Emma Jacobina Christiana Marwedel, also known as Emma Marwedel (February 27, 1818 – November 17, 1893), was a German-American educator, known for her establishment of schools based upon Friedrich Fröbel's ideas. ^[1]

Early life

Marwedel was born on February 27, 1818, in Hann. Münden. ^[1]

Educator

Marwedel was a teacher in Germany. In 1867, she became the first director of the Girls' Industrial School in Hamburg. Leveraging Friedrich Fröbel's ideas, she also operated a kindergarten. ^[1]

Elizabeth Peabody visited Marwedel in Germany and was impressed by her. After being invited by Peabody and Caroline Severance to come to the United States, ^[1] Marwedel founded the first private kindergarten in Washington, D.C. by 1872. ^[2] She developed a kindergarten teacher-training program ^[2] and established additional schools near Long Island, Los Angeles, and Brentwood. ^[1]

In 1880, she opened her model kindergarten, Pacific Kindergarten Normal School, which she operated for six years. She retired in 1886. ^[1]

Later years and death

Marwedel died on November 17, 1893, in San Francisco in a German hospital. ^[2]

Publications

• Conscious Motherhood: or the Earliest Unfolding of the Child in the Cradle, Nursery and Kindergarten (1887) ^[1]
• The Connecting Link, to Continue the Three-Fold Development of the Child from the Cradle to the Manual-Labor School (1891) ^[1]
• Undated pamphlets such as An Appeal for Justice to Childhood, Games and Studies in Live Forms and Colors of Nature for Home and School. ^[1]

References