The Hudson-Fulton Celebration Commission, while preparing for its festivities, planned a role for the children of the city. The celebration took place in Greater New York between September 25 and October 9, 1909, and included many spectacles and events in which the residents of New York City were important participants. But New York City’s children had an entire event delegated to them – the Children’s Festival, which took place on the afternoon of October 2, 1909. Why were the smallest New Yorkers paid such particular attention? The answer is found in the context of the time and place – in progressive theories of child development of the early twentieth century, as well as prevailing ideas about the immigrant children in the city. But first it is important to understand what happened in the celebration itself – the planning for and events of the afternoon of the festival, and how successful it turned out to be.

The organization of the Children’s Festival was overseen by the Children’s Festival Committee, chaired by Samuel Parsons, a member of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration Commission. This was quite an undertaking, as approximately 300,000 children from all over the city participated. The Children’s Festival thus was “projected on a scale of magnitude never before attempted” ^[i]. Its success required both careful planning and immense cooperation from the civil service officers of New York.

Planning and Organization

Planning for this part of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration began in earnest in July of 1909, with the formation of an executive force to oversee the whole. This was necessary because the Children’s Festival was not in fact one unified event, but rather an afternoon of many children’s performances and pageants, carried out in different parks and public places in the city. New York was accordingly divided up into about 50 different “pageant districts,” and the Committee’s executive force has representatives in each of these districts. The representatives were “qualified, as far as the Chairman could determine, to arrange for bringing the parents, schools, and societies into line with the projected plan”^[ii].

Following that, it was up to the districts and their executive representatives from the Committee to individually determine and establish the details of the day, that is, to “costume the children, to get authority for the use of the parks, provide bands, form the little ones into bodies, drill them, devise or approve suitable programs and see that no casualties should occur as the result of possible negligence.”^[iii] And so each district ultimately presented a unique program for its spectators’ consumption, although there were some basic regulations. For example, each district had to delegate a public school within its boundaries as its rallying point before the children moved to their park or marching spot, and those performing or marching were supposed to begin the festivities promptly at 1:30 in the afternoon throughout the city^[iv].

Performances from Manhattan parks exemplified the most common themes that ran throughout the Children’s Festival and provide insight into the question of why this event was considered so important.

Themes of the Children’s Festival

The children’s festivals on Manhattan Island were largely stationary, but also included some striking parades. For example, one parade marched from their meeting place at school 27, located at 41st street and 3rd avenue, down Lexington Avenue and on to Fifth Avenue, where they marched to the Court of Honor, between 40th and 42nd streets^[v]. This was an especially striking assemblage of children, and one of the largest of all the districts, since it was a group which hailed from six different public schools, the Association of Catholic Charities, some settlement houses, and some other church associations and schools. The performance at the Court of Honor included around ten dances, all of which featured costumes. A Dutch dance and a colonial minuet were performed, which emphasized the historical element of these festivities, a running theme throughout both the Children’s Festivals and the Hudson-Fulton Celebration generally^[vi].

The children who participated in the festivals on October 2nd hailed from public, private, and parochial schools, as well as from settlement houses, which will be discussed in greater detail in due course^[vii].

The different districts of Manhattan were home to children in far different domestic and economic situations from one another. And yet the historical theme was present and consistent everywhere -- all over the city, youth performed scenes that occurred far before they were born. Children from Washington Heights schools, for example, used Inwood Field as their stage and performed several important historical scenes, including a battle between the Dutch and the Native Americans (children playing Dutch settlers were even aboard a miniature Half Moon on the Hudson River, and those who portrayed Native Americans shot at them with bows and arrows!), and a victorious hoisting of the American flag after a conflict between the Redcoats and the Minutemen. Battery Park, the final destination for a children’s parade begun on Chambers Street, was the backdrop for historical pageants such as the landings of Christopher Columbus, the arrival of Henry Hudson, and the purchase of the island by Peter Minuit^[viii]. 

These scenes and others were interpreted by the Celebration Commission as especially important to the history of New York and America – many of them were also on display in the Historical Parade that occurred several days previously – and also scenes in which to take pride. Thus, these living history lessons also provided lessons in American patriotism; the stars and stripes were a consistent theme in all the parks on the island. In Central Park, in fact, some of the children performing, who hailed from the Bohemian Free School, created a spectacular living flag by dressing all in red, white, or blue gym suits and standing in formation. As a side note, Central Park was the chosen stage and parade setting for over 8,000 children on the day of October 2, more even than how many marched on Fifth Avenue that day ^[ix]. Many of the children’s parades, such as the Court of Honor parade, included the singing of the national anthem and the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance^[x]. 

But there was another consistent theme running throughout these performances -- the inclusion of customs and especially dances of a wide variety of cultures from around the globe. For example, mentioned previously were the approximately ten dances performed by the group of children from district 12 who performed at the Court of Honor on Fifth Avenue. Those dances included an “Indian Snake Dance,” a Japanese Dance that was performed by young African-American girls from the Abyssinian Baptist Church Sunday School, and a Hungarian Dance. Children at Battery Park performed dances of Syrian and Russian origin^[xi] .

Dancing was a regulated form of movement, and an amusing activity for children – a constructive and educational way for them to play; physical activity and good fun, without any elements of danger, was a strongly appealing idea.

But dancing was also an appealing way to showcase the great diversity of children living in the metropolis and participating in the celebration. This was especially true of the young residents of the Lower East Side, at least according to the official report on the children’s festivals:

Thousands of children gathered in Mulberry Bend and pledged their loyalty to the American flag with impressive ceremonies. And those many thousands of children, scarcely without exception, were of parents who have within comparatively recent years emigrated to this country from nearly every other country of the globe. From the schools of the lower East Side came children of many nationalities, Italian and Hebrew in the majority, with others from Syria, China, Japan, Turkey, Hungary, Spain, Greece, Portugal, and so on through the nationalities of the earth.^[xii]

These children of the Lower East Side’s  parents had recently immigrated to America; thinking of the time dictated that they needed to be quickly integrated into American society – and participating in an educational celebration like this was an excellent opportunity to begin this process.

The official report makes another interesting comment about the diversity of the children’s festival, one that will be helpful in later analysis of the context of this event. The undersecretary to the Commission writes that,

“The festivities assumed an extremely comprehensive and diversified character from the widespread participation of the children of all nationalities represented in Greater New York, and citizens of German, Dutch, Italian, Bohemian, Russian and Irish birth vied with those of native origin in their efforts to make Children's Day a never-to-be-forgotten event.” ^[xiii]

The Children’s Festival did indeed showcase the enormous diversity already to be found in New York City in 1909; it was also an opportunity to incorporate immigrant children into a regulated and educational environment. But did it prove to be a “never-to-be-forgotten event”?  

The Day of the Children’s Festival

In general, on October 2, the performances and parades of the children of New York were received by their older counterparts with enthusiasm and delight. The New York Times reported on the march to the Court of Honor the following day:  “The east side stand was filled with the parents and friends of the children, all of whom were apparently surprised and gratified at the ease, grace, and precision with which the children marched” ^[xiv].

This is not to say that the whole event came off with equal ease, grace, and precision. Last minute changes in the scheduling of some of the children’s parades, despite the long-term planning of the Committee, meant that fewer people saw the children’s dances and performances than perhaps otherwise would have. The disorganization of the day also caused frustration within the police department, as its officers were charged with ensuring the streets were clear and above all that the young people who marched on them were safe. Police Commissioner Baker came close to cancelling the march up 5th Avenue because he was notified of its time change so late, but ultimately decided that “since both parents and children then expected it he would do the best he could for them.”^[xv] And indeed New York’s police force was extremely cooperative and helpful in both the preparation for the event beforehand and for the safety and relative tranquility on the day itself. The official report acknowledges that this spectacular event could not have occurred were it not for the help and support of the police department^[xvi].

The police were singled out as an important force in the Children’s Festival in both the New York Times and the Commission’s official report of the Celebration. This is a significant example of two themes of the event: the great care that was taken with the children of the city; and the great fear that those same children generated. This fear reflected the pervasive notion of the time -- that children were on the very edge of civilization and needed to be controlled at all times – that will be discussed in more detail below.

Why Have a Children’s Festival?

What prompted the inclusion of the youth of New York in the Hudson-Fulton Celebration?

The answer is found in the official report: “the idea being to give the children of the city a general holiday and enable them to bear as important a share of participation in the history-teaching event as any other class of the population.”^[xvii] The New York Times’ review of the festival briefly echoes the idea that event was primarily for the children to have fun – “It is estimated that from 100,000 to 150,000 boys and girls in all parts of the city took part in the exercises, while the grown-ups who had been marching and celebrating all week sat placidly on the reviewing stands to watch the youngsters have their day”^[xviii]. This thoughtful desire for New York’s children to enjoy themselves indicates the holistic vision of the Celebration Commission – the Hudson-Fulton Celebration was intended to be a holiday, a genuinely fun time, for all who participated, regardless of socioeconomic circumstance, nationality, or even age. Fun was clearly an important in factor in this and all the events that occurred over the course of the festivities.

And yet if we consider the context of the time, it would suggest that what was being accomplished, or what the Commission at least intended to accomplish, was more than mere holiday fun and equal participation amongst all of New York City’s “classes”. The Children’s Festival’s additional aim is revealed in the context of the time – that is, in the era of progressive reform.

Progressive social reform took many shapes and had many crusades at the end of the nineteenth and during the first two decades of the twentieth century. But many self-proclaimed progressives found their mission in philanthropy^[xix]. One of these philanthropic projects that took shape in New York City was the settlement houses, which were homes of sorts for the urban poor and provided basic social services. In most cities, the “urban poor” were those who had recently immigrated to America, and immigration brought the primitive into the heart of civilization.”^[xx] Settlement workers had visions of themselves as saviors of these peoples, who, without their help and teachings, would degenerate into a baser and less worthy form of humanity: “Reformers saw themselves as guardians of evolution, weeding the possibly fit from the unfit who needed to be isolated and eliminated. The ranks of immigrant working class stood on a precipice with degeneracy looming in the abyss below.”^[xxi]  

No immigrant group, according to settlement work, was more in danger of that abyss than children, and especially boys. An emerging “recapitulation theory” sought to show that “childhood reflected savage, brutal life…childhood was a recreation of the experience of human evolution”^[xxii]. And thus it was the solemn responsibility of the settlement workers to guide the dangerous children of immigrants to civilization. One of the ways they chose to do that was through the regulation of play – for play was what most children spend most their time doing, and play in the streets of New York City, for example, was not conducive to what the Progressives wished to teach. “The children learned a lot from one another about life in the city: too much, according to reformers who were concerned that the lessons of the street were more easily assimilated than those of school and classroom.”^[xxiii] We see this idea emerging in the Celebration: the Children’s Festival was, in essence, play – but in a highly regulated and educational form.

Regulation of play, however, was not only because of the rise of eugenics and fears of recapitulation; these adults also had typical fears about the safety of children. Children growing up in an urban environment had the streets as their only outdoor venue for play, and the streets were not often accompanied by adult supervision:

What resulted from these concerns was a great many Progressive groups aiming to establish safe and visible places for children of the city to play and also to learn. Beginning in the 1880s, reformers – “a loosely connected coalition of settlement-house workers, educators, Protestant clergy, crusading journalists, and full-time “child-savers” and “boy’s workers””^[xxv] campaigning for playgrounds and open spaces for children who lived in cramped quarters to play and be supervised.

The Playground Association of America, founded in 1906, spearheaded a movement advocating the “organization of play.”^[xxvi] Organized play included the formation of team sports and other cooperative activities, which were thought to both move the children away from the dog-eat-dog attitude of the streets to safer habits, and also form citizens that will contribute positively to society – “On the group level, by fostering the ideals of cooperation, subordination of self, and dependence on peer approval, team sports influenced the growth of a social conscience.”^[xxvii]

The step from team sports to organized marching parades and pageants is a small one, especially when 1909 was right in the middle of the veritable heyday of progressive reform and the play movement. Additionally, a parade in the streets of New York, full of dancing and costume, was a way to convert the idea of the city from a dangerous and dirty place to a safe and visible venue for play. In this context, it is unlikely that the children’s festival of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration was simply a holiday for the children, and not also an educational exercise. Having children band together in performance was a lesson in societal cooperation; and having children act out scenes from New York history was an innovative way to teach them the subject matter. This subject matter may have been especially directed at the children of Manhattan’s lower East Side of such diverse nationalities who were, according to the official report, vying “with those of native origin in their efforts to make Children's Day a never-to-be-forgotten event.”^[xxviii] Even in the rhetoric of the undersecretary to the Commission we can see an idea about a division between the children of immigrants and those of “native origin.” The Children’s Festival was an event highly permeable to the ideas and aims of the Progressive movement; through its study we see more clearly its goals and methods with regard to children.

We cannot know what the thousands of children of New York City, whatever neighborhood they lived in, took away from their participation in the Children’s Festival of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration; nor do we know what their parents or those who watched thought of it. But this event in 1909 remains an interesting one today, an occurrence that highlights both the commitment of the Celebration Commission to provide entertainment for all participants, regardless of age or nationality, and also provides insight into the progressive movement and the social concerns of the day.