MARTHA AND MARIA JEFFERSON ATTEND AN ELITE CATHOLIC GIRLS SCHOOL IN PARIS - THE PANTHEMONT - CISTERCIAN SISTERS

Of great interest to me also was that Jefferson's daughter Martha (the oldest), who went to Paris with him when he represented the United States there, was of Protestant heritage, but went to the most elite Catholic private school for girls, run by nuns. To me this means that Jefferson was not only doing in Paris what a wealthy Parisian might, being in that culture, but that he cared that his daughter have a good education. At one point she was tempted to join the nunnery.  There were other Protestant girls who attended there, including some from England,  The school was called Panthemont.  the Convent School was run by The Abbess, Catherine de Bethisy de Mezieres from 1743-1790. These schools often only taught what was considered necessary to turn out a fine young woman, and the students did not often stay for long, so you might think of them as "finishing" schools.  

Page 44 : "Although some had begun to argue that women also possessed intellectual ability and the capacity for rational thought, pragmatic parents had to groom their daughters for the marriage market that still abhorred the femme savante, a disparaging term for the woman who made herself ridiculous by proudly displaying her learning. 

The dismal state of female education in Paris could also be explained by the short amount of time girls actually spent in formal learning: one study of seven Paris convent schools found that 60 percent of the students attended for less than two years. By 1800, only 27% if French brides could sign their names in the marriage registers, as opposed to 40 % of the English ones

(This book has quite a list of the various books Martha Jefferson was required to read in French literature, books that taught the value of work, the dangers of flattery, and the rarity of true friendship. She was also taught to write letters as a n art. Besides embroidery and needlework, drawing and painting flowers, and so on, the girls learned history, some arithmetic, and geography.  While critics said that female students were just given a bit of understanding of these subjects often reserved just for men, the nuns and the students took their education seriously.  I would also like to mention that there seems to have been an influx of girls being readied for the marriage market and that there might not have been an emphasis of a graduation or completion of studies.)

Page 22: (In particular to Martha's daughter Ellen Randolph...) Ellen considered herself a "bluestocking" that is an elite female thinker. But such women were not sought out as wives. Ellen wrote that her experience, north or south, a woman who 'is believed to have received a useful education is really more welcome than a blue stocking Unitarian democrat.' 

Notes: as Martha's husband Tom Randolph went into more debt, unable to sell property, and taking more bank loans, it became clear that the daughters would not have dowries and there was a concern that they would have to marry well. His financial problems made it impossible for him to provide them with dowries large enough to attract the husbands they would need for their own financial stability.

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CENTURIES OF CHILDHOOD by PHILIPPE ARIES : ANCESTRY WORSHIP BOOK REVIEW

CENTURIES OF CHILDHOOD 

A fascinating book well worth the time it takes to read it:

I was loaned a paperback copy, circa 1962. I see copies exist for sale and that there is a full text available for free (as above) so I'll start by saying that the author was respected and that the information is still valid as it was heavily researched and wonderfully transmitted. Translated from French, this book is a lot about France, with small references to other European countries and starts with the Middle Ages and moves forward into the 19th century. Most likely, though things developed along the same path in various countries, when is the question.

Childhood as a state of being separate from adulthood developed over a few hundred years until it is what it is today. Families experienced their children's deaths frequently, especially in infancy and early childhood, but there's a question about how emotionally involved they might be.  Paintings depict children who have died as family members though distant memories.  At the same time the death of a child was supposed to be aligned with the desire for a replacement.

Children "played" for a short while in their early years and then were considered to be adults. They participated in adult activities as their development allowed and that meant work. Of course, before compulsory education that was work around the house and farm or workshop with parents and other adults as teachers. At the same time housing didn't allow much for private spaces. So a person became aware of the realities of life in their place and time by observation and being expected to participate.

Over the years education as a destination, a place to go and be taught by a Master, such as boarding schools, developed. The "grade" one was in also had more to do with when one began schooling or what one already knew than age and so students at the same level could have a wide range of ages in the classroom. Depending on one's class or status the expectations and affordability varied quite a bit. The house developed into a dwelling with rooms and with separate rooms developed the idea that one had a right to privacy. One might sleep on the floor of the school along with other students and the teachers.

Clearly children also were aware of sexuality and may have participated in it without the expectations of a future age.

If you're like me and want to be left alone to read; for most of known history this would have been an impossibility especially for a woman.  And yet over time a distinction was made between a person who becomes educated and then graduates to a life long learner (me again).

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