This paper, reprinted from Charities and the Commons in 1908, explores the agencies by which playgrounds are started and maintained, stemming from the positive effects of recreation spaces that began to be recognized by the public around the start of the twentieth century.

LEE F. HANMER was associate director of the Department of Child Hygiene at the Russell Sage Foundation.

From the proceedings of the National Conference of Charities and Correction of 1915, this article examines the concept of a neighborhood community center, a public space with a variety of social activities for residents of all ages. It details the possible means of organizing such a space.   

LEE F. HANMER was associate director of the Department of Child Hygiene at the Russell Sage Foundation.

Read at the meeting of the Academy of Political Science in 1911, this address proposes a program for patrolling small loans to combat usury, calling for competition in the form of semi-philanthropic loan agencies and cooperative associations and legislation to legalize and regulate such a program.

ARTHUR H. HAM was director of the Division of Remedial Loans at the Russell Sage Foundation.

Published in 1917 in the Journal of the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology, this article presents the legal work and legislation being made to combat usury in the state of Illinois at the time. It includes provisions for a proposed law for meeting the loan shark situation.

EARLE EDWARD EUBANK was professor of sociology, Young Men’s Christian Association College, Chicago.

Prepared by the Playground Extension Committee of the Russell Sage Foundation in 1909, this paper presents how public interest and funds were raised for various recreational spaces for children in Chicago at the time.

E. B. DEGROOT was director of gymnasiums and playgrounds, South Park System, Chicago.

Presents the work of the National Federation of Remedial Loan Associations, founded in 1909, which gathered information and published bulletins in an effort to drive the loan shark out of business, with the help of the Russell Sage Foundation’s Division of Remedial Loans.

MALCOLM W. DAVIS, Division of Remedial Loans, Russell Sage Foundation

Detailing the organized work in New York, Maryland, Ohio, and Massachusetts that were presented at a conference by the Committee of the Russell Sage Foundation on Prevention of Blindness in 1910, as well as national research for blindness prevention by the American Medical Association and the Russell Sage Foundation.

This pamphlet was released by the Russell Sage Foundation’s Committee of Education in 1925, detailing proper fireproof building materials and safety regulations to prevent fires in schools.

Prepared by the Child Hygiene Committee of the Russell Sage Foundation in 1913, “Dust and Disease” tackles the prevention of infectious diseases at schools. It specifically argues for daily school disinfection.

J. T. AINSLEE WALKER was fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and fellow of the Chemical Society.

Based on an investigation conducted in 1911 by the Division of Education of the Russell Sage Foundation and the superintendents of schools of twenty-nine cities, this article examines the data behind how much American cities spend on public education and what they get for their money, shedding light on the relation between school expenditures and school results.

LEONARD P. AYRES was director of the Division of Education at the Russell Sage Foundation.