American Centuries displays items from the collection of the Memorial Hall Museum and Library in Deerfield, Massachusetts. This museum specializes in 17th-20th century artifacts of the East Coast, and its online exhibits contain many materials about children's and adolescents' lives from the Colonial period onward.

The website makes its primary appeal to teachers and young students. In addition to the usual elements of internet archives (images, texts, maps), the site offers interactive activities where kids can learn more about historical clothing, how to read old manuscripts, and other topics that draw from the museum's holdings. A section of the site called "In the Classroom" offers numerous lesson plans for elementary and middle-school teachers, some written by museum employees and some by schoolteachers themselves, using materials in the online exhibits.

The exhibits cover multiple aspects of historical New England. Finding materials specific to the histories of youth and childhood is much easier here than in some online archives. Using the "site search" box, which appears on every page, is not the most efficient approach; better, more focused results come from choosing the "Search the Collection" item off the main-page menu. There, typing "children" will yield 488 results that specifically pertain to children's histories, mainly from the 18th and 19th centuries.

Even more directly helpful for the young (or old, but impatient) site visitor is the "Highlights" page, which offers artifacts in neatly arranged categories and sub-categories. The "Children" category is the obvious place to start; here, one can find images and information in the sub-categories of children's toys, clothing, furniture, schoolbooks, and even children's own handiwork. The individual pages for each artifact all include an icon called "Look closer"; once clicked, this icon opens a second window with a sophisticated zoom feature, offering several different degrees of close-up views for the artifact. This smart device allows site-visitors an even more detailed inspection of the artifacts than they could glean in an actual museum, where exhibits are separated from visitors by glass and several feet of space. Many of these artifacts are so exceptionally well-preserved that the zoom feature is especially pleasurable; we can revel in the joy of inspecting the hand-painted decoration on an 1835 baby carriage, or the careful stitching on a hand-made cloth doll from 1887.

Artifacts like the antique clothing and dolls are immediately charming; others can be either a bit disturbing, or darkly amusing. The 19th century "baby tender," for example, looks more like a packing crate for produce than a modern play-pen, while the hand-made "Twin Potty-Chair" makes us wonder: should twins really do everything together?

The most intriguingly named sub-category, "Children's creations," shows the woodworking and needleworking products of young people. One item—a stitched sampler—was made by a nine-year-old girl. The other displayed items appear to have been fashioned by people in their late teens, who might not have been considered "children" at the time (1790s-1810s). Still, the degree of skill demonstrated in these creations suggests the many hours of practice that these young artisans must have logged in their earlier years; the images therefore attest to the activities of childhood at the turn of the 19th century.

Do not, however, restrict yourself to the "Children" category of the "Highlights" page; the other categories there also include materials about children, mixed-in with the larger collections of artifacts. As just one example, the "Documents" category offers many texts used in children's schools (different selections from the ones displayed in the Children category). "Learning by Doing at Hampton" allows viewers to see sixteen pages from a 1900 pamphlet about the The Hampton Institute in Virginia, a school where freed African-American and Native American children were taught the customs and values of White society as a means of acculturation. There you can also see pages of a teenage boy's "copy book," with his penmanship, scholarship, and artistic skills displayed, as well as many other documents about children's lives as young scholars. The Documents category also features a "Journals and Diaries" sub-category, which contains several pages of text from the 1859-1860 diary of a twelve-year-old girl. The "Women's Lives" subcategory contains some other material relevant to the study of teenage girls, like the few pages scanned from a girls' 1830 instruction book: The Young Ladies Book: A Manual of Elegant Recreations, Exercises, and Pursuits, with rules for proper sitting, dancing, standing, and curtseying.

Nearly every section of the "American Centuries" site contains materials about children and youth, including photographs of children in school, at play, and among their families from the late 19th to early 20th centuries (this one shows a family in 1895 playing croquet on their front lawn).

With its easy navigability, superb detail in images and texts, and rich resources for students and teachers, this site is one of the best internet collections available for the study of childhood and youth in Eastern US history.

Louisa's World is a website that presents, in full text, the extant fragments of a diary written by Louisa Collins, a girl of about 18 who lived near Nova Scotia during the Regency period [1811-1820]. Hosted by Brook House Press, a Canadian publisher, Louisa's World is based on a manuscript donated to the Public Archives of Nova Scotia by a descendant of Louisa Collins' family.

The site's main page offers a menu of six sections: People, Intro, Diary, Gallery, Colin Grove, and Afterword. Of these, it is the diary itself—covering a one year period from 1815 to 1816—that provides the best material for a class on the history of youth generally and female adolescence specifically.

Louisa's entries are full of rich detail about the daily activities of an 18 to 19 year old woman in a rather isolated rural environment. Through Louisa's descriptions of such tasks as carding wool and churning butter, the reader glimpses a stark world in which manual labor abounds, but excitements are few and far between. Louisa loves reading, and the webpages offer hypertext links to the poems of Edward Young, some of whose phrasings and metaphors seem to be mimicked in Louisa’s writing.

Indeed, the whole text of Louisa's diary is full of such links, which lead to brief explanations of context and background data. For example, Louisa's reference to a neighbor's "black girl" is linked to a paragraph about the probable status of that unnamed girl as a maid-servant rather than a slave, given the emancipationist sentiments that prevailed in Nova Scotia at the time.

Louisa seems to have delighted above all in the companionship of her female friends, although her opportunities for visiting with them were limited by bad weather. Many entries voice plaintive regret at having to bear the tedium of long, dark days without the company of friends. On October 24, she wrote of one such day: "I don't think I shall git the rheumatism in my fingers for want of exercise, for I have been in my spinning room all day. No one intrudes on my solitude; my mind has free scope for thinking. – If it were not for hope and anticipation, time indeed would pass heavily on. – It has been very unpleasant all day; no one has been here."

In the "Intro" section the text's editor, Dale McLare, summarizes and interprets Louisa's entries. McLare comments upon the detailed descriptions of daily chores, noting that Louisa seemed to glean satisfaction from a job well done, and that she had "the attitude of one who has never doubted [work's] importance nor her responsibility for carrying it out. At the same time, it is very clear that Louisa has no urban-romantic nostalagia [sic] about the things she has to do. The work is just something that has to be done not the be-all and end-all of her life." (Before directing students to this site, a teacher would have to caution them about the numerous lapses of spelling and punctuation in the editor's prose—an unfortunate oversight of proofreading that somewhat compromises the site's value.)

McLare's introduction provides yet another body of material for history students to analyze: the impact of an editor's world-view on the production of knowledge. The editorial comments are historically specific: they suggest a current-day sensibility, one that finds it noteworthy when a teenager approaches hard work with a sense of duty, and one that knows all about "urban-romantic nostalgia" as a social construct.

McLare also takes several opportunities to note similarities between Louisa and Anne Shirley, fictional heroine of the Canadian classic, Anne of Green Gables. Although Louisa Collin's childhood occurred a century before Anne Shirley’s, McLare finds similarities (e.g., sentiments) between the real-life girl and the later fictional one, and clearly wants to link Louisa’s diary to a famous Canadian text. This is just one of several elements of Louisa's World that cater to a sense of nationalism and "pride of place" among the site's imagined readers, who seem to be comprised mainly of local historians and genealogists. The "People" section—the first one listed in the menu—is tailored for genealogists, in its cross-indexed listing of all the people named in Louisa's diary.

The "Gallery" section provides some excellent visual aids for readers of the diary, featuring maps, paintings, sketches, and survey-plans of locations near Louisa's home. Some of these images date from the relevant period, including a watercolor painting of a Micmac Indian encampment near Halifax in 1790.

The section on "Colin Grove" provides a detailed time-line of events in the history of the 5,000 acre estate owned by Louisa's family. The "Afterword" uses data from local histories and census records to provide information on the events in Louisa's family (marriages, deaths, etc.) in the years after the diary ends.

All in all, Louisa's World is very limited in scope, but broad in its historical information. It provides a good example of the sort of historiography that resembles miniature paintings: it focuses intensely on the fine details of a small primary document. The site's organization, with numerous hyperlinks and cross-indexing, make it very user-friendly. Most importantly for historians of youth, it impresses upon readers the feeling or tone and the quotidian realities or details of life in a rural town 200 years ago, as lived by a teenaged young woman.

1658

January

27 After six fitts of a Quartan Ague it pleased God to visite my deare child Dick with fitts so extreame, especiale one of his sides, that after the rigor was over & he in his hot fitt, he fell into so greate & intollerable a sweate, that being surpriz'd with the aboundance of vapours ascending to his head, he fell into such fatal Symptoms, as all the help at hand was not able to recover his spirits, so as after a long & painefull Conflict, falling to sleep as we thought, & coverd too warme, (though in the midst of a severe frosty season) and by a greate fire in the roome; he plainely expired, to our unexpressable griefe & affliction.

We sent for Physitians to Lond, whilst there was yet life in him; but the river was frozen up, & the Coach brake by the way ere it got a mile from the house; so as all artificial help failing, & his natural strength exhausted, we lost the prettiest, and dearest Child, that ever parents had, being but 5 years <5 months> & 3 days old in years but even at that tender age, aprodigie for Witt, & understanding; for beauty of body a very Angel, & for endowments of mind, of incredible & rare hopes.

30 On the Saturday following, I sufferd the Physitians to have him opened: Dr. Needham & Dr. Welles, who were come three days before, & a little time ere he expired, but was past all help, & in my opinion he was suffocated by the woman & maide that tended him, & covered him too hott with blankets as he lay in a Cradle, neere an excessive hot fire in a close roome; for my Wife & I being then below & not long come from him, being come up, & I lifting up the blanket, which had quite coved the Cradle, taking first notice of his wonderfull fresh colour, & hardly hearing him breath or heave, soone perceived that he was neere overcome with heate & sweate, & so doubtlesse it was, & the Child so farr gon, as we could not make him to heare, or once open his eyes, though life was apparently in him: we gave him something to make him sneeze but ineffectivly: Being open'd they they found a membranous substance growing to the cavous part of the liver, somewhat neere the edge of it for the compasse of 3 Inches, which ought not to be; for the Liver is fixed onely by three strong ligaments, all far distant from that part; on which they confidently affirm'd, the Child was (as tis vulgarly cald) liver-growne, & thence that sicknesse & so frequent complaint of his side: & indeede both Liver & Splen were exceedingly large &c:

After this I caused the body to be Cofin'd in Lead & reposited him that night, about 8 a clock in the Church of Deptford, accompanied with divers of my relations & neighbours, among whom I distributed rings with this ___ Dominus abstulit: intending (God willing) to have him transported with my owne body, to be interrd at our Dormitorie in Wotton churh in my deare native County Surry, & to lay my bones & mingle my dust with my Fathers 1 If God be so gracious to me; & make me as fit for him, as this blessed child was: Here ends the joy of my life, & for which I go even mourning to the grave: The L. Jesus sanctifie this & all others my Afflictions: Amen:

February

15 The afflicting hand of God being still upon us, it pleased him also to take away from us this morning my other youngest sonn George now 7 weeks languishing at Nurse, breeding Teeth, & ending in a Dropsie: Gods holy will be don: he was buried in Deptford church the 17th following:____

March

. . . This had ben the severest Winter, that man alive had knowne in England: The Crowes feet were frozen to their prey: Ilands of Ice inclosed both fish & foule frozen, & some persons in their boates:

Why I Taught the Source

Undergraduates enrolled in the 100-level course I teach on the Holocaust find the topic both compelling and overwhelming especially given the array of topics that cover the background to and mechanisms of destruction. In order to enable students to go beyond the countless facts and deeply disturbing details, I utilize survivors' narratives that provide a fuller understanding of the complexity of war and genocide. In my experience I have found that children's testimonies—diaries, memoirs, and documentaries—provide an unusual angle of vision into childhood, the family, everyday life, and survival. Using the oral histories of children provides a child-centered view of the Holocaust in which young people were not only victims and witnesses, but also historical agents.

Originally published in Polish by the Jewish Historical Commission in Cracow in 1946 and republished in English in 1996 by the British publisher Vallentine Mitchell, The Children Accuse is required reading about the early postwar testimonies of Jewish children in Poland. 1 The book consists of 55 children's testimonies and 15 adult testimonies. The latter testimonies focus on children's experiences in various ghettos in Nazi-occupied Poland, whereas the children's testimonies are divided into six thematic sections: the ghettos, the camps, on the Aryan side, in hiding, the resistance and prison. The children's testimonies can be characterized as 'unliterary,' simple descriptive reports, close in time to the events they describe. They convey diversity of individual experiences, but, at the same time, they revolve around common themes and shared wartime experiences. They all are based on oral interviews with child survivors that were conducted according to the official guidelines on how to research Jewish children's wartime experiences that were issued in 1945 by the Historical Commission of the Central Committee of Polish Jews. These interviews were carried out in Jewish children's orphanages, dormitories, and places of daily care that were established in various Polish cities and towns immediately after the end of war.

How I Introduce the Source

I introduce students to the testimonies by discussing the historical background and by posing a question about what we can learn from the close reading of children's testimonies. My main objectives are to teach students that children's testimonies are a rich documentary source useful for the reconstruction of the history of Jewish children and Jewish family in Poland during the Second World War, and for the reconstruction of the multi-dimensional histories of Polish-Jewish and also Ukrainian-Jewish relations of the period. My specific aims are to demonstrate the ways in which testimonies: (1) shed light on the patterns of Jewish family life (e.g., the reversal of the roles between children and their parents) and in the ghettos; (2) map out social relations between the children and other individuals in the ghettos and camps (e.g., between children and individuals on the Aryan side in wartime and early post-war Poland as well as with their Christian Polish rescuers); (3) inform us about children's particular methods of survival and their role in the process of their own survival; and (4) reveal the emotional, intellectual, and physical state of young people emerging from the conditions of war, genocide, and a deep-seated fear of being exposed as Jewish.

Students also learn about the differences between children's testimonies and other primary sources—the official documents—which they also read and discuss in the classroom prior to our discussion on Jewish children's wartime experiences. This is achieved through a two-page take-home assignment in which they answer the following key questions: How and in what ways do the testimonies differ from official documents? Describe the similarities and differences. What are, in your opinion, the shortcomings of the children's testimonies and what are their strengths as a historical evidence?

The subject is discussed in two 75-minute course periods during a week. In preparation, I show students a 15-minute clip from the film Undzere Children (Our Children). Afterwards, I ask them questions about the images of Jewish childhood during the war presented in the film and about representations of Jewish children during the Holocaust in Nazi anti-Jewish propaganda material discussed the previous week in the context of the Warsaw ghetto. This is conducted in the form of a "15-minute buzz discussion," aimed at the overview and categorization of acquired historical knowledge.

Reading the Source

Next, I provide a 10-minute general historical background (e.g., information and explanations about the various localities) and short definitions of unusual terms and vocabulary encountered in the testimonies. Students then form working groups—numbering between 5 and 6 individuals—that are assigned one or two children's testimonies from The Children Accuse. The final part of the first session is dedicated to going over the first homework assignment. Students read the testimony and answer the following questions: Does the child—she/he—remember his/her prewar childhood? What kind of social background does she/he have? Does the child remember his parents? What does she/he remember? What kind of wartime experience did the child undergo? What are the main recollected individuals, events and developments? What image of the life in a ghetto emerges from the testimony? How did the child survive? Was he/she assisted/helped by a rescuer and, if so, by whom? Who are the rescuers and how did they behave towards the child? What do we learn about the life of the child after the end of the war? How does she/he view their present situation? What feelings and reflections does she/he express? Are these feelings and reflections typical of a childhood age? What information appears to be absent from the child's testimony?

These questions are written on the weekly outline posted on blackboard and circulated in class at the beginning of the first session. I ask the students to provide written answers in the form of notes. At the beginning of the second class session, students in each group are asked to compare their written notes, discuss their individual answers, and prepare the comprehensive group answer to the abovementioned questions. I ask each of the groups to select the most striking passages from testimonies to exemplify their answers. This takes place during the first 15-20 minutes and is followed by each groups' 10-minute oral presentation about its child's/children's testimony. This is followed by a general class-wide discussion that builds on issues raised in each of the presented cases. This discussion aims at a differentiation of the children's wartime experiences and at making analogies between "ordinary" childhood and childhood under the conditions of war and genocide. These discussions are usually animated.

The second homework assignment—the above mentioned two-page essay—asks the students to discuss and reflect on the value of a child's testimony in Holocaust history. This assignment offers students the chance to wrestle with salient questions about a variety of primary sources in an historical investigation.

The two sessions are essential preparation for working on their final group assignment, a poster about Jewish children's life during the war. (The poster represents 15% of the final grade.) Through the final assignment, the students expand their knowledge about and understanding of the subject by building on their previous work and by further investigating the subject outside the classroom. Students usually are quite enthusiastic about the poster project. It allows them to demonstrate not only historical knowledge but also their creativity with written and visual images, as well as artistic and aesthetic talents.

Reflections

Having used children's testimonies in a range of courses, I have learned to adapt them according to the course level and subject matter. In all classes, I have founded that students' responses to this material is very positive.

The testimonies, together with diaries, memoirs and documentary films such as Undzere Children (Our Children, Poland, 1948, Yiddish with English translation) allow students insight into the everyday life of the historical actors: the Jewish child survivors, family members, their Christian rescuers and other individuals whom children encountered in a ghetto and on the Aryan side. These primary sources allow students to follow in the footsteps of young Jewish children and see them as human beings who went through various wartime experiences and who harbor particular child-focused memories of the war. Students confront, in these testimonies, the uncontrived story of personal experience. From the testimonies, students gain not only an understanding of the variety of wartime experiences and survival, but also an understanding of the particular pain and perplexity of the children, who lost their families, were forced to assume Christian identities, and to fend for themselves though children.