Zhitomir Jewish School of the 1st Class; Zhitomir, Volhynia Province

Collection

Holding institution (official language):: Державний архів Житомирської області

Title:: Zhitomir Jewish School of the 1st Class; Zhitomir, Volhynia Province

Title (official language):: Житомирское еврейское училище 1-го разряда, г. Житомир Волынской губ.; Житомирське єврейське училище 1-го розряду, м. Житомир Волинської губ.

Scope and content:: Included are school syllabuses and a staff list (1850); a copy of the statute on state Jewish schools; minutes of sessions of the academic council (1861-73), and the school’s annual reports (1850, 1859, 1867, 1872); files on the admission of students, on the issuance to them of certificates, on their dismissal, on the hiring at the school of a number of teachers (1851-52); and pupils’ progress and behaviour reports, as well as class logs. A significant portion of the fonds’ materials consists of financial documents: cash books of income and expenses, etc.

Administrative/biographical history:: This school was established in 1847 but for all practical purposes opened 18 January 1850. It was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education. Initially, it was immediately subordinate to the director of public schools of the Volhynia province, and from 1867 to the director of the Zhitomir Rabbinical Seminary. Admission to the school was open to “children of all Jewish estates” ages eight and older. Instruction was free; the school was funded by the candle tax. The curriculum was divided into two grades and was equivalent to that of a parochial school, except that for various reasons (mainly in light of the school’s unpopularity among the Jewish population), its second grade did not function for several years. 13.5 hours a week (of a total of 24) were devoted to Jewish subjects, most of which were taught in German, which in the early 1860s gave way to Russian. At the same time there was also a reduction in the number of Jewish subjects. The last graduating class was that of 1873, after which the school was dissolved.

Subject terms:: Education; Education--Schools and universities; Education--Students; Education--Teachers and professors; Financial records; Personal records

System of arrangement:: The fonds includes a single inventory systematised largely chronologically.