Abstract

Not in the Kitchen Anymore?: The Middle Class Intentions for the Milwaukee School of Trades for Girls

In 1909 the Milwaukee School of Trades for Girls opened its doors becoming the first public vocational high school for girls in the United States. While education historians have given treatment to vocational education, most examples and analysis has focused on males or the “boy problem” in education. There are few sources that examine the “girl problem” or even acknowledge that there may have been one. The reform of girls’ education to focus on house and home aligns with the Progressive Era movements to eliminate poverty. Using the words of the Milwaukee Public School Board, school documents, local newspapers, and the personal papers of Elizabeth Black Kander, one of the main activists for the school, this paper explores the intentions these people had in founding a public vocational high school for girls., Women’s vocational training at the Milwaukee School of Trades for Girls went beyond shaping citizens and workers in the middle-class image; it was about fashioning the future wives and mothers in the middle-class ideal.

Election Hangover and More

I, like most of the nation was glued to the TV on Tuesday, waiting for the results of the election. Now for those of you that know me, I made it all the way through the President-Elect's speech without a nap. The husband even faded before I did. Now what goes without saying is that I was unable to get any work done whatsoever. I was so glued to CNN and Comedy Central that I could not grade the now over 100 papers/assignments from my students. I just couldn't pull myself away from the couch to sit at the kitchen table. I needed to know what was going on.

Now that this is over, it feels like a hangover. For those of you who are married, it feels like those first few days after your wedding. You have spent all of the mental and emotional time and effort, and now that it is over, what do you do with your time. Now most would think that I turned this time over to my research/homework/grading papers. You would be wrong. I ironed and did laundry. I know, it is sad, but it was the first thing that caught my attention when I got home from my office yesterday.

I did spend about 5 hours at the historical society on Tuesday, doing research for my cooperating professor. I am looking into how the school board of Milwaukee shifted in its make-up during the course of the 20th Century. I have been mostly hunting through the reports from the school board from 1906-08. It is very interesting to see the numbers that I have found in these books that will help my research for Girls' Tech. I have found that they were concerned about class size. The numbers from the 1906/7 school year speak for themselves:

Teacher to Student Ratios Based on Enrollment Numbers:

• Overall: 47.1
• High School: 28.5
• Grammar and Primary: 51.25
• Kindergarten: 66.77

Teacher to Student Ratios Based on the Average Attendance Numbers:

• Overall: 33.95
• High School: 23.0
• Grammar (Grades 5-8):37.81
• Primary: 45.21
• Kindergarten: 33.30

Could you even imagine a first grade classroom with 46 students? Now the only reason that the high school ratio is so low is that the law only mandated a child finish 8th grade or grammar school.