An advertisement for a nearly equal number of adults and children from Sierra Leone at a Charleston Auction, July 24, 1769. The broadside depicts two stereotyped images of Africans with children, about one quarter the height of the poster and located on either side of the centered text. The text reads: "Charlestown, July 24th, 1769. To Be Sold, on Thursday the third Day of August next, A Cargo of Ninety-Four Prime, Healthy Negroes, consisting of Thirty-nine Men, Fifteen Boys, Twenty-four Women, and Sixteen Girls. Just Arrived, In the Brigantine Dembia, Francis Bare, Master, from Sierra Leon, by David & John Deas.

THE ROYAL AFRICAN COMPANY: MINUTES AND FURTHER REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF TRADE.

This leads the Comm'ee to lay before the Court Some proposals which have been made to them by Mr. Playten Onely for a Contract to be made with some Lisbon Merchants for Slaves vizt:

For 500 Annualy, Small Slaves Male and Female from 6 to 10 Years old, to be delivered

• at St. Iago at £10 per head
• in the River Gambia at £9
• at Lisbon at £15

to be paid for at Lisbon one Month after delivery, at the rate of 5 sh : 6 d. per mill rec [rei], which will be 540 : 545 Bus 1 per head delivered at Lisbon. In Case the Slaves are delivered in the River Gambia, or at St. Iago, the Payments are to be made in England by the Agents or Corespond'ts of the Contractors in two Months after the Certificates of such delivery shall be by the Company presented to the said Contractors Agents in London.

For .1000 Adult Slaves annually from 12 to 40 Years of Age half Men and half Women, to be delivered at St. Iago according to the time which may be Stipulated at £18 per head to be paid for as above.

If the Company think it their Interest to be concerned in Slaves to be delivered at St. Iago, in order to be transported to the Brazills for their own Account, the Contractors are willing to cover such Slaves under Portuguese Names, as they do their own, allowing about a Moider per head for letting the Said Slaves go to the Brazils in their Names, and allowing Freight to the Ships that carry them of about £5 : 10 to £6 per head, with a Commiss'n to those that sell them at the Brazils of abt 5 per Cent, and the Gold for which they are sold, to be consigned to the Contractors at Lisbon.

It is proposed Mr. Onely may have liberty to treat with Some English Gentlemen at Lisbon of Credit and reputation for any Number of Negros to be delivered annually in such manner as may be agreed on at the Island of St. Thomas at Lao per head half Men, half Women, from 12 Years of Age to 40, to be paid for in Lond'n 2 Months after the Certificates are presented to their Agents here: as also Boys and Girls from 7 to 10 Years of Age at £14 per head.

Mr. Onely proposes in regard to himself, that in case he meets with Success, a Gratuity be made him in proportion to the Service he may do the Company. That an Allowance of about £200 per Anno be granted for his Expences, to Commence from the time of his Setting out, and Submitts to the Consideration of the Court his having already lost an opportunity of going in the Company's Service on this very account.

<h3>Primary School Enrollment Rates (percent of children of primary school age who were enrolled in school)</h3> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <thead> <tr> <th>Date</th> <th>Primary Schools</th> <th>Boys</th> <th>Girls</th> <th>Total</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>1873</td> <td>12,597</td> <td>39.9</td> <td>15.1</td> <td>28.1</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1874</td> <td>20,017</td> <td>46.2</td> <td>17.2</td> <td>32.3</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1875</td> <td>24,303</td> <td>50.8</td> <td>18.7</td> <td>35.4</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1880</td> <td>28,410</td> <td>58.72</td> <td>21.91</td> <td>41.06</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1885</td> <td>28,283</td> <td>65.80</td> <td>32.07</td> <td>49.62</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1890</td> <td>26,017</td> <td>65.14</td> <td>31.13</td> <td>48.93</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1895</td> <td>26,631</td> <td>76.65</td> <td>43.87</td> <td>61.24</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1900</td> <td>26,857</td> <td>90.35</td> <td>71.73</td> <td>81.48</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1905</td> <td>27,407</td> <td>97.72</td> <td>93.34</td> <td>95.62</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <br /> <h3>Enrollment and Attendance in Yoshida Elementary School, 1883</h3> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <thead> <tr> <th>Month</th> <th># children enrolled</th> <th># children attending</th> <th>Avg daily attendance</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>January</td> <td>100</td> <td>90</td> <td>80</td> </tr> <tr> <td>February</td> <td>100</td> <td>90</td> <td>50</td> </tr> <tr> <td>March</td> <td>132</td> <td>120</td> <td>111</td> </tr> <tr> <td>April</td> <td>119</td> <td>109</td> <td>100</td> </tr> <tr> <td>May</td> <td>119</td> <td>106</td> <td>93</td> </tr> <tr> <td>June</td> <td>119</td> <td>80</td> <td>68</td> </tr> <tr> <td>July</td> <td>119</td> <td>77</td> <td>54</td> </tr> <tr> <td>August</td> <td>119</td> <td>94</td> <td>75</td> </tr> <tr> <td>September</td> <td>118</td> <td>89</td> <td>83</td> </tr> <tr> <td>October</td> <td>118</td> <td>92</td> <td>81</td> </tr> <tr> <td>November</td> <td>118</td> <td>76</td> <td>66</td> </tr> <tr> <td>December</td> <td>118</td> <td>87</td> <td>82</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>

Why I Taught the Sources

On April 18, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI told the United Nations General Assembly, "The promotion of human rights remains the most effective strategy for eliminating inequalities between countries and social groups, and for increasing security" [full text]. Like Pope Benedict, many scholars of international diplomacy and foreign policy talk about the history of human rights as a key shift in international policy after the Second World War.

Few, however, connect the history of human rights to the children's rights movement that marked the opening and closing decades of the 20th century. Further, examining children's rights as human rights provides avenues for understanding the complexity of creating and implementing universal declarations of rights. In addition, for students, including children's rights makes international diplomatic history more approachable.

My teaching experience is with college students, but the topic of children's rights as human rights is adaptable for use in the elementary grades through high school. Focusing on human rights as a concept underscores the social construction of many ideas taken for granted by students. It also offers students the opportunity to research the current status of children from around the world.

How I Introduce the Sources

This teaching-case study utilizes three primary source documents to link the history of children's rights and human rights in 20th-century diplomatic history.

1. 1930 White House Conference Children's Charter
2. 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
3. 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

For students with no previous exposure to the notion of rights, I begin class discussion by introducing the opening section of the 1776 American Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."

Even students with only a limited knowledge of U.S. history recognize the reality that "unalienable rights" was malleable at the time and broadened to include a larger number of American citizens over time. With upper-level students I find it useful to also include references to the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

I explain that by the early 20th century, urbanization and industrialization led many reformers to focus on child welfare and a recognition of children's rights as separate from those of adults. For example, in 1905, American social worker Florence Kelley published Some Ethical Gains through Legislation. Kelley argued for the establishment of a federal bureau focused on children's issues and their "right to childhood."

Nine years later, Congress responded by creating the U.S. Children's Bureau. The bureau was the first federal agency in the world mandated to focus solely on the interests of a nation's youngest citizens. Similarly, in 1909, Swedish author and social critic Ellen Key declared that a new era had arrived, "the century of the child."

Reading the Sources

By 1930, the White House Conference on Child Heath and Protection spelled out the specific rights of modern childhood in a 19-point Children's Charter. I talk about the document in the context of the onset of the Great Depression and use stories from my book, The Greatest Generation Grows Up to inform the discussion. The 1933 William Weld Movie, Wild Boys of the Road, is also a useful classroom tool for showing students conditions for young Americans in the Great Depression.

Ask students: Does the Children's Charter include rights different from those assumed for adults? What would be necessary to fulfill the rights spelled out in the charter? What does the charter suggest government should do to ensure rights for children?

Students usually conclude that the document is more sentimental than effective as a policy tool. However, its very existence shows the influence of the idea of children's rights as human rights by 1930.

I then introduce the second primary source, the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ratified on December 10, 1948. By the late 1940s, the exposure of Nazi war crimes, along with the world-wide refugee problem that existed after World War II influenced the three-year old United Nations to pass its Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 1

Students read the declaration and discuss the specific protections and rights included in the document. I ask them to consider if the children's rights movement had any influence on the document. This discussion highlights the fact that children's rights and interests are defined by, and must be secured by, adults.

Eleven years after ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in November 1959, the U.N. adopted the Declaration on the Rights of the Child. Three decades later, in November 1989, it ratified as the UNICEF Convention on the Rights of the Child. By the fall of 1990, 20 U.N. member nations signed the document, qualifying it as international law and by 2007, all member nations except the U.S. signed the document.

This important document clearly argues that despite the ratification of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, children need special protections. Students always note somewhat ironically, that while this declaration takes the history of children's rights full circle, the United States has not signed the document. 2

Reflections

This lesson highlights the importance of including the history of childhood and youth in historical interpretation and how difficult it is to create and enforce a single universal model of children's rights.

Additional Resources:

Lindenmeyer, Kriste. The Greatest Generation Grows Up: American Childhood in the 1930s. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2005.

Sealander, Judith. The Failed Century of the Child: Governing America's Young in the Twentieth Century. New York: Cambridge University, 2003.

United Nations, UNICEF, The State of the World's Children 2007: Women and Children the Double Dividend of Gender Equality http://www.unicef.org/sowc07/docs/sowc07.pdf (accessed March 10, 2008).

Veerman, Philip E. The Rights of the Child and the Changing Image of Childhood. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1992.

Burns H. Weston's Child Labor and Human Rights: Making Children Matter provides evidence of the work that still needs to be done to improve the situation for many of the world's children (Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc. 2005).

I was adopted by the Katsu family when I was seven. My age was officially given as seventeen, and the hair at the front of my head was cut off accordingly. 1 As part of the adoption procedure, 2 Ishikawa Ukon-no-shôgen, the commissioner of my unit at the kobushingumi, 3 and his assistant, Obi Daishichirô, came to the house.

"How old are you and what is your name?" Ishikawa asked.

"My name is Kokichi and I am seventeen."

Ishikawa pretended to be taken aback. "Well — for seventeen you certainly look old!" He burst out laughing.

My adoptive father's older brother, Aoki Jinbei, who served at Edo Castle as a member of the Great Guard, acted as sponsor.

Until then I had been called Kamematsu. With my adoption my name changed to Kokichi. My adoptive parents had already died, leaving behind a daughter and her grandmother. It was decided that the two would live at my father's place in Fukugawa. I was completely ignorant of these arrangements and spent my time in play.

I got into another fight over a kite, again with some boys from Mae-chô. There must have been 20 or 30. I took them on alone hitting and punching, but they finally got the better of me. I was cornered on a large rock in an open field and struck over and over with bamboo poles. My hair had fallen loose all over my face, and I was sobbing. I took out my short sword and slashed left and right. 4 But I knew I was beaten and decided then and there to commit hara-kiri. I stripped to the waist and sat down on the rock. As it so happened, a rice dealer by the name of Shirokoya was standing nearby. He talked me into giving up the idea and took me home. After this, though, all the boys in the neighborhood became my followers. I was seven at the time . . . .

When I was nine, my father told me to take judo lessons with Suzuki Seibei, a relative of the Katsu family in Yokoami-chô . . . . As I said, everyone in judo class hated me. On the day that an all-night midwinter session was to be held, we received permission from the teacher to bring food. We took a break at midnight. I had packed a lacquer box full of bean jam cakes and had been looking forward all day to this moment when we would share the food. My classmates had other plans. They got together and tied me up with an obi, 5 hoisted me to one of the rafters and began eating, even helping themselves to my cakes. So I pissed on their heads, spraying the food that had been spread out, and naturally, everything had to be thrown away. Served them right, too.

How Some Children Played at Slaughtering

I

In a city named Franecker, located in West Friesland, some young boys and girls between the ages of five and six happened to be playing with one another. They chose one boy to play a butcher, another boy to play was to be a cook, and a third boy was to be a pig. Then they chose one girl to be a cook and another girl her assistant. The assistant was to catch the blood of the pig in a little bowl so they could make sausages. As agreed, the butcher now fell upon the little boy playing the pig, threw him to the ground, and slit his throat open with a knife, while the assistant cook caught the blood in her little bowl.

A councilman was walking nearby and saw this wretched act. He immediately took the butcher with him and led him into the house of the mayor, who instantly summoned the entire council. They deliberated about this incident and did not know what they should do to the boy, for they realized it had all been part of a children's game. One of the councilmen, an old wise man, advised the chief judge to take a beautiful red apple in one hand and a Rhenish gulden in the other. Then he was to call the boy and stretch out his hands to him. If the boy took the apple, he was to be set free. If he took the gulden, he was to be killed. The judge took the wise man's advice, and the boy grabbed the apple with a laugh. Thus he was set free without any punishment.

II

There once was a father who slaughtered a pig, and his children saw that. In the afternoon, when they began playing, one child said to the other, "you be the little pig, and I'll be the butcher." He then took a shiny knife and slit his little brother's throat.

Their mother was upstairs in a room bathing another child, and when she heard the cries of her son, she immediately ran downstairs. Upon seeing what had happened, she took the knife out of her son's throat and was so enraged that she stabbed the heart of the other boy, who had been playing the butcher. Then she quickly ran back to the room to tend to her child in the bathtub, but while she was gone, he had drowned in the tub. Now the woman became so frightened and desperate that she did not allow the neighbors to comfort her and finally hung herself. When her husband came back from the fields and saw everything, he became so despondent that he died soon after.

BOARD Of MANAGERS' REPORT.

On this, the twenty-seventh anniversary of The Cleveland Protestant Orphan Asylum, we cannot but review with grateful hearts the many blessings that have been showered upon it by a guiding Providence, from its beginning until the present time.

In April, 1852, the charity of one lady furnished the Asylum with the lease of a small frame house on the corner of Erie and Ohio streets, where it began its work of sheltering orphans and destitute children. This house was mainly furnished by articles of second-hand furniture begged by the ladies first undertaking its management. The post of manager for the Orphan Asylum was during its first years no sinecure, for active exertion was needed to see that the necessaries of life were procured for the household. There were times, at its beginning, when, after one day's table was spread, there was uncertainty as to how that for another was to be provided. Yet the little household never lacked. The promise, "Bread shall be given thee, and thy water shall be sure," never failed towards it. The city at that time was neither so large nor wealthy as it now is, by many degrees, but there was never a time when hearts did not warm to the need of the orphan, and a call of the managers of the Asylum for the means of providing for its necessities always met with a ready response. Soon the little frame house became too small for the number of inmates, and at the second anniversary meeting the report of the managers states that there were then "twenty-five in the family, and no larger number could be accommodated."

A call was immediately made for funds to erect a building purposely for the Asylum, and a general subscription from the citizens of Cleveland resulted in the erection of a building suitable to its wants at that time. The donation of an acre of land by Rev. Eli N. Sawtell, on the corner of Woodland and Willson avenues, had already supplied a site. Four months after the third annual meeting, the building was so far completed that the orphans were removed to it. This house is the one that has ever since been occupied by the Asylum. With joy and pride was the new building opened for use, and little did those then connected with the institution expect to witness a call for another and larger home. The children reveled in the wider liberty afforded them here. One poor little fellow, who had come from some dark, cellar-like home, waking at night in one of the airy sleeping apartments, and seeing the light of a full moon streaming in at the numerous windows, exclaimed: "This is a grand place; they don't have no nights here." The Asylum has indeed been a bright and blessed place for many whose lives but for it would have been forever darkened.

Though the house was occupied in July, 1855, it was not then wholly finished or furnished. This was slowly, and, with some difficulty, accomplished during the four or five years thereafter. It was, fortunately, quite completed in 1860, just previous to the war, when there was an increasing call for shelter for orphans, while the high prices of the necessities of life caused a heavy strain upon the means at command of the institution. This need was, however, generously met by the public in their patronage of a series of entertainments arranged by the ladies connected with the Asylum.

In December, 1863, the well known legacy of Capt. Levi Sartwell supplied the Asylum with such an addition to the small Permanent Fund previously collected, as relieved it from the pressure of anxiety, and with other donations from time to time from kind friends, the Asylum has ever since been enabled to perform its work. Although this has steadily increased with each succeeding year, its income has about covered its living expenses.

We have, in previous reports, called attention to the fact that owing to the rapid growth of our city, the site of the Asylum has gradually become more unsuitable for its purposes. The family has grown larger, and the building is no longer well adapted to its use. Much anxiety has also been felt, that a house sheltering so many little children was not fireproof. But generous friends, of whose kindness we call not speak too highly, have been ready, not only to observe the needs of the hour, but to act upon them.

Mr. Leonard Case opened the way by donating a valuable tract of land, fronting upon St. Clair street, as a site for a new asylum, and soon afterwards our staunch friend, Mr. J. H. Wade, signified his willingness to contribute towards the erection of a substantial fire-proof building, the sum of $40,000. It is now one year since work was begun upon the foundation of a building of this description. It has since progressed as rapidly as possible, under the skillful direction of Mr. Samuel Lane, architect, with the very efficient help of Mr. Reuben Bulman, Superintendent of Works.

The building from every point of view presents a massive and imposing appearance, having just enough of ornament to relieve its solidity.

It is built of rock-faced Amherst stone, trimmed with red Marquette sandstone. In the interior the wide halls and large rooms, with their high ceiling, give an impression of ample air and space, and promise of thorough ventilation.

The solid character of the work has prevented its being carried on with the speed that was at first expected, and the interior is still in a rough state, so that a day for its occupation cannot with certainty be named.

Work upon a building at once so elegant and so substantial, has, of course, been costly, and before the summer was over the large sum given by Mr. Wade was almost exhausted. But there was no exhausting the generosity of our large hearted friend, as was proved by the following letter, addressed to Mr. Joseph Perkins, President of the Board of Trustees for the Asylum:

Cleveland, August 29, 1879.
JOSEPH PERKINS, ESQ. President C.P. Orphan Asylum:

Dear Sir:-The amount promised by me towards building the new Asylum is nearly expended, with the building a little more than half finished. This suggests a review of the situation, and inquiry as to where the balance of the money is to come from. The building is costing considerably more than was anticipated, and to complete it from the limited means of the Society will, I fear, reduce their income below the proper requirements for so many children as the new building is capable of accommodating. And wishing to see it all utilized, if Cleveland has enough homeless children to fill it, I have come to the conclusion that rather than have the managers, in whom I have so much confidence, embarrassed for want of funds, in what I regard the holiest of human charities, you may disregard the limit heretofore named, and continue to draw on me for the completion of the building, including heating apparatus, plumbing and gas fitting.

Very respectfully,
J.H. WADE

For such noble generosity the managers are powerless to render a suitable expression of thanks, but they fervently trust that the blessing of many a soul ready to perish, may through long years to come richly reward the donor.

In the plan of the building a great part of the upper story is reserved for a child's hospital. This plan has had the careful study of Dr. Alleyne Maynard, who last year appropriated for the fitting up and maintenance of this hospital, according to the best recent methods, the sum of $10,000 as a memorial offering for his wife, Mrs. Mary Clarke Brayton, a lady so widely known as one full of good and charitable works.

Our thanks are again tendered to Mr. Leonard Case, who has lately extended his gift of land to the Asylum, by thirty feet fronting on St. Clair street, in order to give a more ample space for so large a building. The whole amount of land in the tract thus liberally donated by Mr. Case is 4x24/100 acres. The great advantage to the Asylum family, of such extensive grounds for use and recreation, will be apparent to all.

In the rear of the new Asylum, and entirely separate from it, a good brick house is being erected for laundry purposes. The cost of this, and of the extensive sewerage required for connecting with mains at a distance of about 1,800 feet, and also the expenses of improvement of the ample grounds, will be met by funds expected to accrue from the sale of the old site, which, it is hoped, will prove sufficient to cover these outlays.

Of the year that has just closed we are glad to be able to record that it has been a prosperous one in our Asylum work. Our Superintendent's report will show the large number of children placed in homes during the year, and we have reason to rejoice in the excellent character of these homes and the good hope that the little ones there placed will grow up under the most favorable circumstance for lives of usefulness. Much time and labor is given by the Superintendent and Matron to the visitation at homes and correspondences both before and after placing ant children, so that we have the satisfaction of knowing that the best has been done that is possible, for each little human waif.

The Asylum household remains under the same excellent supervision that has for years past had our entire confidence. Mr. A. H. Shunk and Mrs. Julia W. Shunk retaining the places of Superintendent and Matron, which they have so long well and faithfully occupied.

Miss M.J. Weaver and Mrs. O. R. Wing, who for nine years past have been our reliance as special care-takers for the boys' and girls' departments, have continued to do good service in those posts; while Mrs. Dora Ellison has given efficient help in different departments.

There has been but little severe sickness within the Asylum during the year. One death has occurred from diptheretic croup.

Our thanks are due to Dr. Thomas, also to Dr. Barr, for their professional services; one at the beginning and the other at the close of the year.

We are pleased to acknowledge again the help of our good friend Mr. David L. Wightman, who has continued to act as a co-worker in bringing to our doors some of those unhappy little ones who are in a state of worse than orphanage, from which it needs the aid of some such good Samaritan ns he to rescue them.

We would recognise the kindness of Miss Jennie Hutchinson, who without charge, for five weeks of the summer vacation, taught a school on the kindergarten plan in the Asylum, and thereby gave great delight as well as good instruction to our restless little ones, on whom, as well as on our tried care-takers, the long vacation hours are apt to drag heavily.

We note a legacy of ($300) three hundred dollars, from the estate of Mrs. Betsy Barnes of Medina, 0., paid into the Permanent Fund of the Asylum through her executor, Mr. William P. Clarke; also a legacy of $55.75 from Francis W. Warner, by Mr. G. Vanvoast, administrator.

In the infant department we consider that much has been done by very simple means. There are no accommodations for infants within the Asylum, but an active committee is appointed, consisting of Mrs. Wm. Rattle, Mrs. N. W. Taylor and Mr. A. H. Shunk, whose duty it is to give careful attention to this part of the work. During the past year twenty-five infants have been placed by this committee in good homes, where they were taken for adoption. It is remarkable, considering the extreme difficulty in bringing along safely infants deprived of a mother's care, that only one babe has died during the year while in charge of the Asylum, and this was one that had suffered so severely from exposure before being received that it was unable to rally from the effects. As care due to the older children renders it impossible to have the infants sheltered in the Asylum, most of the babes have been placed with Mrs. Sarah Woodin, who, during the past six years, has proved herself a careful and affectionate nurse to the infants entrusted to her. We think it but just to commend her as one having a special love for babyhood, that gives an aptness in the delicate management needed for it, and renders the vigilant watching which it day and night demands a welcome toil. We report the following donations for the special use of the nursery, and not included in the Treasurer's report. Mr. James A. Tracy, $25; Mrs. Charles Bissell, $10; Mrs. Wm. Rattle, $25.

At the last meeting of managers for the year, we were informed of two most welcome offerings to the Asylum: one, a fine sewing machine from the White Sewing Machine Company of 360 Euclid Av., a gift which is thankfully received and well appreciated; the other an offering from Mr. J . A. Vincent and his daughter, Mrs. Hines, to furnish the parlor of the new Asylum building. We desire to return thanks to the kind donors for this most seasonable and acceptable gift.

We close our year's work with hearts filled with joy and gratitude for the mercies vouchsafed to our institution, and with brightest hopes for its future prosperity, under the blessing of Him who declared himself the father of the fatherless.

For the Managers,
Respectfully submitted,
A. WALWORTH, Secretary

SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT

The number of children in care of tile Asylum at the close of the year (September 30, 1878) was 59; during the year there have been admitted, 150; there have been returned to friends, 91; died, 2, (one in the Asylum and one in the nursery); taken to the Industrial Home for Girls, 1; placed in homes for adoption, 70; now in the Asylum, 45; whole number of children cared for, 209.

As we look over the work of the past year, we can safely say it has been a prosperous and fruitful one. As is our custom, we have given much attention to children who have from time to time been placed in homes. As a general thing we found them in good health, happy and contented; their physical wants abundantly supplied, and their mental and moral training carefully looked after. We are often surprised at the physical development of our boys and girls. We find many of them standing shoulder to shoulder with the best of people, and taking high position in the active duties of life. Surely a good home in the country is a good thing.

During the year we have travelled 13,000 miles, and have visited 113 boys and girls in their homes. For various reasons we have made some changes, and in some cases have thought best for children to return to the Asylum.

Occasionally our friends become somewhat discouraged in the management of our boys and girls, but this discouragement comes largely from the fact that we are all working in undeveloped ground. Children, no more than adults, can be raised to high levels suddenly. We must take them on their own plane, place them under the elevating influence of Christianity and education, and gradually bring them to the appreciation of higher privileges.

Personal influence is a great power. There is no such sunshine as sympathy and encouragement. Slow growth is often sure growth, - some minds are like Norwegian pines, they are slow in growth, but they are striking their roots deep.

We must keep in line of sympathy and thought with the young. We need more wisdom, more cheerfulness, more fruitfulness. These are elements that every man should seek for in his daily experience. The good farmer, with whom we like to place our boys, knows full well the value of trenching and enriching the soil. Success in agriculture and horticulture is in exact proportion to the amount of labor and stimulus given. Let us have less of the pruning knife, and more root culture; less repression, and more encouragement.

There are few things to which we need to train ourselves more diligently and conscientiously than the habit of giving cheer and encouragement.

We soon expect to leave our old Asylum Home, with all its sacred memories. And as we enter our new and commodious building, erected by generous hands, we are not unmindful of the fact that increased facilities bring greater responsibilities. The design of the Orphan Asylum is to supply the place of the parent, as far as possible. The homeless and destitute children of the city are our special wards. Our open door bids them a cheery welcome, where warm hearts and willing hands will minister to their necessities. Our ambition is to save the perishing. We want the Asylum to be a known refuge to every child who may need its hospitality. To this end we earnestly invite the co-operation of all friends of suffering humanity. We shall at all times be glad to have anyone point us to a homeless child or a child in distress.

We still believe that the true home for the child is the family, and that the ultimate aim of all asylum work should be to establish the child in family relations as soon as possible. In this department of our work we need troops of friends; we need their help, we need their advice, we need their encouragement, and we intend to do our work in such a way as to command their confidence and respect.

We fully appreciate the good work done by the many friends of the Asylum in days past, and we sincerely hope they will not forget us in days to come. Speak a good word for the Asylum, and point us to some good home for an orphan child. There are many childless homes throughout the country, Christian homes of peace and plenty, but such homes naturally tend to selfishness. The divine law is a law of unselfishness, and we would say to all such homes, take to your hearts some bright orphan child, and learn that life is another thing when great love enters it.

Sometimes people ask where all our children come from. They come from hunger, from cold, from nakedness, from neglect and abuse. Their poverty is not of their own misdeeds; but for this mysterious providence they appeal to us as God's poor.

In our new building, No. 940 St. Clair street, we shall always be glad to see our friends and co-operate with them in any good work which will tend to bring a homeless child and childless home into a divine and mutually blessing relation.

The following letter is from two sisters who went out from the Asylum four years ago:

October 5, 1879.

DEAR MR. AND MRS. SHUNK : - Papa received your welcome letter, and he wished me to answer for him. Katie (or Minnie as we call her now) and myself attend school all the while. We have a very good school; there are five departments. Little Minnie took the price in the first intermediate at the close of the year. I attend the high school, study history, geography, grammar, arithmetic. We also attend Sabbath school and church every Sunday. I have played the organ in Sunday school for two years, and have played for church service all summer, the organist being absent. We have a beautiful organ; little Minnie plays a few exercises. We have a very pleasant home; papa and mamma are very kind to us, and give us all the advantages they possibly can, and we are very happy. I am sorry we have no portraits to send you at present; will send them as soon as we have some taken. I suppose the children are all sitting out on the grass this beautiful afternoon, listening to some story being read by some of you. Would like very much to see you all. I don't suppose there are any of the girls at the Asylum that were there when I was, but presume you hear from them once in a while.

Papa, mamma and sister Minnie wish to be remembered, and they would like very much if yon could come and make us a visit. Please let us hear from yon again.

Lovingly,
Mary.

Eighteen months ago, Mr. D. L. Wightman, agent of the Humane Society, brought a little curly headed boy to the Asylum, deserted by his father and abused by his mother. He had received an injury from which he came near having hip disease; but through the skill and kindness of Dr. Biggar, the child recovered. We placed him in a good home, where he has been legally adopted and made an heir to property. A few weeks ago, in company with his foster parents, this little boy visited the Asylum; hale and hearty, with his past neglect and suffering entirely forgotten.

Last spring Willie W. wanted to know whether we would buy some potatoes of him in the fall. Certainly, said we. So early in the morning, October 7, Willie drove up to the Asylum with a big load or produce. We paid him the market price for his potatoes, and we find them to be excellent. Will is an Asylum boy, a manly fellow, and we are always glad to have him come home. In the same good place lives Gracie. She is an Asylum girl, and always comes in with a smile on her face. Occasionally Gracie calls with a basket of eggs, and is quite disposed to drive q good bargain. We attribute this to her Western Reserve training, which is all right, tor industry and economy bring wealth. We are proud of Will and Gracie.

Coney B., who lives in the same neighborhood, bas a good deal to tell us about the good time he has going to school, and hunting rabbits and squirrels. Coney is in good hands, and we expect good things from him.

Lulu is a fine girl of nine years. The old, old story or drunkenness and abuse was the cause of her coming to the Asylum. Nearly two years ago we placed her in a pleasant home in the country. Before coming to the Asylum, Lulu scarcely ever heard anything fall from the lips of her parents but profanity and obscenity. Mr. Wightman will bear us out in this statement. In her new home she is neat and tidy, happy and contented. We called to see her recently. She read to us out of the Bible, and sang many of the popular Sunday school songs of the day. She never goes to bed at night without first praying for the children at the Orphan Asylum.

Once upon a time, not far from the above home, we placed a little homeless girl baby. We called to see it. She is a promising child and has been legally adopted. Furthermore, she has four big brothers, who declare that she shall have her rights under the law. And as we looked over the large, well ordered farm, we came to the conclusion that her rights under the law is no small matter.

The following letter from Daisy tells a sad story:

DEAH MR. SHUNK: - I write to tell you that my dear papa is with us no more. Mamma and I are so sad and lonely. Papa was so much company for us, and he was so kind to teach me how to write, and how to read in the Bible, and to love God. I shall not forget his kind Words. I will try to be a good girl, and meet him in heaven. He is buried near by, so I can go to his grave every day and carry flowers to it. Mamma and I are coming to see you in November. Truly your friend, DAISY.

October, 1879.

MR. A. H. SHUNK:

Dear Sir: - I wish to send you many thanks in acknowledgement of the great kindness you rendered me when you sent me the dear little baby I have waited for so long. She is entirely different in looks from the ideal baby I looked for: but her sparkling eyes, and quick, bright ways make her so attractive that she long ago found the way to our hearts; and we dearly love the little homeless one - homeless no longer - for we would not think of parting with her now. She is well and grows nicely, and has already learned to know her papa and mamma from everyone else. She is such a comfort to me. How can I thank you enough? Now about adoption papers. Please let us know what will be required of us, for we wish to keep our baby. We will be glad to finish it up as soon as possible. I---H---

If there ever was a child rescued from danger, it is the little boy who (in words of his own selection) morning and evening repeats IRVIE'S PRAYER:
0, Lord, take care of papa,
0, Lord, take care of mamma;
0, Lord, take care of me;
0, Lord, take care of all little children. Amen!

David writes good letters. He has a good home, and seems to be much interested in agricultural pursuits. He has been the subject of much anxiety, but we believe the good work done by his best earthly friend has not been in vain, and that he will yet rise up to call Miss Weavce blessed.

We would like to speak of a great many of our boys and girls; would like more fully to tell of our visits to them; would like to read many good letters we have from them, and mention the good reports we hear of them, but we have not room for all these good things. We want our boys and girls to get more and more in the habit of writing to us. Tell us all about what you are doing and how you do it; be assured we will be interested in anything you may have to say, and be assured we shall always be glad to see you at your Asylum home.

A.H. SHUNK
Superintendent.

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Why I Taught the Source

In studying the historical meaning of disability in the U.S., official reports of the myriad institutions established for the care, education, training, and sometimes merely confinement, of persons whose differences set them apart have been a key source of information. Such documents were typically written by administrators concerned primarily with the need to ensure continued public and institutional support.

These reports can tell us many things and provide a useful resource to help students understand children's experience of disability over time, but they only provide part of the story. For example, they often address the experience of children with physical impairments or who bore such labels as "feeble-minded," but no comparable record exists concerning children with emotional disabilities. In addition, these reports represent the institutional voice. They do not reflect "insiders' views," that is, the perspectives of the persons affected by the services. These reports can be considered alongside memoirs written by those with sensory or other disabilities for multiple perspectives.

How I Introduce the Source

The 19th century was characterized by the establishment of institutions. Records of asylums for persons judged insane from the 19th century, however, make only occasional reference to inmates in their teens or childhood. If childhood emotional disturbance was present in the 19th century, the sparseness of data leads one to ask: Where were the children? Or, alternatively, does the absence of facilities specifically for the treatment of childhood disturbance indicate that the emotionally disturbed child is new to the 20th century?

In teaching a course on the history of childhood, I pose these as alternative hypotheses:

1. American children have always experienced the same range of mood, conduct, ideational, and other disorders as do children today, but their needs were not appropriately addressed before the 20th century; or
2. Perhaps owing to a variety of socio-cultural factors (e.g., urbanization, industrialization, economic stressors, immigration, etc.), childhood emotional disturbance became significantly more visible and a cause for concern with the dawn of the 20th century.

In class, we discuss the socially constructed nature of disability. In light of this, students tend to lean toward the first hypothesis, noting further the role of changing societal norms in determining whether certain behaviors are aberrant.

In the 19th century, the U.S. actually presented an array of facilities where children considered different or difficult might be found. In addition to "lunatic asylums," reports from institutions for the "feeble-minded" in the 1880s noted cases of "moral idiocy" and "juvenile affective insanity." The mixed motives driving reformers led to a network of "Houses of Refuge," a euphemism for reformatories. At mid-century, many of the inmates of America's almshouses were children with physical or cognitive impairments including, as Dorothea Dix reported, "insanity."

The nature of these institutions, though, changed over time. Many American orphanages were established during or after the Civil War. In the 1920s, in the context of a broad mental hygiene movement, these asylums began to redefine themselves into mental health agencies now known as residential treatment centers for disturbed children and youth. By the mid-1960s, treatment centers were established in virtually every region of the U.S., as well as in Canada and other industrialized nations.

The records of these institutions provide a picture of change over the course of a century. They address the perceived or actual nature and needs of the children who were served – from dependent and pitiable to "difficult" and disturbed.

The Cleveland Protestant Orphan Asylum (CPOA, later renamed BeechBrook) was established by a religious organization, as many were in this era, and began with what is often described as a child-rescue mission. The 1879 Annual Report of CPOA demonstrates their original purpose of ". . . sheltering orphaned and destitute children."

Reading the Source

The 1879 Report is especially instructive because it describes children who had been served since the agency's founding in 1852: ". . . we found them in good health, happy and contented; their physical wants abundantly supplied and their mental and moral training carefully looked after." With the exception of a few children rescued from alcoholic and abusive parents, the agency's clientele comprised orphaned or "half-orphaned" children. "Half-orphaned" usually involved a mother, or in some cases a father, who was at least temporarily unable to care for her or his child or children.

The annual report describes the goal of physically moving children in response to the "increasing call for shelter for orphans," with the goal of either "returning" or "placing out" with another family every child who was admitted. CPOA's annual reports summarize the agency's success in achieving that goal.

The year 1919 marked the first time in which specific reference was made to "difficult" (though still considered redeemable) children. Of the 296 children served, 85 had been placed in foster homes and 132 had been "returned to friends" (typically a parent or close relative). Over the next few decades, the agency reports document increasing numbers of "difficult" children. The growing discussion of degrees of difficulty, as well as evidence such as engaging psychiatric consultation, indicate movement toward the agency's present role within the mental health system.

To read the report, students work in small groups and address a number of topics:

1. The role of age, gender, parental socioeconomic level, and geographic location: The documents are informative with respect to many key questions concerning clientele and possible changes over time. For example, in the 1870s, when CPOA and sister agencies were growing rapidly, urban school districts such as Cleveland were starting to establish "classes for unrulies," primarily troublesome male pupils. Did CPOA's clientele tend to come from rural rather than urban surroundings? Did sociocultural characteristics change over time? Were more girls than boys admitted or vice versa? At what ages were children typically admitted, that is, possibly before becoming "unruly"?
2. Etiological attributions: In describing even "difficult" children as victims rather than menaces, these reports seem to contrast sharply with those of asylums and reformatories. Reports from the latter often ascribed child deviance to parental or child sexual or other "vile" misconduct. Does this reveal differences in perceptions and attitudes, or does there seem to have been a sorting process, whereby children were referred to the type of provider thought best suited to address their needs? Alternatively, do the reports put a rosy face on less salubrious realities – examples of what Goffman termed "cleaning up the front regions"?
3. Prognoses: Is the goal of returning children to, or placing children with, families consistently evident in the successive reports? Are expressed beliefs about children's "redeemability" inconsistent with apparent societal attitudes during the "period of indictment" and of "negative eugenics?" 1 What factors might help to explain such inconsistencies?
4. Remedies: Were there strategies for "redeeming" young children in need or in trouble? What were they? Is there evidence that the philosophy of moral treatment that influenced early American, as well as European, psychiatry guided CPOA (and by extension similar agencies)? Specifically, was the ameliorative role of work, a key element of moral treatment emphasized in 19th-century orphanages, in any way different than in the asylums, almshouses, and reformatories?

Philip L. Safford

Kent State University

111, 112

NEW ZEALAND DIARY 51

QUALITIES OF A REAL MAN OR WOMAN

Are you one or only an overgrown baby? Are you faithful in your duties to God? Are you pure in thought, word and action? Do you study to imitate the greatest men or women of the world? Have you the strength of will to eat, drink and play in moderation and such forms of each as will make you better morally, intellectually and physically? Are you determined to work for the betterment of your fellow men?

HELPS TO A HAPPY AND USEFUL LIFE

Breathe freely        Drink water copiously       Sleep regularly       Serve willingly

Eat temperately        Bathe frequently       Work calmly        Speak kindly

Chew thoroughly        Laugh heartily        Exercise daily        Read much

A CODE OF HONOUR FOR NEW ZEALAND BOYS AND GIRLS

As a New Zealander, proud of the privilege, yet humble in the enjoyment of it:

You will scorn all dishonesty, of whatsoever form or degree, as petty and mean and altogether unworthy of your family and the high traditions of your school and your Empire.

You will cherish frankness and sincerity, never committing the smallest deception of silence, word, or deed.

You will readily acknowledge your faults and resolutely fight them.

You will avoid the arch-sin of selfishness – whence spring all other sins – for under its sway Empires have crumbled to dust.

In all things you will be temperate – in eating, in play, in rest, in work, exercising always the one true discipline – discipline of self.

You will rise above intolerance and cultivate breadth of vision, endeavouring always to see both sides of a question, so guarding against the formation of hasty and uncharitable opinions.

You will regard coarseness in thought, language, or action, as belittling and degrading, and always and altogether beneath the dignity of a future citizen of this fair Dominion.

You will cheerfully yield reasonable and prompt obedience to your elders, particularly your parents; and you will show a like respect for the rules of your school, the by-laws of your town, and the laws of your country, since you know that rules and laws are not needlessly made.

You will exercise a jealous care over all property, particularly public property, protecting it from damage or disfigurement; and, loving the beautiful, you will seek to remove all unsightliness from your home, your school, and your town.

You will be punctual and orderly and cheerful. You will keep your promises. You will grudge no effort, no matter how small or how great the task, remembering that only your best is good enough.

You will be courteous, and kind, and helpful to all, remembering that all honest labour is equally honourable.

You will play for the side and play the game, always striving honourably for victory, yet taking defeat, when it comes, as part of the game. You will never add to the discomfort of a defeated opponent. Most of all you will love clean play and good play, whether it is on your own or the opposing side.

You will ever be pure and true, for there are those who daily trust you. You will remember that in the hands of the Children of To-day is the World of To-morrow and you will strive to be not unworthy of the sacred trust.

You will remember the Golden Rule, acting towards others always as it would most please you that they should act towards you.

Lastly, you will seek honour before all else, ever remembering that there is no finer aristocracy than the aristocracy of character; and you will not forget that character is built of tiny acts, small strivings, and much earnestness.