From the history of institutions that provided methodological and theoretical support for the training of pioneer workers (1923–1940)

The study is devoted to the history of institutions designed to provide methodological support for the training of pioneer workers and the work of the pioneer organization as a whole – the Central Pioneer Cabinet, the Central House of the Children’s Communist Movement (children’s movement, DKD), the Central Scientific Research Institute of the DKD, the Higher School of the DKD, the Central House of the Leader – operating in Moscow in the mid-1920s – 1930s. The directions and topics of the institutions’ work, the motivations and circumstances of their reorganizations and re-profiling are outlined. Tendencies characteristic of the position of the Central Committee of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League in different years of the short period under consideration have been identified – from the recognition of the need for the activities of a special body for the scientific and methodological study and generalization of the experience of pioneer work in the regions to the emphasized narrowing of the functions of such a body to providing only practical assistance to leaders and detachments. The article analyzes the subject matter and content of the Central Research Institute of Children's Development in 1930–1934. In the context of the history of the Central Research Institute of Children's Development, it points out the active work of pioneer courses in its structure, which also underwent status changes during reorganizations. Attention is also paid to the reorganizations of the All-Union courses of the children's communist movement in Odessa in the 1930s, which were typical for that time. The work is based on documents from Moscow and central archives (Russian State Archive of Social and Political History, Central Archive of the City of Moscow), and also includes publications on the topic in the pedagogical and counselor press of the 1920s, publications of the institutions studied, analytical and reference literature. A brief historiography of the issue is given. Some biographical data on the heads and employees of the institutions under study are presented. The addresses of the buildings and premises in which the activities of the CD DKD, the Central Research Institute of DKD, and the CDV took place are indicated. The material is of significant historical, pedagogical, and local history interest.