Check out Kathy’s latest display of resources from the Library’s Ontario Historical Education Collection on the Ground Floor of the OISE Library: School Gardens and Agricultural Education in Early 20th Century Ontario Schools.
The first two decades of the 20th century witnessed a growing interest in nature study and school gardens. Ontario was predominantly rural and even the majority of the urban population lived in smaller towns and villages. One-room schoolhouses predominated in these rural areas. On display are several of a series of circulars promoting school gardens, textbooks on agriculture and teachers’ manuals on nature study, as well as agriculture and horticulture. These materials were all for use in the elementary schools. Many books were also written in both the United States and Canada extolling school gardens and these books are searchable and available online or in print from the Library catalogue. It is noteworthy that there appeared to be a renewal of interest in urban school grounds and gardens at the beginning of the 21st century.
