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A good idea of fashion trends in America, as children at public schools did not wear uniforms, can be assessed by looking at what the children were wearing to school. Unfortunately many of the available images are not identified or are not dated, despite this, the images are very valuable views of children's fashion trends.
Here is a list of schools alphabetized by school name. Unfortunately for many images we have collected, we do not know the name of the school. We will add images of schools which are identified by name as well as schools about which we have obtained information. Readers are invited to contribute here information and images about their schools and school experiences. We certainly hope if readers find their school listed here that they will provide us some information on it.
We have found portraits from an elementary (primary) school in Abbeville, South Carolina. We don't have the name of the school yet. Abbeville is not a large city, but there were probably more than one school. The portraits we have found so far are from the 1940s. Many of the younger boys wear short pants and are barefoot. Notice only the boys are barefoot. There are a range of shirts, including t-shirts. One boys wears a suit. I don't know why he is so dressed up. Almost all of the girls wear dresses, but one of the third grade girls is a bit ahead of her times wears pants. Going to school in the 1940s and 50s, I don't recall girls wearing pants. In the photo of 3rd grade class there are some older pupils mixed in wuth the younger children. I am not sure why.
The Allan School I believe was a public elementary (primary) school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A photograph in the library during 1928 shows the older children, probably about 11 or 12 years old. Thet are reading in a clearly staged portrait. The boys all wear white shirts with ties. While this is a staged portrait, we believe this was how the children commonly dressed for school. One boy wears a suit. The boy seem to be wearing knickers, although this is a little difficult to tell. The boys also seem to be wearing darl long stockings. Notice the one boy wearing shoes that come up above his ankles. They look to be sneakers. Many boys at the time had sneakers, but generally wore leather shoes to school.
A HBC reader has mentioned the Armenian Sisters Academy. The school is a pre-school amd kindergarden in Randor, Pennsylvania. The school was the inspiration of
Msgr. Stephen Stepanian, pastor of St. Mark's Armenian Catholic Church in Philadelphia. Stepanian asked Rome for nuns to staff the school. Sister Valentine, Sister Hripsime and Sister Arousiag arrived in 1963 to start an Armenian day school which the Armenian community had wanted for decaded. The first Ammenian say school on the East coast was finally opened with 12 children (1967). The school was important because it provided the vehicle to pass on the Armenian language, history and culture. The Armenian Sisters Academy seeks to preserve the Armenian heritage.
The school with the support of the Armenian cimmunity gradually increased to 185 children. The school moved to lrger quuaters several times before moving into the current facilities at Randor, Pennsylvania (1975). A 2005 photograph shows the children wearing smocks.
This photo shows the Barger School in Allardt, Fentress County, Tennessee. The photograph is undated, but the source suggests was taken uin the 19th century. If so it would have been the 1890s. This is cetainly 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 rther 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 have a wonderful image from Bartley, Nebrska. We think the school was probably known as the Bartley School, but we are not positive about this. Schools at this early period were often known by the name of the scgool. We are a little unsure as to just what kind of schools this was. The older students are virtually all girls and seem to old for primary school. Older boys were often discouraged from attending school because they were needed on the farm. This portrait is especially interesting because some of the children are acting up. In so many portraits like this the children are much less animated. The photograph is not dated, but we would guess was taken about 1909-10. Note that a few boys wear overalls. This was not commion eaelier in the 1900s. Some of the younger girls wore pinafores. Note that quite a few boys wore long pants. This tended to be more common in rutal aras than in the cities.
Here we have an elementaryy (primary) school lovated in Middleton, New York--the Benton Avenue School. The photo is dated 1910. This looks like a public, not a private school. We say this in part because some of the boys have holes in their black long stockings. Interestingly, the school is racially integrated. Notice the African American girls sitting second and third from the right and the two older boys at the left in the second row. The school building was built about 1882. Most of the boys wear kneepants or above-the-knee knickers. The variety of dress is interesting. One boy wears a sailor suit, another wears a floppy bow, and still another wears a belted double breasted blouse with large lapels. One boy has a polka-dot blouse. This looks like some of the younger children at the school, perhaps the 2nd graders.
Berwick Academy was founded in 1791, the first school in what was to be the state of Maine. We have a Civil war-era portrait that seems to be one of the pupils, probably in the ealy 1860s. Unfortunately the boy who seems to uniformed and carries a gun is unidentified.
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 appararmtly located in Berwind, West Virginia. We have one image taken during 1930-31. It appears to be a town school, but 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 wear dresses. Several children are barefoot.
Here we see a rural school in Blanton Town, Florida. The school was white, I'm not sure why in America they always describe the little red schoolhouse. There were about 30 students, evenly divided among boys and girls. The one teacher we see was a man. The boys all wear shirts or blouses with knickers. Most are barefoot. The one boy that is mot wears black long stockings with his knickers. The girls all wear dresses and are also barefoot.
This photo postcard shows the brass marching band from the Boy’s Industrial School. Unforttunately we dob't know where the school was located, but we would say the Mid-West. Posed in front of the brick schoolhouse are; the band leader, a young child and 3 rows of teen band members holding their instruments.
The AZO card is undated, but the stamp box indicated it was taken sonetime from 1904-17. We would guess some time in the 1900s. rather than the 10s. It is postally unused but does have writing on the backside. It states: “Another “smut” exhibition. Wouldn’t know me, would you!” I'm not too sure what the boy meant. Nor I am entirely sure what an industrial school was. This may have meant a school that focused on manual arts rather than academics. It may have meant a reform school, I'm not yet sure.
The Buena Vista School looks to be a public primary (elementry) school in Colorado Springs, Colorado. We note a class portait from the 1920s which looks to be the 1st or 2nd grade. We see some older styles that were still popular, such as large collars and floppy bows. Some boys wear sailor suit. The girls all wear dresses. Only a few of the girls have hair bows.
We are sure about the name of this school, but we believe that it is the Cain School. We know nothing about the school itself at this time, except where it is located. We do do know that it was located in Harrison County Missouri. We have an image from 1902. We can not make out a lot of detail in the photograph. We do not that two of the younger boys are wearing large ruffled collars. We suspect that the children may have dressed up for the portrait.
The Carter School was an public elementary (primary) school. The school was located in the Buena Vista Community of Indian Creek Township, in South Central Indiana (1930). Here we see the 3rd grade class at the Carter School. Most of the boys were knickers with patterned knee socks, but one boy in the center wears beige long stockings with his knickers. Some mothers preferred long stockings to knee socks for their son's knickers because the knee socks tended to fall down whereas the long stockings would stay up neatly if worn with hose supporters. Another boy wears bib overalls.
Here we see a school yard scene in Central City, Colorado. It looks like quite an old school. We are guessing it is a Catholic school because of the church in the background. We are not, however, sure about that. The children arevnot wearing uniforms and many Catholic schools by the 60s had uniforms. The photograph is a good example of playground activities. The boys seem to be wearing various casual shirts with jeans and slacks. The girls wear dresses. The photograph looks to have been taken in the 1960s, but is not dated.
This is a cabinet card portrait of an orphan, Mr William J Wetheral. He is at the Chester Springs Orphan School, located near West Chester Pennsylvania. Apparently the school was a military school. William is proudly dressed in a sargent's cadet uniform, and looks to be 13, perhaps 14 years old. The uniform is a Civil War-style uniform. It is not dated, but we would guess was taken about 1880. It could have been taken ay time in the 1870s or 80s. Uniform styles did not change like fashion. Notice the whitel gloves.
We are not positive, but we believe that the children here are from the Cliff Side School. It appears to be a small school in Elliott County. Te photograph is undated. We would guess that it was taken sometime in the 1930s. The image is notable because it shows how common it was for boys to wear overalls in rural areas. Most but not all of the boys here wear overalls. The photograph also shows that it by the 1930s despite the Depression, coming to school barefoot was becoming much less common. Only one girl here is barefoot.
Coalinga Union High School was located in Coalinga, a town in California's Central Valley. It was and continues to be the most important agricultural area in California. We have very limited information on the school at this time.
This photo was taken in Columbus, the county seat of Colorado County, Texas. The county was formed in 1837 from a Mexican Municipality. We are not entirely sure about the school's nme. It was located in Columbus, but it may have had a didderent name. The photo shows a class of elementary school, about 1911. It is a class of younger children, perhaps 2nd graders. The boys wear blouses, a few with bows or ties. One boy has a particularly large collar. All the boys wear knickers. Note that none wear short or long pants. The girls wear dresses, mostly white dresses. Almost all the children wear black long stockings. A few of the boys are barefoot.
This photograph was taken at the Cordova School, I think in Cordova, North Carolina. The photograph was probably taken in 1925. The school looks to be a substantial brick building, but therecare only about 30 children in the portrait. I am not positive this is all the childen. Nearly all the boys wear overalls.
This looks like a class grouip as the children at an elementary (primary) school. They look to be about the same age, perhaps 10-11 years. We know the school was located in Cowpens, South Carolina. We are less sure about the actual name of the school. Naming the school after the town was common, but there were oter names, especially if there were more than ond school in the town. Cowpens was a small town and a key Revolutinary bttle was fought there. The photograph we have was taken in May 1912. The boys wear knickers without shoescand socks. Going barefoot was quite common in the southern states at the time.
The Cypress Creek School was a small primary school in rural Louisiana. It was located in Winn Parish. We note the children gathering around a bookmobile during 1938.
DeWitt Clinton High School waas was the one of the largest high schools in depression-era America. It had a student body numbering over 10,000 and wasten thousand boys and was located in the Bronx (New York). Rge school produced more than its share of writers and artists, many of whom were published in THE MAGPIE, the school's literary magazine. James Baldwin's earliest published work can be found between its covers, as well
as the works of photographer Richard Avedon, master printmaker Robert Blackburn, screenwriter Sidney (Paddy) Chayefsky, and many others. Articulate and observant, these artists and writers cover life in New York City and social and economic conditions in the United States and abroad, bringing a youthful point of view to a history usually documented by adults. The school has a wonderful website. It includes 175 poems, articles and short stories and 270 graphics and photographs from THE MAGPIE, encompassing the years 1929 to 1941. These resources are organized by date, author and subject. The site also includes a lesson plan and bibliographical and online resources. HBC does not yet have information on schoolwaer but believes in the 1920s that the younger boys commony wore knickers.
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.
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 two black children. 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. One younger boy wears a blouse with a large collar and floppy bow.
Here we see the East Shannin School. The children are standing in front of their school, It looks to be a smll one or two room school. Many of these schools we have noted are painted white, yet Americans generally refer to the little red school house. The photograph is undated, but we would guess the late 1920s. Almost all of the boys wear overals. Most of the children are barefoot.
The East View School was located in Grayson Country Kentucky. It looks a typical rural school at the time. An school portrait taken in 1911 shows the boys mostly wearing overalls or kneepants. Several boys wearblouses with wide collars. The girls all wear dresses. Several have pigtails and hairbows. All of the children appear to be barefott, although the older children in the back row presumably are wearing shoes.
Here is the Emmerich Manual Technical High School Football Team, Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1905. The uniforms are quite different from modern football uniforms. Notice that there is no padding at all. The boys wear light-colored shorts (maybe white), and black sleeveless jerseys with the highschool initials on the chest, almost like basketball uniforms. Their coach stands in the back row wearing a white shirt, tie, and suit. Their captain is at the right wearing a long-sleeved black and white striped jersey. Black and white seem to be the school colors. Interestingly, for 1905, the team is racially integrated. There is one black boy on the team (back row, left). Manual Training schools were high schools that taught boys various trade skills (metal work, carpentry, machine shop work, industrial skills), preparing them, usually, for jobs in industry. These boys were not academically inclined and were not being prepared for college. They tended to be for boys only.
Here we see a great one-room rural school, the Eureka School, near Canton, Illinois. At lkeast we think it is a one-room school because of the small number of childern. The children are, however, quite young. Perhaps there was an older group as well. The photograph that we have features Mrs. Cluts, an experienced looking teacher, and her brood of young learners taken from a Canton, Illinois photo album. The cildren are ll very serious, not a smile in the group. You can tell it is a a rural school as the boys all wear overlls. Every time I look at the photo I see something new. The one boy in overalls biting his lower lip. The girl in front a little shy to be the only one barefoot. One girl wears what we might have called a tunic suit with matching short pants, rather unusual for a girl.
The Frankewing School was located in Giles County, Tennessee. It was a small rural primary school. We see boys in 1951 wearing both stripped and collared shirts. We see jeans, overalls, and slacks. Afew younger boys wear short pants. We note boys wearing Keds and going barefoot. Going barefoot was no longer very common at American schools, but we see it at a few rural southern schools. Tennessee schools were still segregated in 1951 so the children are all white.
All we know about the class here is that the name of the school was the Gardenia Public School and that it was located in Colorado. Perhaps it was a town called Gardenia. Unfortunately we know nothing about the school or community. The portrait we have is undated, but base con the children's clothing was probably taken about 1920. The class portrait is notable because it looks to include both Native American and Japanese children. I'm not sure at this time what Colorado policies were concerning children of other races, but the school here looks well integrated.
Gilman was an exclusive New York private school. Economies were required in the 1930s because of the Depression. The ethos of educating gentlemen had to be adjusted. Waiters and whine linnen table cloths at lunch disappeared. The uniform also changed. A former student writes, "Parents chipped in with their own economies. The custom-tailored suit from DePinna gave way to ready-made slacks and a jacket from Hutzler's. Vests disappeared completely. So did knickers. Boys now went straight from short pants to long trousers, no stop in between." The school played an important role in developing the Hyde Bay Camp.
The Girard Academy was located in Erie Pennsylvania. We know very little about the school. As its name is "academy" it would have been a private school. It appears to have been associated with the Girard Alliance Church. Here we have a photo taken about 1891. The photo was taken at the back of the school. It seems a substantial building. Notice the wooden door and shutters. While public schools were coeducational, private schools were often single gender. The Girard Academy, however, was coeducational. The children seem quite well dressed. Notice the barefoot boy in the front row.
A portrait from the 1920s show a class from Globe, Arizona. Globe was a mining town. We are not sure about the name of the school. It was pfobably the Globe School, but we know it was located in Globe. It was an elementary (primary) school. The boys wear overalls and knickers with knee socks and long stockings. One boy wears short pants and knee socks. The boys are not wearing their caps, except for ond boy who wears a bennie. The girls all wear dresses.
Gorton is perhaps the most famous school in America. Endicott Peabody founded the school in 1884 and was its legebndary headmaster. The school was pased on the English public (Exclusive private) school. Although called a prep school in America, it is comparable to an English public school. Peabody relentlessly preached high moral standards and the duty of the wealthy for public service. The school was unde Peabody academically rigorous. Like many English public schools in stressed sports. It was like English public schools a severe schools in many ways. Boys endured "boot boxing" (cramed into his boot locker and turned over and over and "pumping" literaly being nearly drowned under a spicket. Boys who were used to warm baths and being coddled by nannies and govenesses arrived to find themselves living in Spartan dormitories and beginning the day with communal cold showers. Future presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Jack Kennedy attended Gorton as well as an extrodinary numbe of individuals who rose to important positions in virtually every important aspect of American life, except perhaps the arts.
The Grafton school is a public elementary school in Grafton Massaschusetts, a northeastern state. As with other public schools, there are no school uniforms. We have no information about the school, but we do have photographs taken over many years which provide a wonderful record of changing American boys' fashions over time. One notice about cahnge over time is how American boys used to dress up to go to school, but gradually began wearing casual clothes.
The Greenbriar School was located in Grayson Country Kentucky. The children look a little more prosperous than the East View School which was also located in Grayson County. The Greenbriar School also looks to be a rural school. Here we have the children photographed outside their school. Many of the boys wear overalls and are barefoot like the East View Schoo, but we see several smartly dressed younger boys, some wearing tunic suits with long stockings and shoes. All the younger children at the East View School were barefoot. The older boys are variously dressed. One boy wears overalls, but the boy next to him looks to be wearing a suit.
Here we have a photograph of the Grindstone School in Calloway County Kentucky. The photograph was undated, but looks like the early 1920s. The boys almost all wear overalls, except one boy wearing kneepants with suspenders. Overalls in the 1920s were almosdt universal in these rural primary schools. The photograph is a little unusual as the school has a large front porch looking more like a house than a school.
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