Figure 1.--This is the 3rd class Lycée E.F Gautier during 1955-56 academic year. The boys all wear European-stle clothes, both short and long pants as well as knickers. It looks like all the students are French boys. Note how few boys wear ties. |
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We have begun to collect information on individual French Algerian schools. The available photograph are all formal school portraits. The boys may have dressed up a little, but they show a cross section of the clothing styles at the time. A photograph at the Lycée de Bône (about 1946) shows most of the older boys wearing long pants suits. A few boys have short pants or knicker suits. Another school we have noted is the Lycée E.F Gautier (1955). We do not have much information about the school at this time. It looks to be school that only French boys attended. The boys are certainly wearing French styled clothing. We have no information at this time on the individual schools attended by Algerian children. Beginning in the 1870s, French boys wore smocks to school. Older boys would wear their ordinary clothes. Thus an assessment of school wear provides a good
indicator of typical boy's clothing at the time. View of the following schools in colonial Algeria are available at the following schools.
The French colonized Algeria in 1830. While there was Algerian military resistance until the 1870s, the French presence lasted over 100 years until 1961. French citizens settled in Algeria, primarily in the cities, and introduced the French educational system. We have no information about the schools in the 19th century. France in tghe 1830s still
did not have a state school system as wa developing in the Protestant states. We are not sure if Algerian children were allowed to attend the first schools set up by the French in the 19th century. We have more information about the school system in the era after World War II. A French reader tells us that there was only one school system in Algeria. All state and Catholic schools were taught in French. There were no Arab language schools for the Algerian children to attend. In Algeria as in other French colonies, the school system was exactly the same as the educational program in France itself. This was the case in all city schools. There were, however, many small villages hidden in the mountains. It was very difficult to open schools there. n France itself all the villages, even the smallest had a school. So it could be a bit fun to found a class with only 10 pupils. For secondary such pupils from small villages had to board." The kindergarden wasn't compulsory, but attendance at primary school was. While tgheoretically mandatory, most lgerian children did not attend--especially the girls. This problem was especially prevalent in the country. In the cities there were sections which were largely French and others primarily Algerian. As a result many schools were largely French or mixed French-Algerian depending on where they were situated. We have not yet found schools that were predomintely Algerian. And the algerian school wear French clothes which presumably speaks to their level of assimilation. The schools HBC has found look primarily French. This is part a reflection of where the school was located. Most of the internet site we have founds have been created by people who attended these schools and had to return to France after indepdndence. We have not noted sites created by Algerians. For some reason there are a lot of internet sites about these schools. In fact we have found more sites than French schools in France. Aparently many of the French who returned to France are now very nostalgic about their schools. Thus there are a lot of available images, but not a lot of information about these schools. Hopefully some of the former students will tell us about their schools. Mot of these schools closed after Algeria became independent (1961) and the French population returned to France.
We note the same kind of schools in colonial Algeria as we find in France itself. Most of the schools are ecoles (primary schools and lycees (secindary schools. There are both state and Catholic schools. In France there were Catholic colleges and a variety of specialized schools, but we do not know about Algeria. We will eventually list the schools both by name and chronologically.
A French reader tells us, "We are in a free country and the uniforn for public schools were not the rule. In Kindergarden (maternelle) normaly the children might have a smock and comfortable, casual pants. Going to the school the children must only be clean , and respectable look and clothes. Notice that in Algéria, the French children were dressed alike those found in France itself. A lot of French families in Algeria were not specialy rich."
There are several websites set up by the students about their schools in French colonial Algeria. Many have excellent photo libraries which are a wonderful resourse to study changing school fashion ober time. HBC readers may want to have a look at some of these school sites. Olease let us know if you have any interesting observations.
Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Main Chronology Page]
[The 1880s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
[The 1960s]
[The 1970s]
[The 1980s]
