Rhetoric Society Quarterly Mar 2021

Products of US Performance: A Material Rhetorical Education at North Bennet Street Industrial School, 1890–1910

Laura Proszak Mercy University Hospital

Abstract

This essay examines rhetorical education for children of immigrants at North Bennet Street Industrial School (NBSIS) during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. NBSIS, located in the predominantly Italian neighborhood of Boston’s North End, taught children of elementary and grammar school age through a manual training pedagogy and specifically, the Sloyd method of handiwork. I analyze archival documents using frameworks of Sloyd, the Arts and Crafts Movement, and usability theories to argue that products made during manual training and Sloyd taught children of immigrants how to become citizen workers as defined by white, middle-class values. Students’ material works were products of US performance intended to develop students into industrious, moral workers; influence immigrants’ households and other users of products; and direct students to self-correct and strive to become better workers. This essay highlights that materials help define, assess, and regulate learning, especially for young learners, within complex historical contexts.

Journal
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Published
2021-03-15
DOI
10.1080/02773945.2021.1877801
Open Access
Closed
Topics
body and rhetoric

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Proszak (2024)
    A Manual Training Method as Literate Practice: Rhetorics of the Sloyd Training …
    Rhetoric Review

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CrossRef global citation count: 1 View in citation network →

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