Schlesinger Library / Collections

North Bennet Street Industrial School

North Bennet Street Industrial School—a trade school and settlement house—was founded in 1879 to serve the immigrant community in Boston’s North End.

Group of children outside North Bennet Street School
Group of children outside North Bennet Street School, ca. 1920-1929. North Bennet Street Industrial School Records. Hollis #: olvwork20009153

The school offered vocational courses for children and adults, a day nursery, summer camps, a credit union, and an industrial training program. By 1900, the immigrant community served by the school was mostly Italian. The collection is particularly strong in documenting immigrant life in the North End, the evolution of vocational and early childhood education, as well as Boston's elite and their interactions with other social classes in the city. Today, North Bennet Street School operates as a craft school with programs in bookbinding, carpentry, and jewelry making. 

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