"The Suspect Matron": A History of Sheltering Arms Day Nursery and the Origins of the American Childcare Worker (1890-1940) Öffentlichkeit
Spangler, Stephanie Mae (2012)
Abstract
In the United States, there are more than 11 million children
under the age of five that
require care outside of the home.1 Recent scientific
studies have proven that the first five
years of life are pivotal for neurological
developmental.2 The most developmentally
significant years, for many American children, consequently, are
those spent in the
childcare system. Despite this proven significance, the childcare
worker retains one of the
lowest occupational statuses in the United States. Reasons for the
marginalization of the
childcare worker are multifaceted, but one unstudied explanation is
the historical origins of
the profession itself. Originating in the late nineteenth century
in the form of the "matron"
in day nurseries, this occupation has always experienced low wages,
long hours, and
marginalization.
My thesis will argue that the foundational period from 1890 to 1940
provides a key
framework for understanding the marginalization of the profession
over the course of the
next century. Scholars such as Linda Gordon, Sonya Michel, and Mary
Frances Berry have
written extensively on the class tensions and conflicting motives
between the elite
founders of the day nurseries and the poor women for whom they
advocated. These works,
however, have not included a consideration of the figure of the
matron. The matron is not
only an essential actor in this childcare narrative, but also a
lasting result of the negative
influences of the conflicting intentions within the day nursery
movement of the early
twentieth century.
1 NAACRA. (2009). Parent's Perceptions of Child Care in the
United States.
2 Jack P. Shonkoff and Deborah A. Phillips. From Neurons to
Neighborhoods: The Science of Early
Childhood Development. National Research Council and Institute
of Medicine. 2000.
Table of Contents
Introduction 2
"Tainted Work" 13
"Caught in the Crossfires" 30
"Work of the Heart, Not of the Mind" 49
Conclusion 66
Bibliography 71
About this Honors Thesis
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