Thelma Norwood, a 7th-grade student in Nassau, Delaware, wrote this letter in 1925. The school was segregated, or used only by African Americans, while separate schools were maintained for white students. The letter expresses appreciation on Du Pont… [more]
These two photographs show before and after pictures of Blocksom's School in Sussex County in rural Delaware. The first photo (taken in 1917) shows the pupils standing outside the original one-room schoolhouse made of wood. In addition to an outhouse… [more]
In these three photographs, taken near the turn of the 20th century, American Indian girls in the southwestern United States are learning through play how to be mothers and keepers of the home. In the first photograph, a Hopi girl in Arizona follows… [more]
The material culture of early childhood in the 21st century is characterized by an emphasis on biological age and related levels of cognitive and motor skill development. All types of objects, including diapers, toys, food products, and clothing, are… [more]
Studying everyday material objects made and used for children—diapers, baby food, clothing, toys—provides an opportunity to investigate contemporary American childhood; it challenges students to think critically about how childhood is understood in their own culture, and demonstrates that childhood is culturally constructed by people living in a particular time and place. echo [more]
