West Anatolian People's Houses according to the inspectorate reports of Rebuplican People's Party

The Republican People's Party (CHP) is the first party of the Republic of Turkey and a revolutionary party. Since the day it was founded, it has taken many steps in economic, political, social and cultural terms. The social structure of the newly founded state could not establish a full bond with the Republican People's Party in this process. The failure of attempts to transition to a multi-party system, the economic depression of 1929, the political developments in the world, the gap between the village and the city not being closed, and the fact that the revolutions were still not fully embraced by the society caused the Republican People's Party to take new steps. One of these steps is the opening of People's Houses called People's House The Republican People's Party opened People's Houses consisting of 9 branches on February 19, 1932, aiming to strengthen its bond with the people again and to ensure the social and cultural development of the people. People would attend to the courses lectured in these branches, namely Language-Literature and History Branch, Fine Arts Branch, Representation Branch, Sports Branch, Social Aid Branch, Public Courses and Courses Branch, Library and Publications Branch, Ruralism Branch, Museum and Exhibition Branch according to their interests and abilities. In this cultural institution to be opened in every province, district, town and village, some issues came to the fore. These issues were the problem of building, personnel and money. First of all, the most important point for the opening of this cultural institution were the buildings in which the activities would be held. The buildings from the old Turkish Hearths were used to solve this problem. People's Houses had to use the same buildings with the Party itself in some districts or held the activities in the halls given from the municipality. The Party wanted this cultural institution to reach the remotest corners. However, especially in villages, towns and even in some provinces and districts, the need for the existence of educated, cultured people for the organization of People's Houses revealed the problem of personnel who would teach the activities to the public, and also the problem of money of which was about the basic economic expenses of this institution for heating, lighting, water and the expenses to be made for the branches to work. Apart from these, there were difficulties in establishing People's Houses in some places. For this reason, the idea of establishing a People's Room in these places emerged. The Republican People's Party needed to inspect the work of this cultural institution more closely, to see the progress it has made in achieving the goals of the community center has received. The Party supervised the People's Houses by the help of governing board and by sending the deputies out of the cities, where they hadn`t been elected. The activities of People's Houses in Aydın, İzmir and Denizli provinces started with the establishment of Aydın, İzmir and Denizli People's Houses on February 19, 1932, and in the provinces of Balıkesir, Muğla and Manisa on February 24, 1933, with the establishment of Balıkesir, Muğla and Manisa People's Houses. These People's Houses were full-fledged People's Houses that had opened all 9 branches in the Western Anatolia region, had carried out their activities consistently over the years, and had published their own Public House publications and magazines. Apart from Izmir Community Center, cultural development initiatives in this region started in these provinces in the first years of People's Houses. At the same time, People's Houses and People's Rooms were organized in the townships, sub-districts and villages of these provinces in a short time, and these activities spread to all administrative regions of the provinces. CHP inspectorate reports are important documents in identifying the deficiencies and needs of the mentioned People's Houses and eliminating these deficiencies. These documents were accessed in the Prime Ministry Republic Archive, CHP Fund. In the inspection reports, it has been revealed with a holistic understanding of what the activities of the People's Houses are, which branches are formed, whether the Community Center building is suitable for carrying out activities, whether its financial situation is sufficient in terms of activities. In fact, we can get information about these People's Houses from the annual reports of the CHP's People's Houses. However, when we examine these reports, the success of People's Houses in their activities and statistical data are generally mentioned. No information was given about the deficiencies and requirements of the People's Houses. In this respect, the inspection reports are intended to reveal what the Community Center activities are, what their deficiencies are, what kind of financial means they have, whether their buildings are sufficient, whether their branches are established, and what kind of difficulties they experience in these four provinces in Western Anatolia, where the activities of People's Houses are intense. It offers us a different perspective.