Journal archive

Abstract: An important mechanism for social assistance to poor and disadvantaged children in Imperial Russia were shelters – special institutions that, based on modern concepts, combined the features of a kindergarten for day-care, a boarding school for children of poor parents and an orphanage. A large role in the organization of assistance to peasant orphans was played by rural shelters, which were subordinate to the Office of the Empress Maria. In Perm province, by 1914, there were 11 rural and factory shelters of the Mariinsky department, in which 236 children were looked after. The main task of the shelters was the moral and religious upbringing of children. In addition, much attention was paid to their professional training. This increased the opportunities for social adaptation of orphans. Inmates of orphanages received the first skills of future agricultural or handicraft activities, which could give them the means for further survival in the future adulthood. Handmade workshops were usually established for girls in shelters, pupils learned to cut, sew, knit, repair linens, clothes and shoes, and to cook. The boys were taught carpentry, shoe mending and shoe business, weaving mats and baskets, as well as other crafts. In summer, all children were engaged in agricultural work. Many shelters had plots of land. Own economy was one of the sources of replenishment of children's institutions. Philanthropists believed it to be important to create in the shelters an environment that would not differ from the conditions of their future ordinary peasant life.