33 Stermer looks at Juvenile Delinquency Problem

33 Stermer looks at Juvenile Delinquency Problem

     James Stermer wrote a Manual for Juvenile Court officers of the State of Michigan- with Harold H. Rosemont. There was an introductory note written by Lowell Juilliard Carr. Carr was Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan at this time. As a Probation Officer with extensive experience in the area of juvenile delinquency, Jim Stermer took a deeper look at problems in the state.
      He was hired by the Michigan Child Guidance, at the University of Michigan as Field Sociology Lecturer. He then wrote recommendations to control delinquency through out the state. He used Hollerith cards to record the data of the delinquency statistics of Wayne County Juvenile Court. He was ahead of his time in using the Hollerith cards to secure the information. The First Comprehensive Report covering November 1, 1937 to December 1, 1940 was given to the Governor of Michigan Murray D. Van Wagoner. It was titled "Defense Begins at Home" based on Jim’s data.

      In the meantime, Jim and Dolores bought an old Victorian house on Pontiac Trail in Ann Arbor. They rented the two and a half acres located next to it for a garden. The house was located at the top of the hill with Taylor Road being between the house and the North side Elementary School property. Dad having no experience in woodworking or carpentry hired an older, retired carpenter to guide him through the steps of building walls, moving stairwells and how to plaster a wood lathe wall. Mr. Smith was a source of inspiration. He convinced Jim he could make the house a treasure. We lived in the house while all the cutting, plastering and changing was done. Mr. Smith ended each day by sweeping before he left the job. This really impressed my parents. He said nothing was too small to take pride in.

     People were preparing for war. We like our neighbors had a Victory Garden. A book called "Five Acres and Independence" was in vogue with my parents and other young professors at the University. Clark Tibbitts bought a farm down the road with an orchard. My parents convinced the family that chicks could be ordered and grown in cages in the basement till time to let them roam the orchard for bugs. The 100 chicks arrived in cardboard boxes one spring day. Dad had built numerous cages sitting about 3 feet off the floor. It is a good thing. Just when the chicks arrived, the heavens opened up and we had the wettest spring in 100 years. We made walkways on blocks. The chicks survived without getting wet but we a smelly basement for a long time. For the next couple of years we would pick a night each week to walk the mile up the road to get a dozen eggs.

     Every so often we would have our meat.  That way we did not have to use our ration stamps for a meal. Chicken came from the Tibbitts. Rabbits came from our cages. We raised them. The McHenry family with 5 kids a neighbor down the street also raised rabbits. The two fathers would trade rabbits - to kill the other family's rabbit and then give them back. Neither wanted to kill their own animals. Killing was the sad part of eating meat. It put things in perspective. We became sensitive. Eating meat became a decision.

       We saved cans, bottles and dress patterns. Metal was for the "war effort". We took the tops and bottoms off the cans and squashed them flat.   Bottles were reused for canning or returned to the manufacturer. Paper dress that mom had used for clothes patterns we out grew were used when we could not get a catalogue for use in the bathroom as toilet paper.  The patterns were much more comfortable.

      Mom also spent long hot summer evenings canning and processing the vegetables from the garden after her days at work at the office as a secretary at a lawyer’s office in Ann Arbor.