The girls and teachers shown in the photograph were members of the Golden Rule Society at Manchester High School. They made clothes and toys for poor people in their free time after school. Their motto was "Be you unto others kind and true and always unto others do as you would have others do to you." There were a lot of poor people in Manchester in Victorian times. The government did not provide unemployment benefit, health care or pensions.
Helping people in need
This is a description of the clothes and toys which were made by the Golden Rule Society at the beginning of the twentieth century. It is part of an article about the Golden Rule Society which was published in the School Magazine. It tells you a lot about Victorian clothing and the problems which poor people faced in Victorian times.
Look at the glossary to find out what the words mean.
At the sewing meetings which have been held during the past year the following garments have been completed:
19 shawls, 12 vests, 3 woollen skirts, 1 baby's flannel, 15 pairs of cuffs, 5 pairs of stockings, 4 hoods, 5 pairs of knickers, 5 comforters, 2 nightingales, 18 petticoats, 4 dresses, 3 pairs of mittens, 2 sleeping vests, 1 bonnet, 2 nightdresses and 1 dressing jacket.
A large number of toys and dressed dolls have been brought by the members of the Junior School for distribution to the poor. A Junior School Golden Rule meeting was held which was a great success and our indebtedness to them was further increased by gifts of scrap-books and toys. Our thanks are also due to the girls who made and gave us Christmas puddings.
Tasks
How do you think that the clothes made by members of the Golden Rule Society helped to make life easier for poor people apart from keeping them warm?
What skills and qualities do you think the members of the Golden Rule Society would have had?
Why do you think the members of the Golden Rule Society gave up their free time to help others?
What does your school do to help people in need?
How and why is what your school does for people in need different from the work of the members of the Golden Rule Society at Manchester High School in the early 1900s?
To answer these questions think about the following:
the differences between the needs of the people in the early 1900s and the needs of people now
how the needs of people would have been known to members of the Golden Rule Society in the early 1900s and how you know about people in need now
what the members of the Golden Rule Society were able to do to help those in need and what you are able to do now.