NON-PROFIT U.S.POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO.97 WHEELING, IL
Office of Institutional Advancement 122 South Michigan Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60603-6162
REVIEWING OUR LEGACY
Expanding Opportunities From the Very Beginning By Meghan Ryan and Chris Diaz One hundred and thirty years ago, Elizabeth Harrison set out to expand opportunities for women to be trained in teaching, educational philosophy and early childhood development. The
Chicago Kindergarten College, which existed between 1891 and 1912, was founded by Elizabeth Harrison and J.N. “Rumah” Crouse. With Harrison’s intellectual leadership and Crouse’s organizational management, they worked together to transform what was first known as Miss Harrison’s Training Class in 1886 into what has evolved into National Louis University today. Harrison began her work with the Kindergarten Movement when she moved to Chicago in 1879 to study with the woman who helped bring kindergartens into public schools in Chicago, Alice Putnam. In the mid-1880s, she received permission from Stella Dyer Loring, principal of the Loring School on Prairie Avenue, to hold a class for mothers of the kindergarten students. Although only two mothers attended her first class, with the help of Crouse (one of the mothers), Harrison was soon providing classes throughout the Chicago area. As a student, Crouse saw that Harrison’s vision of early childhood education needed a greater audience. Crouse’s partnership with Harrison helped organize her training school into the Chicago Kindergarten College, from which graduates could enter the field of education as professionals.
Visit digitalcommons.nl.edu for more on the history of National Louis University.
[To contact Meghan Ryan, Archives and Metadata Assistant, email mryan26@nl.edu]
Elizabeth Harrison’s students learn how building blocks can be used to enhance kindergarten lessons.
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