Elizabeth Peabody (1804–1894), the oldest of the three Peabody sisters of Salem, was one of the most important women of her time. She was an educator and education reformer who opened the first kindergarten in the United States. Long before most teachers, Peabody embraced the premise that children’s play has intrinsic developmental and educational value. (...) Elizabeth Peabody was largely responsible for the spread of the kindergarten movement in America. With missionary zeal, she wrote and talked with people in positions of power around the country, and wrote scores of articles and several books on the kindergarten. Through her own kindergarten and as editor of the Kindergarten Messenger (1873–1877), Peabody helped establish kindergarten as an accepted institution in American education.
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