Papers of the Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School 1921-1988 42.77 cubic feet Processed by Martha Foley S. L. Hunter CONTENTS PART I FINDING AID ORGANIZATION AND ARRANGEMENT 1 SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE 3 FINAL NARRATIVE REPORT FOR THE DOCUMENTARY HERITAGE PROGRAM 5 PART 2 INVENTORY LITTLE RED SCHOOL HOUSE ARCHIVES 11 pages MISSION STATEMENT 3 pages GUIDE FOR PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION VOLUNTEERS 2 pages OUTSIDE REFERENCE REQUEST FORM 1 page ORGANIZATION AND ARRANGEMENT The Collection includes documents and records that belonged to or were created by the school's founder, Elisabeth Irwin. Some personal photographs and newspaper clippings are included along with drafts of articles, correspondence, minutes, speeches and reports of various committees. There are scrapbooks and newspaper clippings illustrating student activities. There are lists of donors, patrons and patronesses and other materials related to fundraising events. Correspondence of administrators, faculty and students in addition to various publications are included. Visual materials include photographs, slides, negatives, video, 16mm films and a variety of audio recordings. The papers of Elisabeth Irwin are arranged chronologically as are her photographs. The early records of Little Red are arranged by subject . The photographs are arranged by decade except for one subject box. Volunteers from the alumni association and the faculty are identifying and sleeving this extensive collection which dates back to the earliest days of the school. A simple guide for volunteers to follow has been created. See Guide for Photo Collection Volunteers. PROVENANCE The papers of the Little Red School House/Elisabeth Irwin High School are the physical and intellectual property of the LRSH/EI . The personal papers of the Elisabeth Irwin were intermingled with those of the organization. Additional materials were donated by family members through the efforts of the Gay and Lesbian Parents Association. RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS There are no restrictions on the access of this collection. Researchers are encouraged to make appointments in advance, by calling 212 477-5316 and speaking with Ms. Rebecca Sallar or Ms. Jackie Brown. See Mission Statement. HISTORY/BIOGRAPHY Elisabeth Irwin was born in Brooklyn on August 29, 1880. She attended Packer Collegiate Institute there before enrolling in Smith College, from which she graduated in 1903. After graduation, she joined the College House Settlement in the Lower East Side of New York City. From 1905-1909 she lived in Greenwich Village and tried her hand at journalism, focusing on life in the tenements, and the lives of single professional woman like herself.. She and her friend Katherine Anthony were charter members of the Heterodoxy Club. The Club was exclusively for women and its membership included some of the most prominent group of professional and intellectual women of the time. 1 With a background in social settlement work and reform journalism to recommend her, Miss Irwin joined the staff of the Public Education Association in 1910. She quickly progressed from field worker to psychologist, earning her MA in psychology from Columbia University's Teachers' College in 1923. In a series of articles beginning in 1919, Miss Irwin argued for changes in the traditional public school curriculum. Her research was based on a program sponsored by the Public Education Association. In 1921 it was expanded and moved to an annex of New York City Public School 64. Funding for the school came from the Public Education Association , and additional funds were provided from the Board of Education and the Children's Aid Society. Miss Irwin was appointed Director. The children in the experimental program were grouped according to age, not grade levels . The curriculum stressed field trips and group projects. Traditional subjects like reading, arithmetic and spelling were not introduced until the children had reached 8 years old. Repeated tests and research by Miss Irwin and her staff demonstrated that these children did as well or better than children in the regular public school classes. In 1932, when the Board of Education moved to close the school, a group of parents founded Little Red School House as an independent school, capable of demonstrating educational innovations that could be replicated within the public school system. Classes were large and children from all over the city were accepted without tests or interviews. The tuition of $160 was equal to the per capita cost of educating a child in the public schools. In 1941, the program was expanded with the establishment of Elisabeth Irwin High School, thus creating one of only a handful of independent schools that offered a continuing educational experience for children from pre-school age through grade 12. Elisabeth Irwin died on October 16, 1942. The school she founded as continues to be a model of innovation, and experimentation. The faculty of Little Red welcomed both refugees from World War II as well as the victims of racial discrimination and anti-Communist repression. Many went on to successful careers; Charity Bailey, Earl Robinson, and Edith Kramer are notable examples. In the 1950s, Randolph Smith, Elisabeth Irwin's successor, continued her tradition and also challenged the forces that planned on reinventing New York's neighborhoods by campaigning to prevent the school's buildings and their surroundings from being leveled in slum clearance programs. This work, outlined in Smith's correspondence, preserved the historical face of Greenwich Village. The students of the school traveled extensively on field trips from Boston to Washington D. C. and west to the coal mines of West Virginia. They corresponded with such nationally and globally prominent people as Arthur Miller, Prime Minister Nehru of India as easily as they did with local politicians. Photographs document the entire school's annual migration to a rural area for June School. The curriculum did not stereotype students by gender; girls as well as boys learned to handle tools. The schools' music program has always been considered to be outstanding. 2 SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE I Papers of Elisabeth Irwin This includes documents and records that belonged to or were created by Elisabeth Irwin. Personal photographs and clippings are included, along with many articles from her career in journalism. Drafts of articles, speeches and reports, and the minutes of the Evaluation Committee appointed by the Board of Education are included. There are lists of teachers, supporters and Patronesses, and some materials relating to fundraising events, such as tickets and programs. Most interesting and no doubt valuable are the findings of the final report for the year 1932 that led to the Board Of Education's withdrawal of support for the school. This collection of papers contains writings that were the core of Elisabeth Irwin's educational philosophy and illustrate her transition from journalist to innovative educator. II Minutes of the Parent Teacher's Association This group was founded in 1921 by the parents of the first students enrolled in the experimental program that became Little Red School House. Without this group's efforts the school might not have existed at all. The minutes are very detailed and are arranged chronologically. III School Administration This includes correspondence and papers of the Faculty and Administration of the Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School. It includes correspondence, directories, reports, minutes, and publications, all arranged chronologically. This series illustrates the close ties the school enjoyed with the Greenwich Village Community. IV Students Being a part of the student body at LRSH/EI is a unique experience. An extensive photograph collection illustrates many of the different aspects of student life. Instead of being confined to a desk in a classroom students traveled about New York City and vicinity. While the primary grade children visited such local sights of interest as the Fulton Fish Market, dairies, livery stables and train and. bus stations, the older children visited striking National Biscuit Company workers on the West Side and striking miners in Pennsylvania. Each senior class traveled to Massachusetts to see Lexington and Concord, Walden Pond and the site of the Witch Trials in Salem. Class work on every level involved group participation unheard of in other schools at the time. Drama was an all-encompassing endeavor that involved the entire student body. They built sets, designed and sewed costumes, designed posters, directed and produced every aspect of a performance. It was not unusual for the plays' authors to observe and advise the students' interpretation of their works. June Camp was an all school event until recently. Rare early motion picture film footage documents this many of the earlier session. This series is arranged chronologically With the exception of one cubic foot arranged by subject. Student projects which produced magazines and other publications are filed with publications. 3 V Alumnae Association/Development These are the records of the various fund raising efforts over the years including the phonathon, art shows and musicals. The papers are arranged chronologically. VI Photographs A vast compilation of photographs including the studio portraits of Miss Irwin's youth, camping expeditions at the beginning of the century, snaps and professional photographs of students' every activity. Arranged by decade and subject with in each decade. A subject catagory for faculty and some events was also created. See attached sheet. VII Publications Each publication of the administration, faculty, parents association, students and development office are listed chronologically. 4 Final Narrative Report for the Documentary Heritage Program Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School The final phase of the grant year was a productive one. Since January we have completed the tasks set forth in our grant application. Attached is our Finding Aid, Mission Statement, Guide for Volunteers and Reference Request form. Our consulting archivists, Martha Foley and Sherry Hunter together have completed processing and arranging the schools earliest records.