website watertownhistory.org
ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
America’s
First Kindergarten
150 years
1856 - 2006
Kindergarten
comes from the German language. Kinder
means children and garten means garden.
In
the 19th century. Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852) started the first kindergarten,
Garden of Children, in 1840.
“Children
are like tiny flowers; they are varied and need care, but each is beautiful
alone and glorious when seen in the community of peers.”
Friedrich
Froebel
First Kindergarten in America
painting by William E. Unger, 1956
Watertown Historical Society Collection
The
Watertown, Wisconsin, Historical Society, owners and operators of the famed
Octagon House Museum and America’s First Kindergarten, paid special tribute to
the 150th anniversary of the founding of the kindergarten on Sunday, August 27,
2006.
The
event was held on the grounds of the historical society, located at 919 Charles
St., Watertown, WI. The public was cordially
invited to attend the afternoon festivities which included brief speeches from
Mrs. Jessica Doyle, wife of the Governor of the State of Wisconsin, 
Elizabeth Burmeister, Secretary of
Education for the State of Wisconsin, John David, Mayor of the City of
Watertown, Joel Kleefisch, State Representative, Dr. Doug Keiser, Watertown
Unified School District Superintendent, as well as officials from the Watertown
Historical Society.
The
celebration began at 2:00 pm and after the speeches there was refreshments and
a chance to inspect the kindergarten museum building.
The
kindergarten was founded in America by Margarethe Meyer Schurz, wife of the
famous German-American statesman Carl Schurz. Mrs. Schurz was a native of Hamburg, Germany,
and as a young woman learned the principles of the kindergarten from its
creator, Friedrich Froebel [cross references [ 1 ], [ 2 ]. In the 1850s she came to London, where her
sister had founded the first kindergarten there.
While
in London she met and married Carl Schurz, then a fugitive from a Prussian
jail. They came to America shortly
thereafter and settled at first on the east coast and then in 1855 they came to
Watertown where Carl Schurz had relatives.
Once
here Carl began an active career in politics, while his wife set up
housekeeping. But she longed for something that would give purpose to her life,
so she began a small kindergarten class in the Schurz
family home, which was at one time located at 749 N. Church St. in 1856.
The Schurz home, known as “Karlshuegel” or “Carl’s Hill” burned to the ground
in 1912.
The
class proved to be very successful, but the noise of the children was too much
for her husband, so she was forced to move her class to a small frame building
located originally on the corner of N. Second and Jones streets in
Watertown. At the time the dwelling was
being used as a private home by Carl Schurz’s parents.
It was
in this little building that the kindergarten took off. The original class
numbered only about five students, the Schurz children Agathe and Marianne, two
Juessen girls (cousins of the Schurz’s) and the
lone boy Franklin Blumenfeld, son of the editor of the local
German-language newspaper.
Mrs.
Schurz ran her school through 1857 when the Schurz family moved to
Milwaukee. The kindergarten continued
sporadically here, always operated as a private school, through the nineteenth
century, finally becoming a part of the public school curriculum after the turn
of the last century.
Mrs.
Schurz died from complications of child birth in 1876 and her remains are
believed to have been transferred to her native Hamburg, Germany. Her husband,
Carl, rose through the political ranks, first aiding Lincoln in his bid for
president in 1860, then becoming a general in the Union Army during the Civil
War, later Secretary of the Interior under Pres. Rutherford B. Hayes and
ultimately he went to work in the publishing field. He died in New York in
1906.
As for
the kindergarten building, after the Schurz family left Watertown, the building
passed through many hands, becoming a cigar factory, fish store and religious
book store. In
the 1920s a local women’s club, the Saturday Club, erected a memorial marker to
designate the historical significance of the building. Then in 1956, exactly 100 years after the
founding of the kindergarten, the little building was in danger of being
razed. It was through the efforts of
Mrs. Rudy Herman and Gladys Mollart of the Watertown Historical Society that
the structure was saved and moved to the grounds of the Octagon House, where it
now rests. It has been open to the public
since 1957.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO
01 26
1937 article <> One hundred years ago a German schoolmaster named
Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel opened in Blankenburg the world's first
kindergarten. Lonely, eccentric Friedrich Froebel, who had left school at a
tender age to become a forester's apprentice because his teachers thought him a
dunce, believed that children were "young plants needing to be nurtured
carefully." In the garden of his private academy, which gave the
kindergarten its name, Teacher Froebel supervised the play of his neighbors'
children in a systematic manner [1], until his
socialistic and irreligious leanings moved the Prussian authorities to close
the school.
That
broke Friedrich Froebel's heart, he died soon afterward. Last week fell not only the centenary of the
kindergarten but Friedrich Froebel's birthday, and 750,000 restless U. S.
kindergarteners had to sit still on their little red chairs long enough to hear
his story.
First U. S. kindergarten was started in 1856 in Watertown, Wis. by Mrs.
Carl Schurz, wife of the famed Thuringian revolutionary who became Lincoln's
Minister to Spain, Hayes's Secretary of the Interior and the first German-born
citizen to sit in the U. S. Senate. Under
such auspices the kindergarten soon attracted philanthropists. Phoebe Apperson
Hearst, mother of William Randolph, opened one for the children in her
husband's mining community at Lead, S. Dak. and financed the Parent-Teachers'
Association mainly to promote the kindergarten movement.
A
young teacher in San Francisco's dismal Tar Flat section named Kate Douglas
Wiggin (Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm) made the kindergarten popular in one of her
first tales, The Story of Patsy. When the Atlantic Monthly damned the
kindergarten as "a joy saloon," spunky Miss Wiggin flashed: "I
like the name. Anyone who has seen, as I have, the dreary tenement rooms in
which many children live would be glad to give them little tipples of
joy." [Another generous early patron was Boston's Mrs. Quincy Shaw, who at
one time kept 30 kindergartens going. Once a youngster who was asked "Who
is it brings the flowers adorning earth anew?" promptly piped "Mrs.
Shaw."]
No
longer a philanthropy, the kindergarten has steadily penetrated the U. S.
public school system since St. Louis opened one as an experiment in 1873 under
Superintendent William Torrey Harris, who as
U. S.
Commissioner of Education (1889-1907) saw kindergartens established in more
than 400 U. S. municipal school systems. After Depression retrenchments in 52
cities, including Chicago, Commissioner John Ward Studebaker's U. S. Office of
Education made the Froebel Centenary a happy birthday by reporting that
kindergartens, with budgets, were on the upgrade, are now available to 30% of
the nation's 5-year-olds.
Time Magazine, May 03, 1937
___ 1856 __________________
MARGARETHE
MEYER SCHURZ ESTABLISHED AMERICAS FIRST KINDERGARTEN IN 1856 AT WATERTOWN
She
had studied in Hamburg, Germany with Fredrich Froebel, originator of the
kindergarten, and opened her school soon after she came to Watertown.
___ c.1857 __________________
CAKES FOR
FIRST KINDERGARTEN KIDS
In the 1850's that outstanding statesman and soldier, Carl Schurz,
settled in our community and came regularly to the mill, driving in from his
hill-top home, the Karlshuegel of today, on the
northern outskirts of the town, taking with him the flour for the little cakes
so eagerly awaited by the children in his wife's kindergarten. This was the first school of its kind to be
established and maintained in the United States. Derived
from the booklet "The Globe Milling
Company, Watertown, Wisconsin, 1845-1945."
SCHURZ’S
LEAVE WATERTOWN
The
Schurz’s left Watertown in 1858 when Carl was admitted to the Wisconsin Bar and
began to practice law in Milwaukee. He spoke on behalf of President Abraham
Lincoln during the 1860s and went on to be Secretary of the Interior. Margarethe Schurz died at age 44 in
Washington D.C. in 1876, three days after the birth of a son. After the family’s departure, others took
over the kindergarten in Watertown:
Carl’s cousin, Miss Juessen, followed by Mrs. Rose Kunert and Mrs.
Kunert’s sister, Tante Elle Koenig who ran it as a private kindergarten for 42
years.
___ 1861 __________________
HOBOKEN
ACADEMY / Hoboken, New Jersey
FIRST IN-SCHOOL KINDERGARTEN
IN THE U.S.
In 1861 the
first school in the country to offer kindergarten classes as part of its
curriculum was the Hoboken Academy.
The class began on February 11th, 1861 with 77 students in
attendance. In addition, Hoboken was
also home to the first teachers’ pension. Read on to learn all about the very
first in-school kindergarten in the United States, located right here in
Hoboken, New Jersey.
___ c.1913 __________________
Early Kindergarten class, Watertown
___ c.1928 __________________
click to enlarge
___ 1929 __________________
UNVEILING OF MARKER / MRS. CARL
SCHURZ HONORED
Heimsehr
Grocery, 1940s. First Kindergarten
location marker on right
Watertown Gazette, 05 09 1929
Last Thursday night a very large number of our
citizens and many from nearby places, were present at the unveiling of the
marker at the southwest corner of North Second and Jones streets, erected by
the Saturday club in honor of the Mrs. Carl Schurz of this city, who conducted
the first kindergarten school in country at that corner in the building now
occupied by Charles Heimsehr and his sister. The boy scouts had charge of the unveiling of
the marker, and kindergarten pupils scattered rose petals about the stone. The pupils of the three kindergarten classes
under direction of their teachers the Misses Adelia L. Siegler, Florence
Brownlee and Harriet Blakely, gave a series of dance games, which delighted all
present, and the High School band gave a fine musical program. Mrs. E. E. Fischer, president of the Saturday
club presented the tablet and the granite marker to the city, and Alderman
George W. Block of the city council, made the acceptance speech, the mayor
being unable to be present on account of illness. Joseph Schaefer, superintendent of the State
Historical Society at Madison, was the principal speaker of the evening’s
program at the Elks club, and Miss Hilda Schneider of the High School faculty
directed a vocal program by the High school glee club. City Attorney R. W. Lueck
was master of ceremonies.
Among other things in his address Mr. Schaefer said:
“Beginnings of great movements are always interesting
and since the kindergarten has grown into a tremendous system of education for
the children, the fact that the movement had its American origin in Watertown
ought to prompt citizens of this town, especially, to feel proud.”
He said that he had spent much time in
reading, looking up records and in personal investigations and has satisfied
himself that in honoring Mrs. Schurz as the founder of the movement in America
that honor is not misplaced, that the kindergarten here was the first one in
America and that its influence had brought about the kindergarten system in
this country.
Little is actually known of her when
one compares it with what is known of her illustrious husband. Coming from a relatively wealthy family,
brought up in luxury and comfortable surroundings, with every advantage, it is
to her credit as a pioneer that she consented to come to America, and
especially to what was then the great undeveloped west. She did so reluctantly, to be sure, but once
she had arrived here she made the best of it.
Although she always did long for Europe, she nevertheless played her
part as a leader in this territory and her influence has been great. Her need for occupation and love of children
induced her to start a kindergarten class here.
He praised the citizens of Watertown
and the members of the Saturday Club especially for their great interest in
perpetuating the memory of Mrs. Schurz.
The bronze tablet on the granite stone contains the following . . .
MEMORIAL MARKER ERECTED AT
ORIGINAL SITE
03 02 1929 <> The
Saturday Club erected a memorial marker to designate
the historical significance of the building.
___ 1936 __________________
FLOAT IN WATERTOWN CENTENNIAL PARADE
July 4th, 1936
___ 1938 __________________
WATERTOWN PARTICIPATION IN NATIONAL AIRMAIL WEEK
In celebration of the twentieth anniversary
of the advent of airmail, Franklin D. Roosevelt's Postmaster General James
Farley established National Airmail Week for May 15-21, 1938 to celebrate and
promote the fact the U.S. Postal Service moved mail reliably and with speed.
Every citizen was encouraged to
participate in the week's celebration by sending an airmail letter. In addition, each town was invited to create
its own "cachet," a commemorative design to mark the event printed or stamped on
the envelopes mailed that week.
Recognizing
Progress: The 1938 Celebration of Airmail Week, online article
___ 1943 __________________
STATE
HISTORICAL EXHIBIT FEATURES FIRST KINDERGARTEN
08 01 <> More than a
century of progress in the three Rs in Wisconsin dramatized in the educational
exhibition which opens today at the state historical museum.
The exhibit, tracing the growth
and development of education in the Badger state, has been arranged by Mrs.
Ruth Harris, new assistant curator of the museum. According to the exhibit, Wisconsin’s early
schools were conducted at military posts as early as 1816 by private
tutors. Milwaukee had the earliest
public school taught in 1836-37 by Edward West.
Although admission was open to the children of the general public, some
tuition was charged. In Beloit, a land company as early as 1837 provided a free
school for the children of the settlers.
Green Bay is behaved to have had a public school in 1840 although it was
short-lived. Labor unions and the
Working Man’s Party were the chief backers in the early 1830s of the then
radical idea of free schools for everyone. By free. schools early Wisconsin
generally meant the type of education that was practiced in New York where
public money was not sufficient to pay all education costs, and parents were
assessed to make up the deficit . . .
. . .
The exhibit also pays tribute to Margarethe Meyer who became Mrs. Carl
Schurz. Mrs. Schurz established Americas
first kindergarten in 1856 at Watertown.
She had studied in Hamburg, Germany with Fredrich Froebel, originator of
the kindergarten, and opened her school soon after she came to Watertown. – The Capitol Times, 08
01 1943
___ 1948 __________________
FLOAT IN STATE CENTENNIAL PARADE
The
float also featured in Watertown’s Memorial Day parade.
Watertown’s float in the state centennial parade
at Madison on Saturday attracted a great deal of attention and evoked much
favorable comment. The float portrayed a
garden scene, with Mrs. Carl Schurz, the teacher and founder of the first
kindergarten, surrounded by her pupils.
The youngsters playing the role of the
kindergarten pupils were, reading from left to right: Steven Kohls, son of Mr. and Mrs. Louis
Kohls, Richards Avenue; Mary Jo Hady, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Hady,
River Drive; Marsha Wendt, daughter of Mrs. Evelyn Wendt, Concord Avenue; Susan
Kehl, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Kehl, Richards Avenue; Bobby Bender, son of
Mr. and Mrs. Milton Bender, Twelfth Street; Judy Ponath, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Victor Ponath, Concord Avenue; Donald Hartman, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles
Hartman, Harvey Avenue; Susan Jo Kressin, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Glibert
Kressin, Western Avenue; Janice Kuehnemann, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clifford
Kuehnemann, (extreme right) played the role of Mrs. Schurz. The same youngsters and Miss Kuehnemann participated
in the kindergarten scene in the high school centennial pageant. The float was built by the Watertown
Historical society with funds provided by the Watertown Association of
Commerce. Miss Gladys Mollart of the
society had charge of the building of the float. All of the art work was done by Mrs. Herbert
Funk.
___ 1948 __________________
“CAVALCADE OF WISCONSIN,”
PAGEANT
One of the scenes in the pageant,
“Cavalcade of Wisconsin,” which is to be presented at the Watertown High School
auditorium tonight and Saturday night will recount the first kindergarten in
America which was established here by Mrs. Carl Schurz in 1856.
Above are shown Janice Kuehnemann as Mrs.
Schurz and Harry Hird as Mr. Schurz, along with members of the kindergarten
class, showing the group on its way to a picnic, and reading from left to
right, Steve Kohls as Fritz; Susan Kehl as Marie; Judith Ponath as Anna; Marsha
Wendt as Agatha Schurz; Robert Bender as Hans; Mary Jo Hady as Hedwig; Donald
Hartman as Carl, and Susan Jo Kressin as Trudy.
This picture was taken at yesterday’s
dress rehearsal. Additional pictures
will be found on page four of the Daily
Times.
CROSS REFERENCE
NOTE: A Century of Progress Cavalcade of Wisconsin: A Pageant Drama Based on
Research in Wisconsin History Through the Century, Ethel Theodora Rockwell,
The Committee, 1948 - Historical drama - 81 pages.
CENTENNIAL
PAGEANT PREMIERE DRAWS CHEERS AT WATERTOWN
The role of Mrs. Carl Schurz is taken by
Janice Kuehneman (rear). Clockwise around
the circle are Marsha Wendt, Bobby Bender, Donald Hartman, Mary Jo Hady, Steve
Kohls, Judy Ponath, receiving the bird-borne message, Susan Jo Kressin, Susan
Kehl.
Watertown, Wis. — The state premiere of the
“Century of Progress Cavalcade in Wisconsin,” a pageant for Wisconsin’s
centennial, was held here Friday afternoon.
The audience was an enthusiastic auditorium full of school children.
Before the year is out, the pageant, written
by Miss Ethel T. Rockwell, will be given in scores of celebrations throughout
the state. Miss Rockwell, of Madison,
centennial pageantry adviser and coordinator, wrote the drama for distribution
to any Wisconsin groups which wished to mark their celebrations with a pageant.
The 200 pupil cast of the pageant will give its
first performance to an adult audience at the high school auditorium Friday
night. They’ll repeat Saturday
night. For six weeks the high and grade
schoolers have been practicing under the direction of teachers.
The pageant consists of many scenes and
tableaux, with narrators relating the stories.
Some of the scenes, generalized so that they may be presented anywhere
in the state, concern the lumber industry, conservation, dairy industry,
educational progress, government and the many war periods. Each community is expected to insert several
scenes of strictly local interest.
Watertown’s concern was the first kindergarten class in America in 1856
and the first graduation class of Watertown high school 75 years ago.
The
pageant is being presented here to replace the annual high school senior class
play. Milwaukee Journal article
___ 1940s __________________
1940s
___ 1955 __________________
“FIRST KINDERGARTEN IN AMERICA” STAMP
01 26 1955 <> One of the important
issues confronting the Watertown Historical Society and its board of directors
at its annual meeting Monday evening at the Watertown Free Public Library is
whether or not it will be possible for Watertown to gain recognition sufficient
to merit a “First Kindergarten in America Stamp” in 1956, when the centennial
of the establishment in Watertown of the first kindergarten in this hemisphere
by Margaret Meyer Schurz will be observed.
The kindergarten was established by the wife of Carl Schurz in this city
in 1856. To date many local persons have
endorsed the movement since it was first proposed some two years ago. It is said the matter falls within the scope
of activities listed by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for local
societies, namely: “Encourage the commemoration and proper observance of
special historical events.”
Cross reference/related material: 02 13 1964. The U.S. Post Office Department again has
declined to approve the issuance of a commemorative stamp in honor of Mrs.
Margarethe Schurz, founder of America’s first kindergarten in Watertown. Congressman Robert W. Kastenmeier, however,
was told that Mrs. Schurz would be given “very serious consideration” in the
event the department decides to issue a series of commemorative stamps in honor
of outstanding educators. Referring to
the failure of the department to issue the stamp in 1956 on a significant
occasion, Kapenstein wrote Kastenmeier that “the ideal time to have issued the
stamp was in 1956 on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the first
American kindergarten in Watertown.”
WATERTOWN REGAINS CREDIT FOR HAVING FIRST KINDERGARTEN
03 31 1955 <> WASHINGTON [AP] Watertown, Wis. — not Boston – had America’s
first kindergarten, the Library of Congress has ruled.
Rep. Davis (R-Wis) said Wednesday a report the
library made to him establishes that Mrs. Carl Schurz started the first
kindergarten in 1856 at Watertown for her daughter and children of her cousins
and neighbors.
In 1859, the report said, Mrs. Schurz met Miss
Elizabeth Peabody in Boston and so inspired her that Miss Peabody devoted much
of her life to promoting kindergartens.
The investigation made by the Library of
Congress.’’ Davis said, “now definitely establishes not only that the first
such school was in Watertown, but that it was Mrs. Schurz who inspired Miss
Peabody to make kindergartens her life work."
Davis said he is again asking the had Post
Office Department to issue a special kindergarten stamp for Watertown in 1956.
___ 1956 __________________
FIRST
KINDERGARTEN DISPLAY ON THIRD FLOOR OF THE OCTAGON HOUSE
Prior to the 1957
moving of the Kindergarten building from 216 North Second Street to the grounds
of the Octagon House Museum
KINDERGARTEN
BUILDING TO BE MOVED
09 14 1956 <> Plans for Restoration Made
By Historical Society
A representative group of members of the board
of directors of the Watertown Historical Society met last night in what might
be termed a "jam session" in the club rooms of the Free Public
Library. As a result an effort will be
made to move and restore the old Kindergarten building from its original site
on North Second Street to the Octagon House grounds. The exact location of the building on the
grounds is yet to be determined. Byron Wackett, president of the society, will be asked to appoint
a committee to work on a plan.
Ralph Ebert, 128 Harding Street, had examined
the building and believes that the outer walls can be moved and kept
intact. He found three outer walls
consisting of brick, stucco and wood, which had been used in its construction. It was thought best to remove the bricks and
stucco at the site and then restore its original frame siding at the grounds.
The north wall, roof and laths are in bad
shape as it has been allowed to deteriorate since the Heimsehr
family used it as a store about 15 years ago.
Mr. Ebert found hand-split laths and a rounded wooden ceiling with the
plaster below which characterizes many of the early buildings. Mr. Ebert referred the board to some
contractor(s) in order to complete the project.
Miss Gladys Mollart
informed the board of a nucleus restoration fund which is available and Mrs.
Eleanor B. Jones, Fort Atkinson, scribe for the Antiquarian Society of
Wisconsin, volunteered the support of this organization in furnishing the
kindergarten when it is completed.
LOCATION
PRIOR TO MOVE TO OCTAGON HOUSE GROUNDS
02 06 1956
216 North Second
PREPARING
TO MOVE TO OCTAGON HOUSE GROUNDS
12 14 1956
MOVED
/ RELOCATED TO OCTAGON HOUSE GROUNDS
12 29 1956 <> The old kindergarten building
in which Mrs. Carl Schurz established the first American kindergarten in
Watertown in 1856 was moved today to what will become its permanent location,
on the grounds of the Octagon House, owned and operated as a museum by the
Watertown Historical Society.
The building, which was at North Second [216]
and Jones streets, was occupied for many years by the Heimsehr Grocery.
Its last occupant was the Ryan Store, a
religious goods dealer. Rudy Herman,
Lake Mills, was in charge of the moving.
Cross Reference: “The building business has been good to me and
I have no regrets,” reflected Ralph R. Otto of Watertown after closing out his
construction business and ending a family tradition that spanned 70 years. As Otto stood on the family homestead where
an auction for his business equipment was held last week, his comments on past
building jobs were reminiscent of pages in a local history book. As a building contractor in business with his
father and later on his own, he recalled the many construction jobs he worked
on around the city. Some buildings, such
as the old Savoy Theatre downtown where Valley Bank now stands, have been torn
down to make way for progress. Other
jobs, such as the First Kindergarten building, have preserved history for future
generations. He helped lay the foundation and replaster the walls when the building was
moved from its original site downtown to the Octagon House grounds.
___ 1957 __________________
RESTORATION OF, AFTER MOVE
02 22 1957 <> Restoration of the first
American kindergarten in Watertown will get underway in the spring as a project
of the Watertown Historical Society. The
original building in which Mrs. Carl Schurz conducted her kindergarten classes
after launching the kindergarten in Watertown in 1856 was recently moved from
its original site at North Second and Jones Streets to the Octagon House
grounds where it will remain as a permanent monument to the kindergarten
movement in the United States. Plans
call to restore the building and to furnish it much as it was in the days when
Mrs. Schurz conducted her classes in it.
___ 1950s __________________
FIRST
KINDERGARTEN MARKER REPOSITIONED
. . . 90 degrees (in the late 1950s, assumed)
Moved so plaque is facing south instead of east
Move probably coincided with the time of the move of the kindergarten to
the Octagon.
___ 1960 __________________
WATERTOWN’S FIRST KINDERGARTEN COMPARED TO BOSTON’S
01 30 1960 <>
The Sheboygan Press
notes founding of German-speaking kindergarten to that of English. “The honor of Watertown, as well as the
entire state of Wisconsin, must be restored.”
FIRST KINDERGARTEN SKIT
12 22 1960 <> Miss Alice Krueger, Webster
School teacher, is the author and director of a skit on the first kindergarten
in America established in Watertown in 1856, which is scheduled to be presented
on WISN-TV, channel 12, Dec. 31, New Year’s Eve, at 6 p.m. Mrs. Robert Liners will portray the role of
Mrs. Carl Schurz in the sketch. Six
Watertown children will also appear in the cast. They are:
Ann Bruce, Storey Hibbard, Kate Bloor, Susan Hines, Melanie Shepard and
Jimmy Schwoch. All are pupils at Webster
School. WDT
___ 1963 __________________
PAINTING BY EUNICE GRUNER
Panel painted by Eunice Gruner for American Legion in 1963
___ 1964 __________________
CHILD’S WORLD MUSEUM PROPOSED
04 22 1964 <> Watertown, by reason of
having been the first city in the United States to have a kindergarten, should
be the one city in the world to have a child’s world museum. Such is the opinion of Dr. David C. Davis of the
Department of Education, University of Wisconsin. Dr. Davis was in Watertown recently as the
principal speaker at the annual Founder’s Day banquet of the Watertown U. of W.
Alumni group, at the Legion Green Bowl.
In his address, Dr. David went into considerable detail about the plan
and it is certainly something Watertown should think about.
___ 1965 __________________
REUBEN THWAITES GOLD CUP AWARDED
10 11 1965
<> The Watertown Historical Society was given top state honors Saturday
in Madison at the 1965 Institute for Local History when it received the Reuben
Thwaites Gold Cup in recognition for its excellent work in restoring and
maintaining the famed Octagon House and First American Kindergarten in
Watertown. Assembly man Byron F. Wackett
is president of the Watertown society.
The cup is shown in the above photo with Miss Gladys Mollart, the
society's curator, and Mrs. Donovan Mabie, custodian of the Octagon House.
FIRST KINDERGARTENERS VISIT FIRST KINDERGARTEN
ARTICLES (2) ON FIRST KINDERGARTEN
It was 161 years ago, give or take a few days,
that a young lady by the name of Margarethe Meyer Schurz started an education
program for her daughter, Agathe, age 3, here in Watertown. That small step was
the first kindergarten in the United States and now over a century and a half
later, our community is still known as the birthplace of the kindergarten
movement.
Because this first kindergarten was started
just before Christmas we thought a little bit about those early years might fit
well today. Most of our readers know the basics, but this information
originally published a half a century ago, offers a few insights about this
remarkable woman. We’re using the information from an article in the Daily
Times a half a century ago which was written by a Thomas Pledge and we will
be editing it down some. So, here we go:
“Christmas gifts are especially for children. A
good gift can stretch a child’s imagination, coax him to observe and construct,
and point to an orderly structure in life.
“A lonely dark-eyed, German immigrant woman
who lived in a brand new state bestowed such a gift on millions of American
children now 161 years ago. In her native language the gift meant “children’s
garden.”
‘The woman was Mrs. Carl Schurz, wife of a man
who was to become a famous American statesman, soldier and journalist. Her gift
was the first kindergarten in the United States, open to the children of
Watertown, Wis., just before Christmas in 1856.
“Like a good gift, the kindergarten of Mrs.
Schurz was designed to awaken naturally the fresh facilities of a child. It was a pioneer venture in a new city and a
new state carved from the virgin forests of the Northwest Territory.
“At the kindergarten children played with
colored softballs and blocks of various geometric forms, like the “educational”
blocks so familiar today.
“They sang songs together and collected items
of interest on nature study walks. It
was remarkably like kindergarten today.
It was also a radical departure from the puritanical, ear-bending
instructed on youngsters in the public schools of the day.
“Margarethe Meyer, a 16-year-old when she
first discovered “a new education theory” espoused by Friedrich Froebel,
studied under him at Blankenburg, Germany, in the world’s first kindergarten.
“Later Margarethe left for London where she
worked with her sister in the first kindergarten on English soil. In London she
met and married red-haired Carl Schurz, a young, ambitious attorney who had
fled his native Germany to escape the penalties for his antigovernment
activities.
“Schurz and his 25-year-old wife came to the
United States in 1852. Many of Schurz’s relatives had migrated to the new state
of Wisconsin, then one of the western areas of the nation.”
They considered living in Milwaukee but
ultimately decided on Watertown, “a new city about 30 miles to the west on the
western terminus of the plank road.
“Schurz purchased a large tract of property
about one mile north of town, built a German style villa home and sent for his
wife, who was staying in Philadelphia. She arrived in the fall of 1856.”
We’ll go into a little more detail in the next
column. Watertown Daily Times
_____________________________________
Last week we wrote about Margarethe Meyer
Schurz and the fact it was 161 years ago just before Christmas that she started
an education program for her daughter, Agathe, age 3, here in Watertown. That
little class of one was the start of the first kindergarten in the United
States.
The column followed her early years in
America. Her husband, Carl Schurz, purchased a large tract of property on the
north side of the city, about a mile from the downtown area. On the land he had
a German style villa home built and then sent for his wife, who was living in
Philadelphia until the home was ready for occupancy.
That home was located on the hill just south
of Union Pacific tracks that cross North Church Street, and on which some
housing units have been constructed. The original Schurz home was destroyed by
fire decades ago.
That’s where we left the story last week.
_____________
Well, once Margarethe started the kindergarten
for little Agathe, it didn’t take long and other relatives and neighbors in the
city wanted their children enrolled in the classes.
Margarethe set up a kindergarten room in the
living room in the home of her in-laws which was located in the center of the
city. She later held kindergarten in a
small building which was located at the southwest corner of Jones and North
Second streets. That building was later moved to the Octagon House Museum
grounds where it’s part of the experience for those who visit the Octagon
House. That original location at Second
and Jones is marked with a large stone and plaque.
Margarethe, in an 1859 trip to Boston,
interested Elizabeth Peabody in the kindergarten idea and it was largely through
her work that two decades later the concept of the “children’s garden” was
incorporated into the public school system.
In 1867, when her third daughter, 2-year-old
Emma Savannaha, died, Margarethe, her health weakened by grief, left for Europe
with Agathe and her other daughter, Marianne. They stayed there for about two
years, returning to live in Washington, D.C., after her husband, Carl, had been
elected to the United States Senate. In 1871, a son, Carl Lincoln Schurz, was
born, and in 1876 a second son, Herbert, was born. Two days after his birth, on
March 15, 1876, Margarethe Meyer Schurz, the founder of the kindergarten
movement in America and one of Watertown’s most famous women, died at the age
of 43.
Today, Schurz Elementary School, on the city’s
south side, is named in honor of her contributions to education in America.
And, it all started about 161 years ago, nearly to the day.
Margarethe’s husband was well known in
political circles and although they were in Watertown a relatively short period
of time, his contributions to the country were enormous.
Carl served as minister to Spain, having been
appointed to that position by President Abraham Lincoln but was also a United
States senator from Missouri, his adopted state.
He also was editor of the New York Post, one
of the largest publications in that city at the time, and wrote editorials for
Harper’s Weekly.
He served in the Civil War as a brigadier
general and then was promoted to major general. He fought in the battles of
Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and Chattanooga and in 1865 served with Gen. W. T.
Sherman’s Army in North Carolina. Carl Schurz died in 1906 at the age of 77.
So both of them were famous in their own areas
and both were one-time residents of Watertown.
WDTimes, article 1; article 2:
http://www.wdtimes.com/features/in_times_square/article_7b077a7c-afd1-11e5-946d-bbf03c7b4f0c.html
http://www.wdtimes.com/features/in_times_square/article_e15b840a-aa52-11e5-97be-f3740830ad22.html
___ c.1965 __________________
WELCOMING SIGNAGE
700 Block of North Church Street
/ Near NW corner of North Church
and Margaret streets
MODELS
OF CHILDREN AND MARGARETHE
Preparing for opening
04
21 1967 <> Miss Gladys Mollart, curator of the Watertown Historical
Society, Mrs. Ralph Ebert and Mrs. Don Mabie are shown in the final phases of
refurbishing the kindergarten exhibits for the May 1 opening of the Octagon
House and First American Kindergarten.
Mrs. Ebert, lower right, is fitting a dress on
the kindergarten child she created with paper mache and other materials, which
she refers to as the “sixth child.” The
other five figures of children were acquired after the Wisconsin Centennial
Exposition in 1948, where they were shown in a replica of the first
kindergarten in the United States.
The model used then of Margarethe Meyer Schurz
and the figure of one child was presented to the Wisconsin Historical Society
at Madison, the other five came to Watertown.
The Watertown Historical Society purchased a model for Mrs. Schurz. Mrs. Ebert, unhappy because of the
discrepancy between five children’s figures, and the actual six who attended
this first kindergarten, went to work with her materials and created the sixth
child. Since that day, some years ago,
she has felt a proprietary interest in getting her ready for the opening each
year.
Mrs. Mabie is shown at the left and Miss
Mollart at the right. Not present when
this picture was taken was Mrs. Armin Rohde who was the hairdresser for the
dolls.
N.B. When comparing pictures of now with that of
1967, the figures we have today appear not to be the same as those from 1948,
most likely having been replaced over time.
Yet even those of today are showing their age.
ROTARY, KIWANIS AND LIONS TO PROMOTE KINDERGARTEN
03 25 1967 <> Watertown’s three service clubs —
Rotary, Kiwanis and Lions today announced plans to join in a new campaign to
advertise Watertown as the home of the first American kindergarten. The three clubs will share the cost of such
promotion. A new type of bumper sticker
will be utilized to call attention to the kindergarten established here in 1856
by Margarethe Meyer Schurz, wife of Carl Schurz, the German-American patriot,
statesman, general, editor, lecturer and writer. The campaign is designed to promote Watertown
as a place of historical significance and a city to visit. The stickers will be ready for distribution
in about three weeks.
“MARGARETHE MEYER SCHURZ, A BIOGRAPHY”
12 06 1967 <> “Margarethe Meyer Schurz, a biography” authored by Hannah Werwath
Swart, and published by the Watertown Historical Society, was introduced
Friday at a tea at the home of Miss Gladys Mollart, curator of the Octagon
House and First Kindergarten. The book,
which is available at Minar’s Office supplies, the Yarn Shoppe, and from Miss
Mollart, carried a foreword by Elmer C. Kiessling, professor at Northwestern
College, and acknowledgments by Lee Block, president of the Watertown
Historical Society. The 15 chapters in
the slim volume will be of particular interest to Watertown residents and those
who have visited the first kindergarten on the Octagon House grounds. The biography begins with Margarethe Meyer in
her girlhood home in Hamburg, Germany, takes the reader from the kindergarten
in Hamburg to Miss Meyer’s meeting with Carl Schurz, a Bonn University student
destined to become a leader in American political life, to the family’s arrival
in America and Watertown, their life here and the establishment of the first
American kindergarten. It portrays
Watertown in the 1850s and is generously illustrated with historical pictures,
several through the courtesy of Miss Helen Reilly, Watertown.
___ 1969 __________________
MOLLART HONORED FOR EFFORT
06
28 1969 <> A reception will be held at the Octagon House on Sunday, July
20, with Miss Gladys Mollart, curator of the Octagon House, as the guest of
honor. There will be special music from
2 to 4 o’clock in the afternoon, and light refreshments will be served. It is hoped that many people, especially
those who may not have visited the Octagon House recently, will wish to do so
that day. Miss Mollart, a charter member
of the Watertown Historical Society, helped formulate the original articles and
by-laws of the organization in 1933.
Since 1945 she has been in charge of the Octagon House as curator. In November 1948, Miss Mollart was singled
out by the Watertown Historical Society for a pledge of gratitude for her
untiring activity. In connection with
the Octagon House, and especially for the development of the First Kindergarten
as it was portrayed in the State Centennial parade in Madison, and at the
women’s building at the State Fair Park in Milwaukee during the State
Centennial celebration. These efforts
resulted in the State Historical Society giving the kindergarten figures to the
Watertown Historical Society. These
figures had been specially designed and made for the occasion and are the ones
now in use in the First Kindergarten building.
___ 1970 __________________
May AMERICA’S
FIRST KINDERGARTEN SIGNAGE
___ 1975 __________________
WISCONSIN BICENTENNIAL MEDALLION
America’s First Kindergarten commemorated
___ 1989 __________________
ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN
KINDERGARTEN, Robert Fulghum, 1989
___ 1992 __________________
FIRST KINDERGARTEN PRINT CARRIED ON
SPACE SHUTTLE
<> AMERICA’S FIRST KINDERGARTEN <>
EST. 1856 IN WATERTOWN, WI
CARRIED ABOARD THE SPACE SHUTTLE “ENDEAVOR”
COMMANDED BY CAPT. DANIEL C.
BRANDENSTEIN, MAY 7, 1992
___ 2006 __________________
Roots of
Kindergarten Firm in Watertown
KINDERGARTEN HAS BEEN IN THE CITY FOR
150 YEARS
06 28 2008 <> Webster School
kindergartners scurried around the First Kindergarten building playing
olden day games and learning about Margarethe Schurz. The event was held in celebration of the
150th anniversary of the First Kindergarten. Watertown Daily Times, 06 28 2006
DIGNITARIES ATTEND ANNIVERSARY EVENT
08 28 2006 <> Kindergarten
anniversary brings out state dignitaries
Watertown Daily Times, 08 28
2006
COMMENTARY
08 29 2006This
past Sunday Watertown and area residents came to the famed Octagon House
grounds to pay tribute to the 150th anniversary of the first kindergarten in
the United States.
It was
fitting that this ceremony be held at the site that now houses that first
kindergarten building which was first used for that purpose back in 1856 by
Margarethe Meyer Schurz. Although for much of her life she was overshadowed by
the political legend of her husband Carl, it was her contribution to American
education that has elevated her to prominence in that field.
Kindergarten
started as a rather small program for two of the Schurz children and a couple
neighbor children in this wild territory known as Watertown. It was only 20
years after this community was settled that her contribution to education was
started.
Since
that time, kindergarten expanded throughout the country and years ago became
the standard offering in' all schools, public and private. Today the program has expanded so far it is
now offered in forms we're sure Margarethe never even imagined -
pre-kindergarten, full-day kindergarten and even 4-year-old kindergarten. All of these programs are extensions of what
this remarkable lady accomplished back in 1856.
While
Margarethe and her husband, Carl, called Watertown their home only a few years
a century and a half ago, the marks they both left on Watertown are indelible
and are forever part of our community's rich heritage.
The
fact that Elizabeth Burmeister, Wisconsin superintendent of public instruction,
took the time to be at the anniversary program places special emphasis on the
importance this tool is in the educational community.
Watertown
and Margarethe Meyer Schurz are famous because of this novel program that is
now 150 years old but it is the generations of children who have passed through
kindergarten who have benefited the most.
Our
congratulations and appreciation go out to the Watertown Historical Society and
all those who worked hard to, make this celebration successful. Watertown Daily Times,
commentary, 08 29 2006
150TH ANNIVERSARY EVENT / Image
Portfolio of
Charlotte Groth
Mayor John David
Jessica Doyle, Wife of WI Governor
Elizabeth Burmeister, Sec of Education
Douglas Keiser, School Superintendent
Joel
Kleefisch, State Representative
___ 2009 __________________
First Kindergarten video, YouTube
___ 2018 __________________
08 15 NEW
YORKER MAGAZINE ARTICLE ON EDUCATION
August
15, 2018 article by Dan Kaufman for New Yorker magazine on the current
political landscape in Wisconsin, including the issue of education. Article includes reference to writer’s visit
to First Kindergarten on the grounds of the Octagon House Museum:
On Saturday,
I visited a white clapboard house in Watertown, the site of the first
kindergarten in the United States. Now a
museum, the school was founded in 1856 by a German immigrant named Margarethe
Meyer Schurz. Schurz had studied with Friedrich
Fröbel, the founder of the original kindergarten
(“children’s garden”), in Blankenburg, Germany, in 1837. “The kindergarten is the free republic of
childhood,” Fröbel once wrote.
That
spirit is on display in the little one-room museum, where you can hear a
recording of children singing “Kommt ein Vogel geflogen” (“A Bird Comes
Flying”), one of the songs that Schurz’s first students sang. Her school lasted only a couple of years in
Watertown, but the kindergarten movement quickly spread. In 1882, Milwaukee become the second-largest
American city, after St. Louis, to offer free kindergarten as part of a public
education.
Earlier
in the week, I had spoken with Evers about Schurz’s kindergarten, and about
Wisconsin’s place in the history of education in America. He considers himself a defender of this
heritage, and believes his path to victory lies in reclaiming the
trans-partisan pragmatism that once defined Wisconsin’s politics. “You don’t have to be a historian to remember
that progressivism wasn’t necessarily Democratic or Republican,” he told
me. [link to New Yorker article]
Dan Kaufman is the author of “The
Fall of Wisconsin: The Conservative Conquest of a Progressive Bastion and the
Future of American Politics,” which was published in July. Dan Kaufman of Brooklyn, New York, is a
Wisconsin native whose work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine
and The New Yorker.
___ 2019 __________________
06 21 PAINTING
INTERIOR CEILING AND WALLS
___ 2020 __________________
10 05 WHITE
HOUSE PROCLAMATION ON GERMAN-AMERICAN DAY
Margarethe
Schurz and First Kindergarten in American noted
___ 2023 __________________
-- -- NEW INTERIOR DISPLAY
Link to YouTube video clip
Cross References:
FRIEDRICH FRÖBEL
Facebook
page dedicated to Friedrich Froebel.
Article
on First Kindergarten, mentions Webster School
Margarethe
Meyer Schurz – A Biography
The
book “Margarethe Meyer Schurz – A Biography” by Hannah Werwath Swart has been
reprinted by the Watertown Historical Society and is now available in e-book
format.
E-BOOK:
play.google.com/store/search?c=books&q=margarethe+schurz
_________________
[1]
Kids have never spent less time playing
outside . . . https://communique.uccs.edu/?p=140792
History of Watertown,
Wisconsin