Modular Spaces

Accession Number P75-54-0241g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,

Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

This interior view of the portable school house at Warren and Williams Streets shows several environmental features that progressive reformers sought to advance.  Although the desks are pushed close together, this classroom includes large windows for natural light and a source of heat, shown near the back of the room.

Increased Demand at Loch Raven

Accession Number P75-54-A393g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,

Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

The Loch Raven damn, built in 1915, was raised in 1923 to 240 feet in order to meet residential and industrial demand.  This image, taken in 1920, shows the damn at its original height of 188 feet.

1920s Prefab

Accession Number P75-54-0242g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,

Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Modular classrooms are something I associate with relatively contemporary times, so the sight of portable classrooms in the 1920s was a surprise! This portable school house at Warren and Williams Streets in South Baltimore was photographed by the Hughes Company for the Winter Homes Corporation in May of 1923.  It may have been an extension of the old Southern High School, which was built at this intersection in 1910, expanded in 1926 and 1956, and replaced by a newer building on Covington Street in 1978.

Late to the Game

Accession Number P75-54-0489g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,

Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Originally in this blog, I set out to explore changes to the water systems in Baltimore -- both drinking water and waste water utilities.  What I found, however, is that the Hughes Collection did not support my interest in the history of the city's sewer system.  The story of the development of the sewers, although interesting, actually predates the 1918 annexation.

Student Population Soars

Accession Number P75-54-N490g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,
Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Changing laws about child labor and the age of mandatory school attendance led to a student population boom in Baltimore's schools in the 1920s.  Students were met with a severe shortage of classroom space, buildings in terrible physical condition, and a slow municipal response to remedy the situation.  This image shows Nathaniel Ramsey School #96 at Smallwood and Ashton Streets in the Carrollton Ridge neighborhood, where the total enrollment in June of 1920 was 554.

Researching Schools and Water

Some of the books and online resources used to research these themes are available here.  Or, to view the complete bibliography for these two topics...

Strayer Report

The Strayer School Survey, commissioned by the city in 1921, was an important planning document that led to significant improvements in the Baltimore's schools.  Public shock produced by the Strayer Survey led to three large loans, totaling 32 million dollars, for school construction in the 1930s. As a result of this funding, fifteen new schools were built and increases were seen in teacher salaries and schools' operating budgets.

Included below is an online version of the Strayer Report, which has been digitized by the Google Book project.  See for yourself the kinds of detailed information this survey provided about the physical conditions at the city's public schools.