Conversation on Rain
Item
-
Title
-
Conversation on Rain
-
Creator
-
Richard Green Parker
-
Description
-
Before the Civil War, science education was most accessible to middle and upper-class white ladies. Science education was part of the core curricula for girls leaving some other “ornamental subjects” as optional. Boys had scientific courses too, but for them, it was a priority to learn the classics to gain entrance to university, something girls didn’t have the opportunity to do.
In this illustration, we can see a mother talking with her daughter about how some objects sink or not in water, in this case, a gold coin and a cork. This example is used to explain why rain falls. Books like this one by Richard G. Parker, Juvenile Philosophy, give us a glimpse of the social status of the mother and child while showing that science was regarded by parents and educators as particularly suitable for females during the 19th century. The reason? Simply because the study of science was considered to elevate the female character (and it was not a requirement for university entrance).
-
Date
-
1850
-
Source
-
Green Parker, Richard. Parker’s Conversations. Juvenile Philosophy. New York: A. S. Barnes & Company and Cincinnati: H. W. Derby & Co., 1850, 15.
-
textbook
