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Education in Two Centuries

This month, we have selected two images that illustrate a key difference between eighteenth-century and mid-nineteenth-century education. In the 1789 instruction book Anecdotes of a little family…(below, left), the engraving opposite page 38 shows a family of children learning together in a room at home. The picture on the cover of Noah Webster's 1847 The Elementary Spelling Book (below, right), however, depicts a group of students studying in a "classroom" setting. The two images clearly show the transition from tutors or parents educating a family of children in the eighteenth century to a teacher instructing a group of unrelated students in the nineteenth century.

Using primary source images in the classroom is an engaging and entertaining way of learning about the past! It is also a terrific individual or small group activity for students.

"Anecdotes of a little family: interspersed with fables, stories, and allegories...," printed for E. Newberry, London, England, ca. 1789, p. 38. Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum.
"The Elementary Spelling Book," by Noah Webster, published by G. F. Coolidge & Brother, New York, N.Y., 1847. From the Collections of The Henry Ford, Copy and Reuse Restrictions Apply.

Anecdotes of a little family: interspersed with fables, stories, and allegories..., printed for E. Newberry, London, England, ca. 1789, p. 38. Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum.

 The Elementary Spelling Book, by Noah Webster, published by G. F. Coolidge & Brother, New York, N.Y., 1847. From the Collections of The Henry Ford, Copy and Reuse Restrictions Apply. http://www.TheHenryFord.org/copyright.asp


This article was written by Frances Burroughs, Associate Producer–Educational Media, Department of Education Outreach, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.