parsons] CHILDREN'S SCHOOL FARM 255 



A DAY AT THE CHILDREN'S SCHOOL FARM IN 

 NEW YORK CITY 



BY FANNIE GRISCOM PARSONS (MRS. HENRY PARSONS) 

 Founder and Director of the First School Farm in New York City 



Approaching nth Avenue by way of 52a 1 , 53d, or 54th Streets, 

 one not having visited this section for a year is amazed at the 

 transformation which has taken place. A most perfect park (De 

 Witt Clinton) for a tenement-house neighborhood has sprung up 

 as if by magic. Although not fully completed, there is no doubt 

 in the mind of the student of sociology that here is a model for 

 the world of a park that will meet the needs from the babv to 

 the grand-parent. Entering from 53d Street, to the right is a 

 playground for girls, to the left a duplicate for boys ; to the west 

 an open-air gymnasium with race track for men and boys. Still 

 to the west is a beautiful building containing forty baths for both 

 sexes. Still keeping on to the west and approaching a little tem- 

 porary wooden gate, we are greeted by a bright-eyed bov or girl 

 with a cheerful invitation to walk in and visit our farm. Noticing 

 a blue ribbon on which is stamped, " Gate Committee," fastened 

 to the jacket or dress by a button embellished by the picture of a 

 potted plant, we feel that the speaker, although diminutive, has 

 authority and we accept the proffered invitation. Entering the 

 gate, we seem to have lost touch instantly with the boisterous 

 glaring streets with their squalor and dirt and crowds. The cares 

 of business or home drop from our shoulders as if by magic. Our 

 guide walks a few steps with us to the roomy piazza surrounded 

 by flower boxes and flower beds most artistically filled and ar- 

 ranged. We are here met by another bright-eyed boy or girl 

 with a badge marked " Piazza Committee " and our ears are 

 greeted with the cheerful saluation, *' Will you visit our farm- 

 house first. Kindly use the horse-shoe knocker." With a wee 

 bit of timidity we raise this emblem of good luck and let it fall 

 a little heavier than we intended. Instantly the door is opened 

 by a boy or girl whose badge is marked " House Committee," and 

 we are shown the mysteries of this charming bit of house-keeping. 

 The long low-ceilinged room is divided by simple screens, made 

 of clothes-horses covered with attractive cloth, which at will may 

 divide as many rooms as mav be desired. This dav thev did dutv 



