Hunger, misery and school: the emergence of organizations helping poor school children in Concepción (1917-1929)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the emergence of the aid to the poor childhood and the primary school enrolment in Concepción in the context of the social question. The life of childhood in the city and the difficult relationship between school enrolment and poverty are contextualized. It is argued that the emergence
of the aid to the poor childhood was the result of different approaches: secular philanthropy, education through civilization, elements of hygienist medical thought, and race degeneration and eugenic ideas expressed in the newspaper “El Sur”.