# Nellie Dick

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Anarchist educator (1893–1995)

Nellie Dick Born Naomi Ploschansky (1893-05-15)15 May 1893 Nr. Kyiv, Russian Empire Died 31 October 1995(1995-10-31) (aged 102) Oyster Bay, New York, US Occupation Educator Movement Anarchist Modern School movement Spouse James Hugh Dick ​ ​ (m. 1915; died 1965)​

**Nellie Dick** (born **Naomi Ploschansky**; 15 May 1893 – 31 October 1995) was an [anarchist educator](/source/Anarchism_and_education) and for 40 years was at the forefront of the [Modern Schools movement](/source/Ferrer_movement).[1] Alongside her husband, Jim Dick, she worked at the American Modern Schools in [Stelton](/source/Ferrer_Center_and_Colony#Stelton_colony), [Mohegan](/source/Mohegan_Lake%2C_New_York) and [Lakewood](/source/Lakewood%2C_New_Jersey).

## Biography

Dick was born Naomi Ploschansky to a Jewish family near [Kyiv](/source/Kyiv) on 15 May 1893, she was one of eight children.[1] While an infant her family moved to [Whitechapel](/source/Whitechapel) in the [East End of London](/source/East_End_of_London), then [Leeds](/source/Leeds), [Glasgow](/source/Glasgow), and finally [Stepney Green](/source/Stepney) in London.[1] Her father was active in the Jewish trade union and [anarchist](/source/Anarchism) movements and worked as a baker and a capmaker.[2][3]: 240

From 1907 until 1911 Dick organised a [Sunday school](/source/Sunday_school) at the [Jubilee Street Anarchist Club](/source/Jubilee_Street_Club), and in 1912 opened the Ferrer Sunday School in Whitechapel.[4][5] In 1913 on a May Day march she met Jim Dick, an educator who had started a Ferrer school in [Liverpool](/source/Liverpool), and he subsequently joined her school as a co-director of the Sunday school.[1][4][3]: 242 They married in 1915 so he could avoid conscription and then moved to the United States in 1917.[5][6][3]: 242 Her family moved to Russia after the revolution, with her sister Bertha later spending 15 years in a prison camp.[1]

From 1917 until 1924 Nellie and Jim Dick both worked at [the modern school](/source/Ferrer_Center_and_Colony#Stelton_colony) in [Stelton, New Jersey](/source/Stelton%2C_New_Jersey).[2] From 1924 until 1928 Nellie and Jim Dick directed the Mohegan Modern School in [Mohegan, New York](/source/Mohegan_Lake%2C_New_York).[3]: 293–296 From 1928 until 1933 they were co-principals at Stelton.[3]: 312 In 1933 they founded their own school in [Lakewood, New Jersey](/source/Lakewood%2C_New_Jersey), which they ran until it closed in 1958 – the last of the American Modern Schools to close.[2][5]

She retired with Jim to [Miami, Florida](/source/Miami%2C_Florida), with Jim dying in 1965. In her retirement she was active in the [senior citizens movement](/source/Senior_citizen's_rights). In 1990 Dick moved to [Oyster Bay, New York](/source/Oyster_Bay%2C_New_York) where she died on the 31st of October 1995, aged 102.[5][7]

## Bibliography

- [Avrich, Paul](/source/Paul_Avrich) (1980). [*The Modern School Movement: Anarchism and Education in the United States*](http://archive.org/details/modernschoolmove0000avri). [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive). Princeton, N.J.: [Princeton University Press](/source/Princeton_University_Press). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-691-04669-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-691-04669-3).

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:2_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:2_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:2_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:2_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-:2_1-4) Whitehead, Andrew (14 May 1993). ["A real anarchist"](https://www.andrewwhitehead.net/uploads/3/5/0/5/3505647/published/ns-dick.jpg). *[New Statesman & Society](/source/New_Statesman_%26_Society)*. **6** (252): 22–23. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20220519004534/https://www.andrewwhitehead.net/uploads/3/5/0/5/3505647/published/ns-dick.jpg) from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:1_2-2) ["Nellie Dick 100!"](https://archive.org/details/freedom_54.11/page/n17/mode/2up?q=%22nellie+dick%22). *[Freedom](/source/Freedom_(British_newspaper))*. [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive). London. 29 May 1993. p. 7.{{[cite news](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_news)}}: CS1 maint: others ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_others))

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:5_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:5_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:5_3-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:5_3-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-:5_3-4) [Avrich, Paul](/source/Paul_Avrich) (1980). [*The Modern School Movement: Anarchism and Education in the United States*](https://archive.org/details/modernschoolmove0000avri). [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive). Princeton, N.J.: [Princeton University Press](/source/Princeton_University_Press). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-691-04669-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-691-04669-7). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [5726404](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/5726404).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:4_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:4_4-1) Gidley, Ben (2018), Nichols, Sue; Dobson, Stephen (eds.), ["Spaces of Informal Learning and Cultures of Translation and Marginality in London's Jewish East End"](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8100-2_11), *Learning Cities: Multimodal Explorations and Placed Pedagogies*, Cultural Studies and Transdisciplinarity in Education, vol. 8, Singapore: Springer, pp. 169–182, [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1007/978-981-10-8100-2_11](https://doi.org/10.1007%2F978-981-10-8100-2_11), [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-981-10-8100-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-981-10-8100-2), [archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20221017231617/https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-10-8100-2_11) from the original on 17 October 2022, retrieved 19 May 2022{{[citation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Citation)}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_work_parameter_with_ISBN))

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:0_5-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:0_5-3) [Avrich, Paul](/source/Paul_Avrich) (1995). [*Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America*](http://archive.org/details/anarchistvoiceso0000avri). [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive). [Princeton University Press](/source/Princeton_University_Press). pp. 282–290. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-691-03412-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-691-03412-6).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Index entry"](https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=ftfszpxSxBdPrDoILlzvbg&scan=1). *[FreeBMD](/source/FreeBMD)*. [ONS](/source/Office_for_National_Statistics). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20220519013452/https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=ftfszpxSxBdPrDoILlzvbg&scan=1) from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:3_7-0)** Leeds, Barbara (12 May 2021). ["Pioneers in alternative education: Nellie Dick"](https://www.libed.org.uk/index.php/articles/588-pioneers-in-alternative-education-nellie-dick). *Libertarian Education*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20221017231617/https://www.libed.org.uk/index.php/articles/588-pioneers-in-alternative-education-nellie-dick) from the original on 17 October 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.

## Interviews

- [Avrich, Paul](/source/Paul_Avrich) (1995). [*Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America*](http://archive.org/details/anarchistvoiceso0000avri). [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive). [Princeton University Press](/source/Princeton_University_Press). pp. 282–290. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-691-03412-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-691-03412-6).

- Halvorson, Christine (27 February 1993). ["Nellie Dick"](https://digitaltamiment.hosting.nyu.edu/s/lesoh/item/592). Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archive.

- Mintz, Jerry (1990). *Nellie Dick and the Modern School Movement* (VHS). Roslyn Heights, NY: Alternative Education Resource Organization. [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [77680760](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/77680760).

- Pether, John (October 1988). ["Conversation with Nellie Dick"](https://archive.org/details/raven_anarchist_06_1988/page/154/mode/2up?q=%22nellie+dick%22). *The Raven* (6). [Freedom Press](/source/Freedom_Press): 155–166 – via [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive).

- Whitehead, Andrew (6 January 1993). ["Political Voices: Nellie Dick"](https://www.andrewwhitehead.net/political-voices-nellie-dick.html).

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