1896 George Junior Republic token

jmlanzaf

I find the story of the token more interesting than the token.

William Reuben George was born in 1866 and was a businessman in NYC. He became interested in "street toughs" or "urchins" in NYC. Starting in 1890, he established a "fresh air camp" outside of Freeville, NY

In 1895, George wintered at the camp and it became a permanent settlement. He modeled it as a "Junior Republic" based on the US republic but for children. He believed there was no reward if there was no work.

It's actually still there although there have been some name changes. But there is still a George Junior Republic School district!

https://gjr.org/

jesbroken

Great story. I would like to hear from others of their states, cities or counties that are doing similar things for young people.
Jim

jmlanzaf

@jesbroken said:
Great story. I would like to hear from others of their states, cities or counties that are doing similar things for young people.
Jim

The link does contain websites for some other "George Junior Republics" in other states.

tokenpro

In the world of exonumia the George Junior Republic tokens of all types and locations can be found listed in the prison token catalogs.

ricko

Very interesting. A worthwhile effort indeed. I was not aware of this specific endeavor. It really does pay to work with young people. I have seen it often during my years in Boy Scouts (long ago) and summer camps. Cheers, RickO

jmlanzaf

@tokenpro said:
In the world of exonumia the George Junior Republic tokens of all types and locations can be found listed in the prison token catalogs.

That's rather tragic...

JimW

I grew up in Freeville NY. When my sister or I misbehaved in the car, our parents would threaten to drop us off there.
Our car was stolen once by a GJR student.
Overall though, I think a lot of good was done there.