- unitid
-
{"value"=>"186316", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"Sc Photo The Modern School collection", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b23458037", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1934-1990s", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1934/1999"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"The Modern School photographs"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"6 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"2.0 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"The Modern School was a private elementary school founded by Mildred Johnson (1914-2007) that operated from 1934 to 2007. The school, located in Harlem, offered Black students an independent, progressive education. The collection includes images of both the Modern School and Camp Dunroven."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"The Modern School (New York, N.Y.)", "type"=>"corpname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>This Biographical note was originally written by Allison Hughes in 2023, with some revisions by Emily P. Dunne in 2024.</p> <p>The Modern School was a private elementary school in Harlem founded by Mildred Johnson (1914-2007) that operated from 1934 to 2007. The school offered Black students an independent, progressive education.</p> <p>Mildred Louise Johnson (1914-2007) was born in Jacksonville, Florida, to Nora Ethel Floyd and composer John Rosamond Johnson. Her uncle was the civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson. She grew up in New York City and attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, where she was the first Black student to graduate from its Teacher Training Department in 1935.</p> <p>Johnson founded The Modern School (TMS) in 1934 while completing her teacher training at Fieldston, which required practical experience. Due to the largely segregated New York City school system, most private schools were reluctant to accept a Black student teacher. Instead, Johnson founded The Modern School at age twenty. TMS began with eight children in the rectory of St. Philip's Episcopal Church and later moved to various locations in Harlem before Johnson purchased a building to be a permanent site for the school at 539 West 152nd Street, and in 1953 TMS expanded to teach nursery school through sixth grade, with attendance peaking at over two hundred students. Johnson sold the building and retired in 1999, and the school continued under new leadership until 2007.</p> <p>From 1933 to 1965, Johnson also ran Camp Dunroven, a summer sleepaway camp located first at Greenwood Lake and later Pine Bush, New York. The camp offered hiking, swimming, horseback riding, and arts and crafts, among other activities, and was one of few such camps available for Black children at the time.</p> <p>Johnson was involved in numerous professional and community organizations, including the National Association of Nursery Education, Progressive Education Association, Girl Friends Inc., Jack and Jill of America, and the Urban League. She also maintained a house on Martha's Vineyard and was an active member of the Cottagers, a group of African American women homeowners on the island.</p> <p>Johnson married Hedley V. Edwards in 1951, but they later divorced. The couple had one daughter named Kim Melanie Edwards. Johnson suffered a stroke and died on August 11, 2007 in New York City.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Modern School photographs contain photographic prints, a scrapbook, and 35mm slides depicting children who attended The Modern School and the Dunroven summer camp. They images date from 1934 through the 1990s and range from snapshots to professional portraits.</p> <p>The collection contains photographs of The Modern School during the school year. Some events have been identified, such as school performances, class portraits, reunions, and staff activities. These are named in the container list. The school held several performaces with students, including plays, festivals, and coronations. There are also pictures of founder Mildred Johnson recieving awards, including certificates from Mayors Nelson Rockefeller and Ed Koch.</p> <p>Photographs of Camp Dunroven are primarily from the 1930s and 1940s and depict campers and counselors during summer at the camp site. In addition to the prints, a scrapbook was compiled with images of the camp shortly after its founding in 1933 with handwritten captions.</p>"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>The collection is arranged chronologically.</p>"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Gift of Mildred Johnson and Melanie Edwards, 2007.</p>"}
- separatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>Photographs transferred from The Modern School collection in Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books, Schomburg Center.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by <span class=\"name\">Emily P. Dunne</span> in <span class=\"date\">2024</span>.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1934
- keydate
-
1934
- date_end
-
1999
- date_inclusive_start
-
1934
- date_inclusive_end
-
1999
- extent_statement
-
2.0 linear feet (6 boxes)
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"The Modern School photographs, Photographs and Prints Division. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library"}