Italian Day Nursery of New Haven

By: Crystal Garcia

New Haven’s Early Childhood Education system began as early as 1906 with the intent to relieve the stress of mothers who could not tend proper care to their children all while earning a working wage to contribute to the household. During this era, New Haven’s population was increased through an influx of Italian immigrants. In order to live, many low income Italian families were left with no choice but to send women off to work. In hopes to help uplift the poverty of the community and solve the issue of proper childcare while mothers were off at work, New Havener, Reverend John Bishop traveled to Italy and sought out the help of nuns, convincing them to travel to New Haven in order to provide the proper child care in place of working mothers. The nuns obliged and traveled to Connecticut, opening one of New Haven’s first documented Nursery facilities, operated by the Missionary Zelatrices of the Sacred Heart. 

This facility, originally built in 1906 and located at 81 Olive Street, evolved overtime. The nursery at first extended its responsibilities when one day requested to care for two orphans. “One day the sisters were asked to admit two little orphans to their institution. Twenty-four hour care for youngsters was something that had not been anticipated and the quarters at Olive St. proved inadequate for that purpose.” (Italian Day Nurseries). Thus, the nursery moved to a bigger location on Greene Street, which provided the proper space to take care of orphans, as well as the children who were watched during nursery hours. Overtime, however, the need for the orphanage diminished, eventually leaving the facility with its primary responsibility to take care of the children of working mothers. 

By the 1950s, many other nurseries had been built with desire to care for children as well. “Increased rates of immigration and high birth rates among immigrants were also a cause of concern as more and more young children from different cultural backgrounds flooded the streets.” (Beatty, 72). Demand for daycares increased. The Italian day nursery had still been functioning and serving to its community and eventually opened another building branch. Both branches took care of 240 children every day, making it one of the most popular nurseries in this era. Unlike the Italian Day Nursery, many other nurseries in New Haven were charging parents for the care of the children, while the nuns at the Italian Day Nursery worked for free. According to a newspaper article written in 1950, “Mother Celestine said that if it were necessary to employ personnel to teach and supervise the children, instead of having sisters perform these duties, the nurseries would be unable to continue. The nurseries operate by having the sisters manage the children, then hiring help to do the household and cleaning chores. ” (Italian Day Nurseries). This would explain why the nursery was overpopulated with children. However, while this may seem beneficial, it can be detrimental to the children’s educational needs as they were not being cared for by professional teachers. 

The curriculum at the Italian Day Nursery emphasized the importance of teaching the children how to successfully complete basic human needs. Every morning, the first order of business was a health check pertaining to the children. The nuns thoroughly checked children’s hair, fingernails, and overall cleanliness. After the children passed the health check, the children were grouped. “Full day care is given to children of any religion. The boys and girls are grouped from ages two to four, four to five, five to six. The oldest group attends kindergarten for half the day, while the younger tots play with nursery games and toys. When weather permits, the younger children go outside part of the day to play.” (Italian Day Nurseries). The children play with toys and games throughout the day while being under the supervision of the nuns. The nuns also interacted with the children when providing them meals. As opposed to being an educational figure, it was as though the nuns were merely babysitting the children. The daycare did not include a structured educational lesson because the nuns had no training in teaching. By comparison, a Jewish early childhood education program during this era named Gan Hayeled Nursery School located on 8 High Street had curriculum which involved: “Bi-cultural program - Hebrew-English content, Arts and crafts, Music, Story telling. One hour work period. Individual selection of toys. Rest period - milk and cookies. Constructive period (includes arts and crafts, stories, rhythm.)” (Daycare Resources, 1958). The capacity of this school was 65, a much lower number in comparison to the hundreds of children attending both branches of the Italian Days schools. The pricing for the school were as follows:  “$241 per year for full member of congregation B’nai Jacob. $264 per year for associate member of Congregation B’nai Jacob -- this includes membership cost. $264 per year for non-members.” (Daycare Resources, 1958). This pricing may have been intended for higher class individuals, leaving the Italian Day School with members of low income. Due to the expense of learning, parents were left to settle with free care at the Italian Day School, where the children were not being exposed to subjects that would enhance their worldly knowledge, as opposed to the curriculum they would have experienced at the Jewish School. It is believed that schools such as the Italian Day School were intended for children of the working class, who will not make use of subjects such as art and reading under the assumption that they will work in a factory just as their parents do, an occupation that required very limited formal schooling. 

Bibliography: 

Beatty, Barbara. Preschool Education in America: the Culture of Young Children from the           

          Colonial Era to the Present. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997.

“Daycare Directory.”Council of Social Agencies. CT, n.d. 1958.

“Italian Day Nurseries Prove Big Boon To Working Mothers.” September 22, 1955.