Figure 1.--This fascinating school portrait shows the teacher and children in front of sod schoolhouse. We know that The shool was loated in Woods County, Oklahoma Territory and the photograph taken about 1895. National Archives 48-RST-7B-97. |
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School portraits in the 1890s became very common photogrphy improved and became incerasingly affordable. We see class portraits from all over the country, includuing one-room schools on the rapidly shrinking western frontier. We see boys commonly wearing suits to school, even in country schools, although there boys in warm weather commonly just wore blouses and knee pants. Many boys wore straight-leg knee pants. Knickers were not very common, but we see them at some private schools. The type of pants did vary. We see boys at some schools wearing long pants. We are not entirely sure why there were such variations. Age of course was a factor. Boyys and girls commonly wore long stockings. Black long stokings were especially common.
Many younger boys wore blouses with large collars, sometimes ruffled Fauntleroy collars. We also see sailor suits, especially in urban schools. Girls wore dresses, often with pinafores. Many children came to school barefoot, especially in rural areas.
The Lawrenceville School is a famous eastern prep school in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, with quite a long tradition behind it. The school was founded in 1810 as the Maidenhead Academy and after various vicissitudes refounded in 1883 with its present name. HBC does mot yet have a page on the school, but we do have a page on a TV seies based on the school. "The Lawrenceville Stories" (1986). Earlier a film, "The Happy Years" (1950) was made with Dean Stockwell.
Unfortunately we don't know much about this school. All we know for sure is that it was a Catholic school, commonly called a parochial school in the United States. There is no location or date available. We think it may be a California school, but we are not at all positive. The only hint from the photograph as to location is the wood plank construction of the school. Dating is a little easier because we can estimate it from the children's clothes. The boys wearing Fauntleroy outfits with ruffled collars ois a good indicator of the 1890s or early 1900s. We believe that this portrait was taken in the 1890s, although the early 1900s is possible. We know it was a Catholic school because of the emblem on the wall and the nun in the portrait.
This school was located in Kern City, California. We do not know if it had a specific name or was just called the Kern City School. We have a single portrait from 1891. The portrait seems to show more than a single class, but not the older children that would have attended a primary school at the time. The children wear quite a large range of garments, providing a good view popular fashion in the 1890s. The many different garments and even hair styles here is particularly interesting.
Here we have a a school in Downers Grove. Illinois. Downers Grove is a Chicago suburb. It was a red brick school, but we are unsure just how lsrge it was. You can see the building in the background of a 1892 photograph. It may have been called the Downers Grove School. We are not sure about this. It surely must be a state elmentary (primary school). It was an integrated school. There are three black children who seem a little isolated. It clearly is not a single class. The children look different ages, but there are few younger children so this must not have been all the children at the school. The children pictured here look moistly abouut 10-13 years old. There was a man and lady teacher. The girls wear dresses and pinafores. The boys mostly wear suits with knee pants. We only see one boy wearing long pants, although we are not sure about the boys in the back. The boys wearing knee pants all seem to be wearing black long stockings. One younger boy wears a blouse with a large collar and floppy bow.
We are sure about the name of this school. We know where it was located, but not its name. We are guessing it might be called the Sumner Highway School. It is a wonderful photograph of a sod schoolhouse in Nebraska. The Frontier officially clsed in the 1890s. There were stiil, however, many in the Plains states still living in sod houses. Note the complete absence of trees, explsaining why they had to use sod. This is a great example of a one-room sod house. It was located in Marquiss district, 5 miles southeast of Broken Bow, Custer County on the Sumner highway. The photograph was taken in 1892. The teacher was 16-year-old Hiva Miller. The school had 14 children and they provide a detailed view of how rural children dressed. The boys wear different types of caps. They wear suits, mostly with long pants. The girls wear dresses and skirts.
This portrait shows a class of boys at an unidentified Louisville, Kentucky school during 1892. The school is not listed but the caption reads only, "Souvenir of our school". The school is presumably a boys' school. We are not sure if it is a private or public school. The boys all wear suits, mostly knee pants with long stockings. A few boys wear long pants, but they tend to be not as well dressed as the boys wearing knee pants. Many of the boys wear fashionable detachable collars and floppy bows. They do not have their caps. The boys look to be about 10-11 years old. The schools looks to be a substantial brick building.
We do not know the name of this school. We do know that it was a public school in Washington, D.C. The image we have shows some of the chilkdren participating in a dance or posture lesson during 1893. They look like the older children at a primary school. The image is interesting because it shows the inside of the classroom. I attended D.C. public scohools in the late 1940s abd early 50s and this is just how our school looked, although our desks were a little more updated.
The Sand Run School was a rural school in Boone County, Kentucky. Boone Country was of course named after Daniel Boone who helped found Kentucky. The portrait we have dates from 1893. The yonger boys are all barefoot. Several wear fancy blouses with large collars. They were very fashionable at the time. Notice that they were made with different colors and patterns ad not white. Mail order catalogs are full of these blouses. One boy wears his blouse with a floppy bow. Notice how the photographer has blaced the boys with fancy blouses front and center. Also notice the range of heawear the boys are wearing. The girls wear dresses, one girl with a checked pinafore. Several girls have fashionable ballon sleeves.
HBC has one image from the 1985 Grafton "farm school". The children lokk to be about the same age, 8-9 years. So they appear to be one class from a larger schoool. Children that age would be in the 3rd or 4th grade. The boys here have their hats which is relatively wear in these portraits.
This fascinating school portrait shows the teacher and children in front of sod schoolhouse. We know that there were many sod houses made on homesteads. We are less sure how common sod schools were. We do not know the name of the school, or even if the school had a name. We are not real sure about the naming conventions of these small rural shools. We suspect they were often reffered to by the name of the local community where they were located. We do know that the school was in Woods County, Oklahoma Territory and the photograph taken about 1895. Some of tghe boys wear blouses with large collars and many other wear suit jackets. One older boy wears a vest. There seems to beca mixture of knee pants and long pants. Many of the boys are barefoot. We note one boy wearing suspenders. Another boy seems to be wearing suspender pants. The girls wear dresses, but only one wears a pinafore over it.
We do not know much about Miss Porter's School other than it was located in Middleton, New York. We believe the school portrait was taken about 1895. It looks to be a small coed secondary school run in a private house.
he kepis worn by Federal and Confederate troops wee essentially the same, only in different colors. Grey or beechnut for the Confederates and blue for the Federals. We do occassionlly see one najor stylistic variation. Some kepis were done with much higher bodies than the standard kepi. This left the flat topat a greater angle than the sandard kepi. These elongated kepis were not commonly worn by boys, but we have seen a few examples.
Many boys at this Illinois school, in 1896 wear ruffled collars. Some boys appear to be wearing formal Fauntleroy suits. Other boys are dressed cassually. We are not sure if the fashions worn are the normal outfits or if some mothers dressed the boys up for their class portrait. I'm not sure what class this was, perhaps the 2nd or 3rd grade. Notice the girls wearing pinafores.
The Dexter School was located in Kentucky's Calloway County. The
image we have found was taken in Fall 1897 meaning the beginning of the school year. It looks to be a rural school, but not a real small one. The children were photographed in fron of
their school building. We assume it was a primary school. The image is notable for the age of some of the boys still attending primary school. Some of these rural primary schools had programs
through the 8th grade. We do not know, but assume that this was probably the situation here. The students seem to be making a point of their hats. Notice the younger boys' hats in the front row and
the older boys' hats in the rerar. Many of the younger boys have large collars. Quite a few of the children are also barefoot. Some of the girls wear
pinafores.
We have one school portrait taken at the East Waterford school in Waterford, Illinois. The school portrait was taken in 1897. There are 24 children and one male teacher who seems to wearing a long frock coat. They are standing in front of the school whicch looks to be a white plank building. The girls wear dresses, some with pinafores which are difficult to make out. Most of the pinafores are dark, but we are unsure just what color. The younger boys wear blouses and knee pants. Notice some of the large collars. Several boys wear overalls, which is rather unusual in the 1890s. We are unsure why we see so many boys wearing overalls here, but not in many other school portrais from the 1890s. Some of the older boys also wear overalls. They seem to be wearing shorts, but we can not tell if they are wearing knee pants or long pants. JKost of the younger children, boys and girls, are barefoot without shoes and stockings. This was common at the time, but seems particularly pronounced here.
We note the Rice School in Van Buren Township (in west central Monroe County, southern Indiana) in the school year 1897-98. It was a one-room schoolhouse near the turn of the century. Notice the broken transom window over the door with one of the students framed in the opening. The teacher stands in the third row on the right. One of the boys (second row, second from the left) has included his dog in the picture. You can see the dog's front paws and head. Most of the boys seem to wear long pants and jackets but without ties. The older boys and girls stand at the back. The younger ones are sitting in the front row. A few boys wear knee pants with long stockings.
Boys in the 1890s dressed up to go to school. As many boys wear jackets it appears to be a portrait taken in the fall or spring. The younger boys might even wear large ruffled collars. All the boys wore kneepants, most with long dark stockings. Some boys wore sailor suits. The girls of course wear dresses, several with white pinafores.
Here are two images from a North Plainfield, New Jersey schholl. One shows a class, we think of the older children. We would guess this is a public elementry (primary school) with classes up to the 8th grade (13-14 year olds). The boys mostly wear knee pants suits with blacl lobg stockings. Afew boys wear long trouser suits. The girls all wear dresses. There is also a portrait of the teachers of the school. All but two are women and one of the men is probably the principal. This suggests to us that it was an elementary school. We know the school was located in North Plainfield and taken in 1898-99. We don't know what the name of the school was.
This photo shows the Barger School in Allardt, Fentress County, Tennessee. The photograph is undated, but the source suggests was taken in the 19th century. If so it would have been the 1890s, probably the late-1890s. This is certainly possible, but we are not sure it was not the very early 1900s. Note the contrast between the clothing of younger and older boys. Some of the older boys are dressed up in suits and ties. They seem rather old to be attending a primary school. The younger boys wear knee pants, although some are quite long, and are barefoot. One younger boy wears a blouse with a large collar. The girls wear various styles of print dresses.
Here we see a group of older teenagers in Laconia, New Hampshire. The only group we can think they may have belonged to is Laconia High School which was opened in 1875. The classes wwre quite small so you would guess that this was the graduating seniors. Here there are 14 teenagers. Presumably there were at least some girls, so the boys seem to have had their portrait taken separately. Note the boy in the middle wears knee pants and black long stockings while the other boys all wear long pants.The portrait is indated, but was probably taken in the 1890s--perhaps around the turn-of-the 20th century. Prints of cabinents cards like this cost $0.25.
Washington was a popular name for a school, named after the first president. This school was located in Nemaha County, Nebraska. Like many early schools, it was a wood frame building painted white. We are not sure when it was built, but we suspect around the 1870s. The school has displayed their large American flag--note the star arrangement. There is wire protection for the windows. In these rural schools, the only lightening would come from the windows. There is one male teacher, although a female teacher may be sitting with the children. A smaller school would have more likely had a young female teacher. There are about 50 children. The boys all wear jackets and all the children wear shoes. We suspect this meant that it was a little chilly. The youner boys wear knee pants anf long stockings. The older boys wear long pants, to the extent we can tell. The girls all wear dresses, but without pinafores which were common at the time. Note than none of the boys wear overalls.
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