Engaging Comparison

One of the best parts of my job is that I get to work on many different subjects, time periods, and a variety of resources--sometimes in the same day! Right now for example, I am working on agriculture, the woman's right's movement in Ottawa, and changes in childhood in Ontario, to name a few. These subjects seem unrelated, but having this opportunity has lead an interesting contrast.

I have been working with photographs that look like this:

A man, standing behind a horse-drawn plow creating furrows in the soil (August,1926). Backbreaking work, carried out long into the 1930s (before tractors became obtainable by ordinary farmers).

(Canada Agriculture and Food Museum, Agriculture Canada Collection, GF322)

And then I stumbled on this:

A boy ploughing at Doctor Barnardo's Industrial Farm, ca. 1900. Russell, Manitoba. Library and Archives Canada / PA-117285

For most of human history, children have been expected to work, especially on farms (and mines, factories, etc.). It is only recently that most kids have been able to attend school full time until 18 years old. This boy's image is particularly interesting because he was a "Barnardo boy", one of over 28,000 poor children sent to Canada from Britain to work on farms. Dr. Barnardo's heart was in the right place, he wanted to break the cycle of urban poverty and help these children learn a trade. Unfortunately, some were abused and mistreated, used as slave labour (there have been several books written on this, some are listed in this article).

I figured I would share this interesting little comparison. Maybe I'll write an article on it someday!