Matthew Marchio
Historical Geography: Mapping Childhoods (GEOG/HST170)
Prof. Meghan Cope
Fall 2017
Part of the Mapping American Childhoods Project

Introduction

My name is Matthew Marchio, and I would like to welcome you to my website. I am currently in my third year as an undergraduate student at the University of Vermont. I am majoring in Geography with a particular focus in Urban Geography. My work as an undergraduate student consists of one published website of research conducted through the University of Vermont, and several internship positions as a data analyst for businesses ranging from home security to clothing brands. I am proud to publish this website as my second scholarly research conducted through the University of Vermont.

My research examined the historical geography of childhood through baseball in early 20th century America. Throughout my study of an era where baseball gained national acclaim as America’s sport, I was able to analyze trends that related to childhood themes such as social inequalities among race, class and gender, the building of a national identity/place, material cultures of childhood and youth, and health and morality of children. My research reveals children’s experience with something as trivial as baseball severely impacted their everyday lives and redefined their role as children within a broader society. These impacts were shaped by both the social institutions responsible for integrating baseball into childhood, and the children who participated in these socio-spatial environments. Though the social implications of baseball on childhood experiences greatly differed across race, gender, and class, baseball served as a medium in which children could use these experiences to reinvent a unique culture of their own, redefining the concept of childhood in American society.