“I Want to Join Your Club” Letters from Rural Children, 1900-1920

Publication/Creation:

Waterloo, Ont. : Wilfrid Laurier University Press, c1996

Resource Type:

Book

More Details

Additional/Related Title Information

Full Title:

“I Want to Join Your Club” Letters from Rural Children, 1900-1920 / Norah L. Lewis, editor

Series Titles:

Life writing ; 2

Related Names

Additional Author/Creators:

Lewis, Norah Lillian, 1935-

Subjects/Genre

Subjects:

Letters to the editor--Canada
Rural children--Newfoundland and Labrador--Correspondence
Rural children--Canada--Correspondence
Canada--Rural conditions

Description/Summary

Table of Contents:

""Contents""; ""Preface""; ""Acknowledgments""; ""Introduction""; """"We Were Nine Days Coming Out"": By Ship, by Train by Wagon""; """"I Have Two Sisters and a Brother"": Family and Community Life""; """"We Have No School Here"": Education and Schooling""; """"I Have a Pony"": Children and Their Pets""; """"I Want to Tell You of the Fun We Had Today"": Games, Hobbies, Clubs, and Community Events""; """"I Have Been Trapping This Year"": Hunting, Trapping, and Fishing""; """"My Father Is Both Fisherman and Farmer"": Occupations and Vocations""
""""I Shall Be a Farmer"": Life and Work on the Farm and Ranch""""""A Story That Is a Little Tragic"": Drama, Trauma, and Childhood Adventures""; """"My Father Has Enlisted"": Children and the First World War""; """"I Worked in a Pulp-Mill"": Part of the Work Force""

Summary:

“I am a girl, 13 years old, and a proper broncho buster. I can cook and do housework, but I just love to ride.” In letters written to the children’s pages of newspapers, we hear the clear and authentic voices of real children who lived in rural Canada and Newfoundland between 1900 and 1920. Children tell us about their families, their schools, jobs and communities and the suffering caused by the terrible costs of World War I. We read of shared common experiences of isolation, hard work, few amenities, limited educational opportunities, restricted social life and heavy responsibilities, but also of satisfaction over skills mastered and work performed. Though often hard, children’s lives reflected a hopeful and expanding future, and their letters recount their skills and determination as well as family lore and community histories. Children both make and participate in history, but until recently their role has been largely ignored. In “I Want to Join Your Club,” Lewis provides direct evidence that children’s lives, like adults’, have both continuity and change and form part of the warp and woof of the social fabric.

Language:

English

Language Note:

English

Physical Type/Description:

1 online resource (262 p.)

General Note:

Description based upon print version of record.

Additional Identifiers

Catalog ID (MMSID):

9937447971602486

ISBN:

1-55458-730-1
1-282-23293-2
9786613810670
0-88920-730-5

OCLC Number:

180704531

Other Identifiers:

doi: 10.51644/9780889207301