Childhood at the Turn of the 20th Century

Oscar’s Gift Reading Guide: Day 20

Tomas’s World: Childhood at the Turn of the 20th Century

“Joe sighed, then said, ‘I cannot spare you, Tomas. We still have more than half of the claim to break. You are a farmer now, son, not a school child.'”

~ Oscar’s Gift

Chicago newsboy, 1904. Chicago Daily News negatives collection, DN-001791. Courtesy of Chicago History Museum.

One of the best ways to understand what life might have been like for Tomas and his family is to look at primary sources from the time period. The Library of Congress offers a teacher’s guide for elementary grades, Children’s Lives at the Turn of the 20th Century, that contains links to several sites of historical photographs, such as the one above from Photographs from the Chicago Daily News, 1902-1933.

Below are more photographs of children from the Chicago Daily News collection. In what ways do you think they are like children today, and in what ways are they different?