Figure 1.-- This unidentified school class was photographed in the 1870s. School photograohy was becoming a new ritual at the time. Many of the early school portraits were taken at private schools. |
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We see some school portraits from the 1870s, but not very many. Before albumen printing, school photography was not feasible. Early formats were expensive and copies could not be mase so each child could have one and it hd to be individually taken. Thos all changed with the albumen prtocess and CDV. With negatives, bulriople pruints coukd b made. But the CDV wa vey snall for a griuo shot. As a result, it is with the cbinent card at mkid decade that school photogrohy really became fesible. The cabinet card had an image that was big emough to make out each child in a group. And this all came together in America during the 1870s because of advances in public education and rising income levels. It does not yet seem common to have class portaits made, but we begin to see the idea beginning to become popular in the 1870s. The system of public schools had begun to take shape in the United States by the 1870s. Here the Homstead Act (1863) plyed an important role as it provided for a school allotment in the sale of homsteads. Even the the Southern states begn to found public schools. Here America led Europe. Only the Germans gave comprable attention to free public schoolsing. The images we have found show the boys wearing suits with long pabts except for the very youngest boys who wore knee pants. Several of the 1870s images are private schools, presumably because the families of boys at private schools could more easily afford to ay for the portraits.
This oval format cabinet card has no studio informtion, only an indicsation that Charles V. Carter was one of the students. The portrait is undated, but the mount and clothing styled suggest to us that it was taken in the 1870s. It looks to us like an all-boys private school. The boys look to us like they are about 9-10 yers old. The boys are all well dressed wearing a variety of fashionable suits. this abd the all-boys school suggests a private school. The boys look to us to be wearing single breasted sacks suits, alhough we see one cut-away jacket and one saioir suit. Another boy has stripped stockings, a popular 1870s style. the neckwear seenms standards for the 1870s stocks, bow ties, and string ties. The suits are mostly knee pants suits. it looks to be the school in the backgrond, but it may be a studio backdrop.
We notice a drawing at a very large school in the 1870s illustrating a fire drill. It seems to have been a particularly large school, even for the 1870s. While it is a drawing, it does seem to illustrate an actual school. We do not yet know, however, the name of the school.
This is a wonderful old cabinet card portrait of the children at the primary school in Blackburn, Missouri. It was probably known as the Blackburn School. There are 49 children of all ages and a man who we assume is the head techer at the far right. It is possible that he was the only teacher, if so he must have had his hands full. The children in the back row are the older students and in the center are two girls who may be twins and who are wearing identical dresses. While the cabinet card is not dated, we believe it was taken in the 1870s because of the clothing and style of the mount. Notice that most of the boys in the front have rounded-crown hats. We think we see a few caps, although it is not real clear. We suspect that the older boys in the back had basically the same headwear. The girls for some reason are not holding their hats. The photographer was G. L. Collier of Blackburn, Missouri.
This tintype is a class portrait of an all boy's class, presumably a private school (figure 1). The small class size is a strong indication that it was a private school. Most of the boys look to be about the same age, except for one younger boy. This suggests to us that it is a class in an all-boys school rather than a lady taking in the neighborhood children. The way they are dressed also suggests a private school. Note hoe popular those cross-ties were. None of the boys wears floppy bows, which is one reason we think that this is an 1870s image. All the boys wear long pants suits, exceot for the little boy in front. He wears knee pants, although rather long-cut knee pants. They look about 10-years old. Interestung that they had a lady teacher. Exclusive boys schools often hired male teachers. The portrait is undated, but the clothing suggests the 1870s to us. As it is a tintype, we do not know where the portrait was taken, but it could have been New Hampshire.
Here we have a stereoscope view of the Potter Street School in Boston. Stroscope school portraits ate not very common. We do not know what the school was called at the time, but we know it was located on Potter Street. The stereoscope is not dated, but the clothing involves strongly suggests the 1870s. We see what looks like a class group with 26 children, not the entire school with mixed-aged children. The building in back looks like a frly substantial wood-frame building. The class looks to be what we would guess is a 4th grade class, meaning children about 9-10 years old. The portrait is notable for two reasons. First, very few of the boys wear suits. The boys mostly wear blouses. We see only two regular suits and one sailor suit. This is the first time we recall seeing a sailor suitin a school portrait. We think that the small number of suits may be in part seasonal, note that at least two boys are barefoot. Economics may be another factor. The phenomenal America inditrial engine was underway, but still at an early point. And rising income levels mean it became increasingly common to wear suits to school, esecially in urban areas. Second, the girls are wearing pinafores. We are not sure all are wearing pinafores, but certainly most are.
Here we have a stereoview card showing children in froint of a substantial school. The dealer dates it at about 1878 which seems reasonable based on the mount dstyle and the childrebn's clothes. We see a wide avenue in a toney city neighborhood. The boys and girls are separated. We can make out the girls clothes better than the boys clothes. the avenue seems to be unpaved. It looks to have been taken early in the year before the foliage had come out. We suspect int was tajen in the notyheast, but can not be more specific. This was before the automobile was invented, but we do not see any jorsefrawn vehicles of any kind as well.
This is the North School in Seattle, Washington during 1879. Today Seattle is a major city. In 1879, the populoation was aboutb 1,100. We believe that this was Seattles's second school. The first school was Cebntral School. It looks to be in the country side, but Seattle was not a large city in the late-19th century. Outdoor school photographs at the time were not common so we are not sure about the date. The clothes look like the early-80s to us, but we welcome reader assessments. Notice the rounded crown hats and lumberjack caps. We do not see any of the more modern styles like peaked and flat caps. And note the long pants most of the boys wear. Many of the girls wear pinafores. This a little unusual. Normally the childten are lined up neatly in front of the school. The school marm looks to be standing to the right of the door. There is a lot of children for one teacher, but we don't see any other.
Many fathers were killed in the Civil War. The Pennylvania General Assembly created a series of orphan schools to care for them. The Pennsylvania orphan school system eventually numbered 23 primary and 15 advanced schools as the Pennsylvania state legislature --General Assembly) expanded eligibility. The schools were run by Soldiers' Orphan School Department (1870-1889). The General Assembly approved the creation of the Commission of Soldiers' Orphan Schools (May 25, 1889). One of the schools was the Chester Springs School. Here orphaned means losing their father. Presumably they still had their mother and other family members. At the time, the father was normally the bread winner, so losing their father put the boys at a real disadvantage. The school took in both boys and girls. The boys wore military uniforms, but it was not a military school as such. This was because there were girls at the school. The girls wore white dresses.
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