Susan Blow - Citizendia

Susan Elizabeth Blow (Born June 7, 1843 in St. Louis, Missouri - died March 26, 1916 in New York City) was a United States educator who opened the first successful public Kindergarten in the United States, she ran it for 11 years without getting paid. Events 1099 - The First Crusade: The Siege of Jerusalem begins Year 1843 ( MDCCCXLIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Events 1026 - Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor. Year 1916 ( MCMXVI) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year The City of New York The United States of America —commonly referred to as the ( German, literally means "children's garden" is a form of education for young children which serves as a transition from home to the commencement of more formal schooling The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

She was the oldest in her family of 6 children. Her father, Henry Taylor Blow, was a U.S. Representative and Ambassador. Henry Taylor Blow ( July 15, 1817 &ndash September 11, 1875) was a U The United States House of Representatives is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. Her grandfather, Captain Peter Blow, was the long time owner of Dred Scott. Dred Scott (1799 – September 17, 1858) was a slave in the United States who sued unsuccessfully for his freedom in the famous When Susan was six years old her home was burnt down by a great fire along the St. Louis riverfront. After the fire, a cholera epidemic hit the city and killed about seven thousand people. The cholera epidemic caused Susan and her family to move five miles from St. Louis to Carondelet.

The first school Susan attended was a private school in New Orleans, Louisiana. At the age of sixteen, she attended a school in New York City. Unfortunately she was unable to attend long because of the Civil War. She had to return home when the Civil War began, but she kept studying using their family library. Even though people would say that she was "too serious", Susan would still study. Susan needed people to talk to about her ideas so she joined a group of thinkers in St. Louis. When Susan's father was appointed ambassador four years after the Civil War, she went with him to Brazil to be his secretary for fifteen months. She left Brazil and traveled to Germany, where she found her calling, Kindergarten. She learned from an early important leader in education, Friedrich Froebel, whom she observed his classroom in Germany. Susan gathered young children learned language, math, and science skills from toys like, balls and blocks, so she decided that America should follow in that path with young education.

Blow was devoted to the theories developed by Friedrich Froebel. Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel (also written Fröbel ( April 21, 1782 &ndash June 21, 1852) laid the foundation for modern Education She began her training at the New York Normal Training Kindergarten, operated by John Kraus and his wife Maria Boelte. Maria Kraus-Boelté (1836 - 1918 was a pioneer of Froebel education in the United States, and helped promote Kindergarten training as suitable for study In 1873, Blow opened a public kindergarten at Des Peres School in Carondolet, Missouri, teaching children in the morning and training teachers in the afternoon. Year 1873 ( MDCCCLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Her classroom was very bright and colorful compared to the other kindergarten classrooms in America. She made her classroom perfect for young children. It had short benches and tables and contained many different books and toys. By 1879, there were 53 kindergarten rooms in St. Louis, making the city a model and a focal point of the kindergarten movement.

In 1884, because of an illness, Susan retired and traveled. She ended up leaving St. Louis to live in the east in 1889. Blow spent the remainder of her life establishing kindergartens throughout the country. She also lectured around the country and in 1894 she wrote five books for the International Education Series. Also she wrote articles in the Kindergarten Magazine. Blow also was a part of the advisory committee of the International Kindergarten Union and Committee of Nineteen. Susan Elizabeth Blow died on March 26, 1916. She was buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Bellefontaine Cemetery (established in 1849 and the Roman Catholic Calvary Cemetery (established in 1857 in St Louis. The "St. Louis Globe-Democrat" wrote about Susan Blow in an article, "A great commander is gone, but the soldiers will go marching on”.

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