Julia Richman was a nationally recognized nineteenth-century educator and reformer in the New York City school system, the first female and first Jew to be appointed a district superintendent in the city’s schools. Richman’s reform efforts focused on the Americanization of immigrant children, as she believed strongly in the school’s ability to socialize immigrants for a successful life in the United States. Working with the schools of New York City’s Lower East Side immigrant communities, she enacted such progressive practices as English-language immersion classes and continuous, rather than yearly or social, promotion.
Eschewing the expectations of her traditional Jewish middle-class upbringing, Richman chose to pursue a lifelong career in education. She graduated from normal school at age 17, entering the New York City public schools as a grammar school teacher; Richman was later appointed to the position of grammar school principal, which preceded her appointment to district superintendent.
Throughout her career, Richman advocated the socializing capacity of the public school and worked to refashion immigrant children into American citizens. To that end, Richman’s reforms were both educational and social, from teaching particular aspects of hygiene and American culture to immigrant children to training immigrant students in specific vocational skills.
Bibliography:
- Berrol, S. C. (1993). Julia Richman: A notable woman. Philadelphia: Balch Institute Press.
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