In 1951 five social scientists from the University of Chicago's Committee on Human Development partnered with a charitable foundation on an ambitious project: Find out what makes children grow into competent or incompetent young adults.
In 1962, they published their initial findings in a book titled, "Growing Up in River City." River City was a town that occupied a "lordly" site upon the bluffs overlooking a river and had several fine residential streets with large mansions set on expansive tree-shaded lawns.
Quincy was the fictitious "River City." The summary of its features (see box) is still recognizable as Quincy today.
The researchers studied the development of 400 children born in or about 1940 beginning in the 1951-52 school year when they were in sixth grade and continuing through 1960. The study included children of the full range of mental ability in the schools. That was the control group. Their development was merely studied and growth recorded. No extra help was given.
The researchers studied another cohort of 400 students born in or about 1942 as an experimental group. The book reported that younger cohort was helped as much as possible to see how such intervention could enhance their growth. Unfortunately, the book did not specify the help they were given or its results. A subsequent, final report, which was never completed, was intended to address that information.
The social scientists were Robert J. Havighurst, Paul H. Bowman, Gordon P. Liddle, Charles V. Matthews and James V. Pierce. They and their families relocated and lived in Quincy while they observed its children as they studied, played and worked in the schools, churches, homes and shops.
Their local partners were the Quincy Youth Development Commission and The Moorman Foundation, a charitable foundation today known as The CFM Foundation. The foundation funded the research. Its president was Mrs. C.A. (Fabiola) Moorman, the widow of C.A. Moorman, a principal owner and executive of Moorman Manufacturing Company. Its board included other people involved with Moorman Manufacturing Company such as Elmer Wilson, Bob Hulsen, Doug Dulaney, Jean Suhren and Carl Schmiedeskamp.
The Commission consisted of representatives of 25 organizations in Quincy, such as the public schools, various churches, the YMCA, YWCA, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and other social service agencies. The Commission members provided the access to the youth while they were engaged in their activities.
In order to measure how socioeconomic factors impacted the relative success or failure of children as they developed into young adults, the children were classified into four groups: upper or upper-middle class, lower-middle class, upper-lower class, and lower-lower class.
"Growing Up in River City" contained extensive statistical measures of the children, including rates of delinquency, intelligence quotients, school graduation, dropout rate, post-school employment, college attendance, leadership in school organizations, engagement in non-school community organizations, and age at marriage. The authors also included numerous interviews with the youth although their names were changed to protect their identity.
The findings of the research were both predictable and surprising.
The children of higher-status families appeared to receive more opportunities and rewards than the children of lower-status families did. However, researchers were surprised to find that a large minority of the children from the lower-status families did well in both school and the community, demonstrating socioeconomic mobility.
The researchers also noted that River City was known as a music-loving community and cultivated athletic talents. There were many opportunities for young people to develop musical and athletic skills. However, they also observed the community was not as supportive of other talents such as painting, dance, creative writing and dramatics.
Organized crime was prevalent in the community, but gang violence and drug addiction (other than alcohol) was insubstantial.
The book included almost no discussion of race in River City, but the researchers made a few observations. The African-American population was stable in size, and there had been little overt racial friction in the community. African-American students attended school with white students in the nearest school building. However, the researchers also observed that economic opportunities for African-Americans were not good. Many who finished high school were likely to leave to go to larger cities.
The scholars concluded that by the ages of 11 to 13, it was possible to predict with considerable accuracy what kinds of adults the children were likely to become based on their school achievement, personal-social adjustment and family social class. Early intervention with youth appeared crucial.
The overarching conclusion of the study was that River City offered "grand" opportunities for youth who would do well in school, attend school regularly, take part in church activities, and join the Scouts or the Y. However, for youth who did not or could not do that, opportunities were few. Jobs for youth were scarce; early marriage was discouraged. Youth with creative abilities (other than music) were not encouraged.
The authors made the following suggestions for addressing these challenges:
º Churches should offer opportunities for social leadership as well as moral development to youth who did not fit readily into the social patterns of the high school.
º The Society for Fine Arts and Little Theater (both of which still exist in Quincy today) could offer more opportunities for youth with artistic and dramatic abilities.
º There should be an alternative pathway to adulthood through work experience for those who were less likely to attend college, such as work-study programs for teenagers. They needed to learn such simple habits and attitudes as punctuality, cooperation in a work group, and respect for the role of a boss.
º A program should be developed for girls who are at risk of dropping out of school to teach them basic life skills. The focus would be to prepare the girls for lives as wives and mothers.
In 1956, encouraged by his team's early observations in River City, Dr. Bowman recommended to the Moorman Foundation that it fund the establishment of an Institute of Community Mental Health in Quincy. The purposes of the institute would be to study the development of youth in the natural setting of the community, to develop methods for preventing psychological and social ills, to disseminate information on mental health, and to train professional in mental hygiene and education.
The Moorman Foundation endorsed the proposal and then worked with Dr. Bowman to develop a detailed plan. They negotiated with the University of Illinois and a consortium of the University of Missouri and several Kansas City-based nonprofit organizations to serve as the educational institutional partner. However, the parties could not reach a satisfactory arrangement. By the fall of 1960, the efforts ceased. Dr. Bowman moved on to other opportunities in Kansas City.
A last bit of unfinished business was the publication of the final results of the River City study, mainly the findings regarding the experimental group, as opposed to the control group that was the subject of "Growing Up in River City." What were the interventions and how successful where they?
The Moorman Foundation again engaged Dr. Bowman to handle the project. From 1965 through 1968, Dr. Bowman attempted to outline a final report, assemble the raw data and formulate a five-year follow-up study on the members of the experimental group. However, by the end of 1968, Dr. Bowman's progress was minimal and the foundation terminated the project.
Despite the disappointment of failing to create the Institute of Community Mental Health and publish the final report of the study of River City youth, the project had a significant impact on Quincy.
In 1953, the Quincy Area Project was founded to provide supplemental help, such as academic and social mentoring, in the schools and neighborhoods for at-risk youth. After the study concluded, the Quincy Area Project carried on, in part, the work of the Quincy Youth Development Commission to work directly with at-risk youth.
In 1955, the Adams County Mental Health and Retardation Association, Inc. was created with the help of health care professionals and community members, including Mrs. Moorman. It became Transitions of Western Illinois and provides over 60 programs today, many of which focus on the mental health of the community.
Also, the programming of the Quincy Society of Fine Arts, Quincy Art Center, Quincy Community Theater, and many other cultural organizations has expanded greatly to address the need to nurture youth interested in painting, dance, creative writing and dramatics.
Importantly, The CFM Foundation continues to take a quiet but leading role in promoting the betterment of the Quincy community.
Hal Oakley is a lawyer with Schmiedeskamp, Robertson, Neu & Mitchell LLP, a civic volunteer and former president of the Historical Society. He has authored several legal articles and edited, compiled and/or contributed to books and articles on local history.
Sources
Havighurst, Robert J., and Paul H. Bowman, Gordon P. Liddle, C. V. Matthews, and J. V. Pierce. Growing Up in River City. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1962.
Letters and Documents re: "Growing Up in River City." In Files of The CFM Foundation, Quincy, Illinois.
RIVER CITY FACTS
Location: Midwest USA
Topography: Riverfront, bluffs, prairie
Waterway: Great Inland River
City Population: 44,000
County: Van Buren
County Population: 65,000
Founded: 1820
Origin of Early Settlers:New England, New York
Origin of Later Setters: Germany, borders states (e.g., Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia)
Ethnicity: Predominantly European-American; African-American, 3%
Economy: Diverse Industrial, Commercial, Agricultural
Region: Economic hub for 60 mile radius
Religious Affiliation: Predominantly Protestant and Roman Catholic, in about equal parts, with a small minority of Jewish and other religions.