Cayuga Museum of History and Art and Case Research Lab

1. Cayuga Museum of History and Artand Case Research Lab Phases of American History

2. The Willard-Case Mansion • Built in 1836 by John Seymour. • Sylvester Willard purchased the mansion in 1843. His wife and two daughters, along with his in-laws, Erastus and Mary Case, moved to Auburn, NY, from Connecticut. • Sylvester Willard was a prominent physician, as well as part owner of the Oswego Starch Company. • Upon their death, Willard and his wife left the mansion to their two daughters. The daughters bequeathed the mansion and a $1.5 million estate to their cousin, Willard E. Case. • The building soon served as a residence and business of Willard's son, Theodore E. Case.

3. The Case Research Lab MuseumTheodore E. Case • 1912: Case graduated from Yale University. • 1916: Theodore and his father, Willard, converted the greenhouse into a scientific laboratory. • 1924: Development began with scientifically putting sound on film. • 1926: Case demonstrated this development to William Fox of Fox Film. • 1927: Fox-Case talking newsreels debut with a short of Lindbergh’s first transatlantic flight.

4. Both Sides of the WallAuburn and Its Prison • 1815: Auburn becomes incorporated as a village. • 1816: Authorization is permitted for a new state prison in Auburn. • 1817: First 53 prisoners arrive. • April 1817: New York State grants the use of prison labor.

5. The Auburn System • Prior to the Auburn System, prisons used a system of single-prisoner cells. • At night, Auburn confined prisoners individually. • During the day, prisoners worked together with these rules: • Enforced silence • Lockstep method of marching • Convicts were required to keep their eyes averted from EVERYONE • Goal: To prevent the corruption of one prisoner by another.

6. Life in the Prison • Convict Labor: To lessen the expense of their sentence on the state, convicts produced goods for industry. • The Electric Chair: Thomas Edison recommended using George Westinghouse’s alternating current (AC), as it was deemed so dangerous. Edison also recommend this style of execution be titled “Westinghousing”. Westinghouse was determined that his name would not be associated with death. • Women Convicts: Auburn was authorized to build a new prison, but it never happened. Although in 1894, the asylum for the criminally insane closed down and was converted to a women’s prison until 1934. Prior to this, women were kept in a large room in the attic. • The Mutual Welfare League: Thomas Mott Osborne became chairman of a Commission on Prison Reform in 1913.

7. A Child’s World ~ Home Lower Class Children • Both parents worked: Mom in service industry, Dad in labor industry. • Children were responsible for taking care of the home while the parents worked. • Special devices, such as the yoke, a shoulder harness for carrying water buckets, were available so that even small children could help with chores. Middle Class Children • Were considered to be “Mother’s Little Helper,” to help with basic household chores. • Learned to play instruments, usually the piano. Upper Class Children • Clothing, as young as 3 or 4 years of age, was replica of adult clothing: corsets, jackets, tie, high collar. • 20th century social reformers helped change children’s clothing to be made for play.

8. Child’s World ~ Play • Even with playtime, everything had a purpose • Playtime often replicated chores. • Paper Dolls advertised products on the back for parents. • 1907 ~ Boy Scouts • Their goal was to prepare every eligible boy in America to become a responsible citizen. • 1912 ~ Girl Scouts • Their goal was to guide girls from the isolation of their homes out into their community. • Almost all activities, including scouting, prepared children for independence. Examples include cooking, sewing, map reading, animal sciences, and athletics.

9. A Child’s World ~ School • 1850: First public school in Auburn, NY: Fulton Street Elementary. • 1870: Free elementary school available in the United States • Many schools were one-room school houses. • For discipline, a school was likely to have the policy of: “Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child.” • Open Air Classroom: • 1930s • Children dressed in wool mittens and cloaks. • Purpose: To prevent lung diseases by providing a constant source of fresh air. • Summer vacation was purposely planned to align with family farms and their harvest time. This helped to reduce absenteeism.

10. A Child’s World ~ Work • Two theories why children were so prevalent in the workforce: 1. The supply of available working adults did not equal the demand. 2. Factories had narrow passages and small spaces for mechanical repair, small children were just the right size. • 1890: Jacob Riis publishes “How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York.” The book chronicles the living conditions of new immigrants. Also, there is much documentation on the conditions children endured. • 1904: National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) formed a mission of  "promoting the rights, awareness, dignity, well-being and education of children and youth as they relate to work and working."  • 1908: Lewis Hine, school teacher, was hired by the NCLC to take pictures that would document the type of working conditions children endured. • 1938: Fair Labor Standards Act prohibited employers from hiring children into "oppressive child labor."

11. Activity Categorize the listed items as components of a political, social, or economic system: Apprenticeships Lindenbergh’s Transatlantic Flight Auburn [Prison] System Mutual Welfare League Boy Scouts National Child Labor Committee Columbian Rope Factory New Immigrants Compulsory Education Oswego Starch Factory Death Penalty Paper Dolls Fair Labor Standards Act Social Reform Fox-Case Movietones Thomas Edison Girl Scouts Thomas Mott Osborne Inmate Labor Tiffany Glass Infrared Signaling System Water Power

12. Sources • Riis, J. (1890). How the Other Half Lives: studies among the tenements of New York. New York : Charles Scribner’s Sons • www.cayuganet.org/cayugamuseum • http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/flsa/http://www.girlscouts.org/who_we_are/history/ • http://www.kapow.org/nclc.htm • http://www.scouting.org/Media/mission.aspx • http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM1YCZ • http://www.yale.edu/amstud/inforev/riis/title.html