Kidding Around

Childhood has long been a site where American adults have contested their own core values. Sometimes those contestations have focused on education, but just as often they've concerned matters of labor, economy, gender, and even immigration. This exhibit looks at some of the ways American children have found themselves at the center of these debates. It also offers a selection of writing that raises intriguing questions about memory and the stories we tell about childhood.

A school class takes a lunch break in Fountain Square, in Cincinatti, Ohio, 1973.

Hubbard, Tom, 1931-, Photographer (NARA record: 8464449)