Social Settlements: United States. New York. New York City. "St. Thomas Chapel House": St. Thomas House, New York City: Kindergarten Class - 1906. c. 1906

Editor: This photograph, taken by Percy Byron in 1906, captures a kindergarten class at St. Thomas House in New York City. It has a very documentary style to it. What strikes you about this image? Curator: I see a staged image, with a very constructed sense of care and benevolence. Who is this really for? The image performs charity and social service for the viewer, doesn't it? How does it mask the inequalities of the time through this selective framing? Editor: So you're suggesting the photo is not just a record, but a form of social messaging? Curator: Absolutely. Consider the context: settlement houses emerged to address poverty, often run by privileged women. This image, with its carefully arranged scene, serves to legitimize those efforts, while perhaps obscuring the complexities and power dynamics at play. Editor: That reframes everything for me. It’s not just a historical record, but an argument. Curator: Precisely. And one we must examine critically. Let's delve deeper into the racial and class dynamics of the time.