Multistory building

Color photo of a public building of Mamluk Cairo in Egypt. The building is open to air and light on three façades. The sabil featured copper grillwork windows through which cups of water could be passed by an attendant inside, or passers-by could enter the cool interior with decorative tiles. A balcony projects slightly over the street, shaded by a large wooden awning. Delicate, turned-wooden pillars form 15 arches connected by balustrades and carved wooden screens called mashrabiyya.

Color image by 13th–century illustrator al-Wasiti (fl. 1237). In the upper half of the illustration, a boy in a short tunic and cap with tiraz embroidered bands, leads animals yoked to the saqiyya, a geared water-raising device that irrigated fields and gardens. The boy grasps the tail of the animal and carries a switch as the animals pace around the circle, turning the wheel to raise the water. The water flows into the lower part of the illustration, where guests sit in a garden around a basin and decorative fountain, listening to poetry and music accompanied by a lute.

"Yahya said, 'Malik said from Hisham ibn Urwa that Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr gave judgment based on the testimony of children concerning the injuries between them.'[ Al-Muwatta Hadith, 36:9]

[Legal interpretation of the hadith:] Malik said, 'The generally agreed on way of doing things in our community is that the testimony of children is permitted concerning injuries between them. It is not accepted about anything else. It is only permitted between them if they testify before they leave the scene of the incident and [might] have been deceived or instructed. If they leave the scene, they have no testimony unless they call just witnesses to witness their testimony before they leave.'"

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/

Department of the Classics, Tufts University

April 2009

A truly fascinating collection, the Perseus Digital Library presents an immense array of ancient texts, artifacts, and images from Greece and Rome, as well as a smaller collection of materials from the European Renaissance, the Arabic world, and 19th-century America. A rich website for educators and students alike, those engaged in the study of children and youth will find several sources of great interest, particularly in the histories of the ancient Mediterranean and the U.S. in the 19th century.

There are seven primary collections in the Perseus Library. The largest collection is devoted to Greek and Roman materials. There is a vast collection of ancient prose, including iconic authors such as Homer and Aristotle, but also hundreds writers who are less well known. An Art and Archeology Artifact Browser catalogues "1305 coins, 1909 vases, 2003 sculptures, 179 sites, 140 gems, and 424 buildings" for perusal. There is also a small Arabic collection, which is focused almost exclusively on translations of the Qur'an, as well as a Germanic Peoples collection, a section devoted to Renaissance works, and a database of Documentary Papyri. Moreover, there is a 19th-century American history source collection, as well as many 19th century issues of the Richmond Times Dispatch, a Civil War-era newspaper from Virginia.

The Perseus Digital Library is an incredibly rich resource. There is one significant issue, however, that users must contend with if they are trying to locate resources on children and youth in history. The search function for the website is not very specific, making its utility reliant on the patience of the user. For instance, a search for "child" brings up every single time the word “child” is mentioned in any of the website’s sources. Because there are many thousands of sources on the site (including the complete works of Shakespeare and a vast array of Aristotelian works), such a search is useless for quickly narrowing down required documents that specifically deal with the history of children. However, users may find what they are looking for by taking some time to browse more generally among the various collections, as well as become more creative with the "exact phrase" search mechanism.

For example, a fascinating piece from Plato's Laws comes up when searching for the phrase "slave child." In this piece, Plato conflates adult slaves with children in terms of legal testimony, thereby reducing the significance of both in a court of law. Educators could create instructive lessons using this source, along with other sources on legal testimony and children throughout time, and have students compare and contrast the legal authority of youth testimony cross-culturally and cross-temporally.

Another wonderful example comes from a search for "children’s education"—an excerpt from the Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus' A Dialogue on Oratory. In this passage, Tacitus explains that he believes that Roman boys grew up to be great only when reared by virtuous and well-educated mothers, and he cites important emperors as evidence. This excerpt provides teachers of children's history a wonderful opportunity to create lessons based on historical notions of education, the role of the family in creating citizens for the nation, and shifting notions of gender roles and domestic life over time.

There are also interesting and useful sources for American history, including a primary source entitled The War-time Journal of a Georgia Girl, 1864-1865 by Eliza Frances Andrews. Written during the Civil War by a young teen, the document invites educators and students alike to consider the value of first-hand narratives to understanding larger historical events, as well as the subjective nature of primary sources. Moreover, it is a fascinating look into the social expectations of young women of the era who were living in the midst of war, and sheds an interesting light on the significance of gender, race, and class for understanding the historical experiences of children. An intriguing assignment using this source may be to juxtapose the experiences this young girl relayed in her wartime journal to other girls in warfare situations in other parts of the world, both contemporaneous to the U.S. Civil War and in other eras.

Overall, the Perseus Digital Library is a fantastic resource. With a little patience learning the search engine’s peculiarities, it is also a wonderful resource for exploring the history of children.

Nancy L. Stockdale

University of North Texas

A truly fascinating collection, the Perseus Digital Library presents an immense array of ancient texts, artifacts, and images from Greece and Rome, as well as a smaller collection of materials from the European Renaissance, the Arabic world, and 19th-century America.

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/ahiihtml/ahiiabt.html

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division

April 2009

The impressive photography of the Abdul-Hamid II Collection contains 1,819 photographs from the Ottoman Empire. Dated from approximately 1880 to 1893, the images depict scenes within the borders of modern Turkey, as well as Ottoman holdings in Greater Syria, Greece, and modern Iraq. Teachers and students of the history of children and youth will be particularly taken by the vast array of education-themed photographs, which reveal a strong emphasis placed on schooling by the Ottoman Empire at the time.

The photos in this collection were originally presented to the Library of Congress by Sultan Abdul-Hamid II in 1894. Most of the photos promote the Empire's modernization, with institutions such as schools, hospitals, military barracks, medical and law schools, and fire departments featuring prominently. A keyword search on "school" returns 546 images.

One of the most interesting elements of the collection are the many images of school children from the 19th century, particularly in Istanbul and surrounding areas of modern-day Turkey. There are also several images depicting school lessons, with an emphasis on cultural trends, such as physical fitness, art education, and schooling for the handicapped. See, for example, this "Group photograph of the students and the teachers of the school for the deaf."

Scholars and educators will be impressed by the many portraits of school children available in the collection. Using the website’s search function, keywords such as "girl," "boy," and "education" reveal tens of portraits of children in their school uniforms.

One of the more common portrait styles for children is to pair kids together. [Students, orphan school, Darüssafaka] These photos are fascinating primary documents that reveal important social indicators, including schoolboy and schoolgirl fashions (both in terms of uniforms and dress clothing), aesthetic notions about presenting children in portraiture, and elements of class and ethnicity in school populations of the Ottoman Empire.

Another essential element of this collection for those who study children’s history in the Ottoman Empire is the emphasis on modern educational facilities and contemporary methods of education. There are several photos highlighting the modern architecture of educational institutions, as well as images that reveal the scope of children’s education in the Ottoman Empire. Not only are private institutions represented, but mosque schools, orphanages, and schools for the deaf and blind are depicted, along with portraits of children attending these facilities. [Students, school for the blind] Schools for art and various trades are also depicted, and these images reveal fascinating gender assumptions, as it is girls who are attending art schools, whereas boys are taking part in trade school education.

An interesting assignment would be to have students search through the images and compare and contrast elements of the portrait photography. For instance, students could compare and contrast clothing styles, students’ ages and genders, and the types of schools depicted. Then, they could extrapolate upon various elements of Ottoman life in the late 19th century, including topics such as the increasing European influence on the Empire, the role of physical fitness and militarization in education, and the increasing diversity of educational options in the Ottoman polity.

The images are well displayed on dedicated pages, and are available as thumbnails, web-ready JPEG files, and uncompressed archival TIFF files. Full archival citation information is displayed, as well as clear information about how to purchase copies of some images.

The primary drawback of this website is its organization. From the search page users can preview all images, browse Library of Congress subject and format headings or names of creators or conduct broad searches or searches on specific fields. An exterior search engine (similar to Google) reveals a broad subject index, but there is no link from the main page to direct visitors there. This page will lead viewers to a comprehensive index, but without this knowledge, those looking for specific images or topics must rely on the Library of Congress search engine featured on the home page. Because of this flaw, viewers may find what they are looking for but miss related topics.

Despite this flaw, this collection is a rich resource. The photographs provice an excellent sense of the way that Abdul-Hamid II wanted Americans to view his empire. Moreover, the many images of educational facilities, as well as the myriad portraits of school children, illustrate a fascinating connection between education and modernity in the Ottoman Empire and its image projection abroad, one in which teachers and students should find much to explore.

Nancy L. Stockdale

University of North Texas

One of the most interesting elements of the collection are the many images of school children from the 19th century, particularly in Istanbul and surrounding areas of modern-day Turkey.

Ceramic cup with a drinking spout decorated with a splash pattern in green glaze. There is a fish design in the bottom of the cup and decorative line-work on the outside.

5 cm (2 inch)

Sculpture of a crocodile is made of Nile River mud. The figurine has open jaws, slits for eyes, a curved tail that seems to whip it through the water, and feet that seem to be in motion. The maker used a stick to scratch markings into the back and along the tail to represent the animal's scales.

Two children's tunics, found in Egypt by archaeologist Wm. Flinders Petrie. They date to the Islamic period, 9th or 10th century. First tunic is blue and measures 45.5 cm long and 51 cm wide (18 x 20 inches). The tunic is made of three different fabrics cut from an adult garment into 11 separate pieces, with sleeves and side gores. Red and white zigzag patterned bands decorate the neck and sleeves, and diamond patterned patches are darned into the blue fabric with brown wool (see detail). The second tunic is a checked pattern and measures 75.5 cm long and 77 cm wide (30 x 31 inches), the size of a young child. It is hand-woven of red, blue and yellow wool in an unusual plaid pattern with undyed linen (see detail). The maker tailored separate sleeves and side gores, and finished the neck with red binding and a button and loop closing.

Archeological photo of two children's skeletons. The two children whose skeletons are shown in this photograph were both under 10 years of age, and were probably buried at the same time. They were buried in a fetal position. Archaeologists found these burials in the floor of a house at Çatalhöyük, a Neolithic agricultural settlement in Turkey that was continuously occupied between 8000 BCE and 6400 BCE.