Children of the western plains : the nineteenth-century experience / Marilyn Irvin Holt.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Holt, Marilyn Irvin, 1949-

Series:

American childhoods

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Pioneer children--Great Plains--History--19th century.

Pioneer children.

Immigrant children--Great Plains--History--19th century.

Immigrant children.

Children--Great Plains--History--19th century.

Children.

Frontier and pioneer life--Great Plains.

Frontier and pioneer life.

Social conditions.

Manners and customs.

History.

Great Plains--Social life and customs--19th century.

Great Plains.

Great Plains--Social conditions--19th century.

Pioneer children--Great Plains--Biography.

Immigrant children--Great Plains--Biography.

Children--Great Plains--Biography.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

224 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : Ivan R. Dee, 2003.

Summary:

On December 7, 1828, Lewis Bissell Dougherty was born at Cantonment Leavenworth, the military post of the Missouri River. For the rest of his life, Dougherty carried a footnote to his name: he was one of the first white children to be born in Kansas. These "first" children came to be celebrated as white America's first steps onto the Western frontier. In "Children of the Western Plains, Marilyn Holt rescues the experience of children from the usual adult perspectives on Western history. Her book is the first in a new series that will emphasize the experience of children during different times and at different locales in the American past. The books will be abundantly illustrated with black-and-white photographs and drawings. They will take advantage of primary source materials, reminiscences, documents, and secondary works in telling the story of American children throughout the nation's history. In Ms. Holt's book, she explores what life was like for youngsters who lived on the Great Plains in nineteenth-century frontier life. She is especially interested in how they were raised, how they were influenced by their environment, and what sort of independence they experienced while growing up. Her chapters address a breadth of experiences and perceptions: why families came to the Great Plains and where they decided to settle; how families and communities were organized for education, work, and play; how health care, accidents, and mortality affected childhoods; and what children experienced outside the home. As much as possible, she lets the children speak for themselves. This is their story.

Contents:

1 Perceptions and Expectations 9

2 Travel and Settlement 33

3 Family and Community 57

4 Education and School Building 81

5 The Work of Children 106

6 Play and Leisure 128

7 Matters of Life and Death 149

8 Common Threads 171.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 177-203) and index.

ISBN:

1566635403

OCLC:

51898942