The 1916 annual report of the superintendent of schools (covering the school year 1914-15) notes the population increase in the Deerfield, Massachusetts, schools. The source was immigration, as hundreds of new arrivals, mostly from Eastern Europe, arrived in the area to farm. Many of these young immigrants had not been well educated in their country of origin, or struggled in their newly adopted language, as the table on page 80 hints. Prejudice is evidenced as these students were referred to here as “retarded pupils”, when in reality most were simply behind in their studies as a result of the language difference.
Stiles, Chester D. Annual Report of the Town Officers of Deerfield For the Year Ending Jan. 1st 1916- Annual Report of the School Committee. E. A. Hall and Company, 1915. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l02-073/. Accessed on October 16, 2024.
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