7 Michigan Schools In The Early 1900S

The children of migrant workers in Michigan, particularly in Berrien County, endured rough living conditions in the 1930s and 40s. Their parents harvested the state’s many cherry and strawberry crops, while their families lived in dire conditions, often in tents, shacks, and migrant settlements. Here, we found several images of these children who attended a nursery school operated by the Women’s Council for Home Missions. These rare photographs, released in a special series by by Yale University and the Library of Congress in a collection of some 170,000 images known as Photogrammer. Have a look.

Children of migrant fruit workers in nursery school run by Women’s Council for Home Missions, Berrien County, July 1940.

John Vachon/LC-USF34-061228

Garage converted into school, outskirts of Detroit, August 1941.

John Vachon/LC-USF34-0363682

Migrant children at nursery school, Berrien County, July 1940.

John Vachon/LC-USF33-T01-001936

Nap time at nursery school for migratory children run by Women’s Council for Home Mission, Berrien County, July 1940.

John Vachon/LC-USF34-061096

Nursery school operated for migratory children by Women’s Council for Home Missions, Berrien County, July 1940.

John Vachon/LC-USF34-061082

Teacher telling story to migrant children in nursery school run by Women’s Council for Home Missions, Berrien County, July 1940.

John Vachon/LC-USF34-061227

Young children are taken to nursery school operated by Women’s Council for Home Missions while parents are picking fruit, Berrien County.

John Vachon/LC-USF34-061237

Quite striking, huh? To imagine just have far we’ve come. Tell us, do you or any of your family or friends remember these days?