Social Settlements: United States. Massachusetts. Boston. "South End Industrial School": The South End Industrial School, Roxbury, Mass.: Members of some of the classes and of the Home Garden Club. c. 1903

Curator: This photograph, taken by Partridge Studios, captures the South End Industrial School in Roxbury, Massachusetts. It shows members of classes and the Home Garden Club. Editor: The image strikes me as a study in contrasts—the uniformity of the dresses against the unruly nature surrounding them. Curator: Precisely. The school aimed to assimilate young girls into a specific mold, teaching domestic skills for labor, while the Home Garden Club connects them to land work. Editor: The material reality is that these girls are being prepared for very different lives, depending on their race, class and gender. Curator: Absolutely. The photograph speaks volumes about the complex intersections of race, class, and gender at the time. Editor: It leaves you to consider the labor, the lives and the limited access available to these young women. Curator: Indeed. It's a poignant reflection on the constraints and expectations placed upon them. Editor: Thinking about their future gives you pause.