Mr. Speaker. the gray ghost of Harry Hopkins and his WPA of the 1930s hovers over the antipoverty program. But not even Harry Hopkins in his heyday could match the OEO in silliness. despite the efforts of some refugees from the WPA now active in OEO programs. In New York City. Don Beck. once national dance director of the WPA arts program. who began his career in nonsense as an aide to the late Harry Hopkins. is using OEO funds to train teenagers in playlets. They enact the part of prostitutes. numbers runners. and corrupt policemen. The group. called Teens in Action. stages skits designed to erase inclinations among teenagers to be "nice." In a recent theatrical extravaganza. teenagers were assigned to play the roles of a policeman taking money from a racketeer. a prostitute who knows the cop is taking money on the side. and one who was assigned the role of "sunning herself on the stoop" while the lessons in hankypanky were unfolding on stage.
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refugees