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199:, the superintendent of schools in St. Louis. Harris believed the greatest educational concern of the time was the number of young children who dropped out of school. Blow believed a kindergarten system would improve the dropout rate, for children would be starting school at an earlier age. Although he originally resisted the idea of a public program, he was persuaded by the school board's support of Blow, her background, and her proposal to direct the program herself.
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was named after him. At age eight, Susan was enrolled at the
William McCartney School in New Orleans, Louisiana. She attended classes there for the next two years. Blow and her sister Nellie enrolled in the New York school of Henrietta Haynes at age sixteen. They were forced to return home due to the outbreak of the Civil War. Blow tutored her younger brothers and sister, and she taught Sunday school at Carleton Presbyterian Church during this time.
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stories from the Bible or myths and legends. The classroom was much more cheerful than upper grades. The experimental class was a success and quickly grew. Within three years, her kindergarten system had fifty teachers and over one thousand students, and by 1883 every public school in St. Louis had a kindergarten.
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wrote at the time of her death, âA great commander is gone, but the soldiers will go marching on.â St. Louis celebrated Susan in April of 1916 with a meeting of the Susan E. Blow
Froebel League. A memorial fund was set up in her name in order to sponsor lectures. The organization did not last long,
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In 1874 Blow opened a training school to accommodate the in-demand kindergarten teachers. Those in training spent mornings volunteering in the kindergarten classes and afternoons and weekends studying Fröbel's ideas. Through her work, Blow played a significant role in the history and development of
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Blow met and fell in love with a soldier named
Colonel William Cole, at age twenty, but her parents found him to be unsuitable. Cole eventually was discharged for medical reasons. Blow's father took her to Washington, D.C., and introduced her to another military man who was more to his liking. Blow
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Minerva Grimsley Blow. Henry owned various lead-mining operations. He was the president of the Iron Mountain Railroad. He was a state senator, and he was a minister to Brazil and Venezuela. Minerva was the daughter of a prominent manufacturer and local politician. The Blow children grew up in a
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as many of Blow's ideas were German in origin and the United States entered World War I the following year. An early public elementary school in the
Carondolet neighborhood of St. Louis was named for her father. It used to be known as Blow Elementary. It is known today as the Lyon Academy at Blow.
172:. Fröbel believed in "learning-through-play" and cognitive development. Susan was inspired to bring these ideas to St. Louis, and her father offered to set up a kindergarten as a private school. Susan felt that she was going to be able to serve the children better through the public school system.
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Blow received her education from her parents, various governesses, private tutors, and schools, due to her family's social status. Her parents highly valued education for their daughters, although this was uncommon for
Victorian families. Henry Blow contributed funds to build a public school which
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In the kindergarten class, students learned from games and songs that Susan translated from Fröbel's original German. Students played with different shaped blocks, papers and clay, and tried weaving and modeling to improve dexterity. Children also grew seeds in an outdoor garden. Blow would tell
222:, which is a form of hyperthyroidism. She retired in 1884 and moved to Boston with Laura Fischer, who moved there to direct the kindergarten program at Boston Public Schools. Blow wrote a book on Dante in 1890, and five books on Fröbel's theories, in her retirement. She also helped to found the
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In 1875, the school board attempted to close the kindergartens in order to save money, but 1,500 signed a petition to keep them open. In 1876, the United States
Centennial Commission in Philadelphia gave St. Louis and Blow an award for excellence of kindergarten in public schools.
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The
Mottoes and Commentaries of Friedrich Froebel's "Mother Play"; mother communings and mottoes rendered into English verse by Henrietta R. Eliot; prose commentaries transl. and accompanied with an introduction treating of the philosophy of Froebel, by Susan E. Blow //
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Blow went abroad to Europe in 1870, along with her mother and siblings. Susan began studying the philosophies of Hegel and the
American Transcendentalists while in Europe. Susan came across the kindergarten teaching methods of German idealist and philosopher
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appointed Henry Blow to be the minister to Brazil in 1869, and Susan went with him as his secretary. She quickly learned
Portuguese during the next fifteen months. Her bilingual ability helped to ease trade communications between Brazil and the United States.
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The Songs and Music of Friedrich Froebel's "Mother Play" (Mutter- und Kose-Lieder); Songs newly tr. and furnished with new music; prepared and arranged by Susan E. Blow. These are vol. 31-32 of the Intrernational Education Series; New York: D. Appleton and
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deeply religious family. They were surrounded by comfort, wealth, and high German culture. Henry Blow founded a Presbyterian church in St. Louis. Her grandfather was Captain Peter Blow, the owner of the slave
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Blow moved to Cazenovia, New York, in 1895, in order to be near one of her sisters. She lectured on early childhood education all over the county, only stopping about a month before her death.
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Blow Street, which runs through South St. Louis city, from the Mississippi River at S. Broadway to the St. Louis Hills neighborhood, also bears her family name.
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In 1871 Blow traveled to New York, where she spent a year being trained at the New York Normal Training Kindergarten, operated by Fröbel devotee
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Blow served on the advisory committee for the International Kindergarten Union and Committee of Nineteen and translated two volumes of Fröbel's
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never married. She was considered a member of the St. Louis School, a literary, philosophical, and educational movement.
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in 1895. She also wrote articles in the ââKindergarten Magazineââ. Below is a list of Blow's published works:
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She died in March 1916 in New York City. Most references state she died on March 26, but her tombstone at
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Only ten years after opening her training school Blow withdrew from teaching due to
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Blow was able to open her school, in part, thanks to the support she received from
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Movers and Shakers, Scalawags and Suffragettes: Tales from Bellefontaine Cemetery
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in the United States. She was known as the "Mother of the Kindergarten."
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Susan Blow was the eldest of nine children. She was the daughter of
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Kindergarten Workbooks: Students of Susan Blow Finding Aid
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426:. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press
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346:"The History of the Carondelet Historical Society"
276:Letters to a Mother on the Philosophy of Froebel
533:Early childhood education in the United States
455:Digital Collection at St. Louis Public Library
453:Kindergarten Workbooks, Students of Susan Blow
206:Susan Blow was recognized with a star on the
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498:American National Biography Online entry
488:The State Historical Society of Missouri
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372:"St. Louis Walk of Fame Inductees"
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224:International Kindergarten Union
422:Shapiro, Michael Steven (1983)
330:Shepley, Carol Ferring (2008).
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468:EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica entry
350:Carondelet Historical Society
27:American educator (1843â1916)
473:St. Louis Walk of Fame entry
543:Columbia University faculty
210:, for her pioneering work.
203:early childhood education.
126:Sketch of Susan E. Blow by
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548:American women academics
528:Educators from St. Louis
463:St. Louis Public Library
448:St. Louis Public Library
370:St. Louis Walk of Fame.
246:St. Louis Globe-Democrat
374:. stlouiswalkoffame.org
48:Susan Blow (left) with
503:New York Times article
493:St. Louis Hall Of Fame
282:Kindergarten Education
238:Bellefontaine Cemetery
208:St. Louis Walk of Fame
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478:Froebel Web biography
444:Susan Blow Collection
197:William Torrey Harris
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393:Lyon Academy at Blow
214:Later life and death
113:Susan Elizabeth Blow
76:Carondelet, Missouri
62:Susan Elizabeth Blow
18:Susan Elizabeth Blow
228:Columbia University
483:Froebel Foundation
270:Symbolic Education
182:Maria Kraus-Boelté
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159:President
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135:Early life
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242:St. Louis
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