Bell & Howell Educational Film “1833 to 1933 a Century of Progress” 54754 (1933)

Synopsis

This film takes a look at the Chicago School system and the application of educating children with special needs. The time period during which these improvements were made are worth noting as the Great Depression had hit in 1929 and the Polio epidemic had begun in the early 1900’s extending until 1955 both of which put a massive strain on the public education system. Strikes were erupting in Chicago as funding for the public education system was cut. Despite all of this, the Chicago school system and teachers made rapid and moving innovations in the education of students with special requirements. The film takes a brief look at some of the new classes and innovations instilled during this time period. It opens with the title screen (:08) and takes viewers to one of the oldest schools in Chicago (:27), the Brown School which had been constructed in 1857 (:31). Within the Brown school, students who were considered partially sighted were taught in 32 sight saving classes (:37). Students are viewed within one of these classrooms as a young girl goes over book work while a boy works with an art piece (:45). One of the female students pushes her desk up against the map in the front of the class in order to see more clearly (1:04). A young African American student is seen directly to her lower left and this is worth noting as desegregation of the public-school system would not begin on a country wide scale until 1952. Large text type books were utilized and these are compared to…

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Details

Running time

10 minutes

Collection

Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

• Stock Footage