The Children of Spring Street

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiii

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Meredith A. B. Ellis

   Pages 1-16

3. A Sketch of a City

   • Meredith A. B. Ellis

   Pages 17-30

4. Hearth and Home: Infants, Birth Through 1.5 Years of Age

   • Meredith A. B. Ellis

   Pages 31-55

5. Exposures: Toddlers and Younger Children, 1.5–4.5 Years of Age

   • Meredith A. B. Ellis

   Pages 57-81

6. Restless Youth: Older Children, 4.5–9.5 Years of Age

   • Meredith A. B. Ellis

   Pages 83-108

7. Transitioning: 9.5–14.5 Years of Age

   • Meredith A. B. Ellis

   Pages 109-129

8. Deconstructing Childhood

   • Meredith A. B. Ellis

   Pages 131-138

9. Back Matter

   Pages 139-143

   PDF

This book examines how the shifts in the early 19^th century in New York City affected children in particular. Indeed, one could argue that within this context, that “children” and “childhood” came into being.

In order to explore this, the skeletal remains of the children buried at the small, local, yet politically radical Spring Street Presbyterian Church are detailed. Population level analyses are combined with individual biological profiles from sorted burials and individual stories combed from burial records and archival data. 

What emerges are life histories of children—of infants, toddlers, younger children, older children, and adolescents—during this time of transition in New York City. When combined with historical data, these life histories, for instance, tell us about what it was like to grow up in this changing time in New York City

• embodiment of social identity and lived experience of childhood
• isotope and health signatures of variation in weaning timing
• unique skeletal and historical experiences of childhood
• transition the data and theory into a narrative
• life histories and family life in 19th century New York

• Anthropology Department, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, USA

  Meredith A. B. Ellis

Meredith A.B. Ellis holds a PhD in Anthropology from Syracuse University. She also holds Master’s Degrees in Anthropology and English Language and Literature. She is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Florida Atlantic University.  Her research interests include social bioarchaeology, the bioarchaeology of childhood, the 19th century United States, and health and inequality. She has worked on the Spring Street Presbyterian Church collection, the China Gulch faunal collection, and the Donner Party Alder Creek Campsite collection.  

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