New Exhibit at the HLS Library: Kids in the Collection: Prison, Work, and Play

HLS's Paul Freund, Costumed as a Baker (HLS)

[We have the following announcement.]  The Harvard Law School Library’s Historical&Special Collections is pleased to announce a new exhibit: "Kids in the Collection: Prison, Work, and Play."

Most of our material is rooted in the world of adults, but children do appear in ways both light-hearted and grim. Traces of childhood experiences appear in HLS faculty papers, school report cards, and letters sent home from camp; broadsides reveal violent crimes against children; reports detail the inner workings of a Massachusetts reform school; and images show toddlers raised in prison by their incarcerated mothers in nineteenth- century England. Also showcased is some of the work undertaken by HLS students and faculty on behalf of children and families in Massachusetts and across the United States. The exhibit draws on a variety of media: manuscript collections, printed works, photographs, and children’s art work, spanning the late-eighteenth through twentieth centuries.

"Kids in the Collection" was curated by Jane Kelly and Mary Person of Historical & Special Collections. It will be on view daily 9 to 5 in the Caspersen Room, Langdell Hall, from April through July 2017. See highlights [here.]