Figure 1.--This photograh shows Boness Alice Hallgarten Franchetti (center) with the teacher and the pupils of her school Città di Castello. It seems an impressive school for farm chidren. The children wear a sort of smock/ tunic. They all wear the same style, but there are differet colors for boys and girls. We are not sure about the colors, but white abd blue seem likely. We think that the smocks were provided by the school to cover their poor clothing. They are all barefoot. Many European children wore school smocks at the time, but long ones like these are unusual. They seem rather impratical for school wear. The photograph is undated, but would have ben taken in the 1900s.

Alice Hallgarten was born in New York (1874). Her parents were a German Jewish family. After the death of her parents she returned to Germany. She married the Italian politician Leopoldo Franchetti (1900). Baron Franchetti was born in Livorno (1847) and moved to Città di Castello (1880). He began his parliamentary career in the Unione Liberale Monarchica (1882). He focused his poltical career on agricultural issues and on the need for agricultural economic reforms. He was especially concerned with improving livig conditions and the cultural life of farm workers. They oved to the Villa Montesca in the Upper Tiber Valley near Città di Castello, Perugia. Despite their considerable age difference, they by all accounts had a happy marriage with a common interest in social issues, culture and, psychotherapy. Influenced by educational renewal movement 'Scuole Nuove', Baroness Franchetti set up the rural schools (Villa Montesca and Rovigliano) to teach the children of farm workers. She founded a school a Città di Castello, central Italy, for the children of peasant familes. An Italian reader tells us, "I think she established the school in a section of the family villa. The length of the smocks worn by the children, were really unusual. Probably the purpose was to fully cover the children's clothing. They children are all barefoot which tells something about their economic situation. In the countryside many children owned only wooden shoes for wintertime. I don't know if this is the case, but it seems likely." The Baron and Baroness were convinced that real cultural change required in the improvement of the social position of both these children and their families. Later Maria Montessori helped the Baroness her with teacher training. She died in Leysin, Switzerland (1911).

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Created: 7:17 AM 2/12/2018
Last updated: 7:17 AM 2/12/2018