“I am a girl, 13 years old, and a proper broncho buster. I can cook and do housework, but I just love to ride.”
In letters written to the children’s pages of newspapers, we hear the clear and authentic voices of real children who lived in rural Canada and Newfoundland between 1900 and 1920. Children tell us about their families, their schools, jobs and communities and the suffering caused by the terrible costs of World War I.
We read of shared common experiences of isolation, hard work, few amenities, limited educational opportunities, restricted social life and heavy responsibilities, but also of satisfaction over skills mastered and work performed. Though often hard, children’s lives reflected a hopeful and expanding future, and their letters recount their skills and determination as well as family lore and community histories.
Children both make and participate in history, but until recently their role has been largely ignored. In “I Want to Join Your Club,” Lewis provides direct evidence that children’s lives, like adults’, have both continuity and change and form part of the warp and woof of the social fabric.
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 305.23/0971
- Dewey Decimal Edition Number
- 20
- General Note
- Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- ISBN
- 0889202605 9780889207301
- LCCN
- HQ792.C3
- LCCN Item number
- I2 1996eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- CaOTU
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (xii, 250 p.)
- Published in
- Canada
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)rjv00101457 (OCoLC)180704531 (CaOOCEL)402497
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- CaOONL
Table of Contents
- Contents 8
- Preface 10
- Acknowledgments 12
- Introduction 14
- "We Were Nine Days Coming Out": By Ship, by Train by Wagon 28
- "I Have Two Sisters and a Brother": Family and Community Life 48
- "We Have No School Here": Education and Schooling 70
- "I Have a Pony": Children and Their Pets 92
- "I Want to Tell You of the Fun We Had Today": Games, Hobbies, Clubs, and Community Events 114
- "I Have Been Trapping This Year": Hunting, Trapping, and Fishing 140
- "My Father Is Both Fisherman and Farmer": Occupations and Vocations 158
- "I Shall Be a Farmer": Life and Work on the Farm and Ranch 180
- "A Story That Is a Little Tragic": Drama, Trauma, and Childhood Adventures 198
- "My Father Has Enlisted": Children and the First World War 226
- "I Worked in a Pulp-Mill": Part of the Work Force 254
