U.S. School Clothes: Berwind School


Figure 1.--Here we see the 3rd and 4th grade classes at Berwind, West Virginia during the 1930-31 school year. As there is only one teacher, they seem to have been taught together. The school looks to be a substantial building.

Here we have a view of a West Virginia School. We are not sure that the name of the school is the Berwind School, but it was apparently located in Berwind, West Virginia. We have one image taken during 1930-31. It appears to be a town school. The school looks to be a substantial building. Many of the boys wear overalls--more common in rural areas. Perhaps Berwind was a small town. It also may have been a coal mining town. The children of miners like farm families were more likely to wear overalls, especially during the Depression. Other boys wear both knickers and long pants. We don't note any short pants. The girls mostly wear dresses. One girl wears a skirt. Several children both boys and girls are barefoot. Many of the girls wear Mary Jane strap shoes.

School Name

Here we have a view of a West Virginia School. We are not sure that the name of the school is the Berwind School.

Berwind, West Virginia

The school was apparently located in Berwind, West Virginia. It appears to be a town school. The school looks to be a substantial building. Berwind is a community in McDowell County, West Virginia. The town of Berwind is named for E.J. Berwind and it was later incorporated in 1905. The county is named to honor James McDowell who was Governor of Virginia in the years leading up to the Civil War from 1843 to 1846. McDowell County was nicknamed the "Free state of McDowell" due to social and political race relations that was uncommon in the rest of Virginia which was a slave state. The county and other western Virginia counties seceeded from Virginia during the Civil War and formed the new state of West Virginia. McDowell County was nationally known and a key production area for coal. It had several major coal mines and as a result was very important in the state's economy. The coal industry in America declined after World War II in the 1950s. The population of McDowell county was nearly 100,000 people, the third most populace county in the state. [1950 Census] The population rapidly declined as owners began cloding mines. Young people moved out of the county in search of jobs. Older people stayed behind leaving the county with an aging population. The population decline was very rapid, the nost rapid of any county in the state. McDowell County is considered as one of the core counties of Appalachia which received considerable attention during the 1950s and 60s. West Virginia was important in President Kennedy's 1960 campaign. As a result he was interested in the state. And this concern was continued by President Lyndon B. Johnson who launched a War on Poverty before his administration became bogged down in the Vietnam War.

Chronology

We have one image taken during 1930-31. As the children are dressed in summer clothes, the portrait was probably taken at the end of the school year in May or June 1931. This was during the Great Depression.

School Clothing

Many of the boys wear overalls--more common in rural areas. Perhaps Berwind was a small town. It also may have been a coal mining town. The children of miners like farm families were more likely to wear overalls, especially during the Depression. Other boys wear both knickers and long pants. We don't note any short pants. The girls mostly wear dresses. One girl wears a skirt. Several children both boys and girls are barefoot. Many of the girls wear Mary Jane strap shoes.









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Created: 3:25 AM 2/14/2005
Last updated: 3:26 AM 2/14/2005