0.13 Sampson, p., & Roberts, k. (october 2011). historical comparison  (Page 12/14)

Social conditions

A sample of the educational and social thought of the 1900’s can be determined by statements such as, “The difference between the self confident, self made man and the shrinking pauper comes rather from environment and education than heredity” (Charity Organization of the City of New York, 1907, p. 865.). It was during the 1900’s when superintendents advocated for breakfast programs at school. Additionally, there was a sense that the conditions of “poor ventilation, insufficient outdoor exercises, improper light, irregular eating, overeating, improper as well as insufficient food, lack of medical, dental and ocular attention were all the causes of physical defects” (American Statistical Association, 1907, p. 766) and that these conditions needed to be treated for the improvement of education.

It was during the 1910s that the Nineteenth Amendment was passed that gave women the right to vote in national elections. Also, during this era the Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education advocated for improved secondary education. The National Education Association (NEA) also issued “The Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education in 1916 (Hunnicutt, 1988, p. 118) and it was at this time that there was a push for the use of “leisure time, health, vocation, civic education, ethical character, worthy home membership, and command of fundamental processes” (NEA, 1918, table of contents) . Many immigrants were coming to the United States during this era with lower skills and education (Hunnicutt, 1988, p. 24) and this placed an emphasis on educational reform to increase the immigrants’ skills. Education was defined by the NEA (1918) as “ Education in a democracy, both within and without school should develop in each individual the knowledge, interests, ideals, habits, and powers whereby he will find his place and use that place to shape both himself and society toward an ever nobler ends” (p. 2). During the 1900’s, the graduation rate was 10 percent (NEA, 1918, p. 2).

Many working unions started adult education classes as well as recreation programs during the 1920’s (Hunnicutt, p. 116). There was also an increase in university education programs during this era. A large portion of education was supported by the work of G. Stanley Hall and Jean Pieaget in an effort to promote the education around a child-centered philosophy (Hunnicutt, p. 117). The Scholastic Aptitude Test was first administered in 1926. The illiteracy rate was at 6% of the population ( (External Link) .lonestar.edu/decade20.html). It was in this era that the Newberry Awards were established to recognized outstanding novels for children.

President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Bill in 1935 which gave unemployment compensation for the elderly. The 1930s found a depressed economy with the depression following the 1929 stock market crash and the Dust Bowl that devastated agricultural.

The 1940s found a new author, Benjamin Spock, who brought a common sense approach to child rearing in an effort to help the large numbers of new mothers. This decade also found several new advancements such as commercial mobile telephones, Velcro, microwave ovens, vinyl records, and kidney dialysis.