The History of Childhood to 1920

Sensibilities: The Market Economy, Children, and Leisure, 1800-1920

 "Delve into shifts in family and social structures parallel to the industrial revolution and rise of the market economy. Learn about the development of the concept of childhood, and contrast the ideal of childhood to the reality."

With: Laura Lovett, Assistant Professor of History, UMASS-Amherst
          Kerry Buckley, Historic Northampton Museum and Education Center
Held: July 10-12, 2007
          Smith College, Northampton, MA

Primary Sources

  1. Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672), “Before the Birth of One of Her Children”
  2. Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672), “In Reference to Her Children, 23 June 1659”
  3. Edward Taylor (1642-1729), “Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children”
  4. Cotton Mather, “On the Education of His Children” (1706)
  5. Excerpt, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1793)
  6. Excerpt, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Boston, 1852)
  7. Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Wayside Introductory” in Tanglewood Tales (1853)
  8. Excerpt, Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, (Boston, 1861)
  9. Excerpt, Census of 1870 for the Town of Amherst
  10. “The Story of My Cotton Dress” from The Child Labor Bulletin (1914)
  11. Advertisement for Psychological Care of Infant and Child, John B. Watson (1928)

Web Resources

  • Association of Gravestone Studies
    Based in Greenfield, MA, this organization promotes the study and preservation of gravestones, their art, and their historical meaning.
  • James Curtis, “Making Sense of Documentary Photography,” History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web, June 2003.
    This article is a helpful guide to the historical interpretation of photographs like Hines’.     
  • Lewis Hine Photographic Collection
    This is the complete collection of Lewis Hines’ photographs of child labor, taken for the National Committee on Child Labor. Click on the Massachusetts link for all the photos from the state, searchable by town.
  • Uncle Tom’s Cabin and American Culture
    This website collection of multimedia primary resources helps to place Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, within its proper context in American history and culture.