "One of our boys bought over in that better section. • • • I get the impression that he likes it but is sort of ashamed of the kind of place it has become." 101 Perhaps this feeling of living in a place which may possibly justify the known contempt of others explains some of the bitterness with which answer was made to the article in the Huntington Park Signal Shopping News which was quoted in section II of this chapter. In a rejoinder from a citizen of Bell Gardens the article was described as "brutal, cheap, ill written, debased, .. and it was maintained that, "It is just hard to tell in print where such a fiendish perpetrator of comparisons justly belongs.n3a Perhaps also this resent ment partially explains the resistance of these people to social investigators. One really doesn't blame them, for investigators of one sort or another have been a veritable plague in Bell Gardens during the last year, but there can be no doubt of their suspicion and resentment. One able public servant spent a half day in the community and then reported, "You can't investigate them. They won't talk." This community self-consciousness is partly offset by genuine pride in the rapid growth and resultant size of the area, by enthusiasm over new improvements as they develop, and also by a certain sense of satisfaction in the fact that this is a restricted area, only white people being allowed to buy land. This pride in size and growth is easy to sense but 33 News item in The Bell Gardens Review, April 15, 1938. 102 difficult to prove. The feeling presents itself in various indirect ways. The writer was leaning against a street sign counting stores on Eastern Avenue when a car stopped and there was a greeting from a friendly woman leader. Upon in- spection of what was in process, she commented, "Oh well, we're growing. Business will· come. •• The advertising matter of the Borg Company constantly boasts the population at roughly twice its actual numbers and announces nthe fastest growing small-farm community in the world." 34 A man arose in a meeting and inquired how it was that Montebello ran the school board; for after all, "who is the largest. Don't we have the votes?n His speech was greeted with applause and laughter. Individuals here and there were found who took almost personal pride in each new physical improvement, whether it was the new Live Oak School or the opening of Eastern Avenue. There is much satisfaction in being young but vigorous and growing. There is a certain amount of satisfaction, one may suppose, in living in an area that is exclusive in any way, and Bell Gardens has its boast. A woman commented, "At least the school has white children, and they don't have to go with 34 Don't Fear the Future, a leaflet distributed to prospective purchasers-of land in Bell Gardens in the spring of 1938. "· 103 Niggers and Japs. That's something."35 The following quotation from a State Relief Adminis- tration worker in the area is interesting not only because of the light which it throws on race prejudice but also be cause it reveals another type of adjustment to the life of this community: Many are 'from the dust bowl [Her contacts are, of course, with relief cases only.]--Oklahoma, Arkansas, the .\ Dakotas, Kansas, etc. They have never had much and are not the least surprised at the rather primitive condi tions. Whatever adjustment has to be made they make easily. Some of them will not work. They are easy going, but they do get jobs; there is much more turnover in Bell Gardens than in Hines and Clearwater where there are many Mexicans. They are mostly friendly, but they have prejudices. And How! Do you know that one of the biggest selling points of the [Borg Company] is the racial restrictions? They [the residents] do not like it because alien Mexicans and Negroes are given aid. In all fairness it must be noted that there is more than mere prejudice to this exclusion policy. One wise public official believes sincerely that the invasion of Mexicans is a sure forerunner of deterioration. He points with convincing emphasis to Belvedere Gardens as a horrible example. Along with the satisfaction which comes from self segregation there is a sense of security which goes with the policy of exclusion. Of all the drawbacks to living in Bell Gardens, 35 Schedule No. 4. 104 however, the lack of physical conveniences is by far the most frequently mentioned. People may protect their souls against the disdain of outsiders by conceiving of themselves as pioneers--spiritual descendants of the founders of America; but the smell of an open toilet on a hot day and an hour's wait for a bus are physical realities which command attention. Of one hundred people all but eighteen listed some serious needs for Bell Gardens. Following in order of most frequent mention are the things they listed: sewers (with a heavy lead), more school facilities, better trans portation to and from the area, fire protection, recreation facilities, sidewalks, police protection. These were the things most frequently discussed, but a number of other items were mentioned, including: street lights, water pressure, stores, crossing signs, dust abatement, and an emergency hospital. One of the chief reasons for the lack of such con- veniences was put by one person into a blunt statement which many would second. He said, "We don't want any improvements because we don't have the money to pay for them." Several people have also mentioned that from their point of view the high mobility of the residents is a draw back. And some people, probably a relatively small minority, came with the idea that this would be but a temporary retreat due to economic necessity. A woman explained: We are saving now. We intend to make this into a bungalow court for workingmen's wages. Then we are going to go to Huntington Park to settle permanently. The rent on the bungalow court will supplement our wages and give a fair income. 105 In addition to the various types of discontent men tioned there is a state of mind which undoubtedly lies back of much movement. The situation is typified by the statement of an active and happy community leader. On the fence in front of her house was a "for sale" sign. Upon inquiry as to whether they were going to leave soon, she shrugged her shoulders and replied that her husband was always thinking about selling, providing he could "get his price." Then they were somewhat dissatisfied with the high school in Montebello ' and had withdrawn their daughter and sent her to Downey. Perhaps if they had any trouble getting her back into Downey, they would move over into the Downey district for a year or two until she finished high school. Many Bell Gardens fami lies seem to be eternally poised for flight. Economic necessitz and mobilitz. Behind the mobility of families lies a whole matrix of attitudes, but two great branches of one fundamental problem provide a very large num- ber of the situations which call for sudden moves. It is the problem of the job. Many Bell Gardens families move because they cannot meet their payments. Many more move because they have secured a job at Bakersfield, Tulare, San Pedro, or San Diego. One of the school principals said that some of the 106 families come and go with the seasons like the Mexican agricultural workers. In these days, where a man's job is, there must his home be also. Hope for th~ futu~. Another type of attitude toward the community which is important in any analysis of the reasons for stability or mobility is the outlook of its citi- zens toward the future. Most of these people view the future hopefully. In answer to the question on the schedule most of the people who had an opinion believed that Bell Gardens would become, in time, a "good residential section" for laboring~eople or "a nice little town." Some stressed the idea that business would come in as the place grew. No one doubted that it would grow in size, and one gathered the impression that such expansion was regarded as a virtue in itself. Once in a while there was a discordant note as when someone suggested that "restrictions on shacks" were needed and another said, "The buildings will never be nice due to fear of the river." Perhaps the two following quotations sum up Bell Gardens' analysis of its own future prospects. A young woman working in a projected flower bed said: My husband works at Studebaker. We hope he won't be laid off. They're laying off a lot now. All the people here are poor, but they help one another •••• We are all poor, but we have hope. And a young unmarried man who spoke with the assent ' 107 of a group of his fellows commented: Bell Gardens will be a pretty good residential district if folks can keep working. There's the economic situation again. We moved to Huntington Park when ours was the only house in the block, and now look at it. And Bell Gardens will be the same, if only there is work. It's better than living in L. A. You can't rent anything there for less than thirty dollars, and not that if you have children. Here there's more room, less noise, less traffic conges tion. And then you can get ahead here. Of course, there are lots of folks here because there's nowhere else they can go; but most of them are intending to stay now because they've got their roots do~~. We need better bus service or some kind of transportation, especially now that the bridges are out. And then we need street lights and better streets, schools and playgrounds, fire protection and better police protection. • • • VI. SOCIAL DISTANCES BETWEEN BELL GARDENS AND ADJACENT TOlVNs36 Bell Gardens has a d~stinct personality, or perhaps it would be better to say a "communality." Ernest W. Burgess has defined personality as "the sum and coordination of those traits which determine the role and the status of the indivi dual in the social group." 3 7 Perhaps it would be more logical to speak of similar characteristics of a community as 36 "This balance of forces is expressed by the term social distance, which reveals the degree of sympathetic understanding, or the difference existing between persons or groups, or between a person and a group." Kimball Young, An Introductory Sociologr (New York: American Book Company, 1934), p. 453. 37 Ernest w. Burgess, "The Delinquent as a Person," The American Journal of Sociology, 28:665, May, 1928. 108 "communality," but the term has other connotations,38 and no great wrenching of language)ds necessary in the use of the term "personality" to refer to those aspects of a group or community which determine its status in the eyes of its neighbors. 39 The peculiar characteristics of Bell Gardens were dis cussed above in Section I of this chapter under the heading, "a distinct culture area." Bell Gardens is different from the surrounding communities; and because it is, social dis- tances between it and its neighbors tend to widen. Franklin ' Henry Giddings pointed out long ago that we tend to cling to those who behave as we behave and to avoid those who react differently.40 Interest in earlz development. Until recently most surrounding communities have paid little attention to Bell Gardens. Little was found in the newspapers of surrounding communities concerning the area until very recently, except 38 Bessie Averne McClenahan, The Changing Urban Neighborhood (Los Angeles: The University of Southern California Press, 1929), Chap. VI, especially pp. 108-109. 39 Samuel Haig Jameson, "A Study of Status-gaining Behavior .~ong Certain Social Welfare Organizations" (unpub lished Doctor's dissertation, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, 1929), pp. ix and 332. 4 ° Frankli~ H. Giddings, Studies in the Theorf of Human Society (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1926 ,- pp. 165-292, et passim. 109 bits in the Industrial Post (Bell) evidently sent in by the Borg Company. A woman in the office of the Montebello Ne~ remarked, "I don't think they have been going very long down there." And one in the office of the Industrial Post asked, "Don't you think you'd find more if you looked in this last year?" Small items appeared now and then in the Industrial Post about the rapid growth, the erection of tke school buildings, and the meetings of the Chrumber of Commerce. The only story that was played up was a rather foolish appearing court squabble between members of the Bell Gardens Chamber of Commerce. A small column of "Bell Gardens" notes began to appear irregularly in 1935, but, on the whole, little attention was paid to Bell Gardens. Within the last year the surrounding communities have become much more conscious of their bumptious neighbor, for a number of reasons. And ar ticles concerning schools, improvements, the flood, and the Pageant of Progress have appeared. Friendly business relations. We may look down with disdain upon a man or a community, but his dollars are still good. Even in the Deep South, the white people and the Negroes mingle in the local store. 41 And so a great show of 41 Arthur F. Raper, Preface to Peasantry (Chapel Hill North Carolina: The University of North Carolina Press, 1936), p. 275. 110 friendliness toward Bell Gardens is made by organizations interested in the promotion of business. In June of 1935 the problem of transportation from Bell Gardens was discussed by the Board of Directors of the Bell Chamber of Commerce. It seemed that the H Transportation Company did not allow --- passengers from Bell Gardens to leave its busses in the Bell business district. Something had to be done about it, and the cooperation of the Bell Gardens Chamber of Commerce was to be sought. 42 Upon the occasion of the opening of Eastern Avenue, the East Los Angeles Business Men's Club entertained "business men and citizens" from Bell Gardens at a "special breakfast"; 43 and the Chamber of Commerce from this area sent a float and a bevy of girls to participate in the Pageant of Progress. Evident social distances In spite of the desire for business friendliness, the social distances from which the people in neighboring towns view Bell Gardens are only too evident. A woman who works in an office on the main street in Bell and meets many people said: The people on the street get a sort of crooked smile on their faces when you mention it lBell Gardens]. Of course, there are some good houses and some nice people, but there are a lot of places which can only be described 1935. 42 News item in the Industrial Post (Bell), June 21, 43 News Item, Bell Gardens Review, June 22, 1938. as a dump. ~~en you came right down to it, I lieve that I would care to live there myself. have to admit they are trying to do something selves and to get homes, and [hopefully] they quite a bit of business. 111 don't be But you for them are getting Another woman, this time from Downey, reacted as follows: "It is a terrible place. We came home out Florence over the new bridge the other day. It is just awful. I don't see how people can live that way." Upon explanation that some people have known little better and feel it is home, she replied, "Well, maybe some people can, but I just never could be happy in such a place." A man commented that you can get used to most anything. "Well, Lshe replied] maybe it is just that I never was fond of rabbit hutches and chicken coops." A woman pastor who works and lives in Bell Gardens explained: I have worked in ____ , ____ , __ , and ____ and all over in those big city churches Tin Southern California]. When the Lord laid it upon my heart to come here I thought I was coming to a slum. For the first few weeks, every time that door opened I got a shock. These are as fine people as you'd find anywhere. As Bell Gardens has grown Downey has come to fear in vasion of its own personality. Downey is composed of citrus growers and minor executives and professional people who work in Los Angeles. They are strictly upper middle class. A small group of people from one of the churches agreed with the minister who said the chief reaction to Bell Gardens in 112 Downey was one of "apprehension" lest it cross the river (Rio Hondo) and invade their community. After all, the Borg Company had subdivided small tracts to the north and south of this city at distances of only a few miles, "and same of the children from Bell Gardens are already in our schools." In Montebello the general populace has shown little consciousness of the existence of this community, but Bell Gardens is in the Montebello School District, and the people who have dominated that district for years seem fearful of losing their control to this unwelcome upstart. 44 Fears and apprehensions are not all on one side. There are a considerable number of individuals in Bell Gardens who would look with pleasure upon a political union with Bell, but the most outspoken people are strongly suspicious of any movement which looks like the beginning of outside domination of Bell Gardens or the machinations of outside exploiters. At a preliminary meeting held to organize the Coordinating Council, a fiery black-haired men arose and addressed the audience approximately as follows: "I don't like it. What are these people from the outside doing here. It seems that first Bell wants to get us, then Montebello is after us, and now ~~ittier." There were individuals from the last two places present by invitation. 44 Cf. pes~, Chapter VII for details. 113 There seems to be a fear on the part or some that the community will be gobbled up by some larger political unit, and also there is suspicion of the intentions or outsiders. This latter suspicion is not so marked among the more impor- tant business people as among others, but the writer has heard the following story repeated many times as pointing a moral: Then came.Mr. ____ ,and he was going to give private fire protection. The Chamber of Commerce sent back to change his contract, but others said to go ahead. He collected over four hundred dollars from householders at so much per house for protection. Then one night he took the money and his truck and beat it. VII. CONCLUSIONS The facts in this chapter have described certain basic elements in the development of the process of socio-organic diversification of which the whole evolution of social organi- zation in Bell Gardens is an expression. They show how the tendency to meet human needs through the use of many special ized areas and organizations, all interacting in complex organic fashion, has been carried out in the ec.ological struc ture of this new natural area. Other data have described the complex of factors, including the pressures of city life and the attractions of Bell Gardens, which have caused people to move to this area and have indicated the equally complicated patterns of social forces which have determined the geographic 114 diversification and the associated social distances within the community. In addition they have described certain peculiar traits of the culture of this area and have indicated how these traits have led to mobility of population on the one hand and to social distances between Bell Gardens and neighboring to~~s on the other. And they have depicted the close functional relationships between the residents of this area and many institutions located in other parts of the great city. In the course of this description the usefulness of certain ecological concepts has become apparent, and certain powerful desires of human beings have been observed. Among these drives are the wish for security, the desire to escape from certain irritations, and the pull of cultural ideals such as those of the "home" and of "life in the country." Clli\PT.l!iH III £CONOMIC ORGANIZATION Economics may be defined as the study of man in his 1 efforts to make a living. Its primary concern is with how men obtain that which they desire and not with what they should desire. Bell Gardens offers a striking illustration of one phase of economic adjustment to contemporary conditions. Its very existence is due to the fact that it offered a solu- tion to the personal problems of an experienced real estate subdivider who had been plunged into a difficult situation by business depression and financial machinations. By means of a small payment plan and a sales campaign emphasizing economic security he attracted a large influx of population over whose destinies he has continued to attempt to exercise supervision because such a course appeared to hold the pos sibility of additional remuneration. To the many people who have moved to this community the small payments demanded seemed to offer an opportunity to acquire small homes. The process of acquisition was hard, but the location .near the industrial district gave them a chance for employment, end relief agencies assisted in time 1 Cf. Fred R. Fairchild, Edgar s. Furniss, and Norman s. Buck, Blementary ~conomics (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1936), Vol. I, p. 8. 116 of stress. A few of them were even able to found little businesses dealing in staple goods. I. ACTDTITIES OF THE PRINCIPAL SUBDIVIDER Methods of sales ]EOmotion. In the early Summer of 1938 the promoters of real estate sales in Bell Gardens pub lished a small folder entitled Don't Fear the Futur~. The following excerpts from that document present many of the '\ major arguments used by the Borg Cbmpany in inducing people to buy land in the community: Seven Miles from the Los Angeles City Hall, Adjacent to Los Angeles County's Big Payroll GROWING BELL GARDENS The Fastest Growing Small-Farm Community in the United States. Come and See for Yourself. Don't Take Anybody's Word for It. The above small farm, the average size throughout Bell Gardens, taken care of in just one hour a day, yields 16 different varieties of fruit, 9 kinds of grapes, 7 kinds of berries (Easter to· Thanksgiving), vegetables, chickens, rabbits--cutting living costs do~m materially. You can do the same thing. The saving in living expenses should pay for your property; the money saved in rent will pay for your house. We can aid in financing you. DO YOU WANT A SMALL FARM HOME THAT PAYS FOR ITSELF? The tracts are large enough to erect a business build ing in certain sections or build income courts in the future when you need this extra income. Here rental prop erties are at a premium because of proximity to big plants, and lots of renters. No kind of insurance in the world is as safe and sure as the ownership of a home that pays its own way when you need it most because of old age or un employment. 11? A LITTLE EMPIRE OF SMALL COUNTRY ESTATES! Five years ago Mr. Borg analyzed the conditions of the working man and the futility of his ever getting anywhere living in the city with ~ part-time job, or no job, and chose the rich farm lands in this section as future homes for those people. Then there were about 35 families here. Now about 5,000 families have their little country es tates here, started with incredibly small capital. $20 D0\11N, AND $10 A MONTH! Good Schools. Churches. Race restricted. Transporta tion. Outside city tax limits. Rich sandy-loam soil. Deep wells; fine water at $1.25 a month. Ideal climate. Sunshine, fresh air, room for children to grow. Give their eager hands something to do and make fine citizens of them. Among these arguments the emphasis upon security, gardens, future rental possibil'i ties, small payments, proxim- ity to the industrial district, rapidity of growth, and an opportunity to "get ahead" are given special emphasis, while additional attractions are listed in the last paragraph of the quotation. In addition several other arguments for the purchase of real estate in this community are put forth in one way or another. The following excerpts from an article in the local paper might well have had their origin in the statements of some of the employees in the Borg Company's office: Of vital importance to every tax payer in Bell Gardens is the decision of the California Supreme Court in up holding the right of the Board of Supervisors to annex nine drainage districts to the county flood control, thus spreading the cost over the entire county, which will only be a few cents per hundred valuation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . This decision makes Bell Gardens' tax rate one of the 118 lowest in the country. Our major highways are paid out of the gasoline tax, our streets maintained by the county, low school rates; no sewer, street lights, or any other improvements to pay for, making this an ideal place to live, and a stimulation toward the growth of this com munity. A great deal of the credit for winning this fight be longs to the developer of this district, [Mr. Borg], who has worked quietly, but determinedly with the big in dustries and railways who are vitally interested, spend ing their time and money to put this measure through, as well as Supervisor , who played an important part in winning this fight.2 The last paragraph in the above quotation shows the attitude adopted toward the Borg Company by the editor of the local paper. The supervisor mentioned was running for the Governorship of California with the active support of a Bell Gardens Committee. Following_the appearance of the article quoted one of Mr. Borg's important lieutenants in an interview with the writer predicted the future of the North Side as follows: This [change of drainage district] will lower taxes in that industrial area that they are holding just north of here. Industry has been waiting for this before mov ing in. The building up of industry will mean concentra tion of people north of Florence and the coming of apart ment houses. That's what you don't like. But it is inevitable. Human greed is such that you can't stop it. The people who don't like it will simply have to scatter out through the area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . These people can buy a lot for an average of six hundred .dollars [now higher], can build a small house, and soon they will have a property worth $3,000. to 2 News item in the Bell Gardens Review, June 17, 1938. 119 $6,000. Where else can the working man do that? There is no other place where such an opportunity is offered. Payments for everything except taxes and insurance will run as low as sixteen dollars per month. Supervision of community activities. vVhen people have decided to buy, the Borg Company does not lose interest in them. It is interested in everything that happens in Bell Gardens. Its organizers regard Bell Gardens as their partie- ular domain. They seek to guide and direct its growth and development. This fact will be apparent as the story pro- ceeds, but it may be well to insert here a statement, made to the writer by Mr. Borg which expresses the viewpoint: People [meaning social workers and governmental agents of various types] come out here to see, not being able to understand that there is an active organization here look ing after the area. We won't let it degenerate into a slum. We're going to stay here and get the resales. So far we've been remarkably fortunate in maintaining ex clusive control of the real estate business here. With all its efforts, however, the Borg Company is only one of a series of forces which guide the destinies of Bell Gardens. It will appear later that the Borg Company does many good things for the area, and secondly that many things go on in Bell Gardens over which the Borg Company has little control. There are in fact fairly strong organizations which apparently would not hesitate to challenge the domina tion of the Borg Company if any flagrant abuses should appear. Earlz history of the subdivision. Mr. Borg began his 120 career as a real estate subdivider in 1918 by borrowing large amounts of money from a Los Angeles bank under the guiding hands of the bank officials, with whom he was asso ciated. These officials were in the habit of getting young men to work with them in order that they might make money for themselves, and not for the stockholders. Mr. Borg was suc cessful, and in the years up to 1925 he made them much money, and a tidy sum for himself also. Finally, he bought a piece of land for the bank out here in the grain fields where they wanted it. He signed the mortgages, but another was to handle the sales. Then followed machinations in the field of "high" finance, and his friends lost control of the bank to others. These new bankers began asking for their money. The original intention had been to let the subdivision grow slowly and to be in no hurry. But these new owners were impatient. At about that time the depression of 1929 came on, and Mr. Borg had his troubles.3 A few lots had been sold in the tract before the de- pression at prices much higher than those now asked, but many of them had been taken back. Finally, in January of 1933, Mr. Borg completed an agreement with the bank to sell the land and started in a small way. The owners thought then that there might be oil under this land, and so in the sales contracts 3 This paragraph was condensed from the story as told to the writer by Mr. Borg. 121 they reserved half of the proceeds from oil to the vendors and the right to contract for the sale of any oil discovered. This was one of the reasons that small cheap houses were to be encouraged; for, before oil could be pumped from the ground, surface soil and buildings must be paid for. If small houses were built they would be cheaper to buy. That is one of the reasons for Bell Gardens being what it is. The BorB Companl• The head office of the Borg Company is located at the corner of Florence and Eastern Avenues, and its sales offices and signs are found throughout Bell Gardens. Vfuile only one name appears on all the literature and signs, there are really three corporations involved in the real es tate business in this area. All are housed in one building and all are apparently dominated by Mr. Borg. 4 The Borg Company is a sales agency. But, for purposes of safety from legal suits and for income tax reduction, there is a corpora tion which acts as collecting agent for sales contracts and another which holds the properties belonging to Mr. Borg. The three corporations cooperate as follows: the Borg Company enters an agreement to sell the land of Mr. X on amortized contracts. The second corporation makes an agreement with Mr. X to make collections on the contracts and to deal with 4 Some think that there are other and powerful hands behind the scenes. 122 the purchasers. It also arranges loans for purchasers, cashes checks, and does a sort of banking business, although it does not receive deposits. Should Mr. Borg desire to pur chase a certain piece of land for himself the transaction would be effected by the third corporation. As far as the public knows there is but one corporation, and when mention is made of the Borg Company elsewhere in this paper reference may actually be to any one of the three corporations, or to all. Purchasers of newly subdivided lots in Bell Gardens sign a contract with the owners of that land for whom the Borg Company acts as agent. This contract gives the pur chaser the right to possess the land. He must make monthly payments of a specified amount (frequently $10). After he has paid a certain total amount, which varies from parcel to parcel, he will be given a new contract which is an amortized contract of sale. If he defaults in his payments, at any time, and, if the landowner chooses to enforce his rights, he loses all. The purchaser is not allowed to assign the con tract without permission, and he is usually required to start construction of a house within six months, said house to have five hundred square feet of floor space and to receive two coats of paint on the outside. There is much doubt among social workers as to the legality of these contracts, but it is the opinion of an 123 attorney attached to a public agency that they are valid and binding contracts to sell. This attorney has made some in vestigation of these contracts. If a man makes his payments and fulfills his contract he is apparently safe from loss by reason of the machinations of other interests. Many people believe that the whole project is some sort of a "skin game.n They not only doubt the legality of the contracts, but they doubt that good title can or will be given to this land. Perhaps we may dismiss this matter by saying that a considerable series of items indicate that purchasers of lots can, and will receive good title to their properties and that some purchasers have already obtained them. No sufficient investigation of all the different par cels of ground in Bell Gardens has been made to give an absolute answer on this point, but the present writer sees little reason for doubting the titles. Still another point of criticism is the price of land. People have paid all the way from $450 to over $1,000 for lots of approximately a quarter of an acre in size. The prices of the current sales run from $?50 to $1,000 and in a few cases over $1,000. ~fuat the value of a piece of land may be is a technical question of immense complexity. The fundamental problem as far as Bell Gardens is concerned seems to be this: Are the poor people who buy lots on this installment plan being penalized for the fact that this is the only way in which they can buy 124 lots? Without going into detailed comparisons and analyses, it is perhaps enough to say that prices of land in Bell Gardens seem high but not extortionate. The legality of contracts or titles and the price of land are, of course, only beginning topics in any attempt to evaluate the ethics of this enterprise. The vicissitudes of life among these people are such that frequently they default in their payments or in some other condition in their con tracts. Frequently also they need to move in a hurry, and "get out from under." \~at happens in these emergencies is of vital importance to prospective residents. A social worker of recognized standing charged that, nwe have discovered that so long as a man has an unimproved lot they let him drag along, but as soon as he has placed some improvements on the property, they foreclose in a hurry." On the other hand, the lawyer mentioned above remarked, "We have run across plenty of cases where Mr. Borg has been mighty good to some of those people." The present writer is inclined to think that in the light of modern business ethics,Mr. Borg, his companies, and the landowners for whom he sells treat their clients with reasonable fairness. The general policy of the office is to allow people to be in arrears on payments for sixty days. If they are the "right sort" they will then be allowed another thirty days, and occasionally even longer. If they have a 125 property of any considerable value above what they owe on it, the Borg Company will frequently sell it for them. There is a~lause in the contracts restricting assignment, but consent to transfer property in this fashion is apparently freely given. Perhaps the best indication of the fundamental fairness of Mr. Borg is the attitude of the people of Bell Gardens to ward him. There are people who dislike him--some few speak with venom against him. One woman despised him thoroughly and threat ened to expose all his, past corruptions. A few residents told of his vigorous foreclosures in the North Side. They related that the sheriff's deputies had once been called to quell a disturbance which resulted when a group of home buyers from the North Side had called at the main office. But such stories are always in the past tense. One man said, "He has quieted down a lot lately." Most of the people seem to be openly friendly or at least passively appeased. Quiet inquiry among the residents indicates that most of the residents think he is "O. K." They have said, "Oh, yes, so and so is losing his place but then he's three (or six) months back. And, well, if you can't pay what can you expect?" The average American workingman in Bell Gardens still respects private property. There are in Bell Gardens a number of active community leaders who are decidedly anti-Borg. They accuse him of all sorts of things--of scheming to place public improvements where they will increase the value of his own holdings, of 126 trying to "run" the community, and of backing the wrong political candidates, but they do not accuse him of unfairness in his treatment of the people purchasing land. They some times deride his fundamental motives by stating or implying that "he's in it for all he can get out of it," i.e., that he's in business primarily and above all to make money; but of the squeezing and cheating of particular clients the rumors are few. One organizer of a somewhat anti-Borg group exploded as follows: ~1e're going to watch Borg. And if he tries to pull anything I'm going to fight him. I don't know that he's done anything yet, but he needs watching." The activities of the Borg Company never cease. Having secured the backing of a big Los Angeles bank and the Federal Housing Act, they are now engaged in a campaign to induce people to borrow needed money, improve their homes, and in crease their payments. These loans by Los Angeles banks are made possible by the fact that in the past the Borg Company has taken over properties where payments to banks were in de fault and has thus "protected the credit of the area." This statement does not imply that in all cases the struggling owners have been squeezed out. Frequently, their contracts have been rewritte~ and they have been allowed a longer time in which to pay. 127 II. THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE The great fundamental problem of life is to keep liv ing. Food, shelter, clothing, and an income which will allow one to grow and enjoy life in one's ovm community are the essentials, 5 and Bell Gardens presents one method of attain ing some of them. HousiDB and home ownershiE• The great majority of people in this area are buying their land, and have built or are building their own houses. A few people have hired others to build their houses for them or have purchased houses con structed by others, but of ninety-one families who either owned or were buying their homes sixty-seven had built their own houses (usually with some paid help, to be sure); sixteen had purchased homes already built; five had taken over partly completed dwellings, and no information was obtained con- cerning three families. Only nine out of the one hundred families contacted were renting the houses in which they lived. The majority of the people had many payments yet to make on their homes. The following figures obtained from the schedules indicate how the matter stood: 5 ~ohn Lewis Gillen, Social Pathology (New York: The Century Company, 1933), p. 451. 128 Nearly paid for6 23 Not nearly paid for6 57 Entirely paid for 4 No information 7 Total owners 91 Rentals 9 Total families interviewed 100 The opportunity to acquire land by making small pay ments and to construct a house as it can be paid for consti- tutes the fundamental economic genius of the Bell Gardens project. A man remarked: You can almost always scrape together ten dollars a month as long as you can have a place to live. We've built our house a little at a time as we could pay for it. I'm not going to borrdw a lot of money and get out on a limb. A fellow at the bank wanted me to borrow money to fix this place up, but I'm not going to do it. Even if a family does borrow a few hundred dollars for lumber and materials, payments run less than $20 per month. Occasionally,. people borrow more and begin making payments of $20 or $25 per month, but this is not the most common practice. Because of their type of approach to the problem of 6 These phrases were used in questions put to the per sons interviewed in Bell Gardens, and answers were recorded on the schedules. No definition of them was attempted when the questions were asked. Consequently the replies have no mathematically exact connotation, but they do indicate the situation in a rough way. 129 housing, most of the residents of Bell Gardens live first in tents, trailers, or shacks made of old boxes or of tar paper and then in very small unfinished houses with few roams. Among the one hundred families contacted by interviewers the most popular number of rooms for a house was three although two, four, and one were all close contestants for first place. There were twenty-six houses with three rooms. Only eleven houses had as many as five rooms. This listing of the number of rooms in Bell Gardens houses cannot be very accurate, for over half of the houses a~ unfinished on the inside. When one sits on an old davenport in what will eventually be a hallway and looks through the bare studs of future walls into all corners, except the bathroom, of a prospective four-room home, one hardly knows how to count the rooms. Is this a four or a one-room home? In another place one wonders if this little lean-to alcove is really a room, and should one count this tent which stands just outside the back door and is used as an overflow bedroom. With these difficulties in mind, the above count of rooms is a fairly accurate guide. One should remember, of course, that rooms as well as houses are likely to be small in Bell Gardens as compared to com munities of more pretention. The number of finished homes varies considerably with the age and prosperity of the particular section under con sideration. In the North Side probably half of the houses, 130 at least, have the inside walls sealed in some manner, but in the newer and poorer South End the proportion is smaller. The battle to finish the house is frequently a long .and weary struggle. Sometimes a man throws himself into the work with gusto, and progress is apparent. One woman lay sick in the midst of plumbing fixtures and strewn materials and said: We're going to have a swell bathroom. My husband doesn't do anything [in his spare time] but work on this house. It's his hobby. Pretty soon we're going to have one of the nicest little colonial houses in this area. The fact that this man held a job which paid $140 per month and did not require manual labor seemed to be an important factor in this case. Other people were less enthusiastic. One family re- ported that they had lived in their adequate six-room house 1 for three years without sea:Ling it. The husband worked hard, yet money was not plentiful. They were finally getting it plastered with the aid of a bachelor friend who lived with them week-ends and worked at the job without compensation be yond his board and room. Another pleasant but worn housewife and mother reported, "The back rooms have never been finished although we've lived here. for three years. My husband works six days a week and his health hasn't been very well, and so--." An agent for the Borg Company informed the writer that 131 "not one per cent of the people here rent." As a matter of fact the percentage is probably nearer ten. In the canvas of one hundred houses nine renters were found, and frequent notices of rentals may be found in the paper, on fence posts, or on the barber shop wall. Most of these rentals represent an effort to augment their income by families already living on lots which they are trying to purchase. The possibility of building such rentals is used by the Borg Company as an argument for buying, and it is accepted by the residents as a matter of course. A few rentals have been constructed by people with money to invest, such as one of the local lumber dealers. 7 A few have been built as a means of holding choice lots for speculative purposes, and an unknown number belong to people who have started to buy and then have moved away. There are other ways than building rentals to supple- ment the income of those who purchase these "small farms." A family garden will aid with the solution of the food prob- lem. Grapes or berries may bring varying amounts of cash income. The three water companies supply water for irrigation at a flat rate of $1.25 per month, thus assisting in the fostering of agriculture. No very careful analysis of the possible financial assistance to be realized from one of these plots was made. . ' 7 News item in the Bell Gardens Review, May 27, 1938. 132 A man reported that berries paid for his land. A woman said, "Grapes pay for the land to some extent." One optimistic individual reported an income of $300 in one year from ber ries.8 In addition to horticulture the livestock industry is not to be ignored. A casual perusal of the want-ad section of the Bell Gard~ Review for July 15, 1938, which will be found in the appendix of this report, 9 will impart much in- formation concerning the economic life of this area. Small family enterprises in the raising of chickens or rabbits are frequent occurrences,and even goats, cows, and ponies are not unknown.~ In addition several lots are given over to the raising of rabbits or frogs on a commercial scale. The people in Bell Gardens find numerous methods of turning their large lots to economic usefulness, but few are the families in which the "small farm" produces any major portion of the family income. Gardens, livestock, berries, and rentals may assist somewhat in the battle for the neces- sities of life, but the real economic importance of Bell Gardens, up to date, lies in the fact that a working man with a small and irregular income has a fighting chance to procure a home of his own. Methods of securing an income. The residents of 8 News item in the~ Gardens Review, June 17, 1938. 9 See Appendix, p. 371. 133 Bell Gardens work for a living. Among the one hundred families for wham schedules were filled out, 112 men were found who were reported either as working or as unemployed, and ten women were found who had employment outside their homes. Besides these there were a few young men and a very small number of women who would like to work but had no employment histories. These people are predominantly industrial workers, al- though there are employees of many different types of business in this area. Table VIII reveals that laborers, skilled, unskilled or semiskilled compose most of the population. Table IX shows that forty-six out of the seventy-five employed persons whose classification is known work either in manu- facturing directly or in construction. Relatively few women from Bell Gardens families work outside the home. 10 In the survey of Bell Gardens only ten working women were discovered, and in five cases these were "the women of the house." Four women did industrial labor, two were store clerks, and the remaining four did housework, nursing, or secretarial work. The large amount of unemployment among these workers in the late spring of 1938 is evident in Tables VIII and IX. 10 In American industry as a whole slightly over one fifth of all workers are women. Warren B. Catlin, The !abo~ Problem (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1935), p. 58. TABLE VIII SOURCE OF INCOME FOR ONE HUNDR.bD .AND TWELVE Bl!:LL GARDENS lltfEN Occupational Number class of men Labor 24 Ski 11 ed 1 abor 21 Unemployed 18 Semiskilled labor 13 Works Progress Administration 12 Minor executives 7 Relief and public pensions 5 Independent business 4 Clerical work 3 Retired 3 Unclassified 2 Total 112 134 TABLE IX TYPES OF BUSINESSES IN WHICH ONE HUNDRED AND TViliLVE BELL GARDENS MEN ARE EMPLOT.till Type of business Steel manufacturing Rubber manufacturing Automobile manufacturing Glass manufacturing Miscellaneous manufacturing Total manufacturing Miscellaneous business* Construction Unemployed Works Progress Administration Retired Unknown Total Number of men employed 9 5 5 2 16 37 29 9 18 12 3 4 112 *Among the businesses classified as miscel laneous were: shoe shop, laundry, feed store, hospital, equipment company, knife grinding, odd jobs, store, packing house (fruit), r~ilroad, lumber company, telephone company, oil production. 135 136 Eighteen men reported themselves unemployed, while seventeen were admittedly supported by relief, pensions from public agencies, or jobs furnished by Works Progress Administration. Three men who reported themselves as retired were also prob ably receiving public aid of some kind. It is probable also that all those receiving public aid were not discovered, since the receipt of such assistance is a fact not readily revealed. At any rate some thirty-eight out of 112 men {33.9 per cent) were without known means of livelihood, save for public aid, and at.leas~ seventeen families out of 112 or 15.2 per cent were receiving such aid. Another method of measuring the relief load in Bell Gardens produced an estimated total of 18.1 per cent of the families there as being supported by public aid in July of 1938. The State Relief Administration had a known load of 109 cases and the County Bureau of Indigent Relief a total of thirty-nine cases. No figures could be obtained from Works Progress Administration, but an estimate (based on the cases which State Relief Administration had sent to them and on their reported turnover) indicated that approximately 182 families from Bell Gardens had one member each working for the Works Progress Administration in the summer of 1938. An examination of Table X and Map V will reveal that the clients of the Bureau of Indigent Relief and the State Relief Administration were distributed among the various 137 TABLE X FAMILIES RECEIVING AID FROM BUREAU OF INDIGID~T RELIEF OR STATE R~LIEF ADMINISTRATION IN JULY, 1S38, BY SECTIONS A B c D Section Number of Number of Per cent families houses which B is of 0 I 6 152 4.00 II 13 205 6.3 II a 6 93 6.5 III 37 440 8.4 Ilia 2 33 6.1 IV 45 387 11.6 IVa 4 155 2.6 IVb 4 79 5.1 IVc 5 47 10.6 v 13 130 10.0 Va 8 64 12.5 Vb 0 38 All sections 143* 1,823 7.8 *Addresses of five families unknown. II~ Cl.AR.A --------- MAP V HOME ADDRESSES OF FAMILIES RECEIVmG AID THROUGH B. I. R. OR S. R. A. IN JULY, 1938 138 • 139 sections of Bell Gardens in such a manner as to support the remarks made concerning these areas in section III of Chapter II. The heavy concentrations of relief cases are found in the lower South End and in the new sections V and Va. Sec tion rvc shows a larger percentage than might have been ex pected, but the numbers are very small. The North Side shows a lower rate than the South End, but a higher rate than Old Bell Gardens. One of the topics on which many people from all wslks of life spend much time in argument is the question as to whether this large group of people who are on relief of one kind or another will or won't work. It is probably something of an academic question, since no jobs in private industry seem open to them, and so the simple device of trying them out is not readily available. The lengths to which one should go before one accepts relief and the exact vigor of the struggle which should be made to get off the public relief rolls are also matters of dispute. Will they or won't they work? The question deals with a complexity of interlocking human attitudes and becomes al most imponderable. All sorts of opinions were expressed by observers and by the unemployed themselves. A social worker said of one resident of Bell Gardens, "He wouldn't accept a job if he were to star.ve." And the same worker remarked of others, "They're anxious to work. They 140 want to get on Works Progress Administration [In this case 'work']. But they do get jobs [in private industry]." ~ man now on Vvorks Progress Administration complained, "I've got a trade, but a man can't earn a living at it~ eighteen dollars a week maybe." And so he accepts relief work and spends his extra time trying to be a politician. A woman explained to the interviewer, "Sidney [all names are ficitious] is a V-.P.A. laborer, but the other boys haven't found work yet." A man who is a minor leader in the community said quietly, "I've been out of work for six months, and haven't been on relief yet." And his wife added, "But if you don't go back to work next week, I don't know what we're going to do. Our clothes are literally falling off of us." A woman who is also a leader remarked as the inter viewer was leaving, "Of course, we're on relief now; my hus band being sick." She meant that nov1 they got direct relief from the county and were no longer "working" for Works Prog ress Administration. The county cares only for families where there is no employable member, and Works Progress Administration takes only workers for whom they have jobs. State Relief Adcinis tration deals with the remainder. The answer to this question concerning their willingness to work in case of county clients is, then, that there is no one to work. But what of the 141 others? The present writer on the basis of his study would conjecture that there is among these relief clients a consid erable minority who are psychologically unfit for private employment. This group may run as high as 20 per cent of the total. At the other extreme is a somewhat larger group of people who accept relief with genuine reluctance. Between these two groups is a third, of considerable but unknown size, whose members feel that the first business of life is to keep living. In the battle for the necessities of life one must use every available device. If one can live by work ing in private industry, well and good. If one has to work for Works Progress Administration, then that is the way out. One really doesn't like to accept direct relief, but the first business of life is to live. The members of this group are not troubled about the growing national debt, or the troubles of state officials. They are sure that county taxes are too high, but that is all the more reason that they must have some income. The securing of the necessities of life is an immediate and pressing problem. Not listed among the unemployed was a relatively small group of young men sixteen years of age or over who were not in school, and had no record of employment. Six young men of this class were discovered among the one hundred families interviewed. This is not a large number, but if that number be multiplied by 18.23 a significant group results. In other 142 words, there must be at least 109 young men in Bell Gardens who find themselves in this predicament. At a meeting of a group of young men between the ages of eighteen and twenty five years the following conversation took place: A young fellow started the conversation by saying: "It takes at least two years to get a job that amounts to anything. Some don't get one for five years and maybe never, but they don't really look." "Oh, I don't know about that," replied the boy on the back row, "You look and look and follow this lead and that one until you just get discouraged. I have been out of work a long time. I go out with a bunch of fellows to look for work. We go all over, but we never find anything." This situation constitutes a most serious problem. Many devices are resorted to in Bell Gardens to secure the necessities of life, but the chief source of incomes is still the earnings of the various members of the families. The total incomes from earnings of the families studied show a wider range than many people would expect. It is true that there are many very low incomes, but there is also a con siderable group of adequate incomes. The median for the whole group is $93 per month. Table XI presents an analysis of the incomes reported by the one hundred families formally visited, for the month immediately preceding the interview. These calls were made during April and May with a very few in 143 TABLE XI INCOMES REPORTED BY ONE HUNDRED BELL GARDENS FP.J.ITLIES FOR THE MONTH PRECEDING THE INTERVIEViS, BY SECTIONS Income Incomes b:l sections Cwnulative class I II III IV v Totals totals 300-309 1 1 1 290-299 280-289 2?0-2?9 260-269 1 1 2 250-259 240-249 230-239 220-229 210-219 200-209 1 1 2 4 190-199 1 1 2 6 180-189 1 1 ? 1?0-1?9 1 1 2 9 160-169 1 1 2 11 150-159 1 1 1 1 4 15 140-149 1 2 3 18 130-139 1 1 1 3 21 120..;129 1 3 5 3 12 33 110-119 100-109 2 6 1 9 42 90-99 2 2 44 80-89 1 2 3 6 50 ?0-?9 1 2 3 53 60-69 1 1 2 1 5 58 50-59 1 2 3 8 3 1? ?5 40-49 1 1 ?6 30-39 1 1 2 ?8 20-29 1 1 ?.9 10-19 0-9 1 3 5 9 88 Unknown 12 100 Totals 6 16 26 28 12 100 Median* $125 $105 $83 $54 $93 *In even dollars. 144 June, 1938. Probably a considerable proportion of those for whom the income is not reported had none or were in the lower groups, although some of them were known to have average, or better than average, incomes. For those families v.rhose in- comes were given, fifty-five out of eighty-eight had received incomes of $100 or less for the month, and thirty of them had secured $60 or less. Most of the incomes composing the large group in the $50 to $59 bracket were Works Progress Adminis tration earnings of $55 per month. The amount of monthly earnings varied noticeably with the sections of Bell Gardens. The median income for Old Bell Gardens (sections I and II) was $125 for the month. For sections III and IIIa it was $105, for the sections in group IV it was $83, and for the new sections it was $54. In this last case the total number of incomes is very small, and none of the numbers are large, but these results seem to correlate with other data already presented concerning the various sections. ~lanes and standards of livigs. "By standard of liv ing is meant that goal of living conditions which an individ ual or family is making a sacrifice to attain, while plane of living represents the level on which~expenditures are actually incurred."ll Planes of living are clearly low in Bell Gardens, 11 George B. Mangold, Social Pathology (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1932), p. 528. 145 but many people have come to Bell Gardens because they hoped to attain higher standards~ The data on incomes indicate that earnings are relatively low, and the picture of housing conditions indicatesmuch that is not ideal. Certain other data point toward relatively low planes of living. During the first six months of 1938 the attendance at the Bell Gardens baby clinics was higher per capita than for any in corporated district in the Huntington Park health district and much higher than for the district as a whole. The public health nurses agreed that there is much undernourishment · among these people; and, according to one of the school prin cipals, the school nurse found much undernourishment among the children and also reported that there were more cavities in the teeth of the children in the Bell Gardens School than in any other school in the district. The following statement from one of several public health nurses in contact with the area throws much light on both the planes and standards of living of the people known to her agency: w·e find just what we expect to find in such an area Las Bell Gardens]. There are more skin diseases, and resistance is lower due to improper feeding. We try to educate these people. Even getting them to wash their hands frequentll is important. Arkansawyers are not hopeless •••• 2 It should be understood that the last lines of the 12 From a personal interview. 146 above quotation do not refer to all Bell Gardens but to a certain group of people with whom the nurses wrestle mightily. This group have low standards of living, but they are in the minority. The majority of the people in Bell Gardens are hoping to achieve higher planes of living. They have higher standards. They look forward to better houses and to sup- plemented incomes, and they pray fervently for a continuation of employment. Here, as everywhere, there is a difference of opinion concerning just what a desirable standard of living may be. A woman commented: Yes, we paid for our house. I don't see how people can live in shacks and have cars and frigidaires. Some times they spend enough for furniture to buy a whole lot. We save until we have enough money and then pay cash. Why, some of our neighbors have lived here two or three years, and they haven't even cleaned up their yards. That most of these people have moderate standards of living but are not used to luxuries is indicated by the oc cupational groups in which the fathers of the men now living in Bell Gardens labored. Of the one hundred families contacted only sixty-nine reported the occupation of the man's father, but those sixty-nine were distributed-as follows: Farmers 32 Skilled laborers 16 Unskilled laborers 10 Professionals 6 Independent businessmen 3 Semi-skilled laborers 1 Clerical workers 1 147 A method _of getting an income which might well be dis cussed in this section is the operation of a small independ ent business, but because of the peculiar importance of business enterprises to the whole community a separate section will be devoted to this topic. III. BUSINESS IN BELL GARDENS "Of course," said one of the chief lieutenants of the Borg Company, "the immediate picture in this area will be the coming of business along this street [Eastern Avenue, just opened through to Atlantic]." It is a most difficult matter to determine the number of business establishments in Bell Gardens for two reasons. First, what is a business? The people in Bell Gardens use every possible device to secure an income. Here is a sign nailed to a fence which reads in large gold letters, "Tattoo ing" and notes in smaller letters below, "Social Security Numbers 50~." Dressmaking signs are relatively frequent, and plumbers and carpenters advertise their services by signs in their door yards. Just when does rabbit raising cease being a domestic matter and become a business? And is this fellow sitting on a corner lot with a few barrels of oil and a rude hut operating a "business" or not? The second difficulty consists of the fact that the scene is constantly changing. Businesses come and go, but the total number of establishments 148 in Bell Gardens is rapidly growing. On a bright Saturday morning in May, 1938, an effort was made to locate all the businesses in Bell Gardens. No enterprises were counted un less they boasted a building or a room entirely given over to the sale, or production and sale, of some commodity or commodities. Rabbit and poultry enterprises without separate sales departments were not counted. On that Saturday morning there were fourteen grocery stores operating in this community and forty-one other businesses, including three lumber yards, five feed stores, .four service stations, one wood-working factory, a chick hatchery, three liquor estab lishments, one very small department store, the office of the Borg Company, two secondhand stores, the Soda Shoppe, a fifteen-cent store with a very small stock, two barber shops, a beauty shop, a newspaper office, a drug store, a cleaning establishment, and a hardware store. Most of these enterprises ar_e shown on the base map which has been used several time~ in earlier sections. The concentration of business on. Eastern Avenue is slightly over emphasized by the map. The size of the symbols indicating business places is such that they fill up a larger proportion of the space on the map than is actually the case in Bell Gardens. There are larger vacant spaces on Eastern Avenue ·than appear on the map. An offsetting factor is that several of the black squares indicate buildings which house more than 149 one business. One business which does not appear on the map is a lumber company located on Florence east of Jaboneria. The large black square outside Bell Gardens at the east end of Clara Street is a macaroni manufacturing plant. Not shown on the map is a dairy which is located in the end of tbe old Cudahy tract near the Los Angeles river on the street which runs just south of the Live Oak School. The typical business in Bell Gardens is a small affair run by a family. The house of the owner is usually found on the rear of the lot, frequently attached to the store itself. The lumber yards, at least two of the service stations, and several other enterprises do not have such attendant resi dences, but most establishments do. And most of the busi nesses are very small. The lumber companies are larger, especially the one on the corner of Eastern and Florence. At least two of the service stations employ several attendants. Four or five of the groceries carry stocks which might com pare with very small branches of chain stores; one feed store boasts hired help; one drink and dance place employs several people; and, of course, there is the Borg Company. But there is also a grocery store whose contents could be hauled away in a delivery truck and a feed store in a box-like building some fifteen feet square. Businesses in Bell Gardens are established on two bases: the demands of the public and the personal exigencies 150 of the owners. Few business establishments came to Bell Gardens during the first three years of its growth, but in the last two years business has come in rapidly, and new businesses are now being established at frequent intervals. This trend of business growth reminds one of Chapin's curve of normal growth.l3 The first two businesses in Bell Gardens were a grocery store and a feed store--food for humans and for animals. Mr. Snyder's grocery store started in a shack with a tiny stock, but it was located on Eastern Avenue. Now Mr. Snyder operates a store which might attract customers in almost any community, but he and his family still live in a house one wall of which is the rear wall of the store. These two early stores catered to fundamental wants; but in the case of two others the primary motive seems to have been the need for income on the part of those·who founded them, for two of the earliest business establishments were the fifteen- cent store and the Soda Shoppe. In general these small businesses supply the most com- mon needs of such an area in those lines where standardized products are used and where the range of individual whims and desires is somewhat limited or where substitutions can be made. Such things as food for humans, feed for stock, gasoline, lumber, staple hardware, packaged drugs, and 13 Stewart F. Chapin, Cultural Change (New York: The Century Company, 1928), Chap. XII, especially pp. 383-384. 151 haircuts are the things principally sold in this community. A business man remarked in August, 1938, that, "The next thing we need is a clothing store." Most of the people of Bell Gardens go to the other areas to purchase clothing, specialty items such as music, furniture, and automobiles. It is noticeable that among this list are items concerning which tastes and needs differ widely and items for the sale of which relatively large capital is necessary. Many Bell Gardens' families indicate that they buy most of their groceries and daily necessities here, but others buy even these "everyday" articles outside. Across the Los Angeles River on Atlantic Avenue is a large Smith's market. It is a huge shed in which great stacks of branded and un branded produce await purchase. · In front are long rows of vegetable and fruit bins. Back of these is a long meat counter, and beyond this a great room piled high with crates and cartons of staple groceries. No delicacy of display is affected, but the customer takes his basket and searches among the piles, finally emerging through one of several nar row chutes where he must pass by the boy at the cash register. \~ether one actually obtains more calories for a dollar in such a place is difficult to determine; but casual inspection and comparison support that conclusion, and many residents of Bell Gardens believe that they do. Of the one hundred families contacte~ only five reported that they bought nothing in their 152 home community, but a large number of others spent large pro portions of their income elsewhere. They bought in the sur rounding communities. Many went to Huntington Park and some - to Bell, Maywood, Belvedere, and other places. Frequently they complained that local prices were too high and that there was no variety of merchandise. A con siderable number believed that one should spend one's money in the local community where possible. One young housewife said: We really do believe in patronizing home stores, but a housewife does have to save where she can. We buy here only in emergency. When we want to spend as much as four or five dollars we go where we can get it all under one roof and cheaper. Perhaps the practice of medicine is not strictly a business, but the lack .of such service in Bell Gardens is very apparent. Only one doctor has a regular office in Bell Gardens, although another runs a sort of clinic for a few hours each day in a room back of the drug store. 1Vhen asked where their family doctor was located, many people indicated that they had no one physician whom they regularly patronized. But those who had had medical services had secured them from all the surrounding communities. It is interesting to note that doc- tors were called from a larger number of communities and from communities lying at greater distances than those in which purchases were made. Apparently there is an element of per- sonal attachment and selection in the relationship of physician 153 and patient which responds less readily to the urges of pure economic convenience than does the purchase of commodities. Most of the people who are engaged in business in Bell Gardens live in the community, but relatively few of them are active in community affairs. Three or four men with interests elsewhere have seen business opportunities in this community, and strangely enough two of these men are active in community matters--Mr. Borg, and the leading lumber merchant. A con siderable group of the business people are active in some community organization, a few very active, but many of them operate their small shops and take no part in the organized life of the community about them. CONCLUSIONS This material, then, tends to indicate how basic to the process of diversification in modern society is the struggle for survival. The efforts of different individuals to find ways in which they might attain their standards of living have been of profound importance in the instigation of this real estate project, in the selection and growth of its popu lation, and in the type and location of its business enter prises. The fact that the struggling of individuals and not the power of an autocrat is the basic organizing force in these developmentsis indicated both in the way in which population is selected and in the inability of the subdivider to dominate 154 the growing community. This fact becomes apparent also in the discussion of the type of small business which exists in the area and of its location and relatively late development. Furthermore, the location of these businesses and the activi ties of their O\vners have greatly affected the ecological structure and the organized activity of the community. CHAPTER IV FAMILY LIFE, LEISURE-TIME ACTIVITIES AND MALADJUSTMENT OF INDIVIDUALS In their efforts to live, the members of every human society have developed some kind of family life.l The estab lished patterns have differed widely from society to society, but some approved pattern for the association within a house hold of persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption has characterized all human societies. Similarly every society has had renegades, those who have deviated from the established mores of the group and have been regarded as dangerous to the existence of that society or of some of its members. 2 The problem of the use of leisure time is somewhat more peculiarly a problem of modern machine civilization, but in the cities of the United States, at least, the vast social significance of the use of leisure time is coming to receive more and more attention. By the standards of these modern scholars the recreational facilities of Bell Gardens are 1 Clark Wissler, Man and Culture (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1923), p:-9y:- 2 Branislaw Malinowski, Crime and Custom in Sava~e Society (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1926),32 pp. 156 inadequate. 3 These three topics must be closely related in any dis cussion of the organization or disorganization of social life in Bell Gardens, for leisure time is largely spent in the family group, and the problems of maladjusted individuals are closely related to home life and usage of leisure time. The family life of the residents of Bell Gardens is relatively stable and vital, but in spite of that fact there is a rate of delinquency of troublesome but not alar.ming proportions. One factor in this situation appears to be the lack of or ganized recreational opportunities in this area. Even com mercial amusements must be sought in other communities. Most delinquencies committed in Bell Gardens are the result of individual caprice, but the combination of this lack of rec reational facilities with frequent poverty and poor housing has resulted in the formation of several embryonic boys' gangs, and of one definitely delinquent gang. I. PATTERNS OF FAMILY LIFE Dominance of the familz pattern. Many of the patterns of family life in Bell Gardens do not attract attention be cause they are traditional American patterns. From the view point of sheer curiosity, or for the spice of unorthodox 3 Cecil c. North, The Communiti and Social Welfare (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company,no., l931T, Chap. VIII. 157 relations, Bell Gardens is of little interest. Family life is monogamic, and the most frequent unit consists of a man, his wife, and their children. There are plenty of cases of discord and disruption; but, on the whole, frunily life is stable and vital. Families were found where the man dominated and families where the woman ruled. The writer suspects that there were families where the children had actual control, but he was impressed with the fact that the usual arrangement was a partnership established to meet life's problems, in which each partner played an important part and had at least some voice. Bell Gardens is far enough from the hub of the metrop- olis to make a husband or a wife a useful associate. There is little in this community to attract the single woman. She - finds few methods of making a living, fe~ rooming houses, poor transportation, and few amusements. Several of these points apply also to. the single man. After all, there are no restaurants in Bell Gardens. The community is dominated by the home-making idea. A review of the reasons for coming here which were presented in Chapter II, Section II,will point to this fact, for such things as a place for children to play, a home, the opportunity to "get ahead," and the presence of relatives were important factors. Said a local minister, who might have been expected to criticize, "They are the home making type." 158 This impression of the area is strengthened by the data collected on types of tamily groups, and the age distri bution of the populace. From an examination of Table XII it becomes evident that lone men and women are relatively in frequent phenomena in Bell Gardens. Only three of them were found among the one hundred families visited. Counting both the cases in which the family consisted of parents with their own children and those in which it consisted of. these plus others, we find that 62 per cent of the families reported mother, father, and children living together. Twenty-seven per cent reported husband and wife but no children, and eight out of the hundred reported a man or woman and children. In fifteen cases there were persons other than parents and their own children living in the home. The age distribution of Table XII shows a lack of per sons between the ages of seventeen and twenty-one. The older ages are simply recorded on an impressionistic basis as old, middle-aged, or young. This was done to prevent friction in the interviewing and is not wholly satisfactory, but the large groups of adults in the young and middle-aged classifi cations undoubtedly indicate that most of the adults of Bell Gardens are vigorous, family people. Since many of these schedules were filled out by persons under twenty, it seems likely that any error in classifications of impressions would tend toward making the populace appear older than it actually 159 TABLE XII AGES OF PERSONS LIVING IN ONE HUNDRED HOUSEHOLDS ill' BELL GARDENS BY TYPE OF FAMILY Type of family Woman Man Man, Women Man Ages of Man, Man and and woman, Man and and Total number individ- woman, and Man Woman chil- chil- chil- and chil- chil- of per- uals children woman dren dren dren woman dren dren sons Plus others Old 8 5 1 2 1 2 6 2 27 Middle- aged 52 25 1 1 8 9 1 2 99 Young 51 14 1 5 1 8 9 5 94 21 3 1 4 20 4 1 5 19 1 1 2 18 4 4 17 1 1 2 16 5 1 6 15 2 2 14 4 1 5 13 4 1 5 12 7 2 1 10 11 2 2 10 8 1 1 10 9 3 1 1 5 8 4 2 1 7 7 10 1 11 6 6 1 7 5 5 1 1 1 8 4 12 4 16 3 8 1 1 10 2 4 1 5 1 9 2 11 0 8 8 Unknown 7 2 9 Number of families 54 22 2 1 5 1 8 5 1 1 100 160 is. Most of the people who settle in Bell Gardens appear to be young people or people in the middle years who are looking toward the future. Unmarried young people in the late teens and early twenties form a noticeably small proportion of the population of this community. The heaviest concentration of children is found in the years from birth to twelve years of age. These are the young children of young and middle-aged parents. Many cases of family conflict there are in Bell Gardens, but, on the whole, the family is a stable and vital institu tion. It seemed impossible to secure adequate data on the actual amount of family disorganization for many well-known reasons, 4 but many straws indicate the direction of the wind. The writer obtained information upon a number of cases of family discord. There were disobedience of children, divorce, infidelity, desertion, wife-beating, and psychological bru tality. But in the respectable middle-class neighborhood where the writer lives, such things occur also. The opinions of social workers and ministers who have contact with the area agree in maintaining that there is a relatively small amount of family disintegration here. They say: ttwe don't have many failure-to-provide oases from there [Bell Gardens].tt "Yes, the word 'solid' describes them very well." ttThe family life 4 Ernest R. Mowrer, Family Disorganization (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1927), p. 29 ff. 161 is pretty stable." An analysis of the case records of the State Relief Administration for this area and for the city of Whittier to gether with its immediate environs indicates that the per- oentage of deserted women and the number of persons of both sexes who have been at some time divorced is slightly greater for Whittier, a community of reputed conservatism and stabil ity. Of course, this is an untrustworthy index. There are all the questions of the selection of relief oases, and in both areas the total number of relief oases was small (fifty nine for Whittier and 109 for Bell Gardens}. It is just another straw. in the wind. The relatively large number of contacts which Bell Gardens people maintain with other members of the larger family is another factor pointing toward the vitality of fam ily relationships. The importance of family ties in inducing people to live in Bell Gardens has already been noted. Once they have settled here they visit their relatives more fre quently than anyone else. This is especially true of visits for a full day, overnight, or for a week-end. ·Four copies of the Bell Gardens Review 5 report ten such visits, and of these eight were to relatives, one to old friends, and the 5 Bell Gardens Review, May 6, May 27, June 17, and June 24, 1938. 162 destination of the visited was not revealed in the remaining case. Some of the visits were by Bell Gardens people to out side areas and some by outsiders to this community. One young woman remarked, "We don't visit much in Bell Gardens. You see we have so many relatives all over the country that we're kept pretty busy with them." There seems to be no reason for assuming that family relations in Bell Gardens are ideal or that they are remark ably stable and vital when compared with other areas of strong family organization, but certainly it is not a community of marked family disintegration. Its families perform useful and significant functions for most of the residents of this com munity. Children in the familz grouE. One of the first impres sions which the visitor to Bell Gardens receives is that there are many children in the community. Children are to be seen everywhere. They play on the streets and on vacant lots, in the river bed, and on the schoolgrounds. If one talks to any one of a number of people who have had contact with the com munity one soon hears stories of families with ten or eleven children. As a matter of fact the families of this area are of moderate size. The average population per household for per sons living in private family groups in California was 3.34 163 persons in 1930. 6 The corresponding figure for one hundred households in Bell Gardens in 1938 was 3.74 persons. Thus there was in this community a slightly larger number of per sons per household than for the state as a whole, but for the nation as a whole the number of persons per private household was 4.01 in 1930. 7 Counting only families in which there were no outsiders but including households consisting of a single man or woman the average number of persons for eighty-five Bell Gardens families becomes 3.45. A study by the United States Bureau of the Census for families living in the great lakes region of the United States indicated that in 1930 the average number of persons per family varied according to occupational grouping. · Among professional people there were 3.01 persons per family, among farm renters and owners 4.48 persons, among skilled workers 3.51, semiskilled 3.47, and unskilled 3.91. 8 If we take into consideration the fact that Bell Gardens is close to a great city, it seems likely that the size of its families is approximately the size which one might expect among working people. The aver age numbers in the families of skilled and semiskilled 6 United States Department of Commerce, Statistical Abstract of the United States (Washington: United States Governmen~Prlnting Office, 1935), p. 48. 7 Loc. cit. - -- 8 Recent Social Trends {Report of the President's Research Committee on Social Trends. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1933), pp. 685-686. 164 workers listed above are very close to the average number I for the families of Bell Gardens. There are in Bell Gardens a considerable number of children, but the impression of enormous fecundity which one is likely to gain from chance contacts is false. Most of the parents in Bell Gardens make a genuine effort to guide their children in the ways which they think they should go, but many difficulties beset their efforts. Any opportunity to contact the mothers and fathers of this community cannot fail to impress one with the fact that most of tham are anxious to do well by their children. One may observe a fishing trip to a drainage ditch by a party con sisting of several small boys accompanied by their mother and a hearty lunch; Mrs. Johnson discussing the necessity of accompanying her daughter here arid there in order that she may not be forced to go with certain undesirable strangers; an anxious housewife conferring with a visiting speaker about the problems of her boy; and another indicating the need for ' some activities for her girl. One mother commented to the investigator that she had a yard full of children most of the time because she wanted her children to play at home, and another went out in the street to play ball occasionally with her growing boys in order that they might be satisfied to remain near home. But the parents of Bell Gardens children must face 165 many obstacles. When houses are small and parents are busy and tired from house building and garden making, children are likely to be allowed to run with little supervision. There is also a wide difference of culture standards. Cases have been reported in which parents urged their children to fight the children of other families as part of a type of interfamily feud; and a mother thanked God in a testimony meeting that a certain family had moved away, because her children had been unable to go to school without the danger of being physically attacked. If the parents have a dif ferent conception of a good life than their neighbors their children are likely to be thorns in the side of the community. Perhaps in connection with this difference of stand ards some comment should be made upon a type of behavior which characterizes the community as a whole. In Bell Gardens, one accustomed to a middle-class college community is continually impressed with the forthright vigor of the behavior of these working people, especially the men. The power of polite conventions is at a minimum and the emotions are allowed to express themselves more directly and vigor ously. People are more likely to challenge each other in open meetings, or to tell someone what they think of him in terms garnished with profanity. This directness of behavior carries over into the disciplining of children. There is less worry about child psychology and more direct efforts at 166 control. Whether this implies more physical chastisement is not known. The phenomenon described is a characteristic of the general behavior. "Common sense" takes the place of philosophy and psychology. The difficulties already mentioned are aggravated by the lack of adequate institutional assistance to parents. As will be shown later, schools and police protection are inadequate,and recreational outlets are relatively scarce. Yet Bell Gardens is not a community of extremely high delin quency rates. Daily routine. In spite of obstacles,the family life of Bell Gardens is vital, and one of the reasons appears to be that the daily routine brings the various members of the family into relatively frequent contact with each other. The majority of the people seem to spend most of their free time at home. As one travels up and down the streets one sees many men and women working in the yards and gardens and the children probably playing nearby. The man goes to work, if he has a job. He returns between 4:30 and 6:00 in the after noon and works in the garden or on the house. The woman's life is a round of housework, made more difficult by in adequate housing and the prevalence of dust. She goes away from home relatively little, for lack of money, poor trans portation, and few outside interests restrict her activities. 167 This restriction of free movements does not mean that she is socially isolated. The close contlcts with neighbors have been discussed. One is impressed with the fact that the average woman in Bell Gardens has a rather close in formal association with her immediate neighbors, born not of formal calls and bridge parties but of common experiences in house-building and weed-pulling. The whole family is likely to make an occasional visit to some relative or friend. More expensive recreational activities are not entirely ab- sent, but only less common than among more prosperous and less busy people. Acceptance of outsiders into the home. A family pat tern which reveals the fundamental kindliness of these people is the willingness of many of them to assist people outside their own immediate families by taking them into their homes. Of the one hundred families studied fifteen reported that there were other persons besides the man, the woman, and their children living in the home on a somewhat permanent basis. Many of these outsiders in the home.s are members of the larger family group, but frequently they are friends or total strangers. A woman reported that Mildred, a friend from Pennsylvania,was living with them and going to business college, and a mother of youthful sons said: Oh, yes, John lives here, but he's no relation to us. He came home from C. c. C. camp with my boy, and started 168 to board here, but he was out of work all last winter. His mother doesn't want him. She didn't send him a card at Christmas •••• He wrote her and wanted to borrow some money, but she didn't reply~ ••• I wonder what kind of a creature she is •••• She didn't know he was with people who would take him in. But, of course, it was somewhat of a problem for us •••• Now he's joined the Army. Marriage and courtsh~. Closely related to the cus toms of family life are the folkways of marriage and court ship. Bell Gardens is a community of homes, but the number of marriages appears to be small. Of all the items which usually are recorded in American newspapers perhaps the name of the average man is most sure to appear on the occasions of his birth, his marriage, and his death. The columns of the. Bell Gardens paper during seven months reported only three marriages but many births. Of course, not all births or marriages are reported in the local paper, yet in over seven months of relatively continual contact with Bell Gardens only seven marriages came to light. Births are an everyday occurrence. Reports of them are frequent in the papers, and daily conversation and comment report them con- tinually. There must have been many marriages of which the writer knew nothing, yet several evident reasons indicate that mar riages may well be less numerous in Bell Gardens than in some other places. In the first place, Table XII showed the rel ative scarcity of unmarried persons of marriageable age. 169 The second great reason was economic. It was not that young people in Bell Gardens did not believe in marriage and family life. A group interview with same twenty young unmarried men of marriageable age brought the followfDg reply from one young man and agreement from his fellows, "Sure, the young folks intend to marry, if they can get work. Two of us are going to get married this year [both had steady jobs] •••• The big trouble is the economic one." Another bar to marriage is the lack of opportunity to meet desirable members of the opposite sex. One of the same group of young men just mentioned commented, "There aren't many girls. The girls are either too young, or else they - are already married." The lack of organized activities in which young people of both sexes might participate and thus become acquainted seemed evident. The churches and clubs provided some rel atively inadequate occasions of this kind, but a young man out of high school must find his mate by whatever means chance throws his way. Youth will be served, however, and a man will have a mate. A considerable proportion of the young people do get acquainted with one another. ·They drift into the Soda Shoppe for the evening, or same boy who knows several other youths and girls organizes an excursion to the mountains, the beach, or the Palomar, a Los Angeles dance hall. But 170 desirable friendships are not always available and mates are frequently ill-chosen. Of the marriages that were discovered, one was a hurried and ill-considered affair in which a young girl married to get away from a crowded home where she felt she was a burden. In another case a girl who had gone from a crowded home to live with friends married a man from the home of those friends after she was five months pregnant, and one of the local boys married a girl from outside Bell Gardens who was already the unmarried mother of a child by another man. There are undoubtedly many satisfactory mar riages in Bell Gardens, but it is not a good place in which to seek a mate. There is no lack of interest between the sexes on the occasions when they do meet. In the early Summer of 1938 the Bell Gardens Review 9 began publishing a column entitled "Roundabout," written by one Marcella Paul. This column was devoted to community chit-chat, dealing especially with the young people of high school age and older. The following typical itemsreflect rather clearly the continual fencing of the sex-conscious young: Betty Didd and a few of the others would like to know what that Marine's name is that took Miss Ethel Reddington's moving picture camera to Alaska, a while back. 9 See issue of June 17, 1938, p. 3. Dame Rumour is passing around town that Jack Frye nominates Naydeane Lewis as "Belle of Bell Gardens." Or maybe it's another "fake," like the ring. 171 Shirley Doo would like to know who that little blonde called Betty, from Huntington Park, is, that George Markland of Gallant street, is "sparkin." Shirley Doo isn't the only girl! II. THE SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE OF LEISURE-TIME ACTIVITIES Many bits of data relating to the social significance of leisure-time activities have already been presented in the first section of this chapter, and some of these will be further discussed in the section on maladjustment of indi viduals. But some of these points should be treated sepa rately because of their importance, and the whole topic of leisure-time activities should be drawn up into relief so that its pattern may not be lost in the complexities of the whole social matrix. Much time spent in !he~ £Qmmunitl• -The fact that family life in Bell Gardens is relatively vital means that individuals spend much of their leisure time in informal activities at home or in the imediate neighborhood. Probably the activity which takes the largest amount of the time not required by employment or by the daily round of eating, sleeping, and dressing is that of working on same "small farm" project. House building, poultry raising, gardening, and related activities consume much of the time and energy of the residents of this area. Just how much of this ac- tivity may be regarded as play or recreation is a question without an answer, but many of the people regard such ac- tivities as pleasures as well as economic aids. When one 172 hundred people in Bell Gardens were asked how they spent their leisure time, the most frequent type of reply indicated some of these semieconomic diversions. Probably of second importance to both young and old is the informal talking of the older folk and the playing of children, both of which have already been thoroughly dis cussed. These casual neighborhood contacts are a part of the very soul of Bell Gardens, and they frequently blossom into somewhat more definite social occasions. An elderly Texan remarked, "There isn't much visiting, but we have had a few of the neighbors in for the evening onooor twice." The following brief clippings from the Bell Gardens Review tell typical stories: Mr. and Mrs. Bert Holmes entertained a group of 12 at their home Monday the 4th. Mrs. A. F. Neal of ~uinn, had a dinner party Friday, May 20. Stork Shower The ladies of the Elder ~uorum, of Maywood and Grant Ward Church of Latter Day Saints, gave Mrs. Lucile Banks a stork shower at the home of Mrs. Duerden's Friday, July 1. Forty ladies were served with home made ice cream and cake. 173 Many lively games were played and a good time had by all. A New Year's Eve party was given at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank McClellan of 6612 Marlow Ave., December 31st, which was also in the nature of a housewarming to their relatives and friends. Games and singing were enjoyed by all, after which refreshments were served, and the party was a joyfest. The guests :present were: ••• These small social gatherings are more frequent in the older sections of the community, and yet even of one of these older sections a woman remarked, ~e can't do much entertaining because our houses are too small •• " • • Another important factor in the use of the time which a resident of Bell Gardens may call his own is the radio. Everyone has a radio. In a few of the families visited the radios were broken, or no electricity was available with which to operate them; but, practically speaking, everyone has a radio. And most of the people reported using it a great deal. Some 10 per cent of the families simply turn it on and leave it going for hours at a time, but this practice is by no means universal. Many of the people listen to cer tain par~icular stations or programs at periods of the day when such listening is convenient. Others who like "music" twirl the dials to find a suitable dance orchestra. Each family follows a different group of programs. Perhaps the people of this area prefer above all the daily serial 174 stories, and next in popularity appear to be the supposedly humorous programs of stellar personalities such as those of Jack Benny, Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, Lum and Abner, and Amos 'n Andy. The Lone Ranger is popular with children, and many people have special tastes for dance bands or cowboy music. Symphony orchestras, sports, and news events· appear to be of relatively less interest, although they are not entirely over looked. Mention will be made in later~hapters of the primary clubs which spring up, especially among the women, of the secular organizations, including the Boy Scouts, and of the work of the churches. No one of these activities is nearly so universal in its appeal as are those informal activities already mentioned, but taken together they provide a consider able amount of constructive recreation for selected groups from the district. A gesture toward an organized recreational program was made in the Spring and early Summer of 1938. Two men were obtained from the Works Progress Administration project super vised by the county recreation authorities. One of these men came on the scene just after the Coordinating Council had been started, and a man called "Rev. Bruen" had started a softball team for boys of high school age. The man was young and attractive in appearance, and he succeeded in developing two softball teams for this age group. These teams have continued 175 to play softball all summer and have obtained financial and moral support from the leading spirits in the Chamber of Commerce. Members of strongest of these teams may be seen wandering about the central part of the community in groups on almost any day. Later in the spring another Works Progress Administra tion playground worker was sent to the Live Oak School grounds, but he accomplished little. When school was out a small wood working shop was set up in one of the schoolrooms at this same school, and for a period of a few weeks a young man car ried on a program with a fairly large group of interested youngsters, but for some unknown reason this effort was soon abandoned. Several private recreation enterprises serving rel atively small groups exist in this area. Perhaps the oldest and most important is the Soda Shoppe. Established in 1935, it boasts a counter, stools, two booths, a phonograph which plays for a nickle, and some five hundred feet of open floor space. For a long time it was the only informal meeting place for the young people of Bell Gardens. On accidentally selected evenings the place is host to a swarm of young people including the softball players, members of the Five Point Club, and others of high school age or older. It has become the favorite rendezvous for a considerable number of the young people, especially for those who have a little 176 money to spend and enjoy the presence of the opposite sex. A new pool hall has just been opened on Eastern Avenue, calling itself a social club. But so far it has received only limited patronage from a small number of relatively ma ture young men. The third enterprise is the Tavern. The Tavern is a broad squatty building located on Eastern Avenue near Florence. Its proprietor dispenses liquor by the drink and also serves meals. In the evenings a small orchestra pro vides music for .dining and dancing. Frequently many cars may be seen outside at eleven or twelve o'clock in the evening, and sometimes the neighbors curse the noise. Many chance passers-by decide that the young people of Bell Gardens are being rapidly assisted toward demoralization, but as a matter of fac.t the largest proportion of the revelers are people from outside this community. Threats are frequently made against this place, but recently its proprietor has seen fit to en large his building. Activities which take people outside Bell Gardens. Bell Gardens' residents spend by far the greater part of their leisure time in homespun activities within their own community; but commercial entertainments, outdoor recreation, and visits to friends and organizations take them outside with varying frequency. 177 With the minor exceptions of the Social Club and the Tavern,/Bell Gardens affords no commercial recreation, not even a moving picture show. "A good ten cent movie" for the community is one of the dreams of many youngsters, but in the meantime they and their elders attend the "shows" in surround ing communities, especially in Bell. Many families in Bell Gardens attend the movies once a week or oftener, and many children go to the special Saturday afternoon matinees. A very few people there are who seldom attend the movies. Some people do not attend because they find that economic necessity limits their commerical entertainment, but attend- ance at the moving picture theater probably takes people out side of Bell Gardens more frequently than any other type of leisure-time activity. Eventually some enterpriser will undoubtedly establish a theater in the area, but many people will still travel outside to view the artificial heroics of their favorite luminaries. Other types of activities which take people outside the area are visits to friends and relatives or to distant points of interest, among which excursions to places affording espe cially suitable opportunities for outdoor recreation are most frequent. Since the importance of visits to relatives and friends has been discussed elsewhere in the chapter, trips of other types must be emphasized here. As noted above the young unmarried men who have money to spend enjoy more freedom of movement than any other group. They and their young women 178 companions travel to dances, to movies, to outings, and to distant cities. Sometimes they travel just for the sake of traveling. One young man reported that he had driven his car nearly thirty-thousand miles in one year. "Last summer," he said, "I used to take a gang and go oft on a long trip almost every week-end." One young man remarked to a group: "I hear you had a weiner bake •••• I didn't know any- thing about it. I was told that you took two dogs and four quarts of whisky." The accusation concerning the refreshments was vigorously denied. But other people travel about also. They make excur- sions to many distant places, or take their children to nearby parks. The following items from the Bell Gardens Review tell the story: Mr. and Mrs. Duerden, 5714 Priory street, drove to Lake Elsinore Sunday. Forest Duerden and Hal Ashley returned with them. They spent a week at the lake. A party consisting of Mrs. Ida McElroy, Mr. and Mrs. Seese, both of Cecelia street and Mr. and Mrs. C. Dehart of Los Angeles went to the fun house for an evening of that good old second-childhood fun last Saturday night. Beach Party Eula Howard of 5928 Muller street, and a group of her young friends spent Monday, May 30 at Redondo Beach. The members of the party were Marjorie Woodburn, Robert and Ben Boone. Visited National Park Mr. and Mrs. o. V. Baker of 5834 Live Oak street motored to Sequoia National Park over the week-end. They report a pleasant trip. Going up Thursday and returning Sunday. 179 Mr. and Mrs. c. D. and Mr. and Mrs. Dell Caldwell of 5808 Clara street, and their sister, Mrs. Grey of Geary, Ind., and Mr. O'Merrill of Bell, motored to Tia Juana, Mexico, July 4. Mr. and Mrs. T. P. Testa and family of the Testa Market on Eastern avenue, spent the 4th of July at the Coliseum where they picnicked and later watched the fireworks. Bell Gardens' people undoubtedly travel away from home less frequently than do the residents of same more wealthy communities. A woman remarked: "The older people can't get away very much, but they send their children away to visit relatives in the summer time. They scatter enough so that it's harder to keep up Sunday School attendance." On the other hand the data here presented indicate that residents of this community do move about with consider- able freedom. One reason for trips out of the area not treated here will be discussed later, in Chapter VI. It is that a considerable minority of the residents of Bell Gardens maintain membership in unions or other for.mal groups in other communities. Some of the trips to other small communities by young people in search of recreation cause parents considerable worry, and the lack of supervised recreational opportunities in Bell Gardens is a factor in an apparently rising rate of juvenile delinquency. III. DELINQUENCY IN BELL GARDENS Moderate rate of delinquency. The rate of juvenile 180 delinquency in Bell Gardens may be described as moderate; that is, the number of persons known to the courts, the police, and the probation department in 1937 and 1938 was considerable but not excessive. The data available on this subject are very inadequate. Certain studies conducted under the direction of the Probation Officer of Los Angeles County were discovered to be inaccurate for this area, because of inadequate report ing of arrests. Opinions concerning the problems of the area differ with the perspective of the observer. One of the two commercial patrolmen in the area believed that there was con siderable petty thieving but few major delinquencies among the young people and children. The janitor of one of the schools thought that a larger proportion of the children were uncon trolled and likely to be destructive than in any other place in which he had worked, but the principal of the same school thought that there were no more behavior problems here than elsewhere, and that the most serious problems in his school had arisen because of two problem teachers. The various men from the county probation office did not regard Bell Gardens as an especially troublesome area. Perhaps the opinion of the school principal who had had the most intimate association with the community is the best to be had. He thought that there was no very large number of serious delinquencies, but that the number was rising, and that the lack of adequate school facilities and the lack of parental control in many 181 cases, the growing number of embryo gangs, and the family feuds were all factors making toward a high delinquency rate. 10 Statistics seem to reveal a moderate rate of delin quency. Map VI shows the home addresses of all juveniles who were on probation in July, 1938, or who had been arrested in Bell Cardens in the period between January, 1937, and May, 1938. In addition the red spots indicate the addresses of adults on probation in Bell Gardens in July, 1938. Among those persons represented by spots on the map are ten boy delinquents between the ages of ten and seventeen inclusive, two younger boys and two younger girls in whose behalf the law had inter ceeded to protect them from their parents, eight adult men and one adult woman, all kno\vn to the probation officers in July, 1938. In addition the sheriff's office reported arrests of four juvenile males and one female in Bell Gardens in 1937 and of eight males and one female in 1938. Adequate statistical data for comparison of these rates with other localities were not available. Differences of police practice and efficiency make comparisons with other nearby communities of little value, and lack of adequate population data make comparisons with other county areas scarcely possible. In the light of such studies as those of Clifford Shaw, however, perhaps this rate indicates a delinquency problem of average or slightly more 10 Interpretation of several interviews. - lit. CtAR.A MAP VI HOME ADDRESSES OF JUVENILES ARRESTED BE'l'WEEN JANUARY, 1937 AND MAY, 1938 AND OF ADULT AND JUVENILE PROBA TIONERS, AS OF JULY, 1938 BLACK- JUVENILES RED -ADULTS 182 • 183 than average seriousness but not as serious as that found in the badly disorganized areas in the transitional zones of larger cities such as Chicago.ll The fact that the number of delinquents known to police and probation officers is fairly small is no sign that all is well in Bell Gardens.l2 It is difficult not to define delin- quency in terms of the official activities of established institutions such as tbe police and the courts,l3 yet this gives no adequate evaluation of the actual behavior of juve niles in such a place as Bell Gardens as compared with sur rounding communities. One of the frequent complaints of the residents of this community is of the inefficiency of the sheriff's deputies who sally forth occasionally from their office several miles away to enforce law and order in Bell Gardens. The people tell with relish of the evening when a neighbor called the sheriff's office to come and stop a man who was beating his wife, and deputies showed up promptly the next morning. This lack. of police protection is one element in the complaints of the 11 Clifford R. Shaw, Delinquency Areas, Chap. v. 12 Walter c. Reckless and Mapheus Smith, Juvenile Delinguency (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1932), especially pp. 18 and 21. 13 Cyril Burt, The joung Delinquent (New York: D. Appleton and Company, l930 , p. 15. · 184 community about its youth, for an intelligent police force can do much toward the reduction of minor delinquencies. It also indicates one of the reasons that there are relatively few arrests in this area. Attitudes toward desirabilitr £! ~· Most of the residents, however, regard the area as a fairly desirable place for children, but there are a number of criticisms. The following comments are typical of those made by people who live or work in Bell Gardens: This is an ideal place for children because it is open country. The neighborhood is full of kids but they seem o. K. No problems. All the neighborhood kids are good kids. One kid is about as bad as the next. Too many children, really. Tough bunch of children here. About as good here as any place--better than in to\vn. Children have to play in the streets. Our sixteen-year old boy is in with the wrong crowd. The boys who live here don't have any ideals or honor. There are quite a number of girls here who haven't very good reputations and who spend long nights drinking, dancing, and smoking at dance halls. They [young people] go to the movies and then go out and park. This place used to be quite a place for parkers from Los Angeles, before it built up. [They think just a small percentage of these parkers go the limit.] The kids run around in bunches at night and steal stuff out of parked cars. 185 There is one bad gang. Its leader is a boy named Mr. White thought that he had headed ____ off by getting-- him into a baseball team, but he didn't stay. This gang has gotten into real trouble. They are the ones that have smashed the windows in the local school house. One gang cornered one of our boys at high school and broke his nose because he wouldn't knuckle under to them. The traffic is getting bad here. The youngsters get out in their cars and speed up and down. Individual weaknesses and embryo gangs. Perhaps the most alarming notes in the data concerning delinquencies in Bell Gardens are the occasional references to the activities of boys' gangs. One group of boys of high school age was well known to two of the school principals and to several other members of the community. It had engaged in breaking windows in one of the school buildings and in destroying other property. Its members had beaten another youth who would not obey its dictates, having cornered him in a hallway at the high school. At least one of the leaders of this group had been arrested· and sentto a state institution. Several other embryo gangs of boys of high school age or younger were known to the school principals, to the local commercial patrolmen, and to certain workers connected with the local Coordinating Council. Most of these groups were merely neighborhood play groups which sometimes wandered about the community in search of amusement, but several of them had found that amusement in stealing loose articles from automobiles left unguarded on the streets at night, and several others had broken windows i~nguarded buildings or destroyed other property. The general impression which one gains of the people 186 in this area, however, is that there is much lack of individ~ restraint and a considerable number of cases of perversity, but that crime as an organized business or as the continual interest of solidified groups is little known. The single exception to this statement appears to have been the boys' gang mentioned above. One or two other boys' gangs may have been approaching this state of .organized delinquent behavior. The offences for which the adult probationers had been arrested support the impression that there was little organ ized crime in the area. One had stolen an automobile to go riding. Another was taken into custody for driving while drunk, after he had been involved in a collision. Two had contributed to the delinquency of minors. One was charged with undue intimacy with a ten year old girl, and another was one of a group who were arrested for the same type of conduct. with older girls. This last young man had taken only a minor part in the escapade. The fifth youth had burglarized a wine shop, and a sixth had knowingly received stolen property from a pal. The offences committed by two of the adult men and a few of the boys were not discovered. Although the known offences of the juveniles as presented in Table XIII do not clearly indicate that they result from individual weakness TABLE XIII REASONS FOR ARREST OF KNOWN JUVENILE DBLINQUENTS LIVING IN BELL GARDENS IN 1937 AND 1938 Reasons Petty theft Auto theft Runaway or missing Malicious mischief Burglary Assault with deadly Indecent exposure Drunkenness Total Number 5 4 juveniles 4 (beating father) 3 2 weapon 1 1 1 21 187 rather than from organized crime, an examination of the stories of these boys indicates that most of their misde meanors were of this character. CONCLUSIONS 188 One of the distinctive characteristics of the culture of Bell Gardens is the dominance of the family pattern. Practically everyone lives in a family group, and most of these groups are composed of young or middle-aged couples with their children. Single adults are found infrequently in this community, and the size of the families is apparently determined primarily by the economic class of the people. Furthermore, in spite of the inadequate housing and the rel ative poverty of the populace, family life is relatively stable; and the rate of delinquency is not excessive. There are, however, s·everal embryo boys' gangs, the formation of which is apparently partially attributable to the lack of adequate organized recreational opportunities. Many of the people make a considerable number of excursions into outlying areas in search of commercial or outdoor recreations, but most of them spend a great deal of their "leisure" time on their "small farms" and in house building, by which means the members of the family are brought into frequent contact. The fact that different types of people select different sections of the community in which to live is also illustrated by the fact that in the poorer sections there is a larger number of children per family. 189 CHAPTER V THE PRACTICE OF RELIGION One of the culture complexes which makes Bell Gardens different from several of the surrounding communities is the type of organized religion found therein. The great majority of the people of this community pay little attention to re ligious activities, but most of those who do seem to worship with a deep sense of conviction, and believe in types of re ligious practice which are found in all communities, to be sure, but whose presence is frequently overshadowed by others of more liberal tendencies. The churches are smal~ sectarian and fundamentalistic in their teaching, but the most success ful provide emotional relaxation and assistance with daily problems. With the exception of the Catholic and Mormon groups these congregations represent the work of zealous in dividuals who gather their followers together in any place that happens to be available, who build their churches as they can, the most of whom earn their living by secular em ployment. I. CONTACTS WITH TEE CHURCHES The Mormons. It was early for the meeting of the newly formed Coordinating Council, but a broad-shouldered man with wavy gray hair was standing by an eucalyptus tree in front 191 of the shack where the meeting would convene. He spoke and smiled, and immediately one was impressed with his kindliness and dignity. One of his legs was slightly shorte~ than the other, and he gladly climbed into the car to sit down when the opportunity was offered. He was Bishop Peterson of the Mormon Church, a car penter by trade, and a resident of Bell Gardens. He was able to obtain some carpenter work--had just finished a house. The rest of his time he spent working among the berries and vegetables on his lot·in the North Side. He was the execu tive head of a new ward of the Mormon Church, which had been established in this area. He had been told about the co ordinating council and had come over to see what it was "all about." "Of course," he said, "the Mormons take care of their own young people, but they are glad to cooperate in desirable community enterprises." The Mormons in this area had been going to church in Maywood, but eventually they had decided to organize their own ward under the leadership of Bishop Peterson. They al ready knew of some eighty families in this area who were Mormons, although some of them had not yet been certified by their churches. When a L.1o rmon moves from one ward to an other, the church in the first ward sends word to the one into which he is going. Records of all these moves are also kept in Salt Lake City, Uta~ and one who claims to be a 192 Mormon must establish the fact before being accepted into the local church. The bishop knew of most of the families of Mormons in this area either by means of notification from some other branch of the church organization or through the efforts of two young men who were home missionaries and were going from house to house in Bell Gardens trying to find people who were members of the church or who might be inter ested in "what we have." Mr. Peterson outlined with evident pride the whole organization of the Mormon Church. People who are once Mormons are always regarded as such, unless they renounce their faith, and the church tries to care for their needs. It discourages their marrying out side the church;and, while a good many of the young people these days fall away, the bishop thought that the church re tained a grip on most of them. This ward was holding a Sunday school and a Relief Society meeting in the Woman's Club House in Bell Gardens each wee~ but the adult members were still traveling to Maywood for the regular Sunday evening church service. They were buying a lot over near the Baptist Church in section Va and were looking forward to building a church in the near future. At a later date the writer called upon the bishop to ask for the addresses of his members. He gave them readily and with the sad comment that nearly half of them were not very active. One was impressed with the kindly dignity of the man, his lack of suspicion, his cooperative attitude, 193 bDd his deep sense of being the representative of a great institution which oared constantly for the souls and bodies of its members. This organization might cooperate with other fol~ but it, nevertheless, had its own special mission of first importance. Just east of Eastern Avenue on the fourth street from the south boundary of Bell Gardens stands a tent with a wooden floor and frame. A large sign announces that this is the Re-Organized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One Ford coupe stood in front of the tent at nine thirty on a chilly Sunday morning as Mr. Harry Thompson stood in the doorway welcoming all comers with a hearty greeting. Mr. Thompson was heavy-set and broad-featured. He wore horn rimmed glasses, a gold watch chain, a freshly pressed gray suit with sporty pleats below the waistline and two-color shoes. He was evidently not of Bell Gardens. He was, in fact, an insurance salesman from East Los Angeles and the Missions Chairman of a small church in Los Angeles. He said that he had been trying to start this little "work" for eight months now and that he had expected to have it standing on its own feet, and to have several other such missions started in other places ~Y this time. But he had been busy and the 194 people here were not able to contribute to the enterprise. There were thirty people present; seven adults and twenty-three children. Mrs. Thompson led the singing and told a very effective Father's Day story. She was a small dark woman with a pleasant intelligent face and an easy way with the children, who sat huddled together on benches in the front of the room under the eery light of two electric bulbs in enameled reflectors fastened to the upper framework of the tent. When the opening exercises were over, Mr. Thompson drew a pair of curtains across the middle of the tent. The people divided into four classes, one in each corner of the building. Mrs. Thompson taught the children of about the fifth-grade age in the corner opposite the adult class. The lesson was from St. Matthew, and with the aid of a small blackboard she taught the geography of Palestine and the main points of the Sermon on the Mount. Mr. Thompson taught the adult class. The lesson in the quarterly concerned revelations, which are given to us according to our needs. All of the Biblical references appeared to be to the Old Testament of the "Inspired Version," a special property of this sect. The teacher was not sure of the argument at several points, but Mrs. Emerald set him right, with firmness. Mrs. Emerald was fifty at the least,and her hands were roughened with hard work, but her eyes shone,and she laid down the law with confidence. The other members of the class were all well along toward the latter part of middle-life and had less to say. 195 After the service Mr. Thompson indicated that the members of this group were the true spiritual descendents of Joseph Smith; that the Mormons in Utah_ had had no right to make Brigham Young the supreme head of the church (the head of the church, by the way, is the one who gets revelations which are for the good of the whole church); that they do not have the "inspired version" of the Bible, and that these people do not believe in polygamy. The visitor remarked that he thought all the churches were performing some service, whereupon Mr. Thompson replied, wres, but we have a rather special message and a most impor tant mission and responsibility." The visitor was immediately reminded of certain remarks of sister Emerald which tended to show that this group felt a responsibility for bringing the true teaching to all people in order that they might develop Zion, or the New Jerusalem; for only when this had been ac complished could Christ come again. When this Sunday school was started visitors had been sent out to call a.t all the homes within a distance of two or three blocks of the building. The results were most grati fying for sixty people appeared at the first service. Now the average attendance is about forty, and nearly all of them come from within two blocks of the tent. 196 ~~Gospel Churches. With the memory of Mrs. Emerald's burning enthusiasm for Old Testament prophesy and of ~~s. Thompson's sweetness of personality and modern methods, the visitor left the Re-Organized Latter-day Saints and drew up in front of the Full Gospel Church near the river in the North Side. Here was a church building consisting of one room some fifty feet long and half as wide. _The pews were solid (a most unusual situations in Bell Gardens) but home made. The building was neatly plastered with a mottled effect, and there was a platform across the far end. The ceiling was low, and every sound reverberated against the undraped walls. Reverend Saunders was just congratulating the group of thirty-five people upon the fine showing they had made at Sunday school and calling attention to a roll board which read: Attendance today 90, Last Sunday 80, Record Attendance 130, Collection today $3.48. Soon he introduced Mrs. Burns to lead in song. The young lady was perhaps twenty and evidently pregnant. Her face was dark and soft, and she wore an old brown sweater over a print dress. She announced a song about salvation in the lamb of God, extended both arms above her head, closed her eyes, and began to sway gently. The high school girl at the piano began to play with a heavy emphasis upon the rhythm. Lustily the audience sang, clapping their hands or extending them above their heads, swaying to the beat of the music, and rolling their heads in ecstasy. Two youths lg7 sitting near the front picked up a guitar and a pair of bones, and the little church rang with the din. Next, another woman led in a song with a more orthodox rhyt~and Mrs. Burns assisted by flourishing a tambourine. This over, Reverend Saunders invited all to rise and pray. They arose, extending their hands high in the air, each one praying aloud &nd giving no attention to what the others were doing. When the hubbub subsided Mr. Saunders remarked that he was "mighty glad to have with us this morning the boys who are playing these instruments. Seems as though they do a lot to help us work it up and get going." Whereupon, the girl at the piano struck a cord, and the boys, ac-companied by the piano and the tambourine, began to swing and swag to ragtime tunes the words of which were apparently perfectly familiar to the audience which joined in with rapt expressions, swaying bodies, and extended arms. As the music swelled, the emotional pitch rose. A man near the rear of the room closed his eyes and clenched his hands. His throat began to work convulsively, and he looked as if he would break into tears. From one tune to another went the musicians. The clapping continued and the singing was interspersed with shouts of joy. People stood in rapt attention. Several of those in the audience and on the platform punctuated the beat with repeated cries of "Praise God," "Hallelujah," and similar ejaculations. 198 Finally, as if by prearrangement, the music stopped and announcement was made that sister Henderly would play her harp and sing. She did--a long song about real estate in Heaven, much like a folk ballad and apparently well known to her lis- teners. The point seemed to be that there is a boom in Caanan, "but the price is paid and you may enter in. Its the finest place that you have ever been." After the song there was a call for testtmony. People rose rapidly one after another to say with apparent joy: I thank the Lord today that I am saved by his powero Praise the Lord. He keeps me from sin. Praise his name. Oh, the Lord means so much to me, and I love him so. I have had a blessing just during this service. The Lord came down to me ten minutes ago and filled me with fire and glory. I know that the Lord is in this place. I love everyone here. (~ries or "Praise God," "Hallelu jah," and "Blessed Jesus" were intensified. They had been going on in a subdued undertone all during the testimony,] Thus, it went on for some time until the assistant pastor arose and announced, "We will receive preyer requests." A man asked prayer for his neighbor who was a nice fellow but a Baptist and had not been able to olean up his life entirely, since he still smoked and used slang. A woman spoke in a gasping voice saying, "I feel myself unworthy to make a re quest, but won't you pray ror my little Angelle. who is so far away, at least that her auntie's heart be touched to write to me about her." A man asked prayer for a sick member. Sister Brown asked that she be "held up to the throne of God" because 199 she had a bad tooth. Finally, the requests ceased, and the audience arose to pray in the same manner as before. Some where someone was "talking with tongues" and could be heard above the confusion. Finally, after another period of testimonies, Mrs. Brown read the Scripture. She read the story of the woman with an issue of blood who touched the hem of Jesus' garment, and then she proceeded to comment thereon for ten minutes, in a screaming voice. The general idea was that, "If we prayed for Mt. Baldy to be plucked up and deposited in the bottom of the sea and had faith, it would be done." As a conclusion to the service everyone was invited to gather around the altar and seek to touch Jesus in faith and especially to pray that in the meeting that evening at least one soul ce saved, for sister Watson was leaving after that night and she was most downcast because her efforts had n,ot been rewarded with the saving of a single soul. After the service, people were very friendly, and a chat with Reverend Saunders revealed the following informa tion: He had been here about three years. Before he came there was a little Sunday school. A man by the name of ----- had thought that he was losing his home during the depression and had started to buy this lot. Then be managed to save his home and so had decided to start a Sunday school in a little 200 building on the rear which he had constructed for a garage. Mr. Saunders had been a deacon in the Four Square Church for a number of years, but he had been dissatisfied with the many foreign activities which they carried on. He had been in the work for twenty-two years and was sure that when you start bringing club work and other things into the church, "God goes out." The founders of this church had struggled hard and had achieved little until the past year. During that year he had been able to give more time. Other workers had assisted,and they had made some progress. He would not have to work all the time "with his hands" to make a living, for the people were "fairly good," but he found it hard to get a good job for only part time, and so he worked five days a week. As the people in the North Side had finished building their houses, they had had time to remember God, and that had made them come to church more often, although many of the new mem bers were coming from the other tracts across Clara. "There are an awful lot of people up in here who are just not inter- , ested in the church." The Sunday evening services were the best attended. In the morning people slept after the week's work, worked on their places, or went to the beach. "It is the old story. One man had to tend his vineyard, another his cow, and 201 another had taken unto himself a wife." Some weeks later at his home in the North Side, Reverend Saunders refused to reveal ~he home addresses of his flock. wyou may be all right. I·hope you are," he said, "But a fellow has to be very careful these days. You might try to get them to take up something that I wouldn't approve by using my name." He told about a man who had used another man's name as reference for credit and then didn't pay. He didn't know anything about the Coordinating Council and was suspicious. He wanted to know which churches they favored. He reported that his followers were pretty well scattered. Many came from outside Bell Gardens. Also many people from Bell Gardens went to a Full Gospel Church in Maywood. Reverend Saunders knew the people who had just set up a big tent on Clara Street. They were Full Gospel people and had been working in Walnut Park ror about a year before coming here. He "guessed" that they thought this would be a better place to work; and, well, he wasn't one to complain about someone else's work; but he knew that there were some folks who used to come to his church who would make that their church home. This new church had very few members in Bell Gardens as yet, but the lot on Clara was being purchased with a view .to permanent establishment. one evening about fifty people representing all ages gathered in the tent on Clara Street. They worked up less 202 noisy emotion than had the other Full Gospel people, although they tried hard. A flapping tent, a chill evening, and the wan light produced by a few unprotected light bulbs did not form a wholly hospitable environment. The service was in many ways like that described above, but several features which had appeared incidentally in that service were emphasized here. Chief among these were a belief' in "the immediately impending end of the world, an emphasis upon an eternal reward in Heaven, and a conviction that if' you have really experienced salvation there can be no doubt in your mind that you are saved. ~ Baptist Church. The f.irst Baptist Church of' Bell Gardens is a little building perhaps thirty feet long by twenty feet wide, perched on concrete piers and unsealed on the inside. The benches are made of plain boards with backs nailed precariously in place. On Sunday mornings it is filled to capacity with children ror Sunday school, but the attendance at morning church is very small. The church was founded by the Reverend Hobson in a neighbor's home and has grown fairly rapidl~ but the founder is still dissatisfied. He was an Arkansas evangelist for many years and used to take a part-time charge in order to spend half the year on the roado He said that he never pitched his tent in one of' those towns but that he preached to over a 203 thousand people, but "in California it is like this." How ever, his health is poor now, and so he works on his "small farm" and preaches to his group of fifteen or twenty fol lowers on Sunday. He does not cooperate with secular com munity enterprises, and he questioned the writer as follows: Are you from this bunch that wants to start play grounds and such? They sure have been pestering me. I don't want to start anything to take people away from church; and, after all, the schools have play grounds. Conversation with an active member of Reverend Hobson's congregation indicated that not all of his flock agreed with him regarding community cooperation, and to what extent .they follow his religious teachings is not known,but his viewpoint was clearly set forth in a notice of evangelistic meetings which appeared in the ~ Gardens Review. Part of that notice read: In Oklahoma Rev. and pastor were called the "hell" preachers. Well, come out and see what is going on. Remember there are only two ways; one leads to everlasting peace and rest, the other to everlasting torment. Which road are you 1 traveling? A welcome hand awaits you at the church. 1h! Nazarene Church. The Nazarene Church has the largest building, one of the largest Sunday schools, and one of the smallest adult memberships of any church in Bell Gardens. The building is located on Eastern Avenue in the 1 ~Gardens Review, July 29, 1938. 204 business district. It consists or a hall perhaps forty by sixty feet in size lathed but not plastered on the inside and covered with rough boards on the outside. someday it may be covered with stucco, but now it is a stark reminder of the struggle for life amidst which it stands. The reason for the large Sunday school stands most of the time behind the church building. It is an old gray bus of ample size and decrepit condition,which travels over Bell Gardens on Sunday mornings to collect children wherever they may be found. On a bright spring morning,the church was filled with approximately 125 wriggling children of grammar school age and some fifteen adults. The superintendent made a plea for pennies and nickels in order that they might pay off the re maining fifteen dollars on the bus and get it "a new dress and some shoes." Twelve persons remained for church,and with two excep tions they were gray8haired. They all sat on one side of the building, "because there are so few of us." They sang "The Old-Time Religion" and "My Soul is Filled with Glory" one phrase from the chorus of which is "I love to tell the story of his grace which sanctifies me wholly, till I get home." The text had to do with Paul's thorn,and the title of the sermon was "The Christian Warfare." The point seemed to be that as we make this fight for Christian life we get the Grace of God, which makes it all worth while. Some of the sins against which we should fight are drinking, smoking, and remaining away from church on SUnday. Reverend Morrison is a slight, dark-eyed, swarthy skinned.man of some thirty-five years. His earnestness is apparent but he lacks fire. After the service he told how - Mr. Hoskins had come out here to start a mission,and Mrs. 205 Morrison had come to play the piano for him. Soon Hoskins left,and the Morrisons took his place. They had a long hard struggle, even after the church was organized in 1935. They had difficulty in getting and keeping a lot on Eastern Avenue. Liquor dealers and others opposed them. The fact that Mr. Morrison is a factory foreman prevents his giving enough time to his church,and he also feels that this is a most difficult community in which to work. "It is a terrible place for desecrating the Sabbath." The services best attended are in the evening, when people cannot work on their places. In response to the suggestion that it is sometimes hard to know just what is right in regard to the Sabbath, he replied that all he knew was "It's against the Scriptures." ~ Square Gospel Church. The Reverend Mrs. Cole "had it laid upon her heart" to come to Bell Gardens early in 1936. She and her salesman husband moved their family into the one large h9use near the center of Bell Gardens, the abandoned farm home of one of the landowners,and started their church. It has grown and prospered until it is the largest 206 church in Bell Gardens, with a Sunday school averaging about ,., 150 in attendance and church services which pack the three downstairs rooms of the big house. Mrs. Cole is a copy of her leader, "Sister MacPherson." Her whole manner, even her tone of voice, reflect that dy namic woman. As pastor of the Four Square Church in Bell Gardens, Mrs. Cole cooperates with the Coordinating Council and i.s friendly and unsuspicious. She operates a wide variety of programs for young and old and is constantly being called to pray tor the sick and the sorrowing. She is proud of the fact that her church has a large attendance of young people who not only have a good time but have "had a definite experience with God." She is forming a new afternoon service for elderly people who do not enjoy the "good lively song services which the others like." Perhaps the testimonies and prayer requests given at an evening meeting in the big brown house illustrate more clearly than anything else the heart of her teaching. It was a very small group for this church, there being only twenty-five persons present. Apparently the congregation did not care to hear the judge whom they had known in advance was to make a campaign speech. They sang and some clapped their hands and swayed their bodies. Mrs. Cole sold "mud sills." They were raising money ror a church. The room was covered with little paper tags the shape of bags of cement 207 with the names of those who had contributed toward the foundation written thereon. The market for "mud sills" was very good. The judge paid a dollar for one. Then came the testimonies. One man te;tified that God helps in financial difficulty. This man had needed to borrow some money. He prayed, and lo, he got it easily, although before he had had much difficulty. He is so thankful. He said to the Lord that he hoped he might be helped, but if the Lord had some other plans it would be all right. Many others testified to the "saving power of Christ." They thanked God for salvation and asked the others to pray that they might remain true to Him. Then, prayer requests were made for the health of a mother, for the employment of a friend, and for similar spe cific assistance. One woman reported that a little girl for whom they had prayed some time previously had been taken from her parents by the Lord who saw fit not to spare her. Then, she asked prayer for the parents that they be led to God. Having a little daughter waiting for them in Heaven ought to be a great help in bringing them into the fold. The Church of Christ. The secular leaders of the com munity liked the new minister of the Church of Christ from his first appearance there. He and his wife are young and attractive. They have had some seminary training, believe in cooperating with community enterprises, and are less ad dicted to the use of the older religious terminology. They 208 appeared at the Coordinating Council soon after they arrived in Bell Gardens, and they placed a very attractive little float in ~he Pageant of Progress parade. They received the investigator at their home, in one side of a tiny but attractive duplex, in most friendly fash ion. They have had some college training and the process of thesis writing was a matter of significance to them alone of all the people in Bell Gardens, save for one lieutenant of the Borg Company. The Church of Christ was organized in ~ay of 1937 through the efforts of a minister from the East. He came to Southern California hoping to assist in founding churches and was told at an assembly of representatives from the various Churches of Christ in this area that Bell Gardens seemed a likely spot. He came here, bought in his own name a lot which now belongs to the congregation, found two families who had been members of this group, and started meetings. Several members of the church claim to have rounded it, ac cording to the present pastor, but this is the true story: Most of their membership is drawn from the North Side, partly at least because there is one very active woman member there who brings others to church in her car. In the Spring of 1938, these young people were assist ants in charge of young peoples' work at a large Los Angeles church. When the founder of the little Bell Gardens church 209 decided to leave, this larger church gave Mr. and Mrs. Dixon the promise of financial assistance on a missionary basis for six months and encouraged them to accept the responsibility of this church. The Dixons' position is difficult at best. The church is small with a membership of thirty-eight persons. The Sunday school runs over sixty nearly every Sunday morning, although the Woman's Club House in which they meet will seat only sixty. Classes are held in parked cars and outside in the shade of the building. A new church building is under way, but most of the work is being done by the church members, and there seems to be a dearth of men with time and energy to spare. Reverend Dixon is also worried by his position in the community. Because of his tolerance and newer methods, he has come to be regarded as a liberal. He reported that some one had suggested him ror a position of community leadership because he was "broad-minded." But he was a little worried. He could only go so far. It was true he didn't preach from the pulpit against dancing, smoking, and card playing; and he had been known to attend a carefully selected movie; but after all, the church always reserved the right to "withdraw its fellowship" from people who did not behave themselves. He regarded himself as well advanced toward liberality in his own denomination because he allowed musical instruments in 210 his church. He believed that some of the stories in the Bible are figurative but other things are to be obeyed liter ally. Among these most vital elements is baptism by immer sion. This is a matter of vital significance, and Reverend Dixon produced tracts and Scripture to support his point • • The Catholic Church. On Eastern Avenue near the Nazarenes' building is a small Catholic church. The priest lives in the parish house in Downey but spends all his time working in Bell Gardens. He was at home one evening at seven o'clock. He is big, burly, and unquestionably Irish. In one hand he carried a lighted cigarette and his speech was inter spersed with slang. He wanted to know what the Coordinating Council was. ~ben told that it tried to prevent juvenile delinquency, he started right in. He was interested in the prevention of delinquency. He had attended a meeting not long ago where a great group of people were discussing this subject. Some said, "enlarge the police force." Others said, "improve the home life," while still others wanted play grounds. Finally, the archbishop arose and said that the only way to prevent delinquency was to unite seoular and religious education. He quoted statistics to prove his point. "Of course," remarked the young priest, "the general tendency of the public schools is toward Communism." The Catholic Church in Bell Gardens was opened in December of 1937. The priest said that there were some 150 211 Catholic families in this community, and then proceeded to discuss Catholic loyalties and organization. The Catholic is a queer fellow.~ He is not like the Protestant who will go to any church, for he will go to the Catholic or none. He does not like to move to a place where there is no church or school. When a number of Catholics find themselves in such a place, they ~all the situation to the attention of the archbishop who appoints a priest to take charge. The priest must build his church and get his support from the community. The Protestant minister has nothing to do with finance. All he does is preach the gospel, but the Catholic priest is both a pastor and a business man. The last person paid is the priest. He is allowed $600 a year, if there is anything left after other expenses have been met. He makes a real sacrifice. Every year a canvass of the area is made to locate Catholic families,and the priest inquires about new families as he makes his calls. There are many "falling away Catholics" in Bell Gardens, but when the new and larger church starts rising many of them will feel new enthusiasm. The priest was in a hurry to get away. He was going to see a popular Irish wrestler perform. II. ECOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION OF CHURCH MEMBERSHIPS The location of church memberships in Bell Gardens appears to be determined primarily by three important fac tors: (1) the denominational preferences of people who move 212 to Bell Gardens; (2) distances from the church building; and (3) proximity to active church workers. Ma¥ VII shows the addresses of Mormons in this area. For reasons explained above it may be assumed that these addresses represent prac tically all the Mormon families in this area, and this dis tribution is chiefly characterized by a wide scattering into all sections. This situation suggests that people with any particular type of religious background are likely to be scat tered all over Bell Gardens. Verbal data given by the Catholic priest substantiate this point or view. Map VIII contrasts the distribution of children en rolled in the Sunday s.~hool with the adult members or the Church of Christ. Two observations seem important. First, there seems to be a wider scattering of the adult members than of the children and, second, most of the members are located in the North Side. This wider scattering of adult members is attested to by workers from several other churches and appears to result from the fact that adults will travel some distance to attend the denomination of their choice, but many people will send their children to any Sunday school that is conveniently located. The Church of Christ holds its services in the Women's Club House, but the founder of the church and the early, active members lived in the North Side. The distribution of members bears mute witness of these facts. ClAR.A MAP VII HOME ADDRESSES OF FAMILIES BELONGING TO THE MOR1~0N CHURCH OF BELL GARDENS, JULY, 1938 213 • ftv- ~ TH £./;?. 8u.:JI N (..J~'5 og~oce~v uroet:. I HUR,CH • . oNt:.IY·J' CLue -X:(oo£DINATINy CouNuJ.. 6 NoR. TH , ~ 1 DC. CoN M uNITY C.eJY reR.. 0 l!oNA!V IYr;Mf.,fAt_s INrlr·ArE ~DC!<. OF UU['JOI VI· 'ION - lif, CLAR.A . MAP VIII HOME ADDRESSES OF THE MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST AND OF ITS SUNDAY SCHOOL, JULY, 1938 BLACK - CHILDREN IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL RED - ADULT MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH WHO HAVE NO CHILDREN IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL I ~I f2 : ~ I t i a 214 • 215 ' Map IX shows the location of the homes of both mem ber& of the Full Gospel Church located in section lla and of the members of its SUnday school. The two are not dis tinguished, and the distribution shows chiefly the tendency of the membership to cluster around the church building. This appears to result from the facts that this church, perhaps more than any other, is the expression of one vigorous and attractive personality, and that many of its members were probably not affiliated with this denomination before coming here. One may suspect that the little nucleus of members in the South End marks the home of an enthusiastic worker. The data available are scarcely adequate to show the total church memberships in different sections, yet it ap pears to be true that the lower South End has a smaller pro portion of the total than its population warrants and that the more "noisy" groups have gained less foothold in sections I, IVc, and the eastern half of section III. section IVa also appears to show a relatively small total. III. CHARACTERISTICS OF REUGIOUS GROUPS IN Bl!:LL GARDEL~S A careful reading of the above data must reveal a number of characteristics of religious activities in this community,and several characteristics not so clearly brought out should be noted. Small place £! religious activities. In the first place, the great majority of the residents of Bell Gardens - ClAR..A MAP IX HOME ADDRESSES OF TEE MEMBERS OF THE OLDER FULL GOSPEL CHURCH OF BELL GARDENS AND OF ITS SUNDAY SCHOOL, AUGUST 1938 ftv- I ~ I 12 : ~ · c§ l o~R.oce~v uroe£ _! TH£R 8uol/'lt<J.S I HUR_CH 216 • • . o/"1~/V.'J' CLue !t:((Y.ut.DtNATINy CouNuJ... 4 ]ytfR_TH l~IDC LONMUNITY C~/YT:e~ RoNAN NuMc .eA I...S I Nf71r'4rt: 0.tD£k:. Of \JU~DI Vf,JION 217 have practically no contact with organized religion. If we add together the numbers of people found at the various ser vices visited, it seems likely that on a Sunday when attend ance is good nine hundred persons might possibly visit the churches. On the Sundays for which a check was made, some 550 persons attended Sunday schools, and approximately 350 attended church services. Of course, many of those who at tended the church services attended the Sunday schools also. Therefore, the total attendance was considerably less than the sum of those who visited Sunday schools plus those who were found at church. These visits were made in early summer when attendance is not especially good. In other words, not more than about 13 per cent of the people of Bell Gardens contact a churc·h on any one Sunday, other than Easter and a few Sundays during the Christmas holiday s~ason. To these must be added a few people who attend churches outside of Bell Gardens,but the study of one hundred households indicates that they are not many,and their numbers are probably little greater ~han the numbers of those who come from other com munities to churches here. This study of one hundred house holds also reveals that approximately 20 per cent of the mem bers of these families were attending the activities of some church with reasonable regularity. The attendance at the churches on any Sunday appears to include slightly more than half of all those who are maintaining an effective contact 218 with these institutions. There is, in addition to this 20 per cent of the popu lation which contacts churches with some frequency, a small group whose members belong to a church somewhere but do not attend. This group constitutes something less than 5 per cent of the population. Many of the reasons for this poor attendance were re vealed in the comments of the various ministers. Noted above were such things as indifference, work on homes, and recrea- tion of various kinds. In addition, the following typical comments reveal other reasons for nonattendance: We don't go to church much. We're too busy, but you don't have to go to church to be a Christian. We like the quieter services a lot better and the ones that are not so strict. This bunch on the corner is too noisy. • • • The Four Square Gospel people are getting a good start, but a lot of people don't like it because you can't do this, and you can't do that. One of the factors which makeschurch organizations possible in Bell Gardens,and yet a factor which prevents its more adequate development, is the type of pastor which is found in the churches. The pastors are devoted and enthusi- astic, but most of them are unschooled and have other employ ment. These pastors give their services with little compensa tion. They have profound faith and no little zeal, but with few exceptions they have to find a livelihood by means other than church work, and they have had little training. Three of them were devoting their full time to their churches in 219 the Summer of 1938. These were the Catholic priest with no family, Mrs. Cole of the Four Square, and Reverend Dixon of the Church of Christ. Mrs. Cole's husband is an employed salesma~and she has children to care for. Reverend Dixon is not sure but that he may have to find a job when his out side support ceases. Each of these three has also had some formal training for the work which they do,and they give evidence of relatively advanced secular education. Conver sations with the other ministers revealed that most of them have had some rather haphazard religious training backed by a relatively small amount of secular school experience. The churches appear to have little influence upon the secular life of the community. The active members of the churches are not members of secular groups, and the reverse also holds. Apparently no layman of importance in secular activities is an active member of any church. The mutus.l isolation seems almost complete. The only three ministers who display any cooperation with secular community activi ties are those from the Church of Christ, from the Four Square Gospel group, and the Mormon church. The difficulties of the former in this situation have been mentioned and an active secular leader said of Mrs. Cole, "But she isn't much interested in the Council. She says she gets nothing out of it." The attitude of the Mormon bishop was noted above. Many of the church leaders receive advances from secular 220 groups with open suspicion. Sectarian and "fundamentalistic" nature of church sroups. If we define sects as highly self-conscious con flict groups united around peculiar, and to them important, complexes of sentiments and ideas,2 the church groups in Bell Gardens seem to fit the category almost perfectly. In addi tion to the self-conscious enthusiasm pictured by the above described contacts, it should be noted that the churches do not cooperate, even among themselves. In fact, contacts with their leaders leave one with the impression that, while good taste requires them to be tolerant, they cannot help but look upon each other as competitors. Even the relatively liberal young pastor of the Church of Christ thought that union eve ning services took people much too far away from the teach ings of their own church. Fundamentalism represents an aggressive attack by those who accept the traditional beliefs against what they feel to be the insidious encroachments of science and liberal thought. It is not led by great theologians familiar with church history but rather by preachers trained in the ways of political democracy. I do not wish to do injustice to their pronouncements, for they are evidently sincere, but they do strike the philosopher as expressions of an outlook tinged with Mediaevalism. With this qualification, it is undeniable that funda mentalists st~nd for what we may call popular dogmatic Christianity. 2 Robert E. Park, "Introduction," in Pauline v. Young, The Pilgrims of Russian-To\vn (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1932), p. xiii. 3 Roy Wood Sellers, Religion Coming of Age (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1928), p. 124. 221 Scarcely a better description of the preachers of Bell Gardens could be found and most of their followers appear to agree with them. They believe in miracles, personal salva tion, the unquestionable authority of the Bible, a Hell of real fire, and a religious experience that "you can feel." Unquestionably,the two most successful churches in this area in the early part of 1938 were the Full Gospel under Reverend Saunders and the Four Square Gospel under Mrs. Cole, and these two churches exhibited in marked degree a combination of characteristics which seemed to account, in part at least, for their success. First, their services provided self-expression and relaxation of tensions. They sang "old time" songs known to the singers for many years and marked by an emphasis on rhythm. Singing, accompanied by the clapping of hands and swaying of bodies, provided much the same kind of release that the high school girl ap pears to get on the danc.e floor. Testimonies and prayers for aid were accompanied by "amens" and other vocal expres sions of approval from the other members of the group. As the services proceeded a relaxation from the cares of the day and opportunity to express one's emotions in complete harmony with the sense of group solidarity which had been built up seemed to bring satisfactions of the deepest type. secondly, the strict teachings of these churches appeared, to ~he uncritical mind at least, to be a genuine help in 222 meeting daily problems. A review of the testimonies and prayer requests noted above will show their fundamental utilitarian nature. Added to these factors of emotional re lease and practical assistance were quiet consciences and a hope for an eternal but little understood future of bliss, in contrast to a possible future of unknown torment, and this in the face of a belief in a momentarily impending end of the world and last judgment. The programswhich most of the Bell Gardens churches offer their members,are relatively narrow, although several exceptions exist. The Full Gospel churches, the Baptists, the Nazarenes, and the Catholics appear to make little ef fort toward anything but Sunday school and worship services. In all of the churches save the Catholic, one or more mid week services are held and some of these are well attended. The Catholic church offers a period for confession on Satur day evenings and at other selected times. The Mormon church provides a reasonably broad program, although much of it is located outside of Bell Gardens. The Church of Christ·is beginning to provide social opportunities for young people, and the Four Square Gospel Church, besides having three wor ship services on week days, has a long series of social activities for young and old. Democratic organization of churches and absence of larger denominations. With the exceptions of the Catholic 223 and Mormon churches, which are closely integrated into the great institutional structures of which they are a part, the churches in Bell Gardens are independent outgrowths of the concerns of individuals or small groups, and in most cases their whole organization is largely influenced by some one or, at most, a few individuals. Pastors Saunders, Morrison, Cole, and Hobson are not only the guiding spirits but, to some extent at least, the founders of the churches in which they labor. The Church of Christ and the Re-Organized Church ot Christ of Latter-day Saints owe their existences to the efforts of individuals who perceived the need tor them. As the churches grow older, however, other workers begin to take a part of the burden. In tact, before the churches can gain real strength and solidarity, a group ot workers must be found. Thus, in the older Full Gospel Church, in the Church of Christ, and in the Four Square Gospel. or ganization groups of reliable and able leaders are developing, even though in two of them the personalities of the founders stand out above all others. The great established Protestant denominations have been slow to enter this area. Several years ago a committee representing these denominations in southern California gave the community into the hands of the Friends, who wanted to establish a mission there. After considerable time, a Methodist minister from a nearby town became interested and 224 discovered that nothing had been done. Whereupon, the Friends decided that they were already too busy to tackle such a large community. Another committee then met and turned the area over to the Presbyterians who had, in the late Summer of 1938, done nothing. Apparently the great denominations are long on cooperation, but short on surplus energy. The Catholics and the Mormons have had relatively large groups of members in the area and have handled the situation. In dividuals with their own means of support and a determined zeal have set up their sectarian groups, but the great Protestant denominations have emitted only the groanings of overtaxed machinery in their efforts to adjust themselves for the solution of this problem. Another factor which has favored these self-supporting evangelists has been their technique of church building. They meet in a tent, a shack, or a house--any place. They buy a lot on installments,and they build their building piece meal, as they can buy materials. The men of the church do most of the labor. CONCLUSIONS The development of religious organizations in this community throws considerable light upon the process of socio organic diversification in such a society as that of the United States. The types of religion which are most usual in 225 Bell Gardens are not at all the same types which dominate natural areas more largely devoted to a middle-class popula tion, but they exist in Bell Gardens because they can survive and attract membership under such hard conditions. These churches tend to teach fundamentalism and to be sectarian; each one exists b'ecause of the particular religious desires and ideas of some relatively small group of people, and its members look with suspicion upon other church groups and even upon secular organizations. These little religious groups grow and prosper because they meet fundamental human needs for emotional relaxation, security, and a feeling of ultimate worth. CHAPTER VI THE FORMATION OF SECULAR GROlWS The simplicity of the mining camp or backwoods settlement is sure to vanish. Society, at first a direct association of men, becomes a congeries of associations, and the fellowship bond dissolves away. • •• The drawing apart into opposing camps of poor and rich, capitalist and worker, functionary and citizen, civilian and-soldier, ••• summons society to act or perish. Unless the all-inclusive group finds means to assimilate and reconcile its members and weaken the ties that bind men into minor groups, the social order will be disrupted.! Comparable to this has been the history of Bell Gardens. At first it was a small outpost, an intimate neighborllood group in the midst of the wheat fields. As time has gone on it has become a community of larger size and increasing com plexity of organization. New agencies have arisen to repre sent different interests and factions, and conflict has de- veloped between them. I. INFORMAL ORGANIZATIONS Organization was defined in Chapter I as an arrangement of organs, or of social behavior patterns, having systematic coordination. This is a broad definition and it is soon perceived that there must be various types of organization. One of the most obvious differences between these types is 1 Edward Alsworth Ross, Social Control, p. 52. 227 that between the groups or patterns with written rules of procedure and a carefully and explicitly defined ceremonial end a type of organization which is known to exist and with which pe.ople know how to deal but whose standards of behavior have never been defined in writing. The first type of organi zation establishes relatively fixed methods and legalistic relations; the latter depends upon the unrecorded consent. of ( those cooperating. The first of these types of organization may be called formal, the second informal. In Bell Gardens there is a fairly evident line be tween the formal and informal types of organization. The formally organized groups not only have constitutions and by-laws, but they also tend to have many formally elected of ficers, meny books and records; they tend to meet outside the homes of their members and to announce themselves as defenders and promoters of at least some branch of the public welfare. Both informal and formal organizations are integral parts of the whole process of community life. They constantly interact and modify each other, but for purposes of exposition they may be artifically separated. Neighboring. Most of the families in Bell Gardens are surrounded by people whom they regard as neighbors. They refer to "our neighborhood." But the neighborhood is like the rainbow. All see it, but no two see the same one. There are recognized ecological sections of Bell Gardens, but in the 228 sense of a series of small intimate associations of folk living in close geographic proximity there are no neighbor hoods with common boundaries. MUch neighboring goes on in this communit~ but each man is the center of his own neighbor- hood. Arthur E. Woods has written: Neighborhood is in essence exactly what the word implies; namely, a locality where neighboring takes place. • • • By neighboring we mean the exchange of visits at odd moments, the borrowing, lending, "argu fying," and, above all, the gossiping which takes place among such local groups. One does not usually borrow eggs or coffee from people a mile or two away; it is easier to _go to the local store.2 Just because each family lives in a slightly different neighborhood does not mean that this process of neighboring is not of vital importance in community life. Out of one hundred individuals only four reported that they knew no one who lived close to them well enough to speak to. Most of the people who were asked how many of their neighbors they knew "well enough to speak to" indicated some number between one and five or replied, "Those in this block." Nine individuals replied that they knew between six and ten of their neighbors, and twelve that they knew more than ten. Of this number four knew more than twenty. Other typical answers were: "Most of them in this street"; "All around here"; "Close around here"; 2 Arthur E. Woods, Community Problems (New York: The Century Company, 1928), p. 27. 229 "Everyone but the one next door. They put up a high fence and shut off their house." A few individuals were less so ciable and replied: "Don't like any of them"; "We ignore the neighbors." The number of folks with whom a person neighbors ap pears to depend largely upon the length of time he has been in the area and the desire of that person to be friendly. This type of association seldom extends in any direction for more than two blocks, and the exact location of one's neigh bors depends to a considerable extent upon one's daily habits, the streets on which one walks, the location of the store, etc. But the considerable number of contacts which Bell Gardens' ~eople have with their neighbors is not the only in dex to the importance of this type of relationship. Assist ance in the crises of life, contacts with outside groups, and many of a person's opinions depend upon this neighboring proc ess. One woman was sick when the interviewer called but bus tling around in the kitchen getting dinner was Mrs. from across the street. And on another occasion Mrs. sowers re marked, "That poor thing. She didn't have a stitch of clothes in the house for that baby. Of course, it was partly her own fault, but we got flour sacks and made some things ••• ·" An examination of the distribution of members in the churches of Bell Gardens or in the clubs, especially in the Home Buyers' Association, reveals the importance of the 230 neighborhood. Here and there are little groups of members, the work of some neighbor. Public opinion in Bell Gardens is, to a considerable extent, a "word-of-mouth" process. This group of men talking in the back yard or those two women nodding vigorously at each other by the mail box are vital parts of that process. In any discussion of local af- fairs, one will hear such 1 phrases as: "A man down by us I says •• ·" "Tom Jones h$ard •• •" or "The folks up in this part think. " • • • The coterie. Besides the neighborhood,which is amor phous and relative, there are many little groups of people with similar viewpoints and some common interests who are drawn together almost invoruntarily. Women meet in small sewing clubs, and little groups of men or men and women pur sue common interests without the formality of written rules, frequently without even a name to set them off from others. These are, or tend to be, primary groups, and the word "coterie" seems best to describe them. This word comes from an old French word, ~, meaning the hut of a peasant. In these huts little groups of peasants met to try to keep their land away from the lords. Now it is derined as follows: A set or circle of persons who meet familiarly, as for social, literary, or other purposes •••• Coterie, clique, set agree in the general idea of a more or less exclusive group or circle. Coterie stresses the notion of selectiveness or of congeniality within the small circle; clique heightens the implication of an 3 Often selfish or arrogant exclusiveness. This "congeniality within the small circle" is pre cisely the fact which impresses one about the groups here under discussion. 231 a. !!!.!. primary club. The primary club is the first type of coterie to be considered. It is·a group of men or women, or both, drawn together by the mutual satisfaction to be re ceived from such meetings. The first groups to be organized in Bell Gardens were of this type. Of the days when the little oasis among the wheat fields and Japanese gardens was a small intimate neighborhood a woman leader commented: The[Woman's] Club started out as a get-acquainted club when there were only fifty houses out here. That was in the spring of '33. Mr. Borg was in a little office across the street with one or two men. Mrs. next door and Mrs.· called the first _m_e_e~t~~-n-g at Mrs. house. We got together and sewed and talked, and then we got to collecting things for people who needed them. I've always done that all my life •••• The club gave a Christmas party for all the children of the community in that building where the tire shop is now. • • • It seems as though people used to come out a lot better then than they do now. Even the decision to organize a formal Women's Club was the outgrowth of a sudden impulse on the part of a new coterie which had developed within the expanding organization. 3 Webster's New International Dictionary~~ English Language, p. 603 •. The story continues: One day some of the newer women met at the home of one of the ladies, without telling some of us older folks anything about it, and decided to get a charter. And so they just said, "Now you be presi dent, and you be secretary." Then they came around and told us. I was mad and withdrew •••• 232 The woman eventually returned to the fold, but a new type of organization had come into being. The women in her neighborhood still meet to sew and chat, and the Woman's Club goes its separate way, but it now includes women from several such primary clubs. The Chamber of Commerce seems to have had much the same type or origin. The men of Bell Gardens used to stop at the feed store to talk. It was really the only place to meet,and as Mr. Smithers recalled it: Mr. of the feed store really started it. We used to meet there and sit around on bales of hay. We selected the name because we could get more atten tion that way. You know, when you write a letter and sign it"Chamber of Commerce," they think it must be something--like the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce •• It works. But anyone living in the area can join. At one time we had the biggest Chamber of Commerce in the world. It really is a civic betterment group. • • • As the community grew and became more diversified, more formal associations sprang up, but primary clubs and other types of coteries are still numerous and significant. No less than seven small neighborhood groups of women were discovered and it is likely that others existed which were not contacted. A member of one of the clubs described the history . . of her group in the following fashion: There are only eight members. About three years ago when this neighborhood was building up we got started. As the people kept moving in we decided that we couldn't take in everybody, and so now it is just the old timers. we sew and talk, but we don't waste our time playing cards. we are making a quilt to give to some one who needs it. we all live pretty close together. • • • 233 1~0 characteristics of these clubs may be noticed especially. The women who belong to them find them "the most enjoyable" type of social experience. 'l'he tendency to lose this peculiar desirability if they grow too large is marked. A member of the largest of these clubs, one which had almost become a rormal organization, commented, "We have stopped taking in new members. We have no place for so many to meet, and then too, we would lose the spirit that we have." These organizations approach Cooley's definition of a primary group. They are small, intimate, and face-to-face, and to some extent at least, permanent and unspecialized. 4 The peculiar intimacy of the first weeks of a newly subdivided section of Bell Gardens was described in section II, Chapter II, page 5. This situation easily leads to the formation of thes·e primary clubs among persons living close together. However, these clubs may spring up as a result of other types of contacts. At least one of the Bell Gardens' 4 Charles H. Cooley, Robert c. Angell, and Lowell J. Carr, Introductory Sociology, p. 55. 234 groups seems to have originated from contacts developed after the area in which it exists was settled, and the writer knows of similar groups in other communities which have grown out of other types of contacts. b. Coterie of community leaders. These primary clubs I are not the only type of coterie to be found in Bell Gardens. There is a loose group of the more important business men assisted by certain sympathetic residents of section I, the oldest section of Bell Gardens, which is most important in community affairs. The group appears to have originated around the friendship of Mr. Knapp and Mr. Borg. ~~. Knapp owned an acre here before Mr. Borg started his boom, and during the days of the depression be had had work and had been milking two cows. His good fortune had enabled him to be of assistance to his neighbors. He apparently began to think of himself as a man of some importance. He was a sales man and had picked up a considerable amount of information in his travels over Southern California. He told the story of his relationship with ~tt. Borg. He [lmr. Borg] was out here then, broke, in a little shack with two or three men. Of course, I had home brew, and on SUnday the first salesman to make a sale could drink with me. We used to get tight. We just naturally got friendly. I had a little money and bought some lots. Someday that corner where the lum ber yard is will keep me. Mr. Knapp became vitally interested in community af fairs; he and his cohorts are ever active. The Chamber of 235 Commerce, the Business Men's Association, the School Board, the coordinating Council, the park, library, and street de velopments, the location of several businesses, the American Legion Club, and even the Woman's Club have all been influ enced by the activities of Messers. Knapp, Borg, and Company. Mr. Knapp has built a row of small business houses which he rents. He is constantly trying to get this or that improve ment tor the community. Frequently he succeeds. He keeps the community coming to his headquarters as much as possible. In his building is a drug store in which he is interested, as well as an employment bureau and branch postoffice, while in a rear room a young physician runs a small-pay clinic for mothers. Many of the people do not like him. They have said he is "puffy." "Everything he does is for Sam Knapp." One woman commented, "They can't understand that he is a salesman and is always selling." He is aggressive, has rather fixed ideas and set standards,and he drives ahead without much con cern tor other people's feelings. Several persons reported that he had called the inhabitants of Bell Gardens "squatters." However, a community leader said, almost grudgingly, of Mr. Knapp, "You have to admit that the things he has done have been tor the good of the community." This person had worked with him and knew. What his real motivation is one can scarcely tell. He 236 belittles others and laughs at the community. Yet he works night and day to improve it. Apparently he loves to play the big community boss. He is "puffy." And then he does have a real stake in the coiiiiD.unity. He confided one day, "Boy am I sitting pretty." Fine.lly, he is a man of abounding energy who must be doing something from dawn till dark. Nevertheless, he has become a member of a small but influential coterie. Mr. Borg, a leading merchant who lives outside Bell Gardens, several important lieutenants of the Borg Company who live in the community, several women who live nearby, and on occasion another intimate group of a few small but centrally located business men, work together. Since the members of this group have more time, money, and knowledge of business and politics than most of the other people in Bell Gardens, they have become of great importance to the community. And some member, or members,of this group are also members of the inner circles in several community organizations. The activities of this coterie and the groups which it controls have aroused antagonisms mild or vigorous on the part of other elements of the community, and it is not un usual to find at the heart of organizations in Bell Gardens little groups of people who nurse resentment toward them. Meny people have come to feel ·that their interests were not being represented by the formal organizations dominated by this little group of intimates and have formed new organizations. 237 They would have agreed heartily with the commercial patrol man who once referred to "that little group that wants to run the town." The description o~ this process of community division may, however, be more conveniently expanded when formal groups are discussed. How to distinguish the activities of the Borg Company, as such, from the activities of the coterie just discussed is a difficult problem. The long ar.m of this sales organi zation extends into many activities. It procured the open ing of Eastern Avenue at county expen~e. The Pageant of Progress celebrating that event was initiated by a private citizen who hoped to make money from it, but, when the project appeared likely to fail, the Borg Company stepped in and sup ported it. Mr. Borg felt that the company could not afford to "let it flop." Probably relatively few people in Bell Gardens bother to distinguish between the activities of Mr. Borg as head of the Borg Company and of Mr. Borg as a party to the plots of an informal group of citizens. Many people just seem to expect that those with a financial interest in the area will be active in community affairs. One individual ·remarked, "Our living doesn't dep~nd upon Bell Gardens, so we are not so interested in it. If you want to know the leaders you should ask those who have busi nesses here." And another replied to a question concerning who the leaders of Bell Gardens were, "I don't know them by name. They're mostly do\vn on Eastern between Florence and Clara in the business part of town." 238 Also the business people are expected to support local activities. Anyone who wants money for any good cause tries to collect contributions from or sell advertising space on napkins or tickets to the businessmen. The profound effect which the informal ecological organization of the area has upon the developing social struc tures and the way it is in its turn modified by them will ap pear in the discussion of formal organizations. II. FORMAL ORGANIZATIONS Welfare purposes of all formal organizations. As long as a coterie is small and without formal organizations its members are content to let it remain openly intent on mutual pleasure. Frequently some minor welfare activities are under taken. One Bell Gardens group makes quilts for needy persons, and the members of another save their small change for Christmas baskets. But these small groups try to remain free from the responsibilities of recognized service organizations. A member of the largest of these groups injected into a con versation, apparently to be sure there could be no mistake, " ••• we do not want to become a charity organization." When a group takes on formal organization it almost always declares that' among its objectives the furtherance of 239 general community welfare is of large importance. Among the organizations studied,this was especially true of the Chamber of Commerce, the Woman's Club, the Parent-Teacher Associa tions, the Coordinating Council, the Home Buyers' Associa tion, the Boy Scouts, the Community Center Club, and the Five Point Club. Impediments to welfare objectives. In spite of the apparent sincerity of these statements of good intentions, the most efficient achievement of the community welfare is frequently sacrificed because of conflicts between the vari ous organizations. Human motivation is seldom simple, and behavior is usually the result of a complex of causes. The organized groups in Bell Gardens are a result of the whole intricate community process. The patterns for most of them have been borrowed from surrounding institutions as various groups became conscious of their lack of representation in existing bodies. ,The members of these self-conscious organi zations are likely to look askance at other groups; and some energetic and perhaps ambitious leader is likely to wield large influence in each society. This leader is frequently supported by a little coterie or inner circle which appar ently cannot grow very large and is likely to be somewhat blind to the needs and feelings of outsiders. As the number of organizations grows they begin to look upon each other as competitors for glory and for membership. 240 The lack of cooperation of the churches with each other and with secular organizations has been mentioned above, and succeeding chapters will outline several conflicts which af. fected the schools and the political life. At this point it may be well to note a few items which indicate the nature of the conflicts that have attended same of the efforts of Bell Gardens' organizations to assist the community. Members of the Chamber of commerce criticized the Home Buyers' Association for pushing the fire-protection proj ect, apparent.ly because they felt that this project was al ready theirs. As a matter of fact one county official had been no less than four times to Bell Gardens to explain the project to as many separate groups. When the Home Buyers' Association finally tried to call a mass meeting to deal with the situation, the Coordinating Council held a special meeting on the same night. The Democratic Club fought a playground movement apparently because such a movement might interfere with the projected county park to be secured by that organiza tion. And Mr. Knapp criticized the Community Center Club for building a club house after it became apparent that his coterie was about to obtain the much discussed county park, and with it a hall. One of the causes of this conflict may lie in the relative poverty of the members of all the organizations. The lack of funds limits their activities in behalf of the larger 241 community to a small number of fairly obvious channels. The need for the installation by some outsid.e power of such things as playgrounds, sidewalks, traffic signs, parks, and a sewer system has been discussed over and over again by half a dozen different groups. Strangely enough not all this evident conflict has been a total loss. Frequently it has prevented progress,but sometimes it has seemed to stimulate the competing groups to redouble their individual efforts. Borrowing of formal Eatterns kl self-conscious groups. As the community grew, organizations multiplied. Each new structure represented a considerable amount of borrowing, yet each was modified to suit the needs of the area, and some had relatively large elements of indigenous growth. Many of these new organizations came to represent groups but newly conscious of their own existence. Organization both aided in the ex pression of the self-consciousness of these groups and served to stimulate it. a. ~Woman's Club ~~Chamber of Commerce. The origins of the Woman's Club and the Chamber of Commerce have already been traced. They grew out of the early neighboring of the small community and assumed institutional form largely as a symbol. In the case of the Chamber of Commerce, the symbol appeared to have practical value, but in the other case there seemed to be no more specific purpose than the hazy 242 notion that "it would be nice" to be affiliated with a na tionally known group. Such a step apparently lent new im portance to the group in the eyes of its members. Modifications of the patterns were made to Slit the locality in both cases. Dues were kept low in both organiza tions, and the Chamber of Commerce at first represented the whole community in its dealings with outside areas. Many people belonged to the Chamber of Commerce, and several things were accomplished. "We've gotten just about everything that the community has gotten," said one enthusiastic member. This "everything" appeared to mean sidewalks on a few bridges and streets and a few street signs plus the investigation of pro posals to secure fire protection, police protec·tion, sewers, trees for the parking strips, and other things. As time has gone on, the Chamber has come to represent chiefly a rela tively small group of business men and other interested people from Old Bell Gardens. The centralization' of this membership may be seen by a glance at Map X. The Women's Club at first devoted itself largely to relief but, as other agencies have deveoped to care for that problem, it has emphasized the purely social somewhat more. It provides none of the intellectual features which charac terize clubs or larger size and greater diversity in other communities, and it represents the same general territory and outlook as does the Chamber of Commerce. In fact several of Ih ClAR.A MAP X HOME ADDRESSE3 OF THE MEMBERS OF THE BELL GARDENS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BLACK - PRESENT MEMBERS RED - MDmERS DROPPED m LAST TWO YEARS 243 • 244 the wives of members of the Chamber are in the Club. Map XI if compared to Map X will show this correlation. b. The Boy Scout troops. One of the scout troops is an old organization for Bell Gardens,and the other is very new. The story of the first troop is simple. In the first year of this community's existence,the children went to school at the San Antonio school e. cross the river in the Los Angeles system. A man conducted a scout troop there. A new resident of Bell Gardens, formerly of Maywood, was a committee man for this troop. One night the scout leader said he could no longer handle the boys from Bell Gardens. He brought them the next week over to this community to an old barn and left them in charge of Mr. Smithers, the committee man. Mr. Smithers knew nothing about scouting but he worked faithfully with the boys and learned. For several years he served a group of boys from all over Bell Gardens practically singlehanded, but fi nally he found two able assistants. The other scout troop was sponsored by the Five Point Club, and as yet serves only a little group from the lower part of Old Bell Gardens and the upper part of the South End. c. Towsend and Utopian clubs. News items in the Industrial Post (Bell) on October 11, 1935, announced meetings of the Towsend Club and of the Utopian Society, but in the Spring of 1938 there appeared to remain no vestiges of these II~ Ct.AR.A MAP XI HOME ADDRESSES OF M:DmERS OF TEE WOMl!N' S CLUB, 1938 245 • 246 groups. ~Ts. Hazelton remarked of the Townsend Club, "Oh, they couldn't get anybody to work." Apparently, however, there is a more fundamental explanation. These two groups had as members people of diversified interests bound together by one idea. As the dominance of that idea waned, the groups died. One of three elements appears to be necessary to hold a group together in Bell Gardens: (1) a group of people with common outlook who enjoy each other's company; (2) a series of continuing common interests accompanied by a certain amount of group consciousness; (3) a pattern set by a large outside institution which furnishes a program of activities and a symbol of unity. All of these elements are present in many cases, but without some of them no organization purporting to serve the general welfare appears to achieve lasting vitality. d. The Democratic Club. During the political campaign of 1936, the same general group of people who belonged to the Chamber of Commerce and the Women's Club decided to take part in politics. They organized a Democratic Club and procured a charter from the County Central Committee. But the Demo- cratic Club was unfortunate in its choice of presidents. Two women from Mr. Knapp's coterie were elected in succession, but both found strong liquor their downfall, according to one story at least, and so Mrs. Fairy Hazelton accepted the chair. Mrs. Hazelton had come to Bell Gardens after the boom ( was well started and had opened a very modest fifteen-cent 247 store and novelty shop on Eastern Avenue. The store and her home are all one building. But she disliked Mr. Knapp and distrusted Mr. Borg,apparently by reason Qf no specific in justice, but primarily because of her temperament. She is another individual of enormous energy, fixed ideas, and rela- tively narrow outlook. She also appears to be "puffy" and to desire to be a big politician. She took the job as president of the Democratic Club seriously. She calls herself a "lib- eral" and is strong for Roosevelt, left-wing candidates, and labor leaders. In physical appearance she is marvelously bulgy, and her broad, lined, swarthy fa.ce shows deep black rings under dark eyes. She constantly dangles a cigarette and speaks in a choked voice alternating confidential impli cations with bravado. The significance of the Democratic Club soon began to ~ change. The conservative members from the heart of Old Bell Gardens began to drop out. Said one former member of an in cident, "She wouldn't do it just because it wasn't Fairy Hazelton's idea." Mr. Knapp spoke with frankness of bow they were going to get rid of "that damned Hazelton." Soon there developed another coterie whose leader was undoubtedly fr~s. Hazel ton. She gathered arou.nd her the members of her family, some good-natured but untutored men and women who liked to feel themselves to be part of en important organization, and a few unemployed malcontents. The secret of her success with 248 this little group appeared to lie in making them feel impor tant, and many of them had never before experienced such ex- e.ltation. The new coterie can be depended upon to oppose almost any action instigated by Knapp, Borg, and Company. Mr. Knapp remarked, ~or course, we've got a little opposition down the street, but it doesn't amount to much." At its meetings, tbe Democratic Club still reads a list of some sixty members, ma~of whom will never again attend under the present leader- ship. e. Community Center Club. Nearly all the members of the Community Center Club live north of Florence Avenue. A small group of nineteen members including several of the small busi nessmen from the North Side and other employed persons com- pose its membership. It has a definitely conservative tone and is quite conscious of the section which it represents. It is the most completely indigenous of any of the for.mal organizations. The story may be told by quoting from an interview: When we first moved here a bunch of us used to have birthday parties at each other's houses. It was a sort of birthday club. One day one of the salesmen with whom we were very friendly--we bought our lot from him in the first place. Well, anyway he came and said there was a lot with a little house on it for sale right back there [pointing]. At that time we had thought of buying another lot, and he suggested that we might buy this one. My husband thought that it would be nice to buy it and turn the house into a place for our parties. 249 But by the time we got around, they had raised the price of the place, and anyway someone next door didn't like the idea. But that set us to thinking. We all talked about buying a lot and building a building where meetings and dances could be held. Vfuen we decided to do it, we scattered notices all over Bell Gardens and invited everyone to participate. Only one ·man from the old sec tion joined us. They thought that we would never amount to anything. I don't know why, but there is a line on Florence Avenue that divides the community. Our men did go to the. Chamber of Commerce, but they always tried to get things for the old section, and so one by one they dropped out •••• We have just worked quietly on our project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . We are going places. We want to cooperate, but we will fight if we have to. This organization started with an idea freshly inspired by an accidental stimulus, but the very name "Community Center Club" shows clearly enough that some of the members of the group soon began to think in standard terms and on a basis of previous experiences. This story also illustrates the evolu tion of a small coterie into a highly self-conscious group with formal structure which regards itself as the represents- tive of an area. f. The Home Buyers' Association. The first half of 1938 was extremely prolific in the birth of new organizations in Bell Gardens. Among these new groups were the Home Buyers' Association, the Coordinating Council, the Parent-Teacher Associations, the Non-Partisan League, and the Business Mens' Association. 250 Early in 1938, the Property Owners' Association of California sent representatives to Bell Gardens to try to procure members. A meeting was called at the Woman's Club house. Among those present was Mr. Mall, a short, black haired, scraggy, suspicious, and dynamic personality. He decided that this was just an effort on the part of a number of very large taxpayers to line up votes for the coming elec- tion. He was not in favor, but the incident gave him an idea. He said: "The Democratic Club is all political now, and the Chamber of Commerce is for the business men, although anyone can belong. We are going to represent the home owners." A few lines from a statement published by the corres ponding secretary will indicate the viewpoint of this organ- ization: It [Home Buyers' Association) was formed for the following purposes: The protection of the residing home buyers and owners and the improvement of Bell Gardens. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Any potential home buyer who has any difficulties to solve will find this organization willing to help them. In unity there is strength •••• Mr. Mall prevailed upon a considerable number of his neighbors to join this new group, and he, with the assistance of a little group of kindred spirits,proceeded to dominate the activities of the new enterprise. Soon, however, the Malls moved to another town, and the association began to listen to the counsel of a new group of less excitable and 251 more conservative men and women. Before long, two of the original leaders tore up their membership cards in the face of the meeting and withdrew, to the applause of the majority of the membership. The organization remains strong and ac- tive, but its whole orientation he.s been changed. Underlying this break between the leaders of the Home Buyers' Association is a process which is of profound impor- tance in the causation of much of the social conflict which develops in Bell Gardens. The occurrence which was given by the resigning members as the reason for their actions was of trivial importance. But shortly before the explosion, one of the discontented members, Mr. Kennedy, had said to the writer: A new member has come in. He's going to split the organization. I suspect he was sent ln by the [Knapp, et. al.] for that reason. He's a good talker, but -- won't stand for it. It's going to kill the association. vvhat was happening was the gradual formation of a new coterie at the heart of the Home Buyers' Association, a co terie whose members behaved in a wholly different fashion from that of the formerly dominant members. Not only had these former powers lost prestige, but between the members of . this new inner circle was a strong "consciousness of kind," while between them and these two others was a consciousness of dissimilarity. Fundamentally, the final break seems to have been a matter of emotion accompanied by some surface differences of opinion. 252 The fact that his new organization arose in part at least because of the lack of inclusiveness on the part of existing groups is further indicated by a study of Maps X, XI, and XII. The membership of this group comes primarily from section IIIa, Va, IV, and the eastern end of II, and its recent expansion has been into the North Side. Apparently the business-minded people in the center are busy with their own organizations, but this group with its defensive outlook appeals to those home buyers who are not heavily represented in other existing institutions. g. ~Jon-Partisan League. When Mr. Kennedy resigned from the Rome Buyers' Association, he threw his energies into pro moting the new Non-Partis·an League and assisting Mrs. Hazel ton with the Democratic Club. With her help he finally managed to get fifteen union men to sign an application for an official charter for the new local of the League. And, although Mr. Kennedy knew very little about the organization or what it stood for, the union workingmen who attended his meetings evidently found some satisfaction in this organization v.rhich represented them. They discussed antipicketing ordinances and labor candidates for political office with evident relish and a certain amount of real knowledge of local affairs. h. The Coordinating Council. The Coordinating Council - IIf, CLA~A MAP XII HOME ADDRESSES OF MmBERS OF THE HOME BUYERS' ASSOCIATION, JULY, 1938 253 • 254 and the Parent-Teacher Associations owe their starts to a convergence of apparently unrelated events. In December, 1937, the Reverend Bruen appeared in Bell Gardens. Lean and nervous, and wearing dark glasses, a dark blue suit, and a somewb'at. soiled collar, buttoned behind, he introduced himself as a Presbyterian minister, and hurried down to count the children in the east corner of the lower South End. From some unrevealed source, he produced Christmas presents for these children. He took the community by storm. Mr. Borg gave him money and built him a little building near the main office on Florence Avenue. People flocked to him with their -problems. Later a woman exploded, "I don't care what they say about him, he gave us hope." He talked of establishing clubs for all ages, of de veloping playgrounds, and of procuring a library. He used the personal pronouns like a veritable Mussolini. Many com munity leaders didn't like him, but no one spoke out against him, and many supported him wholeheartedly. At about this time a group of people representing the Service Committee of the Society of Friends came to Bell Gardens looking for a labor project for a su~~er training camp for young people. They approached Mr. Borg who called a meeting of leaders to discuss the matter. The suggestion was made that there ought to be a committee representing all elements of the community to correlate community enterprises 255 and assist in the work started by Mr. Bruen. One of the visi- tors suggested that a Coordinating Council, affiliated with other such councils, be organized, and a committee was appointed to do so. Men came from the probation department and from Montebello, and after several meetings, a council was formed with representatives from all the formal organizations then in existence participating. Then the Reverend Bruen suddenly left. He had gone to the sheriff's office seeking a special deputy's badge and they had been suspicious of him. It turned out that he was not a minister; and so, upon the advice of some people from Montebello and of some county officials, he left for parts unknown. Few people in Bell Gardens ever knew what happened to him. The infant Coordinating Council drifted. Everybody had been busy getting it organized, but now Bruen was gone, and no one had any idea what it was supposed to do. Mr. Knapp had . been vice-chairman and Bruen chairman. Mr. Knapp became chair- man. At the first few meetings, playground activities were dis cussed, and the chairman of the Montebello Coordinating Council assisted in procuring a Works Progress Administration worker to carry on the organization of the baseball team which had been talked about. One of the men from the Borg Company, a committee chairman in the council, procured money from local businessmen 256 and provided sweat shirts and caps for the boys' baseball team. A few meetings were devoted to a discussion of school problems,for the school rumpus was just coming to a head. After that the people from the Democratic Club, the Community Center, the Non-Partisan League, the Home Buyers' Association, and the Five Point Club ceased to take any active part. The meetings became programs devoted to a presentation of the work of some group such as the Boy Scouts or the girls' groups at the Four Square Church. Mr. Knapp talked aggressively but mysteriously about what "we are doing for child welfare," but any real action was handled by the coterie of business people who worked with Messers. Knapp and Borg. i. The Parent-Teacher Associations. In 1935, a group of women from the Woman's Club who had worked in Parent-Teacher Associations in other communities began to talk about forming a Parent-Teacher Association in the Bell Gardens School. One woman went into Los Angeles and obtained information on how to organize, but she had no children in the school,and so she turned the information over to Mrs. Hazelton. Mrs. Hazelton and a few others approached the principal, but there the mat- ter rested. Perhaps the woman was correct who said, "Mr. ____ , the principal, wasn't enthusiastic. But they went at it viTong. They went in to take over the school. You can't do that. You have to cooperate with the principal." Late in 1937,a new desire for a Parent-Teacher Association 257 developed. Mrs. kall, wife of the founder of the Home Buyers' Association, went to the woman who had secured the information in 1935. This woman was skeptical, but together they ap proached the new principal of the Live Oak School. He was favorable. Again they went to Los Angeles to get data. In the meantime the chairman of the Parent-Teacher Association Council in this district came to Bell Gardens with others from Montebello to assist in the organization of the coordi- nating Council. The women talked to her. to meetings to be called at the schools. She agreed to come They thought she would come to speak. But when she arrived, she helped them organize, and a group of some twenty-five or thirty women was established at each of the schools mentioned. These newly formed Parent-Teacher Associations grew with moderate rapidity. In June, 1938, there were some thirty five members in one and over fifty in the other, not counting the teachers. They adopted the mechanisms of Parent-Teacher Associations everywhere. Committees were set up and a program organized under the guidance of apparently well-established patterns. Their most significant functions so far have been the supplying of milk, dental work, and clothing to needy children. The people in the area have taken considerable pride in these organizations, apparently not so much because of the good work they are unquestionably doing as because they are 258 regarded as marks of community progress. Early members of both Parent-Teacher Association groups were drawn most largely from Old Bell Gardens, but there seems to be a tendency for the membership to spread throughout the whole community. On Map XIII, the red dots representing the more recent members appear to be more widely scattered than the black ones representing earlier members. It is interest ing to notice also that section IVa across the right of way has only one Parent-Teacher As~ociation member, and that the lower South End is not well represented. j. The Five Point Club. The Five Point Club was a brain child of Mr. Bruen. It was composed of young men eighteen to twenty-five and was to have been a service club. Great en thusiasm was shown during its organization. But just as the members were beginning to discover that there was little for them to do, Mr. Bruen departed, and they were left to drift. Membership fell off. The few young businessmen and other more mature members who had joined dropped out, but a smali group of about fifteen young men carried on. They sponsored the new scout troop, and one of their number became the scout mas ter. Aft.er a time, they began to turn their attention to social affairs. A few new members came in and, thus en couraged, they sponsored a series of dances at Lugo's Picnic Grounds. The fact that members of this club are scattered all MAP XIII HOME ADDRESSES OF PARENT-TEACHER ASSOCIATION MI!!MBERS, JULY, 1938 BLACK - EARLY MEMBERS RED - MDmERS WHO JOIN.ED LATER ftv- og.eoce.e v uroe£ ! THE. R. 8u.:sm t.J.s 1 HUR,CH 259 • or-u../Y.J' Cl..uo 1f(m£DINATIIVJi CouNu'- L} NoR_ TH , ~ 1 DC. Co/VI NuN rrY C.t:/Y reR. RoNAN IYuMc .f. A !._S I Nt711'4TI: ('u.: .. oc~<:. or u u[:'Jo/v,.J,oN 260 over Bell Gardens, as sho\¥n in Map XIV, reveals an interest ing phase of informal organization. Mr. Bruen found a few young men,and these brought in the others. The wi1e scat tering of membership shows that the unmarried young men of this age have a wide acquaintance among themselves throughout the area. More than any other group, they enjoy freedom of movement and diversity of contacts. Their intimates are not of the neighborhood but of their own age group throughout the area. k. ~ American Legion Q!B£. Naturall~ there were many -world War veterans in Bell Gardens, and many of them were or had been members of American Legion posts in other places. Some of them got acquainted at posts which they attended out side Bell Gardens, and some became acquainted in other ways. Soon among a little group of them arose a discussion concern ing a post for Bell Gardens, but many of the prospective mem bers had paid dues in other places which would not need to be paid again until the Fall of 1938. Consequently, they formed a club until the time was ripe to found a regular post. Some fifteen men from Old Bell Gardens and the North Side belonged in August, 1938. The temper of this group is perhaps best shown by the remarks of their representative to the Coordi nating Council on his first appearance. He asked anyone know ing of legionnaires in trouble to report to the club, "· •• because we have to take care of our buddies first, you know." CI..AR.A MAP XIV HOME ADDRESSES OF MEMBERS AND FORMER MEMBERS OF · THE FIYE POINT CLUB, J1JLY, 1938 BLACK - PRESENT MFl4BERS RED - FORMER MDIBERS fc.v- o~~oce.e y uroe£:. ! THE.R. 13uomtv.S I HUR.,CH 261 • • . oM~IY·J' Ctua *(oo£DINATINJl CouNCil... Ll NoR. TH t1tot:. CoN M u N tTY C.t-JYreR. () RoNAN !YuMfeAI...S llrf11(."ATf ~IJC!c'. Or tJUe.Ot VI•'JION 262 That this group has as yet relatively little community following was shown by the fact that practically no one be sides their own members appeared at a well-advertised box sup per given by the wives of the members. 1. ~Business Mens' Association. In July, 1938, the Business 1'1ens' Association was instigated by Knapp, Borg, and Company, and of one of their henchmen, Ivlr. Knapp remarked, "we put him in as president." Back of its development appeared to be at least three motives, and maybe more. It was to be a clearing house for credit information. The merchants felt that they needed a group to represent them. Said one of them, "The Chamber of Commerce isn't for the business men." Finally, some of the men, including Mr. Knapp, seemed to feel that the community really ought to have a merchants association "like East Los Angeles.ff These comments concerning the various formal organi zations in Bell Gardens indicate clearly that little in the way of new social machinery is found there. Practically all the organizations are modeled on the patterns of institutions existing elsewhere. Only three show any large amount of origi nality in their beginnings: the Community Center Club, the Home Buyers' Association, and the Five Point Club. The first two of these sprang directly out of the needs of the community. The first soon chose a name which indicated that these needs were soon visualized in terms of already existing institutions, 263 and the second was suggested qy a si~ilar organization repre- 5enting other people. The Five Point Club was the idea of an amateur social worker who had heard that community service demanded club activities. Even these three organizations were entirely standard in their internal structure, each hav ing a president and other officers according to some pattern which is many times repeated in the United States. All the other organizations represent standard patterns for dealing with community situations. Each of these borrowed patterns has been altered to meet the needs of the new environment. This was pointed out in the cases of the Chamber of Commerce and the Woman's Club. Another notable example was the Coordinating Council. There were few professional social workers and educational agencies in Bell Gardens, and so the membership of the council was composed almost entirely of laymen. This has not been the usual situation in Coordinating Councils. m. Reasons for borrowing patterns. There are many reasons why these patterns have been borrowed. Perhaps the most im portant but least obvious is simply that no one thought of not accepting them. After all society is old and experienced, and the culture contains many devices already developed to meet many situations. These people are JUnericans with much the same backgrounds as their neighbors all over Southern California. They simply expected that churches, schools, 264 businesses, and many other types of community organizations would come to Bell Gardens. Other communities have such or ganizations. Bell Gardens would have them, of course. Event ually, will come chain stores, Girl Scouts, and Rotary or Kiwanis. No one will be surprised. They expect it. Second, these standard organizations are symbols of progress. The name, "Chamber of Commerce," has value. It is a social value of recognized importance. Similarly, tb.e presence of a '."loman's Club, Parent-Teacher Association, and a Boy Scout troop are viewed as marks of civilization and in dices of progress. Furthermore, if a standard pattern is available, its adoption is the easiest way to solve a problem. These stand ard patterns provide a routine. It is easy to do it that way because it has been done before, and the moves of the game are known. Suggestions may be procured from outside agencies, and well-known tracks are easily follpw~d. This efficiency of a well-known routine seems to be especially apparent in the case of the Parent-Teacner Associations. Finr,lly, several of these outside groups are anxious to establish new outposts and respond with alacrity to of fered opportunities. This factor seems to.have been of sig nificance in the founding of the Non-Partisan League, the Boy Scout Troops, the Parent Teacher-Associations, and the Co ordinating Council. It may have been of in.fluence in several 265 other cases. Suspicion petween competing groups. As the community grew, a diversification of interests developed. This has been noted. The people in the North. Side began to feel that the Chamber of Commerce did not represent their interests, and people in the newer sections south of Florence felt that these older organizations aimed at politics or business de velopment and thus failed to protect the homeowners. But the merchants said that the Chamber of Commerce was not really for them. Therefore, each one of these newly self-conscious groups organized its own agency, and apparently weakened the Chamber of Commerce. Not only do organizations tend to represent unserved groups,but sometimes they tend to reinforce this self consciousness. Thus, the changing character of the Democratic Club has _emphasized the differences in degrees of conservatism among Democrats. The rebuff of the rising Cormnunity Center Club heightened the group consciousness of the North Side, and several other organizations have apparently had the same effect upon their respective followers. Among these are the Non-Partisan League, the Business Mens' Association, and the Five Point Club. Tendency of members of formal organization~ to belittle competing groups. Because of the rising group consciousness 266 that accompanies the development of groups competing for mem bers and influence, a tendency to doubt the effectiveness and the motives of other organizations appears to develop. An officer of the Chamber of Commerce said of both the Home Buyers' Association and the new Business Mens' Association, "They won't get anywhere." A man at the Chamber of Commerce meeting arose and said, n-:iho in H--- are these ~ Buyers' Association?" The implication clearly was that because he didn't know about them they couldn't be much. Mrs. Hazelton charged Mr. Knapp and Mr. Borg with fi nancial skulduggery, and a partisan of their side implied that she had persona-l objectives in her political dealings. Less suspicion seems to attach to groups which are not thought to be competitors and which have specialized fields of service. The Parent-Teacher Associationsand the Boy Scouts aroused little antagonism. ~ place 2£ ~ energetic leader. Any casual perusal of the above histories will reveal the important place of the individual mind. A need may be vaguely felt and a pattern be easily available, but the impetus to action comes from the in dividual or the small group. The time of organization and the peculiar characteristics of the Coordinating Council, the Chamber of Commerce, the Home Buyers' Association, the Commu nity Center Club and all the others were profoundly influenced 267 by the founders or by other individuals. These leaders tend to be people of fixed ideas and large energy. They are stimulated and they act. "Theirs not to reason. why." They do, and if others oppose them they fight vigorously. They leave their imprints upon the social structures of the community. Doers are they, and the think ing that they do is directed toward the achievement of what seem to them to be most obvious goals. Conflict of ~ tendency toward intremural coteries with welfare objectives. Another factor which appeared to lie behind t~e diversification of organizations and their re sulting conflicts was the tendency for an organization to be dominated by.a small coterie of its members. In those organi zations where a dominant leader wielded large influence this inner circle formed about him; but, however formed, it was an important element in the inner structure of several Bell Gardens organizations. Back of the Business Mens' Association and the Coordinating Council was F~app, Borg,. and Company. A group closely affiliated with this coterie and sometimes really forming a part of it dominated the Chamber of Commerce. The Democratic Club was dominated by another group; and, while the writer could not be sure of such a group within the Women's Club, such a situation was suggested by several bits ot data such as the refusal of certain women to work with one of the Parent-Teacher Associations because of the election to 268 office of certain other members of the club and the split which occurred at the time of the adoption of formal organi zation. Some of the newer organizations such as the Non Partisan League, the Parent-Teacher Associations, and the Home Buyers' Association seemed to be headed for this same type of informal internal organization. The effect of such intramural ex'clusiveness wa:s most instructively apparent in the case of the Chamber of Commerce. A member of the coterie which ran this organization once re marked that, "There has always been a little group of us who have carried the thing along and been most active. " . . . This little group is friendly and intimate. Some of its mem bers may be viewed conversing together on the main street on many evenings at about 5:30 P.M. The degree of intimacy at tained by at least two of these men was clearly indicated by the fact that one of them led the writer unannounced in through the back door of the other's home. This type of little group has many of the characteris tics of the primary group. It appears to be very satisfying to its members and to be limited in size just as the little coteries of women described above display those characteris tics. It is based in the beginning, at least, upon "con- 5 sciousness of kind," the "wish for response," and an 5 Nilliam I. Thom&s, The Unadjusted Girl (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1938), p. 1.,-:---- 269 opportunity for association. It does not start out with the intention of being exclusive. But it appears to follow much the same process of evolution as the primary clubs discussed above which found that they lost the satisfactions of close unity if they grew too large. Groups of this type, as ob- served in Bell Gardens, were all relatively small, and it ap pears that they must remain small, for they are essentially primary groups. In the case of the Chamber of Commerce, at least, the group was small. It does not appear consciously to have limited its numbers. Yet it has been shown that there soon arose several elements which felt that they were not adequately represented by the Chamber. Vfhat actually seems to have hap pened is that these elements were unable to get into this tight little group of friends who dominated the Chamber, and that this group could serve the community only as its members saw the needs. Their very unity prevented them from broaden ing their vision. In other ~~rds, there was a direct conflict between the tendency of this little group to enjoy each other's confidence and their ability to represent the whole community as an efficient secondary org&nization. The history of the Chamber of Commerce presents the most clear-cut illustration of this problem, but the data on the various organizations presented abov~ at least suggests - that the sane difficulty may be found in other groups. 270 Place of formal organizations in community life. A relatively small number of persons participate in the organ ized activities of Bell Gardens. The Boy Scouts and two baseball teams constitute most of the organized activity for minors. The total participation in the Summer of 1938, was less than fifty. Table XIV shows the estimated number of active adult members in Bell Gardens' organizations. An active member may be defined as one who takes enough interest in the organization to attend its meetings as ma..'ly as two or three times per year. The total number of such memberships in the community was not more than the total of 389 shown in the table, and in this total there was considerable overlap ping. Of course, all of the members of the Coordinating Council were members of other organizations, and the Parent Teacher Association membership listed many women who were also members of other groups. Probably there were less than three hundred adult members actually participatins in all of the organizations in the community. The data on population indicated that there were approximately 4,084 persons twenty one years of age or over in the area studied. In other words, less than one out of thirteen of the adults living in Bell Gardens participates in the activities of any secular organi zation within that area. Not only are there relatively few memb~rs of organized activities in Bell Gardens, but no leaders are recognized as T.ABLE XIV ESTIMATED NUMBER OF ACTIVE ADULT MEMBERS IN TF...E FORMAL ORGANIZATIONS EXISTING IN BELL GARDENS IN JULY, 1938 Number of Organization active members Chamber of Commerce 50 Women's Club 50 Democratic Club 30 Community Center Club 19 Home Buyers' Association 50 Non-Partisan League 20 Coordinating Council 20 Parent-Teacher Associations 90 Five-Point Club 15 American Legion Club* 25 Business Men's Association 20 Total memberships 389 *Including active wives of members. 271 272 representing the whole community. In reply to a question asking who the leaders of Bell Gardens were, fifty-eight out of one hundred persons contacted by the interviewers with the schedule replied either that they didn't know or that there weren't any. Only three men were mentioned more than twice, L although fourteen different individuals were mentioned. Mr. Borg was listed as a leader ten times and Mr. Y~app thrice. Typical co;nments were: It's not well enough organized to have leaders. We're not organized at all. Everyone is afraid to trust anyone else. Hard to tell. All the people are strangers to each other--too new. Viell, it would be hard to say. Maybe Mr. Borg, the Chamber of Commerce, the Parent-Teacher Association, the Women's Club, and the business men. It just runs itself. I don't know their names--mostly down on Eastern and Florence in the business part of town. Noteworthy is the fact that in the newer areas the proportion of replies indicating lack of knowledge concerning community leadership is larger than in older areas. Also answers frequently identified leadership with organizations or business people. The reasons for this small amount of organized activity are not difficult to find. The newness of the area has been noted above. People come as strangers; and, while neighbor- hood friendships spring up rapidly, there is little enough to 273 promote community consciousness. Visits are frequently made to relatives and old friends living outside of Bell Gardens. National politics seem more important than local political problems. Many people buy at a neighborhood grocery store and at places outsid~ of Bell Gardens. Thus, not even com mercial activities centralize interest very effectively. Work is located elsewhere,and so is practically all commer cial recreation. Most of the people are untutored and ab sorbed in the struggle for life. The lack of capable leaders to carry on the work of the variou~ organizations is continu- ally felt. Poverty and lack of experience prevent many from participating. The following typical comments reveal some of the reasons for the small participation in community af fairs: The trouble with us is that by the time we work on a house or in the garden or building a fence all day, we're too tired to care about outside things. She seemed quite wrapped up in her own affairs and knew nothing about the community. The children se~med well cared for--had a play place in the back yard. His biggest inte?est and pride seems to be his garden and animals. The situation reported by a young woman is also typi cal of a ccnsiderable number of people. She wanted to go to the Jv'omen' s Club. She had so indicated to a member but had 6 Schedule No. 41. 7 Schedule No. 63. 274 . never had the nerve to go. She hoped they would call on her. The small membership of these various organizations is by no means equally distributed. An examination of Maps X to XIV will indicate the general nature of this distribu tion. The heavy concentration of memberships is in section I of Old Bell Gardens. As the distance from the center in creases, the number of memberships gradually lessens. Taking into consideration all the organizations in the community, it seems likely that section IVa across the right of way has the smallest number of memberships in relation to its population. The lower part of the South End has very few memberships, and _ this is true also of the very new sections V and Vb. However, the relatively new section IVc shows a considerable number of membership in proportion to its total population. Further more, the older organizations tend to dominate the center, while the extremes are more largely represented by the newer groups. Besides the factors of length of residence, location within the area, and a financial interest in the community, another selective factor appeared to operate. It seemed that most of the people who were really active in organizations in Bell Gardens were people who had had some kind of experience in organized groups elsewhere. There were typical hill-billies in Bell Gardens, but they stayed at home. There were others without any previous contact with organizations. No adequate 275 data we.s collec·ted on this point 1 but the writer was impressed with the fact that the members of organizations in Bell Gardens had had experience in such groups before they came to this community. Those with such experiences were the ones who seem to have sought membership in the organizations of the new en vironment. I The relatively small membership and the lack of knowl- edge of existing organizations on the part of the residents must not lead to the conclusion that these organizations are of little importance. When the community speaks, it. speaks through a babble of conflicting voices, but they are the voices of its organizations. The formal organizations, the coterie of Knapp and Company, and the Borg Company promote community activities and thus stimulate community conscious ness. They make requests from county departments, contact organizations in other communities, fight the community's bat tles against apparent dangers, and give public consideration to the community's needs. As far as the outside world knows and, to a cons-iderable extent, as far as most of the residents of the area know, these organizations ~ the community. If a politician running for-office, a public official, or a so cial worker wishes to contact the community, these organiza tions are evident places by which he may take hold. The invasion of the hcmes of individuals is best done by the United States mail, but a man may visit the Chamber of Commerce 276 and present a plea. Memberships outside of Bell Gardens. The total number of Bell Gardens' citizens participating in secular organiza tions is somewhat augmented if the number participating in groups located outside the area is added. With the exception of urrion memberships the number of such contacts is not large. Nine membershi~in seven groups were discovered among the sample of one hundred families. The two organizations having more than one member were the American Legion and the Masonic Lodge with two each. Union members are fairly numerous in Bell Gardens~ There are probably over 350 of them altogether, or one union man for every five and one-half men over twenty-one years of age. More than half of these union adherents appear to be members of unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. CONCLUSIONS This history of secular organizations in Bell Gardens presents a rather clear pi~ture of socio-organic diversifica tion in the developnent of the life of the community. The crude conditions urider which the early settlers in Bell Gardens lived caused sympathetic understanding and a feeling of con sc!ousness of kind between the new residents which resulted in neighboring and then in the formation of coteries of various 277 types. As the community grew in size, formal organizations developed, frequently dominated by particular coteries. Thus, groups who felt that the dominant coteries did not represent their interests were likely to form new bodies, the members of which frequently looked with jealousy upon other organizations, especially if they knew little about them or if they had no feelings of consciousness of kind toward their mov~ng spirits. These new organizations in Bell Gardens usu ally, although not always, represented rather self-conscious elements or sections of the community, and the existence of the new social structures usually enhanced this self consciousness. The leaders who promoted organizations in Bell Gardens tended to pe energetic individuals with rather fixed ideas and usually a feeling of pride in their rolesas community architects. On the other hand, the coteries were founded largely on the wish for response from persons of similar out look, and consequently they could not grow very large. The combination of these circumstances was likely to mean that an aggressive new leader would not find a satisfactory place in existing organizations; and, if he represented a group which had interests opposed to those of the members of ex isting bodies, he was almost sure to find himself an outcast from real power in the established enterprises. He would, therefore, instigate some new development. 2?8 The people of this area are not very inventive, and they have borrowed the patterns for most of their formal or ganizations from existing models, with modifications to suit their needs. Even those structures which were more or less indigenous were but new syntheses of old elements existing in the culture. In fact, the presence in the area of certain well-known institutions has been looked upon as a mark of community achievement. CHAPTER VII EDUCATIONAL PROBL~~S Bell Gardens is a part of the Montebello Unified School District, but this relationship has not been a happy one. Ap parently the bond was first formed for selfish reasons on the part of both the school district and incoming area, and the fruits of greed have been discord and disorder. This district became a political unit, but political unity represented no social integration. Conflict and mutual dissatisfaction have accompanied the efforts of both the school board and the citi zens of Bell Gardens to provide for the rapidly increasing number of children in the area. The enormous growth of popu lation plus conservative leadership in school affairs have resulted in inadequate educational opportunities for the children of Bell Gardens. I. THE SCHOOLS History 2f the school district. The people living in this are& have been part of a school district since the Civil v:ar. As was pointed out in Section II of Chapter II, a deed recording the sale of land to the school board of the dis trict was issued in 186?. During the 1920's the Laguna School District served all the territory between the rivers from the southern boundary of Bell Gardens north to a line running 280 east along the right of way of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway to its junction with Telegraph Road and then along that road to a point near the Rio Hondo. The Laguna School, now at the northeast corner of Bell Gardens, was the only school in the district. It ministered to the needs of more than one hundred pupils, most of them fuexicans or Ja::;>anese. "The .Montebello school district acquired the Laguna school district in January, 1932, by petition presented to the board of supervisors by the citizens of the Laguna school district." 1 The new district contained not only Bell Gardens and kontebello but also much unimproved land, hopefully earmarked as industrial property, and a considerable area along the eastern boundary of Los Angeles which was already devoted to industrial, corrilllercial, or residential uses. ··:lith the re- vival of business following 1933, this area of improved prop erty began to expand, especially in Eastmont, a middle-class residential district west of l>lontebello. Unfortunately, there was no way of determining the actual motives vihich led to the union of these two districts. Even that volume of the kontebello News ·which· contained the press comments that must have accompanied this move was miss ing at the time of inquiry. However, in the light of the 1 News item in The Montebello ~' March 11, 1938. 281 known facts and of later difficulties the comments of certain individuals appeared to shed much light upon the situation. Mr. Borg once remarked, "We looked around and discovered that Montebello had the lowest tax rate of any nearby district, and so we went into it." The principal of one of the schools said in a slightly accusing vain, "They [the kontebello district] took this dis trict in because there were not many people here, and they got to tax a lot of industrial land to the north. They've gotten plenty of money out of this district." These state ments seem reasonable enough in the light of the fact that both 1.r. Borg and the l\~ontebello school board boast of the low tax rates within their subdivision or district as the case may be. Educational difficulties. As Bell Gardens began to grow, it became a thorn in the side of the school board. At first the children from the new subdivision attended elemen tary schools in the Los Angeles district. In 1934, the Bell Gardens School was built, and it received students in the Fall of that year. But it was too far from the new North Side, and the children from this area began again to flock into Los Angeles schools. In the Fall of 193?-1938, two com plete schools with separate principals were operating in the building .of the Bell Gardens School. All the children in the elementary grades were attending half-day sessions. One group 282 attended four hours in the morning, and the other four hours in the afternoon. By the second semester of that year the Live Oak School was completed. The relief thus achieved was duly reported in the local press: Since the new Live Oak school is finished the Bell Gardens school has had three new teachers added to their faculty and has rearranged the rooms so that no class room is as crowded as it was before Christmas. The sixth, seventh and eighth grades are able to have a regular full-day session, and the lower grades are going half days.2 The school principals faced almost hopeless odds during some of these years. Buildings were overcrowded, and teachers struggled with more pupils than they could handle. In one case, at least, two classes with two teachers occupied the same room. Classes were constantly growing, and new pupils were enrolling. Perhaps the most difficult year was the school year of 1936-1937. In that year. the estimate.d average daily attendance of pupils from Bell Gardens attending local schools increased from 369.51 in September to 649.19 in June, an increase of 75.79 per cent. New pupils had to be assimi lated into classes almost daily, and classes had to be divided - into sections in mid-semester. As if rapid growth.were not enough, turnover was heavy. In the light of the data on mo bility presented in Section V of Chapter II, it seems likely 2 News item in the Bell Gardens Review, J"anuary 6, 1938. 283 that some 15 per cent of the students once enrolled trans ferred out cf the district before the end of the ye&r. To add to their worries the school staffs had to deal with the parents. Naturally, the parents were not pleased with the school situation. They did not object to the rela tively aonservative methods being used, but the crowded con ditions and lack of attention to their particular children irritated them. The teachers reported that parents were not easy to deal with. They loved their children, but most of them had had little schooling themselves; they did not under stand the problems of the modern school, and they were char acterized by the forthrightness of manner which Bell Gardens people exhibit. Many of them called frequently and persist ently at the schools. At the end of two years of such hectic activities, the woman who had been superintendent of the old Laguna School District asked to be relieved of her charge ~s principal of the Laguna School and returned to the classroom. She felt that the job of supervising the program of a school under such conditions was too difficult for her. Naturally, the children suffered. One principal re- marked that much remedial teaching was needed if some of them were ever to catch up. He lamented that he had been forced by the pressure of new students demanding attention to allow the transfer of students into the third grade who were by no means able to do satisfactory second-grade work. The same was true 284 of all other grades. Table XV reveals that there was much retardation in the schools of Bell Gardens. All of them showed considerably more retardation than the average for the district as a whole. The problems of the elementary school pupils were matched by those of the high school students. The high school was located in Montebello, separated from Bell Gardens by six miles of open farm land. The busses used to trans port the young people to and from school were apparently al ways overcrowded, and the schedule of trips made it impossi ble ror students to participate in extracurricular activities coming after school. Many of them were even prevented from scheduling classes during the last hour of the afternoon. Many of these students had been in the Los Angeles city schools, and they missed the opportunities to take courses in shop and home economics. And, final crowning insult, the other students looked down on them and called them "dumb."3 Conservative policies of the Montebello district. vihether wiser leadership e..nd more aggressive tactics could have prevented the development of serious educational prob lems in Bell Gardens is one of those questions to which there is no satisfactory answer as is also the question whether Bell Gardens has received a "fair deal." The citizens of Montebello 3 ents. From interview with high school student and her par- TABLE XY PERCENTAGES OF PUPILS WHO viERE OVERAGE IN Tllli SCHOOLS OF THE MONTEBELLO SCHOOL DISTRICT IN THE FALL OF 1937a School Montebello Pe_rk Eastmont Washington Central School Freemont Winter Gardens Live Oak (Bell Gardens) Bell Gardens School Greenwood Laguna (Bell Gardens) Bandini Vail Total district Percentage of pupils' average 14.37 21.25 22.10 24.43 32.18 34.69 45.59 53.64 57.40 58.33 59.02 78.05 39.78 a This data was obtained from records in the office of the county superintendent of schools. 285 286 believe that Bell Gardens has received equitable considera tion. The citizens of Bell Gardens disagree, and there are a few people in Montebello who support them. The first question raises all sorts of considerations. School buildings cost money, and considerable time must be consumed in their construction. Bonds must be floated to provide buildings in a rapidly growing and relatively small district such as Montebello. Once constructed these build ings are of little use except for educational purposes. It seems scarcely possible that any human being could have fore seen the tremendous growth of this little community. After all, school boards can hardly build schools for pupils who may never need them. On the other hand, three and a half years elapsed be tween the opening of the Bell Gardens and the Live Oak schools. Perhaps a more active administration might have sensed the need somewhat earlier. But Bell Gardens is not an especially wealthy district, and its assessed valuation cannot be very great. State contributions for schools are based on the average daily attendance of the preceding year, thus putting an extra current burden upon a district in which an area of such very rapid growth is located. The papers and pcrtisans of both sides have argued the question of the "fair deal." The question is of little real importance in this study. The answer to such a question must 287 of necessity vary with tte standards of fairness applied. The l~ontebello school board seems to have made a persistent effort to provide schools for this area, but the actual in adequacy of these schools has been only too clearly apparent. The educational difficulties of the children of Bell Gardens have unquestionably been made more difficult by the very conservative educational and financial policy of the school system in which they live. The board of the Montebello school district has consisted for years of a group of business men from the town of 1iontebello whose principal policy seems to have been to keep the tax rate low. The Montebello news papers boast of this low rate and compare it with that of other districts nearby, 4 and the real estate men post signs urging people to settle ir. Montebello because of this low tax rate. In addition to this financial conservatism, the super intendent of schools in this district has a relatively con servative philosophy of education. He does not believe in the use of intelli3ence tests, and other educators who know him report that he hesitates long before adopting ~ny new method. The results of these twin conservative tendencies may be summarized by quoting from an interview with a public health 4 An item in the Montebello News, February 25, 1938. 288 nurse: Sure I'm disgusted with the Montebello school sys tem. ~hey don't give me any help whatever. If the L. A. system brings a girl in, they know all about her. They can tell her mental ability and her social ·background as well as her health situation. But if a girl is brought in with an illegitimate child from the Uontebello district, they just dump her down on the doorstep and leave her. They don't even know whether - she is feeble-minded. Vve have nothing to work with. I don't know whether she vvill be worth careful treat ment or whether to get her cared for and out of cir culation is all that can be expected. They have no effective school nursing system nor attendance of ficers. We are also told that they are not able to care for their children as well because they do not have the various kinds of work needed. I suppose they will never be any better so long as the school board is so much impressed ~~th the ideas expressed by the signs along the highway--come and live in our community. Our tax rate is so and so. They have made no attempt to be sure that the children from Simons Brick yard are in school. Ma~y of them do not go to high school at all, simply because there is no transportation. Those who have gone to high school have walked the two or three miles back and forth each day. We approached the Coordineting Council on this matter, and their reaction seemed to be one of delight that this little area was so well isolated. This combination of conservative educational and fi nancial policy has resulted in a relatively narrow curriculum and a lack of the newer aids to education such as remedial teaching and counseling. It has made the school board slow to spend money until a real need has become perfectly evi dent. It has meant that teaching in the Montebello school system has been done largely by the use of textbooks and other formal methods. Overcrowding, short sessions, and lack of teaching 289 aids are perhaps sufficient reasons to explain the retarda tion found in Bell Gardens schools, but the blame for this large percentage of overage students cannot be laid entirely to tt:e lack of school facilities. An examination of Table XV, page 285, indicates that larger percentages of retarded students are likely to be found in districts where the average level of economic well being is low. Also most of the pupils who now live in Bell Gardens have recently had to change schools. and make a new adjustment, a fact which appears to account for at least some of the retardation. II. CONFLICT OVEH THE SCHOOLS The citizens of Bell Gardens are dissatisfied with the schools, and the coterie headed by Mr. Knapp has declared open warfare against the school board and the superintendent. Apparently, the administration intends to fight back, and the people in Montebello and Bell Gardens who know about the con flict have taken sides. Just how the conflict started appears to be one of those mysteries lost in the maze of social causation, but early visitors to the Montebello school administration appear to have been politely received. One visitor reported that Mr. Bescos, the superintendent, was "nice to her" when she went to explain about the crowded conditions on the high school busses. He explained that a new bus was being procured and 290 that he was trying to solve the problem. This visitor re turned to Bell Gardens and tried to get the Democratic Club to write to the superintendent expressing the community's appreciation for his efforts, but she was not of Mrs. Hazelton's coterie, and the conflict within the club pre vented that courteous gesture from being made. Mrs. Hazelton and two supporters also called upon the school board in ses sion sometime in 1936-193? to complain about overcrowding in the elementary schools. They reported a courteous reception and were most pleased that one of the members of the board came to sit with them. ' After the schools began to appear entirely inadequate in 1936, friction appeared. Stray wisps of comment collected here and ther~ suggest that repeated untactful requests on the part of the citizens of Bell Gardens soon antagonized the conservative school board which looked upon the people of Bell Gardens as "inferior intruders." 1Crs. Hazel ton blamed Mr. Knapp for antagonizing the school board by his demands. One would expect such a reaction from her, but a very sympa thetic gentleman in Montebello also commented that, ''Mr. Y~app is a fire eater." Another friendly outsider reported that on on9 occasion a member of the school board had asked a little group of visitors if there was anybody fron Bell 5 Gardens who could talk besides fur. Borg. 5 Interview with a professional man from ~Qntebello. 291 The general citizenry of Montebello showed little in terest in or sympathy toward Bell Gardens. The writer hap pened to attend a large meeting of the Coordinating Council in Montebello in the Fall of 1937, before this study was un dertaken. The problem of Bell Gardens came up for discussion, and, while a few individuals were sympathetic, the general reaction of the group seemed to be that it was a shack town away off in the country somewhere filled with people with hopeless economic and social prospects for whom little could really be done. No antagonism was expressed--only sterile s~~pathy for an unfortunate but inferior peopleo In the Spring of 1938, the tension between the school administration and the people of Bell Gardens rapidly in creased. By the time the Live Oak School was opened in 1938, it was already overcrowded. Therefore, in February the school board proposed a new bond issue in three parts: $75,000 for Bell Gardens; $53,000 for completion of the new junior high schools; and a small amount for improvements at the high school. Everyone was in f~vor of the bond issue, but none of the leaders in Bell Gardens were satisfied. They said that ~ontebello was getting two new junior high schools at a cost of half a million dollars, while the children in Bell Gardens were still on a half-day schedule. The new bond issue might possibly build a ten room school, if an additional federal grant were secured, but by the time a new building was built 292 the community vv-ould be so big that no real relief W'Ould be af forded. At a meeting of the Coordinating Council these leaders decided to appeal to the school board for a large num ber of temporary structures, even tents. And so a delegation consisting of people from the Knapp coterie and headed by the Reverend Bruen called upon the school board. _Precisely what occurred will never be kno\vn, but the delegation from Bell Gardens was accompanied by a few representatives of the Iv1ontebello Coordinating Council, and these people reported that the Reverend Bruen was received with even less favor than were 1':essers. Knapp and Borg. The presence of these members from the Coordinating Council of Montebello did nothing to smooth the relationship, for the leadership of this council had been carrying on its own private feud \rlth the school board for some time. Their presence was perfectly legitimate, since they had been assist ing the Bell Gardens Council to organize, but they proved to be just another factor which added to the friction. The bond issue carried in hlarch, and for a long time the interested citizens of Bell Gardens were unable to find out how the money was to be used. This uncertainty added to their fears. They cursed the school board openly and vigor ously. Finally, in June, 1938, the school board began the construction of four additional rooms attached to the Live Oak 3chool and a large number of temporary bungalows which would 293 in all likelihood ~e used for many years. In the meantime, a new member had been added to the school board amid bitter hostilities. The woman who was elected to the school board lived in Eastmont several ~iles away from the town of Montebello. As chairman-of the Parent Teacher Association Council for the district, she had organ ized the Parent-Teacher Associations in Bell Gardens, and as a member of the Montebello Coordinating Council see had as sisted in the founding of the Bell Gardens Council. No one questioned her ability, but the leaders of Bell Gardens looked upon her as a champion, and the interested citizens of Montebello disliked her alliances. The battle was on. The following quotations indicate the feeling in Montebello. ·The member of the school board who was seeking reelection published a letter in the local papers which read in part: 15, Forces both open and undercover in the Montebello area have combined with a misinformed but exceedingly active group elsewhere in the district avowedly for the purpose of wresting the Montebello schools from what I sincerely believe to be an unusually efficient, economical, and businesslike administration.6 In an article appearing in this same paper on April the editor wrote in almost the same words but added: • . • it behooves every Iv.tontebello citizen to get behind • . . . • • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 The kessenger (Montebello), bay 2?, 1938. There has been absolute harmony of action among all members of the school board. A young woman associated by family ties with one of the Montebello newspapers remarked: I think Lthe superintendent] is all right. The teachers are one hundred per cent behind him, and the 1J.ontebello schools have a better reputation now than they used to have •••• The people in l~ontebello feel that they have sup ported the schools for years and that they ouf£ht to run them. And then they think that Lfur. Borgj cam- 294 paigned fo:- Mrs. ,and that makes them mad. I haven't heard an~~hing but that she's able, but she told the folks in Bell Gardens that she'd see that they got a fair deal. There can be little doubt that the school administra tion applied pressure wherever possible during the campaigno One woman teacher who supported·the opposition candidate was evidently severely reprimanded by a colleague close to the administration, and someone was reporting occurences in Bell Gardens to the superintendent with evident dispatch. The leaders of Bell Gardens rushed to the fray. Knapp, Borg, and Company got started first; and Mrs. Hazelton, with evident displeasure, supported them. Internal conflicts had to be shelved tenporarily in the presence of the common enemy. The temper of the campaign may be judged from the following letter which appeared on the front page of the Bell Gardens Review on U.ay 27: DEAR DAD: Guess you will be surprised to get this letter from me but I just had to \Vrite to you and keep you informed 295 on wh9t is going on at school. You know, Dad, you are spending A lot of money on us kids tiDd you are not get ting enough out of it. That is, the money that you are spending is not going far enough in the actual purch~e ing power of the dollar in education for us youngsters. Elsewhere in this paper you will find the actual amount that the community you live in and pay taxes in for our education has paid in r·or the last few years and tilso the amount that has actually been spent on the kids in this community. Now there js a reason, Dad, and I want you to know it and I want to be the one to tell you for some of these days I will have to take up where you ·leave off and we might as well begin to exchange confi dences right now and begin to help each other out in our problems. First of all~ the present school bo~rd that we heve is no more than a rubber stamp board; that is they know very little as to what is going on and as to what we are doing at school in Bell Gardens, for they are busy men and do not have time to look into things, so the superintendent just runs things. So what I want to tell you is that we must have some one on the board that has a little time to look into things and understand some of our problems and look at things in a different light, than the present board does. There is one woman that fills that requirement to a fine finish and ~hat is Mrs. • So now Dad won't you just take a little time on June 3 and go and vote for Mrs. so that we will have a better chance at life b~y~r~e~c~eTi~v 7 i~n~g a better program in school. It's up to you, Dad, you are spending the money, so you'd better see it spent where I'll get the most out of it. Signed, Your Son and Daughter By School Committee The fight was made more bitter from the point of view of the school board by treachery within the walls. The leader of the Coordinating Council in Montebello published a letter criticizing their tactics as represented by the letter of ~he candidate for reelection quoted above, and one of the princi- pals in Bell Gardens criticized the board openly to Bell Gardens citizens. 296 The antagonism became so intense that one poor teacher in the Live Oak School who was thought to be allied with the administration found herself in the midst of a series of disciplinary problems with children who had absorbed from their parents the spirit of the combat. On election day oars provided by ~he coterie of business men cruised Bell Gardens with blaring radios urging the people to go to the polls, and offering them free transportation. Interestingly enough many people in Bell Gardens appeared to have no knowledge of what was going on, but a little group of Bell Gerdens' "fire-eaters" hung around the polls all day and informed them. Bell Gardens voted overwhelmingly for the woman from Eastmont, and she was elected. When this woman took her seat on the board, the cohorts of Knapp and Borg turned out in a body to attend the meeting. The atmosphere was tense, and friction was evident. The peo ple from Bell Gardens asked questions which obviously annoyed the board, and ~hey received frigid t:tnswers. Finally, the board voted to adjourn, tind the chairman celled an executive session with the public excluded. In the Fall of 1938 there was ttn armed truce. The new school buildings were going up rapidly, and some of the people in Bell Gardens were mollified, but Mr. Knapp was trying to organize a group to attend school board meetings, and 1tr. Borg swore he would spend every penny he had to defeat the 297 reelection of the members of ~.he existing board. The active citizens of Montebello remained apprehensive, and the dominant element in the school board had apparently been thoroughly antagonized. CONCLUSIONS The problems surrounding education in Bell Gardens are largely the results of the conflict between two communi ties and of the inadequate development of such an important spe cialized community service organization as the schools. ~ach of these difficulties has reinforced the other. The practical impossibility of supplying adequate school facilities rapidly enough to meet the felt needs of the people of Bell Gardens has furthered, and been furthered by,the emotional conflict between these two different sections of the metropolitan region, which have viewed their relationship as one of compe tition for service and ror power. CHAPTER VIII ATTITUDES OF 'J'HE PEOPLE TOdARD GOVER111liJ.ENT AND POLITICS The political life of Bell Gardens is characterized by numerous contacts with governmental agencies, suspicion of the motives of politicians, frequent requests for services from county officials, solid support of the Democratic party on the part of most of the people, conflicts over state and local politics, and the relatively small participation of its residents in political activities. I. ATTITUDES TO.IARD INCORPOHATION Bell Gardens is an unincorporated district in Los Angeles County, and it appears likely to remain so for many years to come. There are many individuals who feel that it would be "nice" to incorporate, but they are frequently pre- vented from urging it wholeheartedly by fears of the cost. Of one hundred people interviewed thirty thought that inde pendent incorporation would be desirable and eight that Bell Gardens should become part of some existing town, but even these people frequently added some comment like the following: If it wouldn't affect the tax rate, it would be nice to be a part of Bell. If we join some other town they will start putting in sidewalks, sewers, etc., and it's more important for the people to put their money into homes at present. 299 Twenty-eight of the one hundred people were definitely opposed to present incorporation, and twenty-five had no opinion. The most frequent reason for not incorporating was fear of high taxes. The chances of incorporation are much lessened, how- ever, by the fact that practically all of the organized groups seem opposed to it because of the possible costs. The Borg Company is against incorporation because of the tax bur- den that seems likely to result, and the leaders of the com- muni ty agree. This fear of additional expense from incorporation probably has several roots such as past experience in other towns and higher tax rates in surrounding conununities, but an important reason for this attitude seems to be the tacit assumption on the part of most of the people that politicians are crooked and wasteful. Said one young man vdth the ap- proval of several others, "The people don't want to incorpor- ate, for that would mean graft, and we can't afford to pay for all those offices and things.,. This assumption that politics is crooked is seldom stated outright, but it appears as an implication from many comments such as the remark made by a man at the Chamber of Commerce meeting. A discussion of how to rent a sign board belonging to the chamber was under way, and someone had suggested renting it to campaigning politicians. A wiry little man arose and said, "There's lots of the people's money going to be thrown around, and we might as well get some of it for that sign." II. RELATIONSHIPS WITH GOVERN.MENTAL AGENCIES 300 Governmental services. In spite of the popular sus picion of the ethics of politicians and of governments oper ated by them, county, state, and federal agencies perform many services for Bell Gardens. The most direct relations of the citizens of the area with state and federal services are their contacts with the relief agencies of those govern mental units. The relief load was discussed in Chapter III. Perhaps it is enough to point out here that laboring on a Works Progress Administration project or a visit from a representative of the State Relief Administration has been a personal experience for many people in this community. 1 Nhile the activities of state and federal agencies are important to Bell Gardens' residents, those of county officers are all pervading. The only public police protec tion is provided by the sheriff's substation on East Florence Avenue in Huntington Park. The complaints of the people against this agency have already been noted in the second section of Chapter II. The county also provides health 301 services, regulates building, cares for streets, records titles, supervises those on probation, protects against floods, installs libraries and parks, assists tn playground organization, and collects taxes to pay for all these ser vices. The activities of the health department are of vital importance to the citizens of this area. An inspector of this department reported that at first houses were built without permits and that inspections by health officers were made only when complaints were received. In 193?, however, the health department became more_active. Two inspectors were assigned to Bell Gardens. Several possible epidemics appeared to be starting, but careful inspection and improve ment of the toilets to make sure they were fly-proof removed this menace. These officers also inspect food and water, and the health department places little fish in the river bottom pools to destroy the mosquitoes. ~he Rio Hondo pre sents a difficult problem because it frequently dries out completel~ and the fish die. Then irrigation waters drain into it, and a new crop of mosquitoes is on its way. Besides these protective services the health depart ment offers many other types of assistance. A child-hygiene clinic is held regularly in the v/oman 's Club house, and several other medical clinics are available at the health center in Huntington Park. Two nurses are available to 302 patients for one hour per day in a little hut beside the head office of the Borg Company on Florence Avenue. To this building come many Bell Gardens people seeking assistance, and the nurses assist them or direct them to others who will. They may be sent to a county clinic, referred to the County Bureau of Indigent Relief, or to a private physician. If people in poverty require medical treatment and a clinic is not available, the Bureau of Indigent Relief is likely to send them to the Los Angeles County General Hospital. If instruction and supervision in the home seem desirable the nurses will call and assist. The two nurses spend most of their time in Bell Gardens, and in July of 1938 they were in contact with 475 patients from 321 different families in that community.l Beside the hut in which the public health nurses meet their patients stands another to which Bell Gardens house builders come, at stipulated hours, to seek out that most important being known as the building inspector. In the first years of its existence some Shacks were undoubtedly built in Bell Gardens without the formality of a permit and an inspector, but th~se days are gone forever. In his little office one hot morning the inspector received requests for visits and discussed his problems with 1 See map in Chapter I, Section III. 303 the writer. All houses, he said, are inspected, but houses containing no more than 400 square feet of floor space are required to meet very simple standards. That is the reason there are so many houses in Bell Gardens which are 20' by 20'. After all, a poor man must be allowed to get a roof over his head; and so, if his little house is off the ground, is well braced, and has a certain minimum of window space it is considered satisfactory. It may be covered with burlap, for the building inspector is not interested in appearance but in safety. Larger homes must meet the full requirements of the building code. People kept coming in to ask if cer tain proposed types of construction were permissible. The inspector explained that ordinarily plans must be presented and approved, and the inspectors are not supposed to tell people how to build. But out here where there is little danger of robbing architects and contractors the inspectors "practically take over some jobs • • No use letting them build something and then making them tear it out." He explained also several intricacies of the law, which are important in understanding certain Bell Gardens phenomena. A family is supposed to live in a tent for only a limited period even on their own lot; but, if a house is being built, the family may live in a "construction tent." And since the law doe.s not require a house to be completed in any particular length of time, a family which is building 304 a house may live in such a tent for a long period. Some mention was made of the large number of trailers, to which comment the inspector replied: You'll notice all those trailers have wheels on. A trailer with wheels on is all right, for then it is a vehicle. If it has no wheels and is on blocks it is a house. You have to draw a line somewhere. People don't like technicalities, but you have to be technical or else you have no laws at all. illany of the other services rendered by the county have been discussed elsewhere, and the projected park and library will be mentioned later in this chapter. Attitudes toward local officials. The people of Bell Gardens are engaged in a life-long struggle to satisfy their ovm persistent wants, and they tend to judge public agencies and officials on a basis of their most obvious relationships to that struggle. They send endless requests to public officials asking for services, and they protest vigorously when the activities of governmental agencies hinder them in the attainment of their own immediate goals. Since county officials and agencies have frequently a tather obvious influence upon the conditions of the daily struggle, they tend to be judged accordingly. Perhaps an action taken at a meeting of the Home Buyers' Association furnishes the simplest illustration. of this viewpoint. They voted to write a letter to the county supervisor from this district asking for a library, for attention to sidewalks on Clara street, 305 and for several other items; and they decided to include in the same letter a protest against any increase in the tax rate. Some of them smiled and said it was a peculiar combin- ation, but they felt that they were already paying county taxes for which they were not receiving just returns, and so they sent the letter. Appeals for various physical conveniences flow con- stantly from the secular organizations of Bell Gardens to the county officials. kany letters are written asking for one or a dozen improvements, and frequently delegations visit county officials at their offices or request them to come to Bell Gardens to meet with interested groups. In all this activity there is much duplication of effort and frequently open con flict, but the appeals never cease. Among those items re quested during the Spring of 1938 were improvements to streets and sidewalks, a library, a park, assistance on playgrounds, traffic signs, sewers, and repair of storm drain equipment. The following quotation from a news item in the Bell Gardens Review for kay 6, 1938, illustrates the type of rela- tionship which exists between Bell Gardens and certain county officials: ~--~~--~' field secretary from the supervisor's off1ce, first district, was the principal speaker at the Chamber of Commerce meeting .l:.~onday night. --...,__~_.,...-' stated that the supervisors ~vere very much interested in securing for Bell Gardens a playground for the children, and were trying to get into the budget 306 :~10,000 for this purpose. He also said the plans for the new bridge across the Los Angeles River at Clara had been approved . . . • He also stated that he believed the sidewalks on Clara to the Rio Hondo Nould be put in. Also through the help of the Parent-Teacher Association they hope to be able to get an-appropriation for a library for Bell Gardens. Chance bits of conversation also revealed the atti- tuues of individuals tovvard the supervisors. 1,.r. Knapp remarked on one occasion that it had been difficult to secure the cooperation of the county supervisors because I ... r. Borg had unfortunately backed the unsuccessful candidate in the last election, and l.V~rs. Hazelton was mightily opposed to one of the county supervisors because he was no true "liberal." But additional remarks revealed that she had turned definitely against him vVhen she had discovered that he was not "honest." He had, she thought, promised the Democratic Club that the county would build a park in Bell Gardens, much to the glory of those securing that facility. But one day a friend of hers contacted his field secretary at a friendly gathering, and the secretary was supposed to have remarked that it woull probably be a couple of years before the park would be forth coming. krs. Hazelton immediately changed her political loyalties. Of course, each of these two individuals influ- enced a considerable group of their cohorts. 1ihen the county agencies impede their individual progress, however, the citizens of Bell Gardens rise in wrath. The protest against higher taxes sent to the 30? supervisors by the Home Buyers' Association is quite typical of the attitudes of the people in this area. They have come here to escape high taxes, and they want the rates kept low. One of the original purposes of the Home Buyers' Association was to work toward that end. But irritation over high taxes is not the only source of resistance to the efforts of the county agencies. A small building contractor remarked one day of the building inspector, "That young fellow was pretty cocky about his rules when he first came out here, but I'm getting him educated." ,,'hen the same officer issued abatement notices to people living in tents, some of these campers came to the Home Buyers' Association seeking assistance, and that worthy organ ization promised to try to aid them. As a final illustration an old and unemployed bottle blower swore vigorously at all concerned when the health department insisted that he prevent his septic tank from overflowing in his backyard. Just because the old bottle blower was angry does not indicate that he knew anything about th.e county government. A few community leaders know enough about the county offi cials (who they are, and how they may be dealt with). to form opinions about them on a basis of their bounty to the area, but they are few indeed. The incident of the abatement notices is most informative. At the meeting where this matter was discussed were a number of people who had received such notification. The notices were printed on little slips 308 and carried the name of the building inspector's office, yet a considerable discussion arose concerning their origin. Some thought that they came from the health department. Others thought that they were some new trick on the part of the Borg Company, and still others were hopelessly at sea about the whole matter. However, these people have a kind of practical knowledge of how to deal with the local inspec tor. This knowledge is part of the folk-lore of the area and may be acquired by inquiry of one's friends and neigh- bors; but, when any event occurs which is not known to the folk-lore, most of them are hopelessly confused. They have no perspective. Attitudes toward state and federal officials. Nhen one of these crises2 arises, the average citizen of Bell Gardens appears to think of Washington rather than of Los Angeles as the place to turn for assistance. It is a point not well established by the objective data, and yet it cer tainly seemed that the less a man knew about governmental agencies and other aspects of the world beyond his dooryard the quicker he was to suggest a letter to Washington. At least such a method of solving problems was frequently suggested. Furthermore, it was accepted as an establishedfact 2 -.Hlliam I. Thomas, Source Book for Social Origins (Boston: Richard G. Badger, 1909),-p:-1~ 309 by those local people who were interested in politics that one could always get a larger turnout of voters in a national election than in one concerned only with local officers or local issues. The people of Bell Gardens demand first of state and federal officials that they be of assistance to these partic ular citizens in their struggle for the good things of life. But since these officials are farther removed and since their activities do not affect the daily lives of the local people as directly as do those of county officials, the method of judging them is slightly different. This is especially true in the cases of the active community leaders who really kn~N something of the behavior of local officers. It seems likely that the average man or woman in Bell Gardens judges both county and state or federal officials very much in the manner indicated below. Individuals appear to support state or federal offi cials toward whom they feel a "consciousness of kind" or who, they believ~ will give them the things they want. Essen tially, the man they will vote for is the man who,they think, will react in the way that they would react if they were in that office. And since they judge governmental activities from the way in which those activities affect their own daily struggles, they would vote favors for themselves or their class. 310 This type of reaction to public officers and aspir ants to office within the state may be more easily illus trated in the next section dealing \~th political activities in the area studied, but it may be noted here that the more liberal branch of the Democratic party is the branch which appears at present to be willing to give most to this com munity of relatively poor working men. Therefore, Bell Gardens is so solidly Democratic that a Republican, who will admit to that affiliation, usually remarks, "I'm one of the few," or, ''I guess I must be the only one." These people also favor President Roosevelt so thoroughly that little discussion is heard about the matter. Said one malcontent, "I believe and think on the same lines as our great President Roosevelt."3 A few may doubt the President's motives, but many of the people of Bell Gardens look upon him as almost a personal friend. III. POLITICAL ACTIVITIES IN BELL G.A..WENS The ever-present coterie of business men, l\.rs. Hazelton and her cohorts, and a few stray individuals are the only people in Bell Gardens who are really active in political matters. Another one or two hundred individuals are closely enough associated with some of these leaders or 3 Announcement in the Bell Gardens Review, July 1, 1938. 311 coteries to attend an occasional meeting, but they furnish no real drive. But even though few people in Bell Gardens do much or know much about politics, the very active few are divided into two camps. LlrS. Hazelton runs the Democratic Club. Her daughter is a member of the county central committee, and she works in close harmony with 1'ir. Kennedy of the Non-partisan League. They constantly favor what they call "liberal" or "labor" candidates and try to keep the control of political relation ships out of the hands of L1r. Knapp and his friends. The Democratic Club tried to secure a park for Bell Gardens. Partly because he did not provide it, they withdrew their support from the supervisor of that district who was then running for Governor and started a club to boost his opponent. After telling of his'tlishonestytt krs. Hazelton continued: Of_course, we couldn't have such a man for Governor. The Democratic Club is not allowed to indorse candidates before the primary, but there was nothing to prevent me as an individual from doing what I could. One of the most ardent members of this new club was l'"r. Kennedy of the Non-partisan League, who passed out litera ture to visitors at L.rs. Hazel ton's store with evident bravado. i •• rs. Hazel ton objected strenuously to "the present leadership" of the Coordinating Council and tried to prevent that organi zation from interfering in the efforts to obtain a park. In order to gain the favor of this group a candidate 312 needed to have a violent emotional inclination to favor laboring people and organized labor. Their judgment of the significance of particular measures was quite uncritical, but they were careful to be sure of a candidate's biases. The old-line Democrats were too conservative for them. They favored the ex-epic candidates. But perhaps the clearest illustration was their indorsement of candidates for state assembly, for the House of Representatives, and Justice of Peace. The chief boast of their candidate for the assembly was that he rated high in a little booklet called One Hun dred Votes published by the United Progressive News in Los Angeles, 1938. It contained an analysis of the votes of California legislators on one hundred measures during the 193? session of the legislature. The book was distributed by the Non-partisan League. Kr. _ was proud that his record placed him ninth from the top in this rating. Bell Gardens' political sages accepted this rating at face value. They didn't stop to question whether all the measures were properly rated as good or bad for labor. The book was com piled and distributed by pro-labor people, and it undoubtedly showed which classes were favored by the men rated. That was enough for them. The candidate supported by this group for the House of Representatives managed to impress the people with his pro-labor bias by claiming to have been an attorney for both 313 the American Federation of Labor and the Committee for Indus- trial Organization. And the aspirant for the office of Justice of the Peace was favored by the "liberaln group simply because Mrs. Hazelton declared that he also was a "real liberal." Soon after Mrs. Hazelton formed her club to support a "liberal" gubernatorial candidate, :r:.a:r. Knapp instigated one to boost a more conservative Democrat and stated that, if the "liberal" were nominated, the business men would all vote Republican. Apparently those citizens of Bell'Gardens who are primarily interested in private businesses fear the type of candidate backed by labor. It seems likely, however, that other reasons for the formation of this second political group may have developed. For the man it backed was at the time a county supervisor, and soon after it was fcun:ied the board of supervisors voted money for a park in Bell Gardens. Soon curbs were supplied for the main street, and Mr. Knapp commented: Mr. [the candidate] is a fine gentleman. He said, "Now, [K'iia'Ppj,you find out if curbs will be all right with the people. Let's not have any trouble about this. "'Ne haven't money enough for sidewalks, but we can put in the curbs and finish the street up to them." This fear of trouble was not unwarranted. A group of carefully selected representatives from several organizations had met at the office of the Borg Company one day and had decided to recommended a certain location for the park. 314 whereupon, the Democratic Club immediately started circulat ing petitions among the citizens asking that the park be placed in a different locality. At about the same time also the county decided to place a branch library in Bell Gardens. No suitable build ing was available, and so Mr. Knapp moved his house onto the back of the lot on which it was built and started a building to be leased to the county for a period of five years. He declared that it was not a profitable deal, but hlrs. Hazel ton, L'~r. Kennedy, and their supporters fairly frothed at the mouth. Bell Gardens apparently wants a favorable bias, not a cold impartiality, on the part of its candidates; and when some interested individual or group becomes convinced that a candidate shows the proper attitude, they will call meet ings, distribute literature, and publish statements in an effort to bring others to see as they do. Strangely enough, people questioned about political activities all agree that there are very few Socialists, Communists, or Republicans in Bell Gardens. Apparently, the "liberal" branch of the Democratic party comes nearest to offering these people what they want. CONCLUSIONS The political and governmental phases of life in . 315 Bell Gardens emphasize both the close functional interrela tionships and the mutual exclusiveness of the parts of the metropolitan pattern which has resulted from the process of socio-organic diversification. The residents of this com munity receive many services from governmental agencies which serve the whole metropolitan region, and they help elect those who control these services. The small groups which engage in political activities in this area are moti vated primarily by a desire to obtain from governmental sources as much as possible for their particular state, county, community, class, or little group, as the case may be. The resulting conflict between groups brings a consi derable amount of disorganization into the life of Bell Gardens. CHAPTER IX SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS The purpose of this study, as stated in Chapter I, has been to examine the development of social organization and disorganization in Bell Gardens. The achievement of this objective has necessitated an analysis of many phases of the social life of the community in order to discover the rela tionships of this area to other parts of the metropolis, the way in which social structures have arisen to meet the needs of the people, the conflicts and harmonies which have grown up among the structures, and the social forces underlying these developments. This document is but one in a long series of works produced in an effort being made by modern sociologists to analyse the functioning of the modern metropolis. A con siderable proportion of the significance of this report lies in the fact that it depicts the life of a type of area not previously examined and shows the relationships of the life or that area to the activities of the whole. In this chapter the major findings of the study will be reviewed, and some comparisons will be made with the con clusions of other students of social organization. No com plete analysis of the relationships of the conclusions of the study to those of others will be attempted. Such a comparison 317 would constitute a new work of considerable magnitude. But enough comparisons will be made to indicate that the findings of this study tend in the main to supplement the findings of others. I. SOCIAL ORGANIZATION AND DISORGANIZATION IN BELL GARDENS The people of Bell Gardens have developed a consider able amount of social organization and also of disorganization during the five and one-half years of the community's exist ence. The type of organized social life which they have evolved may well be described by the term'~ocio-organic diversification,'* and the instances of disorganization appear to have been typical results of the evolution of this particu lar form of organization. Socio-organic diversification. There are, to be sure, aspects of the social life of Bell Gardens which have been little affected by the diverse specialization and complexity of modern urban life, and yet most of the typical social structures and many of the problems of this area are expres sions of the rather rapid development of socio-organic diver sification not only in the internal organization of this community but in the life of the city, state, and nation. As the rapid evolution of the national economy during the last fifty years has given impetus to the rise of great metro politan centers, such as Los Angeles, the diversity of our 318 national life has greatly increased. The increasing size of Los Angeles, as of other cities, 1 has resulted in a multipli cation of the types of social and economic life within it. Similarly the history of this natural area within the metro poll tan pattern reveals an increasing diversity of ecological structure, of informal and of formal organization. The term "socio-organic" implies that this diversifi- cation has resulted in a closely interrelated congeries of parts whose complex relationships are the flexib.le relation ships of human beings with individual impulses to action rather than the mechanical relationships of the machine or even the relatively fixed functional associations of the bio- logical organisms. This is the diversification which results from the relatively free movement into the diverse parts of the social organism of individuals who are seeking to achieve the satisfaction of their desires in this complex civiliza tion. It is largely a result of the individualistic economic and political organization which has characterized the United States, and it has resulted in a high degree of interdependence. The typical expression of this underlying trend in 1 R. D. IvlcKenzie, "The Ecological Approach to the Study of the Human Community," Robert E. Park, Ernest W. Burgess, and Roderick D. :M:cKenzie, The City, pp. 73-74. 319 social organization is the interest group, 2 and this is as true for Bell Gardens as for the nation as a whole, although the process of the formation of these units in Bell Gardens may not be typical for other areas. The discovery of a trend toward this form of social organization in our national life is, of course, nothing new. It is essentially a restatement of Herbert Spencer's idea of social evolution, 3 without any implication that it is univer sally applicable; modern economists and sociologists have frequently pointed out this trend, and the fundamental idea is at least implicit in the writings of the modern ecolo gists.4 But the discovery that a great portion of the or ganization and disorganization in this particular area is an expression of this trend in modern life and the description of the way in which they have come about in this type of situation are distinctive contributions of this study. The evolution of social organization and disorganiza tion. The following section of this chapter is, then, de voted to an analysis of the way in which the social 2 E. T. Hiller, Principles of Sociology (New York: Harper and Brothers, Publishers, 1933), p. 158. 3 Herbert Spencer, The Principles of Sociology (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1904), Part II, especially pp. 592-596. 4 Park, Burgess and McKenzie, .2.E• cit., pp. 50-58, especially p. 54. 320 organization and disorganization which characterize the social life of Bell Gardens have evolved. It consists essentially in the description of a process of community development which in its turn is composed of other minor social processes. a. Isolation of the physical ~· The first step in the development of the new natural area was the isolation of the. physical location. The violence of flooding rivers and the engineering feats of man resulted in the formation of a sec tion of flat fertile plain bounded by two river channels and two railroads on the outskirts of rapidly growing Los Angeles. For many years a few farm houses, two highways, and the far mers' fences constituted the only breaks between the fields of grain and vegetables. b. Concentration of population. Early in 1933, a plan was laid for a change in the use of the area. The plan re sulted from the difficulties in which an experienced real es tate subdivider had become involved and was influenced not only by his needs but by the location of the area in respect to other parts of the metropolis, the presence of a business depression, and the possibility that the land might lie above a pool of oil. The result of this scheme to sell large lots on small payments and to encourage the development of small homes was the selection of the area by particular elements in the 321 metropolitan population who found it adapted to their needs, just as the Ghetto, 5 the Gold Coast, 6 or Greenwich Village 7 have become the homes of distinct classes of people. The new residents were mostly relatively poor, but employed, working- class people from the southern and eastern sections of Los Angeles. This selection of population and the resulting com- munity organization soon marked Bell Gardens as a community different from surrounding towns. The people bought or built their own nondescript houses; but, in spite of this fact, a rather high rate of mobility soon appeared because of ir regularity of employment, the lack of material conveniences to which the inhabitants had been accustomed elsewhere, their consciousness of the disdain of outsiders, and other minor factors. Another marked characteristic of the people who have settled Bell Gardens is the dominance of the family pattern among them. Of all the social structures found in this area, the traditional institution which appears to have survived urbanization and the diversification of life with the least 5 Louis Wirth, Th~ Ghetto, 306 pp. 6 Harvey W. Zorbaugh, The Gold Coast and the Slum (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, l935r:-chap. III. 7 Caroline F. Ware, Greenwich Village. ~22 loss of strength is the small family unit. In this community the family of husband and wife, or of husband and wife plus their children, constitutes an almost universal pattern and a relatively stable and vital element in the social life. Among the explanations of this situation are undoubtedly the facts that the family has considerable utilitarian value in this area, and that the people who come here are relatively stable working people who cherish family security and stabil ity among their ideals. Even the larger family, composed of all the near relatives, maintains its unity among these people. It may not serve as many functions as in rural areas or in earlier periods, but it appears to be the agency par excel lence for satisfying the wish for response. Much visiting of relatives in other areas/characterizes the people of Bell Gardens, and one of the important reasons which brings people to this area is the desire to be near members of their families already dwelling there. In spite of this stability of family organization, an element of disorganization is introduced into the picture by the difficulties surrounding courtship and marriage in an area where persons of marriageable age are relatively scarce and opportunities for wholesome association must depend upon chance or upon individual ingenuity. Another element .of disorganization which may affect both family life and delinquency rates is the tendency for 323 houses to be built upon vacant land in order that the owners' incomes may be increased by renting them. This process is likely to increase the number of families whose members put less emphasis upon security and a home. It also tends to re duce the area where children may play, and thus to bring them into conflict with their social environment. As Thrasher has pointed out, such a situation constitutes the seedbed for ganging. 8 As a matter of fact the community appears to have a trou blesome, although not excessive, rate of delinquency which ap pears to result from a number of circumstances some of which seem to foster and others to prevent delinquency. Among those factors which probably help to prevent children from getting into trouble are the facts that families are stable, that many parents love and supervise their children, that space for play is reasonably plentiful, and that a wide-spread tradition of delinquency has not developed. On the other hand, houses are frequently overcrowded; a few embryo gangs have developed; lack of self-control appears to be a characteristic of many resi dents; and recreation facilities and police protection are obviously inadequate. Incidentally, this last factor makes it very difficult to determine actual delinquency rates. It will be noted that some of these factors which enter into the 8 Frederick M. Thrasher, ~Gang, p. 25 ff. 324 causation of the rate of delinquency in Bell Gardens may result from the fact that particular population elements have settled here, while others undoubtedly derive from the organi zation or lack of organization developed by the growing com munity. The fact that a certain type of culture group has set tled in Bell Gardens does not mean that it has become an isolated community. The very reasons for its existence and the daily lives of its residents are intimately bound up with the activities of other areas of the great city. Most of the people of this community earn their living outside its borders in the commercial and industrial enterprises of Los Angeles. When these are not prospering, the unemployed from Bell Gardens apply to relief organizations serving the state, county, or nation. They apply frequently to county officials for many desired conveniencies; and a few of them take an active part in county politics, in labor unions, and in other types of organizations which serve larger areas. Commercial and out door recreations take them away from the home community, as do also the purchasing of many types of commodities and visits to friends and relatives. As the community has grown, it has tended to serve a larger percentage of the needs of its resi dents in all these fields except those of outdoor recreations depending upon special facilities and of employment, including the unions attendant upon it. 325 Bell Gardens could never exist except in connection with the great city, but other areas of that city do not appear to offer so hospitable an environment to people with certain desires; consequently they gravitate into this community. Their reasons for leaving other areas and coming to this one constitute an almost inseparable matrix of economic, cultural, and personal factors. High rents which prevent the attainment of satisfactory city homes by persons with small incomes con- stitute a very important element in causing people to move to this community, as do also the nearness to the industrial cen- ter and the opportunity to buy a plot of land and thus provide relative security. The culture concepts of "country life" and a "home" are also important compulsives,9 while the desire to be near one's relatives is extremely significant. Also many of the residents have reacted unfavorably to the noise and limited open space of the city. c. Development of~ neighborhood. The first group of families in Bell Gardens settled in a small subdivision among the grain fields during a severe business depression. Common problems and the isolation of the community led to intimate association and much neighboring. Two informal groups soon began to meet--one for men and one for women. The women engaged in much needed charity work and provided social 9 V. F. Calverton, editor, The Making of Man (New York: Bennett A. Croff and Donalds. Klepper, 1931), p~4 ff. 326 activities and the men soon began to regard themselves as the representatives of the neighborhood in its dealings with out- side agencies, for community consciousness was developing and demands were beginning to be made upon county officials and others for various improve~ents. d. Diversification of informal ~~ganization. As the com munity grew, the various types of informal organization tended to diversity, and several new concepts or viewpoints have been introduced in this report to describe these phenomena. The lack of adequate housing, the difficult conditions of life, the similarity of the people, and the presence of common prob lems in each newly opened area of Bell Gardens caused a friendly spirit to prevail and laid a basis for neighboring, which consisted in relatively intimate informal contacts with other persons living close by, for any number of different purposes. This activity has been and still is of profound importance in Bell Gardens, for much assistance is given, many contacts with institutions are made, and a great deal of pub lic opinion is formed by this unpretentious type of inter action. In the early days of the real estate development Bell Gardens was one neighborhood, but the influx of new population soon made neighboring over the whole expanding area impossible. No new well-defined neighborhoods developed, but each indi vidual tended to establish the bounds of what he regarded as \ I his neighborhood on a basis of his temperament and daily habits. 327 Out of these neighboring contacts have sprung coteries, i.e •• little groups of people who meet together because of the mutual pleasure thus provided. Many of these exist in Bell Gardens. Because of their inherent nature they cannot grow very large, else they lose their supreme satisfying power; therefore, they tend to multiply. The first type of coterie to be noted in Bell Gardens is the primary club which is a group of people who meet for mutual pleasure only. Many women's sewing clubs and the birthday club out of which the Community Center Club grew were of this type. But there are also coteries of men and women who draw together because of mutual understanding and the pleasure of working cooperatively to accomplish more objective goals. The coteries surrounding Mr. Knapp and Mrs. Hazelton as well as the little inner circles which tend to dominate formal organizations are of this type. As the community has grown and coteries have multiplied, com plete control of community affairs by any one person or group has become less possible. Even the principal subdivider now finds opposition to his suzerainty. The fundamental elements in these coteries are those of consciousness of kind and the wish for response. They develop without planning, simply because the human being appears to enjoy the close psychological unity that develops in such a 328 group. Here one may bare one's soul and do one's best with out fear of derision. e. A~Eearance ~! internal segregation ~nd centralization. The diversification of informal organization was soon ac companied by the appearance of ecological segregation and centralization. Among the many factors causing these develop ments were the location of river channels and drainage systems, the locations· of streets and industries, the order of sub division, the intricacies of the real estate market, sales methods, the prices of l~nd, the position of undeveloped areas, the establishment of early businesses, and the operation of public opinion. The result was the development within the community of several fairly distinct and self-conscious areas. This division into ecological areas has profoundly affected the development of the secular organizations, and in turn the relationships between these areas are constantly being modified by those organizations. Unfortunately for the welfare of the whole community the lines between these different areas frequently mark divisions between groups which look upon each other with dislike or distrust. Old Bell Gardens and the North Side often distrust each other, and both tend to look askance at the South End. Fundamentally, this is but a repetition of the feeling between Bell ·Gardens and other com munities. These areas are slightly different from each other, are frequently separated by visible lines of division, and are 329 often competitors for the attention and improvements to be bestowed by political or private agencies. Another aspect of diversification in the ecological organization of the community has been the centralization of many business establishments and churches on the widest street in the oldest section of the area. This has tended to mean not only a specialization of land usage, but a growing series of differences between the residents of this older area and those of later additions. f. Ri~ of formal organizations and of suspicion among them. As Bell Gardens has continued to grow a considerable number of formal organizations have sprung up, and with few exceptions they have represented self-conscious elements in the population each of which has had different interests in the development of the community. They have usually sprung up around a strong personality or a coterie and have tended to regard each other as competitors of suspicious character. Although only a small percentage of the population belongs to them, they are of considerable importance in the community life. Perhaps the most striking fact concerning the formal organizations in Bell Gardens is their small total membership. Not more than 20 per cent of the population contacts the churches with any frequency, and the people who are regular members of secular organizations constitute about 5 per cent 330 of the total population. Most of this 5 per cent, however, is composed of adults. At least 75 per cent of the residents of Bell Gardens take no active part in any formally organized activity within the area, and, with the exceptions of union men, few take part in activities outside. The factors which tend to prevent individuals from participating in community activities are: concentration upon individual problems and lack of perspective, the high rate of mobility, poverty and inability to pay dues, poor transporta tion facilities, lack of experience in organized groups, timidity, integration ot individuals into activities outside the area, distrust of the leadership of existing groups, the seeking of commercial and outdoor recreation in outside areas, the ties of old friendships in other communities, a feeling that they will get nothing for themselves out of such partici pation, and, in the case of the churches, religious indif ference. Many ot the members of the large group of people who have no contact with formal organizations in their home com munity represent a type of floating family unit which has contact with the social life around it of extreme primary and extreme secondary types only. The most complete expression of this tendency is represented by the family whose members associate with each other in a close primary contact and whose only other social relationships are highly secondary .331 associations for employment or for commercialized recreation. These families represent a high degree of social atomization. However, most families in Bell Gardens, even though they take no part in organized community affairs, neighbor with those who live close to them and visit relatives or old friends in outlying communities. These people seldom retain much feeling of loyalty for communities in which they have formerly lived, but they do retain a loyalty to relatives and old friends liv ing in those areas. In other words, even the satisfaction of the desire for response through friendship has become special ized and diversified and depends upon a special set of re. latmnships maintained for that purpose and depending little upon the area in which one happens to live. These people change their residence with ease, and many of them seem always poised for flight. But in spite of the small membership of formal organ izations in Bell Gardens, they are important, for they are the chief means through which common objectives are sought. The first intimate neighborhood which developed in Bell Gardens was represented in its efforts to achieve common objectives by an informal coterie of women and a partially formalized Chamber of Commerce; but, as the community has gro~~, new needs have been perceived by those already active in community affairs or by others who felt that existing structures were not serving their purposes. Thus the tendency has been for 332 many new organizations to develop. Organizat~ have been developed to care for religious needs, to promote the Townsend Plan or Utopia, to build a com munity center, to assist with the school program, to engage in scouting, to engage in political activities, and several have developed to promote the general interests of particular groups. The tendency has been for each new group to become the representative of some section or class within the com munity, one cause of this situation being that such an organ ization tends to reinforce the self-consciousness of some group. However, the success of the Parent-Teacher Associations appears to demonstrate that under certain circumstances organ izations which do not represent competitive and self-conscious groups may thrive and do good. In any case, each formal organization tends to proclaim its guardianship of the com munity's welfare, and most of them have attempted to obtain from outside authorities certain apparent community conven iences such as sidewalks and traffic signs. Given a possible function, the process of the organiza tion of a new formal group begins with a dynamic idea in the mind of some individual or the minds of some small group. This idea may result from any number of situations. The Chamber of Commerce seems to have arisen from a small coterie largely because individuals with previous experience in organizations felt that it would be useful in dealing with 333 certain situations in which individuals were helpless. The organization of the Woman's Club was an effort to attach an already existing structure to an approved symbol. The Parent Teacher Associations were instigated partly because they were regarded as an index of community maturity. The Community Center Club and the Home Buyers' Association resulted from the chance experience of aggressive individuals. Other elements which were significant in the stimulation of the organizers of groups with formal structures were the activi ties of institutions anxious to invade new territories,fears of the power of existing bodies, and the personal ambitions of leaders. The new organizations thus set up adopted most of their patterns of organization from already existing models known to the organizers. Modifications were made to fit local circumstances, but little that is really new has devel oped. The people who initiate organizations in Bell Gardens are usually given to action rather than to philosophical contemplation of consequences. They rush out and. contact others. A meeting is held and soon an organization is on its way, but if a secular organization is to last it appears that it must have some combination of the following three factors: (1) a group of people with a common outlook who enj~y each other's company, (2) a serie's of continuing common interests .334 accompanied by a certain amount of group consciousness, or (3) a pattern set by a large outside institution which furnishes a program of activities and a symbol of unity. Unless the individual member can feel that he is a welcome member of a group of friends, that he is getting something of real value for himself, or that his status is being en hanced, he will apparently show little continuing interest in an organization. And several organizations have either passed out of existence entirely or lost strength because they were unable to hold their memberships. In the case of the churches, success appears to hinge to a considerable extent upon the presentation of a service that brings social unity and release of tensions coupled with a creed that promises daily assistance and an eternal reward. Their previous denominational experiences appear to be of real importance to adult church members, but many children are allowed to attend the most convenient Sunday school. The evolution of a considerable number of formal and informal organizations in Bell Gardens does not mean that the best interests of the whole community are always served, for the many conflicts between the various groups within the area constitute a significant amount of disorganization. These conflicts frequently seem to prevent the community from obtaining desirable utilities, yet out of this situation sometimes arises a kind of competition in community service. 335 The reasons for the conrlicts among organizations are numerous, and always a relatively complex sequence or factors lies behind any conflict situation. The most funda mental factor, however, appears to be tbe ract that organiza tions tend to represent selr-conscious groups with different as well as similar interests. Thus while a community park may be of benefit to the members of every organization, dif ferences or opinion arise as to the location. Also, credit for the acquisition of such a prize will strengthen for future battles the group which secures it. These self conscious competing groups in their turn result from a combination of factors. Businessmen and workers have differ ent needs and interests, as have also the different sections of the community. The tendency for organizations to be dominated by small coteries with a strong consciousness of kind repels others who are different in character. The antagonisms which arise between different sections of the community strengthen the feeling that certain groups are not being represented, while the mutual ill feeling which already exists between laborers and businessmen and the tendency to distrust the motives of groups about which little is known strengthen the movement toward diversity. \Vhen to these factors are added the personal antagonisms and ambitions of leaders, as well as the differences or political and religious beliefs, the wonder is that a Coordinating Council can survive 336 at all or that nominal unity c11.r: be achieved in the face of the outside enemy. g. Increase in the ~ of community gro,.vth. Turning from the conflicts among organizations to a considere.tion of the total rate of increase in community institutions, it be comes apparent that the number of business enterprises and of secular organizations multiplied much more rapidly during 1937 and the early part of 1938 than during earlier periods. This increas8 in the rate of organizing appears to have re sulted from the rapid growth of numbers in a cornmunity which was of sufficient size to require considerable quantities of the basic necessiti~s of civilized li~~ and a considerable specialization of representation by organizations. It seems likely that this rapidity of multiplication of secular organization and business units is not only a function of growing population as such, but also a result of rapid growth ir: a community of soue foilr to six thousands of people. An equal increase in a larger or smaller ~ommunity would quite probably have a different effect. From the lone-run point of view there appears to be a tendency for Bell Gardens to develop structures to meet more and more of its own needs except in the fields of employment and of certain types of recreations such as those which depen~ upon specific natural phenomena. h. Increase of external social distances. As Bell Je.rc"ens has ~rown into a well-recognized natural area and 337 has developed its internal organizations, it has also given evidence of another typical characteristic of the segregated area of the great city. It has become separated from sur rounding communities by a series of social distances. This characteristic of such areas has been noted by Zorbaugh,lO and is especially apparent in this case. Surrounding com munities desire trade relations with the citizens of Bell Gardens, but they fear the invasion of their »personalities" by the less elegant culture of these people. In the case of Montebello this social distance has been unfortunately in creased by the joining together in one political unit of several distinct geographic and social areas. The lack of sympathy between this community and its neighbors has not been lessened by the political attitudes of the residents of Bell Gardens. The politically active minority of those who live in this area has looked upon the acquisition of political favors as a business governed by rigorous competition, and to gain their ends they have fre quently supported candidates for office who were odious to many of the citizens of conservative neighboring towns. This attitude is apparently a natural result of the process of socio-organic diversification and of the organization into interest groups which accompanies it. 10 Zorbaugh, 2£• cit., p. 243. 338 Bell Gardens people tend to judge political candidates and public office holders on a basis of their supposedly friendly or unfriendly bias. Every politically active group in Bell Gardens tends to support those candidates which will favor its particular interests above those of others. Most of the people are Democrats, but they differ vitally over candidates within the party because of their different inter ests. This rapacious attitude toward government appears to result primarily from a concentration upon immediate needs coupled with a lack of mental perspective and an important application of Gidding's principle of the consciousness of kind. The residents of this area tend to vote for those state and federal officials whom they feel will do as they would do. And, since they would give much to themselves, they vote for those who will get a great deal for them. They vote for people whose motivation they believe corresponds to their own, and their lack of knowledge and wide perspective prevents them from being troubled about their greed. Also the social distances which tend to rise between natural areas and between groups which are not closely familiar with each other's out look prevent them from worrying about the troubles their de mands may cause other vaguely known classes and groups. The people of Bell Gardens are intent upon the battle to satisfy 3..39 their wants, ana they tend to re~ard governmental agencies in the light of their most obvious effects upon this struggle. Therefore, they cpprove governmental representatives who give them what they think they need. For the most part the people of Bell Gardens are kindly people. They are helpful to their frien~s and neighbors, but the things they want from the county seem to them small in comparison with the total county program of activities, and they suspect that they ~ay not be getting all that they pay for in taxes. Therefore, they con stantly seek county bounty, and they are little troubled by the difficulties of public finance except as it affects their own tax bill. Zorbaugh has pointed out that the specialists who are capable of understanding the complexities of modern society are likely to be found only in certain parts of the cit:r, 11 9.nd Bell Gardens is not one of those parts. i. lack of organization. Human desires in Bell '}ardens sometimes re1~in unsatisfied not only because of ~isintegra- tion of social structures or of conflicts between them but also because social structures have never been develoJed to meet certain needs. Some of the residents frequs~tly recog- nize the need for some new social organizations. A~ong the items mentioned by some citizen of Eell Gardens as being needed by the community in 1938 were; facilities for wholesome ll Ib1." d. , "44 p. '-> • 340 use of leisure time such as a Girl Scout troup, more Boy Scout troops, playgrounds, parks, and a clubhouse; public services such as police and fire protection, telephone ser vice, and sewer connections; orthodox protestant churches; a moving picture theater; more school facilities; and better stores. Still other things were suggested by outsiders as agencies which would be helpful to the area. These sugges tions included: a social settlement, a community church, social service work by the schools, a central community co ordinating agency, and some device for allowing young persons of marriageable age to make more suitable contacts with each other. Some of these items have been stated in terms of physical conveniences such as sewer connections, but the at tainment of such utilities would necessitate the organization of such social structures as utility districts, municipalities, or at least a new extension of county operations. II. SOtlli I1~ICATIONS OF THIS STUDY FOR SOCIAL THEORY Besides presenting a description of the whole evolu tion of social life in Bell Gardens in terms of organization and disorganization, this study throws light upon the findings and concepts of a number of other writers. A comparison of this study with the researches and theories of others reveals that certain tendencies discovered in Bell Gardens have their 341 counterparts elsewhere and also suggests a few nodifications of current ideas and concepts. In this section of this final chapter, attention will be given to certain characteristics of Dell Gardens which seem especie.lly significant in the light of the work of a few selected authors. ~omplexity of social evolution. In the first pl&ce, then, social evolution i11 this community has been a most com- plex intertwined )recess in which many different social plants have thrust their way up from the bare earth to a~d their tendrils to the sonewhat tumbled thicket. The resulting social wilderness has not only been complex, but its design has followed no conscious plan. .~ong the fathers of hmerican sociology Cooley placed considerable emphasis upon the complex organic nature of social evolution,l2 while William ~. Sumner stands out as the great exponent of blind development.l3 The Lynds,l4 and Odum15 are found among the outstanding exponents of modern research who have reemphasized the fact that social 12 Charles H. Cooley, .Social Process, p. 3 ff. 13 ~lilliam G. Sumner, Folkwals (Boston: Ginn and Com- pany, 1906), p. 4. 14 Robert s. J..ynd and iielen v· ' . Lynd, Middletown, p. 492. 15 Howard TN. Odum, southern Regions of the United states (Chapel Hill, North Carolina: The onTVersity of North Carolina ?ress, 1936), 664 pp., especially Chap. II. 342 change usually results from the chance interaction of many semi-independent persons and groups rather than from con sciously outlined programs.l6 Conflicts resulting from socio-organic diversification. This complexity appears to be enhanced in modern societies by the rapid development of socio-organic diversification, bring ing with it as it does conflicts and competition between the divergent elements of the social body. Ross has pointed out that this diversification is a natural result of the formation of interest groups in societies so large that sympathy and sociability are not sufficient bonds to overcome variations in apparent needs.l7 Odum has indicated the vast differences between regions within the nation,l8 and zorbaugh between sections of the great city; 19 while the Lynds 20 and steiner 21 p. 26. 16 Jesse F. Steiner, The American Community in Action, 17 Edward A. Ross, Social Control, pp. 18-19. 18 Odum, ££· cit. 19 Harvey W. zorbaugh, "The Natural Areas of the City," The Urban Community (Ernest W. Burgess, editor; Chicago: The Univers1ty of Chicago Press, 1926), pp. 219-229. 20 Lynd anc Lynd, htiiddletown, pp. 479-481 and 478. Lyn1 and Lynd, ~iddletown in Transition, p. 429. 21 Jesse F. steiner, Community Organization, pp. 25- 26. 343 have emphasized the diversity and lack of sympathy between organizations and self-conscious groups within the modern communities they have studied. Many diverse groups conflict ing and cooperating, competing and struggling, each freighted with significance for the others compose the formal and much of the informal organization of Bell Gardens and of modern America. Because of the complex variety of modern civilization certain concepts frequently used in sociological literature must be used with extreme care if employed to denote modern situations. The term "community" must be limited in such a way that it does not imply a highly integrated unit 2 2 and the term "neighborhood" must be understood, in some areas at least, to denote the local acquaintances of some individual rather than a generally recognized geographic or· social unit. The true unit of modern social organization is the interest group, whether formally organized or not. And the only time when such groups within a geographic area act in harmony is when they conceive their interests to be similar, as for instance in the case of the school election in Bell Gardens. Of course, the very fact of ecological segregation tends to increase the number of occasions when most·of the inhabitants 22 Ibid., 18 21 pp. - • of relatively small areas will find their interests coinciding, but even so the highly integrated community is not a charac- teristic of urban America. Causes of diversification and of conflicts. The roots of this situation are many, and several of those which have been pointed out by other writers were found to be of signi~ icance in Bell Gardens. Of first importance is the modern mechanized, competitive, capitalistic economic order, which has thrown men into groups so thoroughly separated and so apparently conflicting that many obvious interests of the different groups seem almost diametrically opposed. 23 Added to this difference of apparent interests is the fact that people have been thrown together in large masses but have been prevented from having common contacts with any but their near est neighbors and have thus developed many different ways of life. 24 a. Personality factors in conflict and cooEeration. These conflicts and the instances of cooperation which arise in Bell Gardens are, of course, aspects of human behavior. They result from the driving forces of human nature in con junction with all the factors which affect the development of personality, this latter concept being defined here as the 2 3 Lynd and Lynd, Middletown in Transition, p. 502. 24 Zorbaugh, The Gold Coast and the Slum, pp. 245-251 et Eassim. --- ---- --- --- ---- 345 sum total of those characteristics of a human being which determine his relationships to his fellows. 25 The analysis of human drives or urges in an actual social situation is al ways difficult, because of the fact that innate tendencies become intertwined with the myriads of culture elements de fining innumerable situations, and also because any given human reaction more complex than a reflex is likely to be the result of a number of integrated and perhaps conflicting t~ndencies. 26 An action results not from one impulse, but is a composite result of a series of "vectors," to borrow a term from physics. This complexity of reaction is well illustrated by the case of Mr. Knapp. The data appear to indicate that his actions in Bell Gardens have been the result of various combinations of at least the following elements: his friend ship for Mr. Borg, a kindred spirit, and for others of similar type; his search for his own economic welfare defined in terms of Bell Gardens business enterprises; his desire to play the role of the important public benefactor and political power; an element of sympathy for people in obvious distress; and an element of pride in the development of the community. All of 25 Ernest w. Burgess, "The Delinquent as a Person," The American Journal of Sociology, 28:655, May, 1926. 26 Gardner Murphy, Lois Barclay Murphy, and Theodore M. Newcomb, Experimental Social Psych£12sl {New York: Harper and Brothers, 1937), pp. 201-207. 346 these desires are interpreted in the light of a considerable knowledge of the stark realities of Southern California poli tics, and with a great lack of light concerning larger areas and problems. Also, underlying all his behavior is a vast store of restless physical energy. One of the tasks of science, however, is to analyse complex wholes into their elements. From this point of view a number of factors which appear to predominate in the ac tivities of Bell Gardens' residents in the situationsin which they find themselves may be noted. An analysis of the reasons given by people for coming to this community, the expressed reactionsto it of its inhabitants, and the daily behavior of its populace suggest that a few motives are of great signifi cance. Three of Thomas' four wishes 27 appear to be of funda mental importance. The very existence of the community is to a large extent a result of the search for security; the strength of family ties and the importance of coteries demon strate the power of the wish for response; while many of the activities of leaders and the general resentment toward sneer ing outsiders are characteristic indications of the urge for recognition and high status. The wish for new experience shows up in the travels of young and old and in the weariness of men and women confined to routines of house building or 27 William I. Thomas, The Unadjusted Girl, Chap. I. 347 child rearing, but it is of much less significance among these people than are the other three wishes. It is the de- sire to escape from irritating activities and situations ra- ther than the urge to seek new stimuli which motivates a great deal of behavior in Bell Gardens. People seek rest from the weariness of house building or the noise of the great city, and they enjoy the emotional relaxation of religious services. rrhey also appear to react with ante.gonism or with emotional depression to a thwarting of desires the satisfaction of which they regard as their due.28 For instance, they protest against building inspectors who interfere with them as indi viduals, although they may heartily approve of building in spection as a com•nunity program. Mutual aid29 is a motivating force in Bell Gardens, but its effectiveness is limited by the fact that it appears to depend upon the presence of sympathy, and sympathy usually rests upon personal knowledge and con sciousness of kind. It is strong in the neighborhood but breaks down between towns and even between sections of the area studied. Kindliness and tolerance are not, however, based 28 Hornell Hart, The Science of Social Relations (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1927),-p. 109. 29 Emory s. Bogardus, Conte~porary Sociology, pp. 170- 171. 348 entirely upon sympathy and the wish for mutual aid. They are ideals established in the culture, and gain strength thereby. Ross has pointed out that the morals of the group are likely to be higher than those of the individual30 and .has emphasized group pressures as a device for controlling human behavior, 3 1 while Calverton has emphasized the power of ttcultural compul sives" in the minds of men.32 The power over behavior of ideals contained in the culture is not only found in the items just noted, but it is also a part of the explanation of the devotion of certain religious workers, Parent-Teacher Association administrators, club leaders and others. Of course, many other factors besides these cultural ideals are present in the motivation of such activities. The motivating power of social values is apparent also in the tendency which the people exhibit to classify their activities under approved symbols. The outstanding example of this type of behavior is the tendency of the people of Bell Gardens to look upon them selves as pioneers. The cultural ideals which prevail in Bell Gardens are limited, however. Political impartiality, world brotherhood, and abstract justice are not among their effectively stimulating goals. 30 Ross, ££• cit., Chap. XXV, especially p. 344. 31 Ibid. Chap. X. --- ' 32 Calverton, 2£• cit., pp. 24-27. 349 The behavior of people changes fre~uently when the situation in which they find themselves changes.33 In Bell Gardens this was especially noted in the case of the budding leader who was trying to play a new role.34 He began to con- form to the standards of the grcup which he hoped to lead. Differences in the results of unemployment were also observed. Unemployed persons demonstrated some one or more of the fol lowing attitudes: irritation with the whole social system, the belief that relief is a right and justly due them, an intense desire to provide for themselves, and a feeling that survival is of first importance and the means are of less signifi cance.35 These changes of behavior, however, appear to be rather superficial. They result from a change of role rather than a change of personality pattern. 36 ~~ether the driving forces of human conduct bring con- flict or cooperation, organization or disorganization, depe&ds upon the situations in which they are operating, including as 33 Earle E. Eubank, "The Concept of the .?erson, tt Sociology and Social Research, 12:354-364, :,~arch-April, 1928. 34 Clifford. R. Shaw, The Jack-Roller, p. 193. 35 Compare these with the five attitudes enumerated by Melvin J. Vincent, ".helief and Resultant Attitudes," Sociology and Social Research, 20:27-33, September-October, 1935. 36 shaw, op, cit., p. 193. 350 parts of those situations, the number of different motivating elements and the definitions of the situations conceived by those acting in them. When the interests of individuals obviously coincide, or when sympathy and mutual aid or the wish for response prevail, cooperation results. But sympathy is likely to cover only a limited area; and, while people tend to draw closer to those whom they feel to be similar to themselves, they tend to shun others, a situation not ~eculiar to Bell Gardens. 37 Thus unity within the strong primary group is likely to mean that t~e interests of the "in groupn38 are put above the welfare of outsiders. Beyond the realm of the primary group an apparent con flict of interests is likely to lead to open warfare and, there fare, to disorganization, .except in those cases where larger ideals prevail; but in Bell Gardens the individual with highly socialized ideals is a rarity. And, as Steiner has pointed out in other communities,39 organized religion does not tend to foster community integration because of rampant denominationalism.40 Thus the clashing of interests and the 3? Lynd and Lynd, Middletown, p. 481. Franklin E. Giddings, Studies in the Theory of Human Society, p. 165. 38 sumner,££· cit., p. 12. 39 Steiner, ££• ci~, p. 26. 40 Ibid. 351 lack of highly socialized ideals means that socio-organic diversification of society into interest groups brings with it much conflict and disorganization. b. Interaction ~etween prima£I and ~cond~£I ~rouE~· One of the reasons for conflict and cooperation among the various organized groups in Bell Gardens appears to have its origin in the nature of the coteries and in the interrelationships between these informal groups and the more secondary interest associations. Participation in these relatively small, in timate, face-to-face coteries appears to be highly satisfying to the people of Bell Gardens, and so these primary groups persist in this urban area in spite of the tendency to organ- ize special associations to care for special interests. The coteries are not strictly primary groups in the sense in which Cooley used the term, for such groups had five major characteristics, namely, small size, intimacy, face-to face association, permanency, and unspecialized relations; 41 and these coteries display only the first three attributes. They seem to be, in fact, rather specialized and somewhat temporary agencies for satisfying the wishes of human beings for response and for a consciousness of kind which go un satisfied in the more secondary type of relationships found 41 Charles Horton Cooley, Robert c. Angell, and Lowell J. Carr, Introdu~tory Sociolosz, p. 55. 352 in the formal groups of Bell Gardens and of the metropolis.42 However, they do t:t.f.Jproach the nature of Cooley's primary groups such as the family, the play group, and the neighbor head much more closely than do many other characteristic organizations of the city. In Bell Gardens at least, the activities of the more secondary interest groups are much affected by the behavior of these more nearly primary units. In this community many special interest groupings have developed on a basis of en original coterie, and nearly all formal organizations appear to be largely controlled by one of these small central groups. That this type of group cannot continually absorb additional new members, that it tends to be formed of persons with similar social orientations, that it is likely to arouse the suspicion of outsiders--all these contribute to the growth of new groups to satisfy interests which are seemingly not well provided for by existing organizations. Persons who are excluded from these inner circles fre~uently lose confidence in the good faith of the existing leadership. On th~ other hand, several formally organized associations may be brought into close cooperation by the fact that their leaders all belong to the same informal coterie, but this cooperation may 42 Dr. Bessie A. McClenahan has noted this fact in another type of urban neighborhood in her discussion cf ''Commun9.lity.n Bessie A • ..:J.icClenahan, J:'he Changing Urban Neighborhood, pp. 108-109. 353 only result in strengthening the faction concerned for par ticipation in some community squabble. Results of diversification and conflicts. In the urban American community, then, it appears that diversification and conflict is the order of the day and that the wants of human beings must go unmet while the fires of conflict rage. Seldom is community action based on a common understanding of needs. 43 Public opinion is likely to be the opinion of some particular public and not the generally accepted conclusion of the whole mass of the folk, for, as Ross has pointed out, when society is divided against itself the formation of public opinion proceeds with difficulty.44 Various publics come to divergent conclusions; and, as Cooley 45 long ago noted, and as the Lynds 46 have discovered in Middletown, people follow and vote for men who represent their particular bias. So also is it in Bell Gardens. And voting especially becomes a mat- ter of great importance in modern society, for, as Carver pointed out, when people can no longer achieve satisfaction through economic competition they turn to political 43 Steiner, QE• cit., p. 7. 44 Ross,~ cit., pp. 376 and 380-381. 45 Cooley, Angell, and Carr, £E• cit., p. 374. 46 Lynd and Lynd, Middleto~ in Transition, p. 502. 354 competition.4? One deep cleavage in the social and political life of Bell Gardens, Middletown, or Chicago is that between rela- tively successful business people and working people. Conse quently, there tend to arise typical patterns of membership. The business people belong to a certain group of organizations and the workers to others, but the business people appear to be the more active and united.48 In the United States, however, the absolute domination of the business class is not regarded as desirable, and Tayler showed that even in the t•company town" there is a upthrust of democracy that reduces eventually the obvious contro1 of a parent business organization.49 .A. similar upthrust appears to be occurring in Bell Gardens. J.Jr. Borg may supervise, but he cannot completely control,the community. The same factors of narrow sympathies, small enlighten- ment, and apparently opposing interests which prevent effec- tive cooperation in handling the communit~r' s business some- times also produce gangs positively antagonistic to the 4? Thomas N. Carver, :E-ssays in Social Justice (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard universJ.ty Press, 1925), p. 8?. 48 Lynd and Lynd, Uiddletown, p. 492. 49 Graham R. 'raylor, satellite Cities. 355 co.~~unity's welfare.50 In Bell ~ardens the lack of ade~uate school and recreational outlets has caused the formation of several embryo gangs which may or may not develop into a serious ,Droblew.. Hm11ever, in spite of poor housing and high nobility, typical indices of disorganize.tion, 51 Bell Gardens has developed neither a high rate of delin~uency nor a wide spread tradition of juvenile crime. Continuity of culture patterns. aumner,52 Thomas,53 Rart,54 and others have pointed out how thoroughly the in dividual depends upon the culture, and it seems noteworthy that among Bell Gardens' conflicting organizations there is little that is not borrowed from already existing patterns. Perhaps it is this same tendency to perpetuate the institutions to which they have been accustomed which accounts for the fact that the "foundations of order" are still quite 50 Thrasher, ££· cit., Chaps. II and III, especially pp. 37-38, and 54. 51 Clifford R. Shaw, Delinquency Areas, p. 204. I~label A. Elliott and .Francis E. ~~1errill, 3ocia1 Disorganization, p. 577. 52 Sumner, ££· cit., p. 173. 53 William I. 'rhomas, Source Book for 3ocial Origins (BostoL: Richard G. Badger, 1909), p:-25.--- 54 Hart,££·~., p. 56 and Chap. IX. 356 intact in Middletown and in Bell Gardens. There is much use less conflict between persons and groups within those areas and much conflict between the residents of Bell Gardens and surrounding communities, but the great stabilizers of American life still prevail. Democracy and Christianity are still lauded by most of the people, and the institution of the law with its attendant support of private property and its limita tions upon daily actions is still supported by the citizens. Ballots, not bullets, are regarded as the best means of re form. But the stresses of recent years have brought much uneasiness and discontent. The old order still stands with a bold front, but there are "twinges" under the surface. 5 5 Useful~ of ecological concepts. Another whole realm of sociological research the results of which were helpful in interpreting the life of Bell Gardens is that of social ecolog~ The concepts of "the natural area," "concentration,,. "centrali zation," "segregation," "mobility," and "fluidity" were all found useful in describing the development of this community and in relating it to that larger body of research which is producing an increasing insight into life in the metropolis. The suggestion has been made that a new concept of "dispersion" be added to this list to designate those activities of in dividuals which send them out in various directions from their 55 Lynd and Lynd, Middletown in Transition, pp. 490 and 504. 357 home community in search of a variety of services. Methodolo8ical note. Finally, the study of Bell Gardens calls to mind the fact that long ago LePlay started out to study the social order of his time through case studies of peasant families, 5 6 and that a recent text in the field of labor problems begins with a discussion of working class communities. 57 Studies of communities return much more than local dividends, for they reveal much that is of wider interest. Bell Gardens is not only a community. It is a phenomenon of our whole economy and mirrors in flesh and blood many things which may be seen reflected also in national statistics. 56 Pitirim Sorokin, Contemporary Sociological Thou~ht (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1928), Chap. II, especial y pp. 66-68. 57 Lois Macdonald, Labor Problems and the American See~ (New York: Harper and Brothers, 193BT: 878 pp. BIBLI OGRP..PHY SOURCES OF DATA I. BIBLIOGRAPHY A. BOOKS ON SOCIAL THEORY Bogardus, Emory s., Contemporary Sociology. 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Washington, D. c.: United states Government Printing Office, 1933. 968 pp. Burt, Cyril, The Young Delinquent. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1930. 619 pp. Fairchild, Fred R. , Edgar s. Furniss, and Norman s. Buck, Elementarl Economics. 2 vols.; New York: The Macmillan Company, 936. Gillen, John Lewis, Social Pathology. New York: The Century Company, l933. 612 pp. 365 Lowie, Robert H., "Social Organ:ization," Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, XIV, pp. 141-148. North, Cecil C., The Community and Social Vvelfare. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Incorporated, 1931. 359 pp. McDonald, Lois, Labor Problems and the American Scene. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1938. 878 pp. 1.-iangold, George B., Social Pathology. New York: The Macmillan Company, l932. 735 PP• Odum, Howard w., Southern Reyions of the United States. Chapel Hill, North Carol na: The University of North 0arolina Press, 1936. 664 pp. One Hundred Votes. · Los Angeles, California: United ---Progressive Press, 1935. 124 pp .. Perrin, Flemming A. C., and David B. Klein, Psycholofy: Its Methods and Principles. New Yorl<:; Henry Hoi and Company, 192~ 387 pp. Pettit, Walter W., Case Studies in Community Organization. New York: The Century Company, 1928. 345 pp. President'.s Research Committee on Social Trends, Recent Socia],. Trends. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Incorporated, 1933. 1568 PP• Raper, Arthur F., Prefnce to Peasantry. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: The UniVersity o~North Carolina Press, 1936. 423 PP• Reckless, 'Wc;;.lter C. , and rJapheus Smith, Juvenile Delin!uency. 2~ew York: :Y.cGraw-Hill Book Company, Incorporated, 932. 412 PP• Sellers, Roy ·vfood, Reli~ion Coming of Age. Macmillan Company, 928. 293 pp. New York: The Steiner, Jessie F., editor, The American Community in Action. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1~2e:- 392 pp. United States Department of Commerce, Statistical Abstract of the United States. Washington, D. C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1935. 817 pp. Webster's New International Dictionary of~ English Language. Springfield, 1iassachusetts: G. and C. Merriam Company, 1935. 3210 PP• 366 Vloods, Arthur E. , Community Problems. New York: The Century Company, 1928. 608 pp. F. PERIODICAL ARTIClES Burgess, Ernest W., "The Delinquent as a Person," The American Journal of Sociology, 28:657-680, May-;--.L123. cooley, Charles H., "The Roots of Social Knowledge," The American Journal of Sociology; 32:59-79, July, 1936. Eubank, Earle E., "The Concept of the Person," sociology ~ Social Research, 12:354-364, March-April, 1928. McKenzie, R. D., "The Scope of Human Ecolo.gy," Journal of Applied Sociology, 10:316-323, March-April, 1926. - Park, Robert E., "The City: Suggestions for the Investigation of Human Behavior in the City Environment," The AEerican Journal of Sociology, 20:577-612, March, 191~ Vincent, Melvin J., "Relief and Resultant Attitudes," Sociology and Social Research, 20:27-33, September- October, 1935. · Young, Earle F., "The Social Base .Map," Journal of Applied Sociology, 9:202-206, January-February, 1925:- G. NEWSPAPERS Bell Gardens (California) Review, January to August, 1938. Industrial Post (Bell, California), intermittently from January:-T932 to August, 1938. The Messen!er (Montebello, California), April, May, and -June, 938. The Montebello (California) News, intermittently from ---February, 1932 to July,~. The Los Angeles Times, ~arch 6, ~d June 5, 1938. 367 H. UNPUBUSiiill> ~TERIAIS Bond, J. l•1a:x:, "The Negro in Los Angeles." Unpublished ~ector's dissertation, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, lg36. 364 pp. DRY, George M. , "The Russian Colony in :iollywood: A Study in Culture Conflict." Unpublished Doctor's dissertation, University of southern California, Los Angeles, lg30. 283 PP• Jameson, Samuel Haig, "A Study of Status-gaining Behavior Among Certain Social Welfare Organizations." Unpublished Doctor's dissertation, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1929. 376 pp. McClenahan, Bessie A., ''The Changing Nature of an Urban Residential Area." Unpublished Doctor's dissertation, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1928. 374 PP• Wells, Carl D., "A Changing Social Institution in an Urban .tmvironment: A study of Changing Behavior Patterns of the Disciples of Christ in Los Angeles." Unpublished Doctor's dissertation, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1931. 276 pp. Young, Pauline Vislick, "Assimilation Problems of Russian Molokans in Los Angeles." Unpublished Doctor's disserta tion, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1930. 524 pp. I. MISCELLANEOUS WRITT]l.; MATERIALS Democracy, official publication of the Democratic County Central Committee of Los Angeles County, May, 1938. 8 PP• Don't Fear the Future, a leaflet distributed to prospective --- purchasers of land in Bell Gardens in the Spring of 1938. Herbert 0. ~~Governor, a campaign circular. Labor'~ Nonpartisan League of California, pamphlet used as a guide by organizers in Bell Gardens. 6 pp. 368 National 1 Nork and Security Pro~ram., a leaflet published by the Los Angeles County Wor ers' Alliance. 4 pp. Numerous printed cards of political candidates. Platform of Senator Culbert L. Olson, Democratic Candidate for Governor of California. Culbert L. Olson for Governor Campaign Committee. 12 PP• Several personal letters. The Topographical Maps of the United States, "Bell Q,uadrangle." Los Angeles County, California: Los Angeles County Board of supervisors, 1936. II. ADDITIONAL SOURCES Many personal interviews. Attendance upon many group meetings. One hundred formal interviews with families selected at random using the schedule which appears as Item IV in the Appendix. Use of the records of the State Relief Aa.ministration. Use of the records of the county probation department, health department, and Bureau of Indigent Relief. APPENDICES APFENDr.A: A BIRTH PIACES OF 178 ADULT RESIDENTS OF BELL G.ARDENS States Alabama. Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Georgia Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Michigan Minnesota Mississippi :viissouri Nebraska New Jersey New Mexico New York North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island south Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia Washington Wisconsin AlEace Lorraine Austria Bulgaria Canada Chechoslavakia France Germany Ireland Italy Number of adults 1 10 19 3 1 2 5 13 10 5 17 3 2 2 3 1 10 7 4 1 6 2 1 10 2 3 1 2 1 8 7 l 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 2 APPENDIX B "~1ANT-ADS" FROM THE BELL GARDENS Rl!.."VIi::.'W OF JULY 15, 1938 NE'Vl AND USED Pipe and Fittings. We guarantee to beat local prices. Dealers in used machinery. Oxley Brothers, 3356 E. Florence Avenue. JE-0502. PIANO Sale. No Down Payment. No Finance Charge. Free Delivery. Free Lessons. $47.50, $55.00, $75.00. Terms, $5.00 month. Story Music Company, 4540 Whittier Boulevard. WANTED BOYSEN BERRIES: In exchange for baby chix. Have Australops, Austra-V~ites, Reds and cross Cornish and Reds. 4731 Clara Street, Cudahy. FOR SALE OR TRADE: 5 pair Nuford Frogs with course worth $50. Thomas J. P. Shannon, 6232 Almo Avenue, Bell. FOR SALE: Lot at original price, tent house. 4 lots south of Loveland on Jaboneria. Call 4131 Clara. W.~r.rED: Plowing, discing, leveling, odd jobs with tractor. 5928 Fostoria, Bell Gardens. FOR RENT: Two room house trailer. 6604 Jaboneria. SALE OR TRP.DE: 28 gauge shot-gun, Krag rifle, binoculars, for rabbit hutches, milk goats. 7527 Hornsey. FOR RENT: Unfurnished house, also young pigs and brood sows for sale. Inquire 5536 Clara Street. FOR SALE or Trade: 160 acres near Roseburg, Oregon. Good hunting and fishing. 50 acres cultivation. Informa tion call KI-1678. FOR SALE: Young goat. 6131 Gallant Street, Bell Gardens. FOR SALE: Young brood sow, first litter 9 pigs. 6810 Marlow Street. FOR SALE: N.z. and giant white doe's litters, bucks and hutches. Moving soon. 6531 El Selinda Avenue, Bell Gardens. FOR SALE: A good family cow, cheap. Call at 5655 Gotham. Mr. Bunting. FOR SALE: Rabbits with hutches. Call after 5 o'clock. 5724 Gage. W_illiTED 7WRK to do, or take care of children. r:.rs. Maggie Walker, 5864 E. Lubec Street, Bell, California. WANTED: Two girls for housework. Call at 6912 Eastern or 4939 Clara, after 5 p.m. WlL~TED to buy lot with or without building. East of Eastern and north of Florence. Box 35, Review. PLAY piano in 3 1~onths Guaranteed $15.00 Terms. Seth Story, 4540 Whittier Blvd. 372 APPENDIX C SCHEDULE USED IN I1'Tl!:RVIEWING 100 FAMILIES Street and number Country Names of of birth Family children Age Sex or state man 1 woman 2 . . . • . • chil- 3 . . . . dren 4 . • . . . • • • 5 . . . . 6 . . 7 . . . . • . . . 8 . . . . • . g . . • • 10 . . . • • . 11 . • . • . • . . 12 . . . • . . others 13 . . . • • • . . 14 • • . . • . 15 . . . • . . 16 . . . . . . . • 17 . . . . 18 . . . . 19 . . . • . • 20 • • . • . • Present Occupation of earning members: Position or Job 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. . . . • . • . . . . Industry Length of residence in house area . • . . . . . R.eiation of . . "others" to • • 1 or 2 :;r • to each other • . . • . . . . . . . • . . . • Location • • . • . • . • . . • . Customary Occupation of earning members: Position or Job --- Industry l. . • 2. . • 3. . . . • 4. . . . • . . 374 :L.ocation Automobiles: Family car Other persons owning cars ------- Schools Attended by Children: __________________________________ ___ Group memberships of members of the family (lodges, unions, clubs of all kinds, Young Men's Christian Association, civic organiza tions, business organizations, fraternities, scouts, political organizations, etc.). No. or name . . . . . . Name of group . • . • . . . . . . . . Nature of activity . . . • . • . . . . Location 375 Other activities and where carried on: (Movies, visits, fa!Ilily group enter~rises, radio, sports, etc.). No. or name . . . . . . Name of group . . . . . • . . . • . • iJa ture of activity . . . . . . . • . . Location How do children and adults spend most of their leisure time? What problems are you meeting in raising your children? (discipline, associates, activities, etc.). A.re any of these problems peculiar to this area? Do you own your own home? __ ...;Did you build it yourself? ___ _ Is it nearly paid for? ------------------------------------------- How many rooms in the home? ____________________________________ __ 376 Is this a friendly neighborhood? ~~Y or why not? ____________ _ Where are the boundaries of your neighborhood? ______________ __ Do you like it here? Why? ____________________________ _ Do you intend to stay here? _________________________________ __ How many of your neighbors do you know well enough to speak and talk to? ______________________________________________________ __ Do your five best friends live in Bell Gardens? If not, where? i1hy did you come here? ________________________________________ __ Has this neighborhood changed since you came here? How? ____ _ When did you come? " ---------------------------------------------- Vfhat things do you buy at the local stores? ------------------ Do the members of your family usually go to the same doctor? Vlhere? What are the most serious problems or needs of Bell Gardens? 377 ~fuo are the leaders of Bell Gardens? --------------------------- What do you think will be the future of the community? ______ __ Should Bell Gardens incorporate as a town or join some exist ing town? In what part of the country have you lived most of your life? How long in Califorr-ia? ______________________________________ _ What was your last address before this? (OUtside Bell Gardens) How much have the various members of your family earned during the past month? Other sources of income? ---------------------------------------- Occupation of man's father? ------------------------------------- Occupation of woman's father? ----------------------------------- May we return for further information? ------------------------- AP.PENDIX D State of California DIVISION OF REAL E3TATE J. Mortimer Clark, Commissioner INSPECTION REPORT On GLG]. PARK--EDLER SUBDIVISION--(TRACT NO. 11194) Los Angeles County, California FILE AG. NO. 365 This report is submitted for the information of the public and is not to be construed as an approval or disap proval of this project. It is compiled from data considered reliable, from information furnished this Division by the subdivider, and from information obtained by a representative of this Divi sion through a personal investigation. In all real estate investments the prospective pur chaser is urged to exercise ordinary business precaution; to personally inspect the property; to satisfy himself that representations made are true and in compliance with the provisions of the Real Estate Commissioner's report; that the price to be paid is satisfactory; that he is able to meet the payments in accordance with his agreement; and that satisfactory title can be obtained when he has paid for the property. This subdivision is located on the north side of the Foster Bridge Boulevard, approximately 1 mile west of the City of Bell, California. It is bounded on the south by Foster Sridge Boulevard, on the east by Chalet Street, on the west ov Friaun Drive and on the north by Henner Avenue, the last named streets, being new streets to be installed in this subdivision. It is described as Tentative Tract No. 11194, map having been submitted. to the County Regional Planning Commission for final approval. 379 Title evidence on file in this Division shows title vested in Vernon Edler and Alice B. Edler, husband and wife, as joint tenants, subject to the following: 1. General and special County taxes for the fiscal year 1937-1938 a lien, but not yet payable. 2. Easement over certain portions for the installation of pole lines and other public utility conveniences. 3. Easement over certain portions for irrigation ditches. 4. Reservation to all water rights in the Foster and Lugo ditches. 5. Reservation to the grantor, his successors and assigns and legal representatives at all times to certain oil, gas and/or mineral rights. Purchasers should familiarize themselves with the con ditions, reservations and restrictions which run with the land. The sales agent for this subdivision is the 0. c. Beck Organization, 5700 East Florence Avenue, Bell 3ardens, Bell, California. There are e.1J:;~roximately 20 acres in this subdivision, divided into 41 parcels of various sizes and ranging in price from $750 to $1.100, depending upon the size and location. A minimum down payment of $150 or 20% of the purchase price is required, with the balance payable in monthly installments of $15 per month, or 2% of the purchase price. Payments tQ include interest at ?%. The soil is of sufficient qualit;>r for the e;rowth of trees, plants, shrubs and lawns for domestic horticultural purposes. Foster Bridge Boulevard is improved with a macadam surface. All other streets in this subdivision will be im prove:l with granite and oil surface in accordance with county specifications. ·water will be furnished by the Gage Park Water Company, 5700 East Florence Avenue, Bell, California, a public utility operatiLg under the supervision of the California Railroad Commission. Electricity will be furnished by the 3outhern California Edison Company; gas by the Southern California 380 Gas Company, and telephone by the Downey Telephone Company. All of these utilities are available to but not yet in stalled in this subdivision. No sewage disposal facilities will be installed. Purchasers must therefore arrange for sewage disposal in accordance with existing health regulations. It is 1 l/2 miles to the nearest street car transpor tation at Laguna Station. It is 4 miles to the ~ontebello High School, which furnishes free bus service for students, 1/2 mile to Laguna Grammar School. It is 2 miles to the nearest churches, banks, stores, etc. in the town of Bell, California. IT IS .H.LREBY ORDERED that before accepting a deposit on any parcel of this subdivision a copy of this report must be delivered to each prospective purchaser and attached to the deposit receipt or printed thereon. No portion of this report shall be used by anyone for advertising purposes, unless the report is used in its en tirety. No material change shall be made affecting this project without first notifying this Division. (Signed} J. MORTIMER CLARK REAL ESTATE C 01~4ISSIO!lER of the STaTE OF CALIFORNIA Sacramento, California Dated this l?th day of June, 193? The undersigned owner, subdivider or agent hereby cer tifies that the above and foregoing is a true and correct copy of a public report, dated June 1?, 193? issued by the Real Estate Division of the 3tate of California, as prc~ided by Sections 20A to 20L inclusive of the California Real Estate Act. Witness my hand this GBL-WTW: IE m!!lh day of 19 -----

Asset Metadata

Creator Spaulding, Charles B. (author)

Core Title The development of organization and disorganization in the social life of a rapidly growing working-class suburb within a metropolitan district

Contributor Digitized by Interlibrary Loan Department (provenance)

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Sociology

Defense Date 06/01/1939

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag OAI-PMH Harvest

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c3-505769

Unique identifier UC11297771

Identifier etd-Spaulding-581452.pdf (filename),usctheses-c3-505769 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Spaulding-581452.pdf

Dmrecord 505769

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Spaulding, Charles B.

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA

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University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses