A Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve: Studia Historica 3. (Szeged, 2000)

TÓTH István: Gyermekszociális gondoskodás Szegeden századelőn (1914-1918)

ISTVÁN TÓTH THE HISTORY OF CHILD WELFARE IN SZEGED IN THE EARLY PART OF THE 20™ CENTURY (1914-1918) The author has now expanded his earlier, much briefer, discussion of the topic. This is how his present work was born. Using press and archival sources, he describes the various institutions and establishment of child welfare in the early part of this century. The first embodiment of this cause was the patronage board which formed in 1914. In parallel with this, the Association for the Studying of Children reports about all child related activities ranging from its active theoretical preparation activity to the discussion of practical questions. The press published long reports about these events among its columns (Délmagyarország, Szegedi Híradó). They also published two important documents in their supplements. One is the article about the establishment of the Child Police, an organisation with a bitter sounding name, the other is the book about the one and a half year activity of the Child Police from the pen of its secretary without the use of archival documents. The document fills a gap. Just as in the case of the workers health insurance at the early part of this century, Szeged was able to set an example in this very important social issue as well. Organisations of social institutions involved with children started off in various parts of the country by following this example. The Child Friend movement between the two wars was a continuation of this trend. This document, published in its entirety, is the link between organisations of child care in the last century and those organisations which sprouted at the beginning of the 20

th century. Based on the experiences of experts, they initiated new movements and actions which required the co-operation between the two peripheries of society.