website watertownhistory.org
ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
……Chapter of First Kindergarten
Margarethe Meyer Schurz should be
given the credit which is rightfully hers.
Watertown's Claim Upheld
01 30 1960 <> Yes,
the first kindergarten in the United States was established in 1851 in
Watertown by Margarethe Meyer Schurz, wife of the soldier-statesman, Carl
Schurz.
The honor of
Watertown, as well as the entire state of Wisconsin, must be restored.
A notice received
from eastern sources some time ago contained a reference to Elizabeth Peabody
of Boston as having established the first kindergarten 100 years ago. A widely respected reference work supported
this claim. It was duly
noted in an editorial published in The Press on January 14.
But we failed to
point out that the Peabody kindergarten was the first English-speaking kindergarten in this
country. The three-year-old daughter of
Mrs. Schurz and the four other girls who attended the Watertown kindergarten
conversed in German.
Then came the
deluge. It seems that kindergarten
teachers everywhere knew the real facts and they, plus many others who are up
on their history, abandoned any pressing duties they may have had to put The
Press straight.
From Gladys Mollart, curator of the Octagon House and First
Kindergarten Museum at Watertown, comes this message:
"The First
Kindergarten in the United States was started by Margarethe Meyer Schurz in Watertown
in 1856. (Note confirmation of this fact
by the Library of Congress)
“The original
building in which this kindergarten was held has been restored and preserved by
the Watertown Historical Society - and is now a public museum in conjunction
with the Octagon House in our city. In
this building Mrs. Schurz held a free, private German speaking kindergarten for six children
using the method she had learned in the Froebel school in Hamburg, Germany, and
taught in her sister's school in London and Manchester, England.
"It is a pity
that Mrs. Schurz, a modest woman, has received so little credit for her great
contribution to the kindergarten movement in this country. She definitely was
the person with the enthusiasm, inspired vision and know-how to influence
Elizabeth Peabody of Boston, who later carried on the method which the German
pioneer started. Mrs. Schurz should be
given the credit which is rightfully hers."
We agree fully with
Miss Mollart, and one of these days, when it is safe
again to appear in Watertown, we will visit the Octagon House and First Kindergarten.
The Sheboygan Press, Sheboygan, Wis., January 30, 1960
History of Watertown, Wisconsin