Oberlin Kindergarten-Primary Training School Records

Collection

Identifier: RG 24

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Correspondence, annual reports, minutes, legal documents, financial ledgers, printed material, and photographs comprise the records of the Oberlin Kindergarten-Primary Training School (OKPTS), founded in 1894 by the Oberlin Kindergarten Association and absorbed in 1932 by the Education Department of Oberlin College. The school's founders conceived of the OKPTS and its free kindergartens as laboratories in which the latest methods of kindergarten pedagogy might be tested; however, the bulk of the records here gathered reflect the school's operating history rather than its educational philosophies.

Series I, Operating Records (1894-1933), includes a draft of the 1894 OKPTS constitution; correspondence of the Board of Trustees relating to teacher certification and development matters (1929-32); annual reports of OKPTS to the President of Oberlin and to the State Department of Education; alumnae files created and maintained by both the OKPTS and the Oberlin College Alumni Office (ca. 1912-33) and by Principal Clara May; financial ledgers (1915-32); library acquisitions records (1931-32); and twenty-year run of OKPTS staff meeting minutes (1911-32), which document faculty attitudes towards student discipline, grading, and school policies. Student Teaching Records include written evaluations prepared by professors Marie Rankin (1896-1991) and Mary Yocom (1894-1968).

Series II, Montessori Files of Clara May (1913-31), documents May's ongoing involvement with the Montessori movement both in the U.S. and abroad. Files include correspondence from educators Helen Parkhurst (1887-1973) and Maria Montessori (1870-1952) to Clara May (1872-1957), a graduate of Oberlin College, Montessori-trained teacher, and Principal of OKPTS from 1915 to 1932. Also housed here are several 1914 photographs of Montessori classes in Italy taken by May while training in Rome.

Official publications are filed in Series III, Printed Material (1887-1933). Included are complete runs of The Okatiess, the school yearbook, and annual catalogs, together with a series of newspaper articles on the development of the OKPTS appearing in the Oberlin News from 1894 to 1907. Series IV, Photographs (1894-1933), contains faculty and student pictures as well as an album (1894-1933) belonging to Clara May.

Dates

Creation: 1894-1933
Other: Date acquired: 1967

Creator

Oberlin Kindergarten-Primary Training School (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Unrestricted.

Administrative History

The Oberlin Kindergarten Training School (OKTS) was founded in 1894 for the purpose of instructing young women to teach kindergarten according to the methods of German educator, Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852). The Oberlin Kindergarten Association, a group of thirteen women, developed plans for the school, drew up a constitution, hired the first teacher, and organized several free kindergartens in Oberlin Village where OKTS students could fulfill practice teaching requirements. Over a thirty-nine year period, the Oberlin Kindergarten Training School had three principals: Belle Goodman (1894-95); Bertha Emeline Montgomery (1895-1915); and Clara May (1915-32). Under the leadership of Principal May, the school acquired five dormitory buildings, increased its enrollment, and placed its graduates in kindergartens throughout the world. In 1916, the introduction of the novel Montessori method by Clara May at the Centennial Kindergarten in Oberlin led to curricular additions in primary education; the name of the school was changed to the Oberlin Kindergarten-Primary Training School in 1927. In 1932, the school's two-year course of instruction came into conflict with a new state law mandating four years of preparation for teachers. Since the school could not afford to comply with the law, it ceased to operate independently and merged with the Department of Education of Oberlin College. The Kindergarten-Primary major was available at Oberlin until the academic year 1964-65. In its place, students followed a five-year program based upon the B.A. degree with an academic major, leading to the Master of Arts in Teaching. Academic year 1971-72 was the last year in which the M.A.T. in Elementary Education was offered at Oberlin.

Extent

7.09 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Method of Acquisition

The records of the Oberlin Kindergarten-Primary Training School were transferred to the College Archives in four separate accessions. Miscellaneous publications were received in 1967. The operating records, including correspondence, reports, legal documents, staff meeting minutes, as well as the Montessori files, came in separate accessions in 1969, 1970, and 1980. Material received in 1934 by Secretary George M. Jones from L.W. Taylor, President of the OKPTS Board of Trustees, has been removed from the Office of the Secretary and joined to this collection. These files include OKTS annual reports to the College President, annual reports to the State Department of Education, and Board of Trustees correspondence, minutes, and reports. Also combined with these records are student-teaching files from the Placement Office and Clara May's student card file, discovered among the Schauffler College records. Additional printed material was received from the Oberlin College Library, Special Collections, in 2001. A commencement booklet and yearbook belonging to Marjory Lane, 1931 graduate, were received in 2010.

Accruals and Additions

Accession Nos: 12, 1976/29, 89, 101, 1980/2, 1980/15, 2001/94, 2010/039.

Related Materials

For materials relating to the transfer of the OKPTS in 1932 to Oberlin College, consult the papers of President Ernest Hatch Wilkins (RG 02/007). The Mary S. Yocom Papers (RG 30/079) contain the personal reminiscences of Yocom, a teacher for thirty-five years at OKPTS, a student term paper (1961) on the history of the school, and a commencement address given by Clara May in 1932. Records received in 1976 from the Registrar's Office (25/1/1) include the files of graduates and non-graduates from OKPTS. For materials relating to student teaching, consult the files of the Department of Education, 9/4.

Consult the records of the Secretary's Office (5/1/2), Boxes 90 and 91, for files relating to the Centennial Building Fund drive; reports relating to the transfer in 1932 of OKPTS to Oberlin College; financial and budgetary statements; and Ohio State Department of Education teacher certification materials. For records of the OKPTS founding organization, the Oberlin Mutual Benefit Association, consult record group 31/6/17.

Directories of students (1927-30) attending the OKPTS, Oberlin School of Commerce, and Oberlin High School (Junior and Senior) are filed with the records of the Oberlin School of Commerce, RG 31/021.