Lucy Wheelock

Lucy Wheelock
"A woman of the century"
Born	February 1, 1857 Cambridge, Vermont, U.S.
Died	October 1, 1946(1946-10-01) (aged 89) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Resting place	Mountain View Cemetery, Cambridge, Vermont, U.S.
Occupation	early childhood education pioneer within the American kindergarten movement
Language	English
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Chauncy-Hall School
Subject	kindergarten education
Literary movement	Fröbel system
Relatives	John Adams

Lucy Wheelock (February 1, 1857 – October 1, 1946) was an American early childhood education pioneer within the American kindergarten movement.^[1] She began her career by teaching the kindergarten program at Chauncy-Hall School (1879–89). Wheelock was the founder and head of Wheelock Kindergarten Training School, which later became Wheelock College in Boston, Massachusetts, and is now the namesake of Boston University's college of education BU Wheelock. She wrote, lectured, and translated on subjects related to education.

Early life and education[]

Lucy Wheelock was born in Cambridge, Vermont, February 1, 1857. Her parents included Edwin and Laura (Pierce) Wheelock,^[2] and five siblings. Her father, a descendant of John Adams, had been a pastor for many years in Cambridge.^[3][4]

Wheelock's education began under the care of her mother. She was a student at the Underhill Academy in Vermont, and the public high school in Reading, Massachusetts, from which she graduated in 1874.^[3] In preparation for entry to Wellesley College, she studied at Chauncy-Hall School, in Boston, where she became an excellent classical and German scholar, and a writer of both prose and verse. Towards the close of her course in that school, she was drawn towards the education of very young children according to the kindergarten system, and abandoned her plans for Wellesley. Instead, she took a thorough course of instruction at the Kindergarten Training School conducted by , receiving her diploma in 1879 from Elizabeth Peabody.^[4][3][2] She continued her studies in Europe under Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi and Maria Montessori.^[5]

Career[]

Educator[]

Wheelock began to teach in the recently established kindergarten of the Chauncy-Hall School, remaining in that role for about 10 years. Her work made her a successful exponent and advocate of the system of Friedrich Fröbel, which she was often called upon to expound before educational institutes and conventions. For at least four years, she taught a training class of candidates for the kindergarten service, coming from all parts of the United States and Canada, increasing in number from year to year.^[4]

Established in 1888, she was the founder and head of Wheelock Kindergarten Training School. It became Wheelock College in 1939,^[6] or 1945.^[5][7] She served as president of the ^[8] (I.K.U., 1895–99); and was the chair of its Committee of Nineteen (1905–09) and chair, of the Committee for the (1911).^[2]

Lecturer[]

Lucy Wheelock

Her interest in young children led her into Sunday school work, and she soon became superintendent of a large primary class connected with the Berkeley Temple, in Boston. Her success in that work won her a reputation, and she became a favorite speaker in Sunday school institutes and gatherings, as well as those for general educational purposes in New England, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St Louis, Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Montreal. Wheelock devoted a great part of her summer vacation to work of that sort. She also taught a large class of adults in the Summer School of Methods in Martha's Vineyard, and gave a model lesson weekly, for eight months in the year, to a class of about 200 primary Sunday school teachers.^[4]

Writer and translator[]

In addition to her lecture work, Wheelock translated for Barnard's Journal of Education several important German works, and contributed many practical articles to other educational journals. She also translated and published several of Johanna Spyri's popular stories for children, under the title of Red Letter Tales. She published weekly in The Congregationalist Magazine a department called "Hints to Primary Teachers", in the same line of work.^[4] Her unpublished autobiography is titled My life story.^[9]

Personal life and death[]

Wheelock was a member of the Twentieth Century Club.^[2] She died in Boston, October 1, 1946.^[10] Her papers are held by Wheelock College.^[6]

Selected works[]

See also[]

• Ralph Wheelock

References[]

Citations[]

Attribution[]

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Marquis, Albert Nelson (1915). Who's who in New England: A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Living Men and Women of the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut (Public domain ed.). A.N. Marquis & Company.
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: M. Bradley Company (1895). "Kindergarten Review". 5 (10) (Public domain ed.). M. Bradley Company. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1893). A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life (Public domain ed.). Moulton. p. 765.

Bibliography[]

• DuCharme, Catherine C. "Lucy Wheelock: Her Life and Work" Childhood Education 76 no. 3, 164–9. Spring 2000.
• Howes, Durward, ed. (1935). American Women: The Official Who's who Among the Women of the Nation. Richard Blank Publishing Company.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
• Garraty, John Arthur; Carnes, Mark Christopher; American Council of Learned Societies (1999). American national biography. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-520635-7.
• Griffin, Gary A. (February 2012). Rethinking Standards through Teacher Preparation Partnerships. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-8831-7.
• Holloran, Peter C. (1 May 2017). Historical Dictionary of New England. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-1-5381-0219-0.
• James, Edward T. (ed.) (1971). Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-62734-5.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
• Lerner, Richard M.; Jacobs, Francine; Wertlieb, Donald (22 October 2002). Handbook of Applied Developmental Science: Promoting Positive Child, Adolescent, and Family Development Through Research, Policies, and Programs. SAGE Publications. ISBN 978-1-5063-6139-0.
• Rury, J. (30 April 2005). Urban Education in the United States: A Historical Reader. Palgrave Macmillan US. ISBN 978-1-4039-8187-5.
• Warren, Donald R. (October 1989). American teachers: histories of a profession at work. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-02-900963-5.

External links[]

• Works related to Woman of the Century/Lucy Wheelock at Wikisource
• Works by or about Lucy Wheelock at Internet Archive
• Works by Lucy Wheelock at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• Wheelock College Library – Milestones: A Timeline of Wheelock College
• Biography of Lucy Wheelock at wheelockgenealogy.com