Historiographical traditions in the study of “children of misfortune” in the context of orphanage in the Russian Empire and Soviet Russia in the first third of the 20th century

We consider the historiographical traditions of both domestic and foreign historiography on the study of the childhood history, children’s daily life, the history of motherhood and childhood, social welfare and charity of “children of misfortune” both in the capital and at the provincial level in the first third of the 20th century. Based on the analysis of methodological approaches and research practices, we identify the most successful, complex and effective, including consideration of various poorly studied aspects of the claimed scientific problem. We reveal the regional features of the social protection system study that are significantly different from the works of the capital’s historians. We refine the approaches and interpretation in the study of the role and place of the social state in the Russian Empire and the policy of Soviet authorities in relation to orphans. We reveal the main posed questions of the prospects of historiographical study of a wide range of childhood history problems. We draw conclusions about the results of the study of social protection and charity of orphans system in both pre-revolutionary and Soviet Russia. We pay attention to the importance of taking into account the regional specifics and specific historical manifestations of social policy in the study of charitable support and private public initiative of the period under review. We reveal the stereotypical approaches and assessments in relation to the system development of social charity and welfare for “children of misfortune” in imperial and Soviet Russia.

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