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First Patriotic Election in the Beach Street Industrial School
Date: c. 1890
Caption: Students participate in a mock election at their school.
Many New Yorkers lived in poverty in the 1890s, and depended on their children to work to help support the family. Other young people had to make their way without families, and worked to support themselves. Therefore, these children did not attend school (which was not necessarily illegal at the time). Charitable or non-profit organizations like the Children’s Aid Society were founded by wealthy New Yorkers to help improve the living conditions of children who were working rather than attending school.
The Children’s Aid Society operated a few “industrial schools” for children who worked in industry. The industrial schools tried to help students who could not attend school develop habits and knowledge that could help them in life.1
The industrial schools hoped to help shape children as US citizens. Many immigrant children came from places where citizens did not have democratic rights. Others, like Black migrants from the US South, had been excluded from democracy because of racist laws and practices. In this photograph, we see students at the Beach Street Industrial School, run by the Children’s Aid Society and staffed by volunteers, practicing democracy by voting on the question of whether each day should begin with a salute to the US flag.2
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New York State Board of Charities, Annual Report, 1911, accessed March 21, 2024, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Annual_Report/lzQXAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22children%27s+aid+society%22+%22industrial+schools%22&pg=PA747&printsec=frontcover. ↩︎
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Library of Congress, “Jacob Riis: Revealing How the Other Half Lives,” accessed March 21, 2024, https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jacob-riis/riis-and-reform.html. ↩︎
Categories: Manhattan, K-12 organizing
Tags: immigrants and migrants, curriculum, democracy, childhood
This item is part of "From the “Masses” to “Experts”" in "Who Governs Schools?"
Item Details
Date: c. 1890
Creator: Jacob Riis
Source: Museum of the City of New York
Copyright: Public domain
How to cite: “First Patriotic Election in the Beach Street Industrial School,” Jacob Riis, in New York City Civil Rights History Project, Accessed: [Month Day, Year], https://nyccivilrightshistory.org/gallery/first-patriotic-election.
Questions to Consider
- What do you see students doing in the photograph?
- Why do you think that this school wanted students to participate in this activity? How does it relate to ideas about “Americanization” of immigrant students?
- What opportunities do you have to make decisions in your school? Do these opportunities help prepare you to participate in democracy? What opportunities do you have to prepare to become a participant in democracy? What opportunities would you like to have?
References
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