WANT A FREE LUNCH? ENROLL AT HOBO COLLEGE
Chicago, Illinois (JFK+50) On March 1, 1926, Associated Press reports that an anonymous Samaritan "has been dropping in regularly every day for a week" inviting students of Hobo College* to free lunches.
The numbers of students taking advantage of the offer have increased steadily from six to fifty. At the end of a lecture yesterday, 300 students were treated to lunch at a local eatery.
*Hobo College, located on West Madison Street in Chicago, Illinois, was organized in 1924. The 'college' offered daily lectures on social & economic subjects & provided a reading & recreation room.
Dr. Ben L. Reitman, director of HC, was reported in the NY Times (3-25-26) of suggesting a way to reduce crime in NYC was "to take young gangsters in hand & make something out of them."
SOURCES
"Finds 'Bum' Passed With The Saloon," The New York Times, March 25, 1926, www.nytimes.com/
"Hobo College Samaritan Hides Name After Laying Third Spread for Crowd," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., March 1, 1926, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
