And I should not have to remind you
that little time is given here
to rest on a wayside bench,
to stop and bend to the wildflowers,
or to study a bird on a branch—–from “The Parade” by Billy Collins
As June builds up to summer’s start, lengthening sunny days mixed with some warm rain bring wildflowers’ sudden shoots and colorful blooms, seemingly overnight. In an instant, fallow fields, meadows, and roadside rights-of-way are flower-filled. This same recipe of sunshine and rain brings forth insects as well, some that prey on humans – black flies, mosquitoes, sweat bees – and some that make for good stalking – dragonflies, fireflies, June bugs. The 1904 photograph below of Quentin Roosevelt, the youngest child of Theodore and Edith, epitomizes this time of year for me as he’s intently engaged in June bug hunting amidst a meadow full of daisies (or Black-Eyed Susans, perhaps?) on the grounds of Sagamore Hill, the family’s Long Island home:

Quentin Roosevelt looking for June bugs. Photograph copyrighted by Edward S. Curtis, 1904. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.23793
The contemporaneous stereograph view below of an unidentified toddler and unnamed collie shown in a similar wildflower-filled field is a 1905 copyright image. For me, this picture of child and dog in a meadow abloom evokes idyllic moments I’ve experienced as a boy and twice more decades later as a father of a son and a daughter:
![[Child and collie in field of wildflowers]. Stereograph copyright by Underwood & Underwood, 1905.](http://blogs.loc.gov/picturethis/files/2016/06/childcollie.jpg)
[Child and collie in field of wildflowers]. Stereograph copyright by Underwood & Underwood, 1905. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c13692
Hine’s photographs for the National Child Labor Committee illuminate a grimmer early 20th century phenomenon of children up-to-their-elbows in flowers.
Learn More
|
June 12, 2016 at 9:23 pm
It is so beautful, thanks for that.
June 13, 2016 at 1:54 am
Jeff,
Great post! I love the juxtaposition of kids in fields of flowers with kids making fake flowers in factories. I’d be interested in seeing a progression of flower photos that moved up through the decades. Hope all is well in your corner of the world.
June 13, 2016 at 4:57 pm
The arts expand and deepen visible learning. LOC has been a source for my instructional units for several years now. Thank you for making the resources teacher friendly.
`namaste
June 20, 2016 at 10:20 am
A lovely post, Jeff. A tribute to summer with the fields of blooms. As usual, the Hine photos tell a much larger story about children, families and work. But they also show how the demand was met to bring some of the “outside” into our homes. Great images!