Modern School Periodical Collection

The Ferrer Modern School of Stelton, New Jersey, was part of a progressive, libertarian education movement that believed in education free from the authority of the government. The Ferrer Association was created in New York City after the execution of Spanish anarchist Francisco Ferrer (1859-1909), who founded the first “Modern School” in Barcelona. Originally in New York City, the children’s school was moved to the newly organized Stelton colony in Piscataway Township in 1915. The colony aimed to challenge the modern American social order by creating a school in which “the principles of liberty, solidarity and the dignity of labor in its truest sense will be taught and lived” by each new generation. Features of libertarian education at the Modern School included voluntary attendance and a lack of punishment or formal curriculum.

Elizabeth and Alexis Ferm, who authored a volume in this collection, were co-principals from 1920 to 1925. Their promotion of a creative curriculum of manual work, handicrafts, and other arts led to the creation of Voice of the Children, a collection of writings and illustrations printed by the children of the Modern School. The Ferms left their positions at the school after some parents criticized their promotion of creative pursuits over academics, but returned as co-principals in 1933, after their replacement co-principals Jim and Nellie Dick (also former co-principals at Stelton) left to start their own Modern School. The Great Depression and the decline of the anarchist movement caused many parents to withdraw their children from the Modern School of Stelton in the 1930s. The school officially closed in 1953.