Preview
Creation Date
1905
Description
In this image, children and educators can be seen working in a school garden. School gardens began in the 1890s and remained a major trend up to the 1920s as both an educational tool as well as a bulwark against problems arising in children who lived in cities. Progressives were afraid if city children were not controlled, they would participate in crime, vices, and hoodlumism. School gardens particularly arose in immigrant and lower-income communities, hoping to act as an educational experience that would teach responsibility to children, Americanize immigrants, and improve children’s physical health to counter the negative effects of city life. The gardens were intended to teach multiple skills and lessons, ranging from nature, economics, honesty, civic virtues, private care for public property, self-governance, civic pride, and the dignity of performing labor. School gardens also served to improve the appearance of cities, bringing nature back to the urbanized landscape. Despite the trend becoming less popular after the 1920s, school gardens are still employed in schools today, but they serve a more educational focus than instilling life skills, being used for teaching topics such as science and art.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Keywords
Gardens, Schools, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Education
