FEDERAL SECURITY AGENCY

NATIONAL YOUTH ADMINISTRATION
FOR KANSAS

NEW ENGLAND BUILDING, TOPEKA, KANSAS
December 7, 1940

Dr. Forrest C. Allen

Director of Physical Education
University of Kansas

Lawrence, Kansas

Dear Doc:

Some time ago I wrote you a note and promised to follow with a
lenghy letter. This happens to be that letter. When Miss Laughlin
gave me a job she did just that. My job here consists of Senior Super-
visor (title) with eight other supervisors Under me to keep in line.
In addition to acting of superintendent of the Topeka project, it is
my job to see that the building remains in good condition. There are
two buildings, one that is used as a shop in one end of town and the
dormitory in the other end of the city. Each norning the boys, whose
ages range fpom 1/-24 years, are given bus tc.sns to ride to and from
the shop. In the course of a month the government has purchased 8 000
tokens. To be specific that is $500.00 worth.

There are at the present time 115 boys living at the dormitory.
I serve as the disiplinarian and general counciler for the boys. We
have what we cabl our House of Representives that serve as the govern-
ing body. They have several committees that are appointed such as:
rules and regulation committee, ways and means committee, judicial
committee, permits and priviledge committee and several others of
lesser nature. My job was to organize and formulate this self govern
ment. It was some job to formulate the work but appears to be some
task in getting it to working on all four. However we have been accomp-
lishing something. :

A committee on recreation has been appointed to aid me in carrying
out some form of pysical education. The equiptment is the hardest item
to get. The government has the money but in order to get the articles
I want,a larger amount of red tape nas to be unwémnd. It is more work
to get equiptment than it is to actually set up the recreation program
and supervisexr the play. Most of the games that we have at the present
are games that the boys have made themselves under supervision. We have
made all our checker boards and checke¥s, chinese checkers, box hockey,
shuffle board, and horse shoe equiptment.

One thing that I have been trying to establish here is for the
‘boys to be sociable. It is being run much on the orderof a fraternity.
Some of the boys pick this up fairly easily but some of the boys who
are from the poorer and less refined familys are a little slower. However
we are progressing which is not at all discouraging. For breakfast and
dinner the boys wear their work clothes but remain standing until the
lady foo supervisor is seated. For the evening meal the boys are required