A i-iESTC‘W 0'? WE PRESCHOOL PRGGRAM 5N
THE CSLLEGE 0? HM? ECWQMICS AT
M§CHEGAN STATE MEYERSW

Thesis far the Degree of M. A.
M 18H£GAN STA‘E‘E Wi‘JERSEW
VéDLET CHARLOTTE FEE
1967

 

. LIBRARY
Michigan State
University

 

 

 

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF HOME ECONOMICS
EAST LANSING. MICHIGAN

PLACE IN RETURN BOX to remove this checkout from your record.

TO AVOID FINES return on or before date due.
MAY BE RECALLED with earlier due date if requested.

 

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mu

 

 

ABSTRaCT

A HISTORY OF THE PRE-SCHOOL PROGRAM IN THE COLLEGE
OF HOME ECONOMICS AT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

by Violet Charlotte Fee

This study attempts to recreate the history of the
pre—school program at Michigan State University since early
records, particularly of the Laboratory Fre-school, were
often misplaced or lost in frequent moves.

The investigator makes use of published and micro-
film reports and minutes of the State Board of Agriculture
from 1922 to 1965, microfilm files of the University's news-
papers and periodicals, the Lansing State Journal and the
Detroit Free Press for much of the same period. Accounts
of events-and incidents were obtained in interviews with a
number of people who had had some connections with either
or both of the schools. Letters, photographs and scrapbooks
were also used.

The study begins with a short history of Child DevelOp-
ment and the PPe-school movement in the United States. Eerrill—

IDS

Ho

Palmer School (now Merrill—Palmer Institute) opened
nursery school in 1922. Since its opening, Michigan State
University students majoring in Child DevelOpment have had

the Opportunity for special training in that school. The

Violet Charlotte Fee

Laboratory Pre-school, or College Nursery dchool as it was
first called, Opened in 1927.

A second pre—school was begun in IQLC. This was the

Spartan Cooperative Nursery School established to meet the

needs of the young children of married students and to give

the young parents new ideas and new insights into parent-

child relationsh'ps. This school received national recog-

nition as an outstanding example of parent, teacher and com-
munity cooperation. The school continues to Operate in this
tradition.

Both the Michigan State University schools were
designed to serve the needs of college students and the com-

munity. Both serve as centers for student research and the
training of pre-school teachers. a brief account is given of
the present program with groups of community childrzr and
.re role of the schools and the staff in the teacher tra*n;ng
program for Head Start.

Emphasized are the services given local, state and
national groups by the schools and individual teachers. The

four-fold ideal of service to child, parent, community and
nation is seen as the underlying principle of the schools,

the cast and at the tresent time.

L

*3

 

A HISTORY OF THE PR5-5CHCOL PROGRAM II THE COLLEGi

OF HOMd CCONOMICS AT MICHIGAN STATd UNIVE'SITY

by

Violet Charlott Fee

(I)

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the deeree of

MASTSR OF ARTS

Department of Home Management and Child Development

1967

 

raver «‘T

A C KNC' VII“? I} "n‘Lu T5

I am deeply indebted to Dr. Eartha Dale, my academic
dvisor and chairman of my committee. Her understanding

and her confidence in me have been a continuing source of
encouragement.

I am also greatly indebted to Mrs. Catherine Miller
Buell who spent many hours with me in recreating the early
days of the Laboratory Ere-school. Without her help that
part of the story could not have been written.

To Dr. Alice Thorpe goes a special note of appre—
ciation for her willingness to take the risk of allowing

rr.

(U

to begin this I.rogram of study after such a long interval
of time had elapsed since my undergraduate degree had been
earned.

I should like to express my gratitude also to Dr.
Marie Dye, Dr. Bernice Bergman, Kiss Betty Garlick and Mrs.
Vera Borosage for the valuable information they have given
me and to the many others who searched for facts. I am,
of course, fully responsible for the accuracy of the faCts
and the apprOpriateness of the judgments presented in the

paper.

ii

 

ACKE‘IC‘E'JLE
Chapter
I.
II.

DQ‘ENTS o o o o

IImRCDUtl’I .
BLGIPiLIINIJU 0 0

THE LA

mn—

JHL‘;

INTO

33
Sites, and Dates, of the Laboratory
Letter from Irofessor Mary Lewis, April

1967 o o o o

COOPERAT

ABLS CF

BORATORY PRS- SCI

IVS NU

FUI URE

CCIITSI‘I TS

OOL

Y‘ "\r)

H.

VJA¥

H.

Y

O O O O O
Fre—School
13,

O O O O O

 

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

It is well known that Michigan State University is
the first of the Land-Grant colleges to be established unden
the Morrill Act. Often overlooked, however, is the fact
that the actual founding of the University goes back to
February 12, 1855 when Governor Kingsley Bingham signed the
law which created the Agricultural College of Michigan. The
College was formally opened May 13, 1857. The Morrill Act
of 1862 provided grants of land to institutions for agricul-
tural education and the Agricultural College of Michigan was
the first institution to meet the demands of the Morrill Act
and to profit therefrom.

M.S.U., as it is known today, has therefore been a
pioneer institution from its earliest days. However, it has
not only pioneered in agriculture but it was also a pioneer
in the area of Child Deve10pment.

Merrill-Palmer Institute in Detroit opened its
Nursery School in January, 1922. The Home Economics Divi-
sion of Michigan Agricultural College (as it came to be called}
had a part in this new type of school from its opening days.

As a result a nursery school was started at M.A.C. in 1927,

forty years ago. Since its Opening in the summer of 1927
this nursery school has been moved from place to place on
the campus, its records have been scattered, and another
pre-school, Spartan Nursery School, has been established.

With the increase in enrollment at M.S.U., the
rapid expansion of, and ensuing changes in, the campus and
the ever-growing demand for pre-school experiences for chil-
dren, it seemed desirable to attempt to recapture the almost
forgotten past of our campus schools, their aims and pur-
poses, and the character of their physical plants.

This study, then, is historical and descriptive
in nature without hypotheses or assumptions.

Data were collected from a variety of sources. Much
information was obtained from The Secretagy's Annual Report
to the President and the Minutes of the State Boaggrof Agri-
culture from June 30, 1922 through June 30, 1965. The more
important areas examined in this source included reports
from the Dean of Home Economics, the Department of Buildings
and Grounds and the Director of Married Housing (from August,
19L6); Board action regarding appointments, resignations and
changes in staff positions; action concerning building pro-
grams and miscellaneous business, and a list of gifts and
grants received in the Comptroller's office.

Reports of the Head of the Department of Home Man—
agement and Child DevelOpment were available from 1955 and

were a valuable source of information.

 

The files of the M.S.U., city and area newspapers
for the period of the study were examined. Eighteen inter-
views ranging from twenty minutes to three hours in length
were held. These were with persons who had had some con-
tact with the schools at various times.

The material collected from these sources was in-

corporated in the following study.

 

CHAPTER II
BEGINNINGS

The twentieth century is often referred to as "The
Century of the Child." Lawrence K. Frank attributes this
phrase to a Scandinavian woman philosopher, Ellen Key.1 In
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Rousseau and
Pestalozzi had dreamed about a new way of looking at the
child and had tried to describe and make this way real to
their contemporaries. Froebel, in his kindergarten, opened
a new educational world for the young child. In the early
years of the twentieth century John Dewey's progressive
education philOSOphy began to be accepted by experimental
schools throughout America. By the nineteen-twenties many
schools were beginning to plan curricula based on children's
interests and the idea of learning by doing. This period
was characterized by intense interest in the pre-school child.
Frank states that

In the early nineteen twenties there were only three
Nursery Schools in the United States. In New York

 

1Lawrence K. Frank, "The Beginnings of Child DevelOp-
ment and Family Education in the Twentieth Century," The
Merrill- Palmer Quarter;y_of Behavior and DeveIOpment, Vol.
B, No. h(0ctober, 1962), Preprint, p. 7.

 

City the Harriet Johnson Nursery School, started by
Lucy Sprague Mitchell, was the first step in an
experimental educational program, that became the
City and Country School, and a research program in
the Bureau of Educational Experiments. In Boston,
the Ruggles Street Nursery School and Training Center
was started in January, 1922 by Abigail Eliot . . .
as a welfare agency for neglected children. . . .
Also in January, 1922 the Merrill—Palmer Nursery
School started as a center of child develOpment,
child rearing and early education, and for family
education. At Iowa there was a pre-school unit,

so called to distinguish from a nursery school, a
term not used at Iowa for a number of years.2

There are some uncertainties about the above facts.
It is a more commonly accepted fact that Caroline Pratt
started the Play School, later known as the City and Country
School, in 1913 or l9lh. Lucy Sprague Mitchell published
her Here and Now Story_Book in 1921. In her Introduction,
dated July, 1921 she pays tribute to both the City and
Country School and the school run by the Bureau of Educa-
tional Experiments (Harriet Johnson's) and especially to
Caroline Pratt ". . . without whom these stories would never
have been dreamed of or written," and mentioned that the
stories were read to the children in the laboratory school.3
It was at the Bureau of Educational Experiments where Harriet

Johnson did the work which resulted in her book Children

 

21bid., p. 8.

3Lucy Sprague Mitchell, Here and New Story Book (New
York: E. P. Dutton and 00., 19217, p. 71.

 

in the Nursery_School which tells of nine years of experimental
work there.“

John Dewey started his Laboratory School in 1896.
This was incorporated into the University of Chicago in
1902. This University had a laboratory group of young chil-
dren prior to 1920 but it was not called a nursery school.

It would seem that there may have been a number of pre-school
education groups whether designated as nursery schools or
not, as early as 1920. To pinpoint exact dates and locations
of nursery schools is not the purpose of this paper but

these facts indicate that the "golden age of the child,"
those years of the nineteen-twenties, had begun.

The significant date, as far as the pre~school move—
ment at Michigan State University is concerned, was the Jan-
uary, 1922 opening of the Merrill-Palmer Nursery School in
Detroit. Edna Noble White, the school's first Director
". . . undertook to direct the recruitment and training of
promising candidates of nursery school work, providing them
with a variety of experiences at Merrill-Palmer and at other
centers, which participated in this program. For many years
Merrill-Palmer was the major center for preparing nursery

school teachers, and continued this function until other

 

AHarriet M. Johnson, Children in.the Nursery Schqpl
(New York: The John Day 00., 1929).

 

centers became established and were ready to carry on such
training."5

Miss White at first drew her student trainees largely
from girls enrolled in home economics divisions of Michigan
colleges.6 Michigan Agricultural College was one of the
first colleges to be asked to participate in this program.
This was probably due to the interest of Mary E. Sweeny
who came to M.A.C. as Dean of Home Economics in December,
1920. Dean Sweeny was not only a woman of high scholastic
quality ". . . other characteristics were soon evident. En-
thusiasm became contagious and every department saw new
lines of interest; her great energy and her insight into
state and community possibilities increased the reach of
i.A.C.'s facilities."7 Under her guidance, clinics were
set up in local schools, and a c00perative arrangement be-
tween Sparrow Hospital and the College was worked out whereby
staff and students were interchanged. Dean Sweeny also found
time to give two lecture courses at the Detroit Teachers

College.8

5Frank, "The Beginnings of Child DevelOpment," p. 26.

6Edna Noble White, et al., The Merrill-Palmer School,
An Account of Its First Twenty Years (Detroit: errill-

Palmer School, 1945}, p. 22.

7Maude Gilchrist, The First Three Decades of Home

Economics at Michigan State College, 1895-1925 (East Lansing,
Mich.: School of Home Economics, Michigan State College,

19h7), pp- 45, [#60

8Ibid., p. to.

 

In her annual report to President David Friday on
June 30, 1922, Dean Sweeny devoted much attention to the
Merrill-Palmer School. In April, 1921, the State Board of
Agriculture of M.A.C. and the Board of Trustees of Merrill-
Palmer entered into a plan of c00peration by which six
senior home economics students of high scholastic standing
at M.A.C. were to study in residence at the Detroit school.
Courses were to be intensive and special ones dealing with
the care of young children between the ages of fifteen months
and five years of ago. Nutrition and feeding problems were
to be studied and also the social agencies dealing with the
home. For this work the Merrill-Palmer Institute furnished
a residence and practice house for the girls and a staff
of specialists for instructing them. Among these teachers
was Dr. Helen T. Woolley. Miss Emma Henton of Gypsy Hill
Training School in London was in charge of the Nursery School.
(She had special permission from the English Education
authorities for a leave of absence to start a nursery school
in the United States.) Miss Lois Yerkes, Associate Pro-
fessor of Home Economics at M.A.C., was to be sent with the
girls. She was to teach home management practices and nu-
trition and assist in the care of the nursery school chil-
dren. M.A.C. offered these courses: H.E. 31 and 32, 3t
and 15. Home Care of the Child, H.E. 34, was offered

Spring and Fall terms, 1921-22. It had been planned as a

 

c00perative course with the Merrill-Palmer School but the
student demand for it was so great that it was given at
Merrill-Palmer and on the College campus as well.

The girls were to help with daily health inspection,
weekly weighing and measuring under a physician's direction
and were to observe groups for three hours daily with special
observations of specific children for various purposes, help
plan and prepare the food and sit at table with the children.
The report also mentioned special lectures by experts in
field and laboratory work and sociology.9

During the first term six outstanding senior girls
went to Merrill-Palmer. They were Maurine Dutt (Barkley),
Dorothy Yakeley (Copland), Lillian Grimm (Frazer), Mary Ann
Gilchrist, Belle Farley (Murray) and Mary Emily Ranny (White-
law). These were the first girls to go to Merrill-Palmer
from any college. Miss Mary Ann Gilchrist recalled that the
girls thought it was a wonderful and worthwhile experience.
They have kept up a "Round Robin Letter" since that time. She
had received such a letter early in April, 1967. May 27,
1961, they held a reunion at Merrill-Palmer. She recalled

that Edna Noble White and Helen T. Woolley were among their

 

9Mary E. Sweeny, "Annual Report to President David
Friday," Sixty-first Annual Report of the Secretary of the
State Board of Agriculture of the State of Michigan (East
Lansing, Mich.: ‘Michigan Agricultural College, Vol. 61,
June 30,1922), pp. 83 ff.

 

 

10

teachers. The house Merrill-Palmer provided for them was
unfurnished and the girls helped to furnish it. Miss
Henton was in charge of the practical work in the Nursery
School. Professor Yerkes lived with them and supervised
their work. Each week two girls served as cooks, two as
hostesses and two worked in the Nursery School.10 Mrs.
Margaret Plant Thorpe felt her time at Merrill-Palmer in
1925 was most rewarding.11

Dean Sweeny resigned in the summer of 1922 to
return for a time to the University of Kentucky. From
there she went to Merrill-Palmer to become Assistant Direc-
tor. Several girls from M.A.C. remember having her as a
teacher there.

These events are important because they provide the
background for M.A.C.'s nursery school program which was
still in the future.

Louise H. Campbell, Acting Dean of Home Economics,
gave other glimpses of the role the Merrill-Palmer training

played at M.A.C. In her report for June 30, 1923 she stated,

"The students [attending Merrill-Palmer] are beginning to

 

10

Interview with Miss Mary Ann Gilchrist, April
12, 1967.

11Interview with Mrs. Margaret Plant Thorpe,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. L. C. Plant, M.S.U. Librarian,
April 11, 19670

 

ll

appreciate the real worth of such a course. Students ex-
press a desire for more psychology to better prepare them
for the more advanced work at Merrill-Palmer." In this
report the new Home Economics building was mentioned and
the hOpe expressed that upon its completion, the course in
Home Care of the Child, H.E. 3A, might be developed so as
to compare favorably with those courses at Merrill-Palmer.
During this year Merrill-Palmer also took over Professor
Yerkes' salary and her name was no longer on the M.A.C.
faculty list.12

Miss Jean Krueger was appointed Dean of Home Econom-
ics in 1923. The Holcad (predecessor of TheMiphigan State
Ngflg), for Tuesday, October 2, 1923 carried an item telling
of a reception to be given in her honor by Mrs. H. H.
Halladay, wife of the Secretary of the State Board of Agri-
culture and Mrs. Robert 8. Shaw, wife of the President.13

The new Home Economics building was formally opened
on Tuesday evening, February 5, 192A during Farmer's Week.
It was called "a gay party with music by the college or-
chestra, punch and wafers in the Assembly Hall." Dean

Krueger commented on this occasion that, "Columbia has a

 

v—f

12Louise H. Campbell, "Report to the President," in
Annual Re ort--State Board of Agriculture, Vol. 62 (June 30,
1923), p. 79.

lBIhE HQJQEQ (East Lansing, Mich.), October 2, 19230

 

12

building nearly as good but with more expensive equipment
but with that exception I do not think there is another

building superior to the one we have in the United States."14

 

lblhido. February 8, 1924.

 

CHAPTER III
THE LABORATORY PRE-SCHOOL

The fine new Home Economics building contained a
suite of rooms on the third floor which had been planned
as a Child Care unit. "It had a large playroom for the
children, a kitchen for the preparation of their food and
a medical examination room."1 These rooms were at the
southwest corner of the building. This Child Care unit
may have been done with suggestions from Merrill—Palmer.
When it was decided to add the suite, changes had to be made
in the original plans during the summer. Mrs. Dora Stock-
man, a member of the State Board of Agriculture at the time
may have helped in the planning of the suite. Since the
building was already under construction, the suite was put
near the elevator on the third floor.

It is also probable that the suite was not designed
primarily as a nursery school but, as the name indicates,
as a child care laboratory where girls training to become

teachers of Home Economics and Family Life in high school

 

lGilchrist, First Thgee Decades of Home Economics,

p. 550

13

 

1A

might get some actual experience in working with young
children and observe their growth and behavior.2 There had
been very little research done in the areas of child develop-
ment and nutrition. The term Child DevelOpment research
was not used until 1924 or 1925 when the National Research
Council changed the name of its committee on Child Psychol-
ogy to the Committee on Child Development. The first Uni-
versity Child Deve10pment Center was started at Teachers
College, Columbia University in 1925.3

The Smith—Hughes Act which furnished money for Home
Economics teachers or supervisors in qualified high schools
had increased the number of students majoring in Home
Economics in colleges. The Home Economics Division at M.A.C.
was a leader in this training program. However, no Smith-
Hughes money was given for nursery school teachers in the
schools. The child care suite at M.A.C. was to serve as a
training center for the high school teachers but in the
minds of many of the staff there was a second purpose, namely
to provide surroundings and care which would ensure the preper

development of the children involved.4

 

2Interview with Dr. Marie Dye, Dean Emeritus, School
of Home Economics, Michigan State University, November 9, 1966.

3Frank, The Beginnings of Child Development, p. 10.

“Interview with Dr. Marie Dye, November 9, 1966.

 

15

Dean Krueger stressed the need for strong courses
in Child Study and Parent Education and reaffirmed the value
of the Merrill-Palmer experience to the students attending
Merrill-Palmer. She said, "This [experience] is insuffi-
cient. The suite of rooms planned for this purpose should
be equipped, instructors provided and courses in child care
deve10ped in the near future."5 Two years later she said,
"The incorporation of a course in Child Study to include a
nursery school laboratory, and an additional practice house
space are greatly needed."6

The State Board of Agriculture apparently acted
favorably on this request since the following year Dean
Krueger reported, "Catherine Miller, a graduate student and
Fellow of the Merrill-Palmer School, Detroit, was appointed
to develop and teach the new course in Child Study."7 "In
connection with the course in Child Study . . . a nursery
school caring for eighteen children between the ages of
eighteen months and five years was opened during the summer

session. This course has been elected by every Senior Home

 

5Krueger, "Report to the President," in Annual Re ort--
State Board of Agriculture, Vol. 64 (June 30, 1925), p. 78.
6Ibido, V01. 66, June 30, 1927, p. 83.

7Ibid., Vol. 67, June 30, 1928, p. 116.

 

16

Economics student and is considered one of the most valu-
able in the Division."8

The Nursery School Opened in June, 1927 with six-
teen children enrolled instead Of the eighteen expected.
The first child to be enrolled was Jack Stewart, the son Of
Mr. Glenn 0. Stewart, the Director of Alumni Relations at
M.S.C. (the name Of the college had been changed in May,
1925) and Mrs. Stewart. Jack's aunt, Mabel Rogers (Huggins)
was the supervising teacher Of Home Economics at the high
school at the time.

Jack was in the nursery school the first summer and
all Of the following year. In a letter written April 15,
1967, Mrs. Stewart wrote that Jack called himself the "Dean
Of the Nursery School." He was one Of the children who had
suits made for him in Anna Bayha's clothing class. At the
close of the term the children modelled the garments made
for them. His aunt remembered a time when Jack became
frightened and came running to her.9

Before the Opening day of the school Miss Miller

made some changes in the rooms. She remembers that all

 

8Ibid., p. 120.

9Letter from Fanny L. Stewart, April 15, 1967. En-
closed was a snapshot Of Jack taken on his fifth birthday.
He was wearing a white sailor suit made for him by a student
in Miss Bayha's class.

 

17

the lovely cupboard doors were closed by a catch knob with
a tongue which had to be turned in a certain way before
the doors could be Opened. The doors were removed and gay
printed percale curtains were hung in their place.

Although there was a kitchen in the Nursery School
Suite, in the beginning the children's lunch was prepared
in the Women's Building next door. It was the job of Mrs.
Sever, for many years the maid in the Food Laboratory, to
carry the food up to the Nursery School. Later the cooking
was done in the kitchen in the suite. At the beginning Of
the World War II years, the early 1940's, the cook was the
wife Of an M.S.C. professor. She was a Merrill-Palmer and
a Cornell University graduate. She had a daughter in the
Nursery School and was soon to have another child. One day
the daughter said, "My brother's bag is all packed." When
asked, "Is he going away?" she replied, "NO, he isn't going
away. He hasn't come yet." This was Dorothy Davis.10 Dr.
Madison Kuhn reports another amusing incident. It was told
that one Of the children from the Nursery School was having
her hair cut by a barber who asked if she went to kinder-

garten. "NO," she replied. "I go to college."11 Catherine

10Interview with Catherine Miller Buell, first teacher
in the College Nursery School, Arril 3, 1967.

11Madison Kuhn, Michigan State-~The First Hundred
ears (East Lansing, Mich.: Michigan State University Press,

1955), p. 292.

 

18

O

tiller Buell thinks this may have been Katherine Cox.

The daily program included a play period which per-
mitted free choice of dramatic play materials, a variety
of art media, toys and games. There were stories and songs
and whenever possible a period of outdoor play followed by
a carefully planned lunch, after which the children napped
on canvas cots. These were stored on the higher shelves and
had to be set up during the lunch period. From the start
students in Home Economics not only observed the children
but assisted in the daily routine.

The college paper carried a small news item stating,
"The Nursery School Opened this summer has been very popular
with the girls under the guidance of Miss Catherine Miller
from Merrill—Palmer. The course consists of work in the
laboratory with the children and lectures by Miss Miller."12
The course was H.E. h37--a lecture series for Child DevelOp-
ment Seniors only. The students were required to do four
hours of observation at a time. An attempt was made to have
them participate in the lunch hour and also to observe from
three to four o'clock when the children had finished their

naps.13

 

12The Michigan State News (formerly The Holcad),
Friday, January 20, 1928.

13Interview with Mrs. Catherine Miller Buell,
October 2a, 1966.

 

19

An article in a local paper some months later gave
an account of the day's program, some sample menus, an
idea of the teaching techniques used at mealtime, "We eat
everything on our plates at Nursery School," and described
the playroom. Mention was made of the little rose colored
tables, the tiny curtains of pretty colors and the pets,
Oswald, the guinea pig; Patsy, the canary; Blackie and Whitie,
the white rats and the goldfish. Excellent pictures of
children and teachers were included.14

Originally it had been the plan that a nurse from
the Health Service would come to examine the children and
work with the students but this plan was not realized. In-
stead, Grace Harvey, now Mrs. G. Dewey MacDonald, assumed
this responsibility. Miss Harvey was a graduate of the
five year nursing course offered by the Home Economics
Division in cooperation with Sparrow Hospital. She was an
Instructor at Sparrow Hospital but she also came out to
M.S.C. to teach some courses in the care of the sick in the
Home Economics Department. Nurses in training in Pediatrics
at Sparrow Hospital spent a month on the campus and did the
morning inspection. In exchange Miss Miller went to Sparrow

Hospital to give lectures in Pediatrics.15

 

2 l“LansingState Journal, Wednesday, February 6, 1929,
p. .

15Interview with Mrs. Catherine Miller Buell, April

3, 1967.

 

20

Participation in the radio program given by the
Home Economics Division, "The Home-maker's Hour" was ex-
pected of the teacher in charge of the nursery school. She
assumed responsibility for at least six of these programs
a year. In the early days the NKAR studios were in the
"Tower" of the Home Economics building and the talks were
given over a remote control micrOphone in one of the offices.
The Home Economics staff chose tOpics without a coordinator
for several years. After a time a coordinator did plan the
programs with the staff.16 It is only in very recent years
that these talks have been discontinued. When Mrs. Patricia
Dorn Adams took over the radio program she did the talks
herself but occasionally called on the staff to speak as
specialists in their fields.17

From this job description it is quite evident that
the Nursery School had been designed to serve several pur-
poses: (l) to serve as a laboratory in which students in
Home Economics at M.S.C. could observe young children, study
their needs, watch their develOpment and learn good techniques
for working with the young child; (2) to provide a rich and
varied educational experience for the children themselves

under the guidance of well trained teachers; (3) to COOperate

 

16

Interview with Mrs. Catherine Miller Buell, October
2t, 1966.

17Interview with Mrs. Vera Borosage, April 11, 1967.

 

21

with the families of the children and with the community
at large in a program of parental and adult education in
the field of child rearing; and (A) in later years when a
graduate program in Child Deve10pment had been started, to
serve as a research laboratory for an increasing number of
graduate students.

It is also evident that the Nursery School teacher
carried a very heavy work load. For several years her only
professional help was a one-half time graduate assistant
or two quarter-time graduate assistants. The first person
to be so designated in the State Board of Agriculture Re-
ports was Annabelle McRae, a graduate of M.S.C. Home Eco-
nomics Division who ". . . was appointed as Fellow to give.
half-time assistance to the Nursery School."18

There was no playground in the original building
plans, so one had to be added. The only space which was
available was at the northeast corner of the Home Economics
building on the site of the present parking lot. This was
not an ideal place. It was noisy and there was little sun-
shine. Toys had toibe taken up and down on the elevator
since they were stored on the third floor. Those who re-

member the old elevator will recall that it was often

 

w

18Krueger, "Report to the President," in Annual Re-
port-BState Board of Agriculture, Vol. 68 (June 35, 1929),
p. 12 .

 

22

out-of-order. This meant long climbs for children and staff.
Former Dean Mary Sweeny, back on campus for a program, sharply
scolded Miss Miller for permitting such a playground to be
constructed. When Miss Miller replied, "Dr. Sweeny, you
should know that fences are not allowed to spoil the archi-
tectural effects," Dr. Sweeny "laughed merrily and forgave
her."19

In 1939 the playground at the northeast corner of
the Home Economics building was still being used. A gradu-
ate student who worked in the Nursery School remembers when
an accident on Grand River Avenue made it impossible to use
the playground for a time. A cattle truck overturned nearby
and the cattle were penned in the play yard until other
transportation could be found.20

Dean Krueger left in September of 1929 and Dr. Dye,
who had joined the staff in 1922 to organize a department
of research and graduate study was appointed Dean, effec-
tive September 1, 1929. In her report to the President,
June 30, 193A, Dean Dye wrote, "One of the greatest needs
of the Division [Home Economics] is for additional work in

Child DevelOpment. All students should receive more training

 

19Interview with Mrs. Catherine Miller Buell, April
3, 1967.

20Interview with Dorothy Hopson wells, a graduate
of M.S.U., now a faculty wife, April 14, 1967.

 

23

in the field and a major should be offered in it. The
Division should be training nursery school teachers."21

In January, 1935, the Department of Home Management
and Child Development was formed and Dr. Irma Cross was
appointed Head of the new department.22

Enrollment continued to increase. Dean Dye, in her
annual report to the State Board of Agriculture on June
30, 1936 said, "Three graduate students have been studying
for the Master's degree this year. The work of the depart-
ment is being curtailed because of lack of laboratory space.
An additional home management house and a larger laboratory
for the course in Child Development are urgent needs."23
(It is possible that Helen Louise Ewing, one of the three
students, was the first person to receive a Master's degree
in Child Development. She received her degree August 1,
1941.)

"When enrollment [in the College of Home Economics]
passed 700 in 1937 a wing was added to the Home Economics

building and the Nursery School was moved to a separate

2J'Dean Marie E. Dye, "Report to the President," in
Annual Report-~State Board of Agriculture, Vol. 73 (June 30,
1934), p. 1120

22
Ibid., Vol. 74, p. 26.

23Ibid., Vol. 75, p. 150. On May 2,1967 Dr. Dye
reported that eighty-five Masters degrees in Child DevelOp-
ment had been granted to date.

2h

house to provide classrooms and laboratory space for the
students."2h

Plans had been made to move the Nursery School into
the brick house now known as Cowles House in 1937 but Gov-
ernor Murphy was given permission to use that house as his
official residence during his year as Governor. In the late
spring or early summer of 1938 the Nursery School did move
into the white frame house which stood between the Home
Economics building and the Union building. This was the
house formerly used by Secretary Addison Makepeace Brown
as his residence but which had in more recent years been
used as the headquarters of the Economics Department.

It was possible to accommodate two groups of chil-
dren with twelve in each group. The older group used the
second floor; the younger were on the first floor. Miss
Miller taught the younger group, was over-all supervisor
and taught classes in the Department of Child DeveIOpment.
Miss Ruth Wagner from Davenport, Iowa was the first full-
time laboratory assistant. She came in 1937 and she was
in charge of the older children. Miss Elsie Gabel from
Hood College took her place in l9tl-h2.

Bathrooms in the Brown house were fitted with small

 

2l’Fiftieth Anniversa;y-—School of Home Economics--
1S§651956 (East Lansing, Mich.: MiChigan State College,
n. . p. 5.

 

25

size plumbing fixtures and a fenced-in play yard was to be
added later to the east,side of the house. Furnishings,
equipment and toys were moved from the Home Economics build-
ing suite. After a time one important new piece of equipment
was added. This was a one-way vision screen built at the
College Carpentry Shop to Miss Miller's specifications.
This made it possible for college students and parents to
observe the children without disrupting any activity.

To the rabbits and other pets which had been moved
from the former suite, a kid was added. He was fed from a
bottle in the play yard much to the amusement of college
students passing by. He remained at the Nursery School
until he grew up and his horns grew long enough to be a
possible source of danger although he was a loving pet. One
of the large bathtubs had been left in the downstairs bath-
room and the teachers and children occasionally bathed the
goat in that tub. At night he was locked inside the house.
The school cook, who became very fond of him made him a
hat and coat which he seemed to enjoy wearing. Early one
morning Professor Mary Lewis was seen riding in a taxicab
on campus accompanied by a goat wearing a hat and coat.
They were on their way to visit the children at the Foster
Street School in Lansing. When it was decided that he must
"graduate" from school the cook took him to her home.

Soon after moving into the Brown house Miss Miller

helped Architect Calder plan a nursery school unit which

26

it was estimated would cost approximately $25,000 to build
and which contained many good up—to-date ideas for a nursery
school. This was in 1939 or 19A0, perhaps. There is no
record of any action by the State Board of Agriculture on
such a plan.
During the World War II years the children in the
Nursery School saw many groups of young soldiers marching
to classes and "Hup! Two! Three! Four!" became a part of
their play. Wartime brought serious problems to the Nursery
School staff. With the great demand for workers in the
war plants and the high wages offered there it became almost
impossible to keep a cook for the Nursery School. Catherine
Miller Buell recalls that for a time she cooked lunch for
nearly fifty persons (children, college students and staff)
and taught a late morning class in Child Development.
Wartime also brought additional community duties
for the staff. In 1942 a Day Care Program for children
of workers in the war plants was begun. The Child DevelOp-
ment staff at M.S.C. not only helped in the planning of
the program but also taught group refresher courses for
volunteer nursery school teachers in the program. This
writer had a graduate reading course with Mrs. Buell in
preparation for such teaching. The staff gave lectures and
demonstrations and Dean Dye, Amy Newberry and Catherine

Miller Buell wrote a manual on nutrition for use in the

27

program. At some time during this period a training course
was given for mothers who would be working in the newly
organized Community Nursery in Lansing. There was always
a six weeks summer nursery school session.25

The last years of World War II were tense and anxious
ones for the nation. They were also unsettling years for
the Nursery School. Many changes in staff were made. Cath—
erine Miller Buell resigned in September, 1944 after having
been Head of the Nursery School for seventeen years. Elsie
Gabel, teacher of the older group of children resigned De-
cember 31,19A4. Dr. Dorothy Mummery became the new head
teacher in the fall of 194A but she stayed only one year.

Dean Dye reported on June 30, 1946 that there had
been an entirely new staff for the Nursery School that year
with Assistant Professor Shirley Newsom in charge of the
Nursery School and Miss Bernice Borgman and Miss Ruth High-
berger as instructors. All had come in September, 1945.26
The new instructors were in charge of an all-day nursery

group and taught a freshman class in Child Development.

 

25The above information was obtained in three inter—
views with Mrs. Catherine Miller Buell, October 24, 1966,
April 3, 1967 and April 13, 1967.

26Dye, "Report to the President," in Annual Report--

State Board of Agriculture, Vol. 85 (June 30, 1946), p. 11A.

28

On the M.S.C. campus veterans began to return to
college classes and a new building program was begun. A new
wing was to be added to the Union building which would
necessitate the razing of the Brown house. New quarters
had to be found for the Nursery School. In the minutes of
the meeting of the State Board of Agriculture for April 21,
19A9 the wrecking of the old frame house between the Union
and Home Economics building was approved.

In 1947 the Nursery School was moved to another
white frame house, the Thomas Gunson house. Some peOple
remember it as the house with the greenhouse near the lovely
Beal Gardens. Once more plumbing fixtures had to be re-
placed and structural changes made. The writer had visited
the Gunsons many times in earlier years. It was always a
delightful place to visit but it did not seem to be a
particularly desirable facility for a nursery school.

Dr. Borgman described the school here as having a
playroom and bathroom facilities on each floor, a kitchen,
staff room and storage space. Two groups of children were
enrolled for all-day sessions.27 The surrounding grounds

provided exciting nature experiences any season of the year.28

27Interview with Dr. Bernice Borgman, Professor in
Home Management and Child DevelOpment at M.S.U., April 3,

1967.
28Miss Ruth Newman, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Chace

Newman, gave the writer a picture of the Gunson house from
the M.A.C. Heliostat for 1896.

29~

The year 1947 brought another change which was to
have an effect upon the pre-school program at M.S.C. This
was the planning of what was first called the Veterans'
Nursery School; this was to open early in 1948. This school
received a great deal of publicity and during the next years
the College Nursery School came to be an almost forgotten
venture as far as the general public was concerned. How-
ever, for interested parents, the school was still a source of
both anxiety and happiness. It had been said for years
that a child had to be registered at birth in order to get
in the College Nursery School. This continued to be true
in the post—war period. One mother produced a copy of the
"Application Card for Nursery School, Michigan State Col—
lege." Her daughter had been born March 9, 1946, the date
of the application was March 19, 1946 and the entrance date
desired was Fall, 1948 and the child had been admitted in
1948. The mother recalled that there had been a program of
home visiting in which college students came to the home to
bathe the baby.29

Another mother mentioned the lovely gardens, the
big wooden puzzles and large wooden building blocks. She

had three children in the Nursery School. After waiting

 

29Interview with Mrs. Doris Fitzpatrick, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Chace Newman, April 9, 1967.

30

a long time for the first one to be admitted she registered
the second before his birth. She recalled that the school
seemed to be too crowded and that parents did little visit-
ing because students needed the space for class observation.
Dr. Gross visited the school occasionally. Families were
asked to bring menus of family meals for the week in order
that the school lunch might be fitted to the children's
food needs.30

A student doing her practice teaching during the
summer session of 1953 remembered a number of things about
the house and the program. Many people were uncertain as
to whether there had been a fenced play yard. She was
certain there had been one. She remembered there were
fine hardwood floors and that little round tables were used
for eating. While there were two teaching units during the
regular school year there was only one small group of per-
haps eight children for this particular six week session.
The children stayed for lunch but went home after lunch.
There was a rest period on cots before lunch. The food
was cooked in the school kitchen. The school cook did not
like liver so whenever liver was on the menu the cook found

an unusual or "fancy" way to prepare it. During the lunch

 

+—

30

Interview with Mrs. Joseph Evans, teacher and M.S.U.
faculty wife, April 11, 1967.

31

period the students kept records of what each child ate.3l
Professor Mary Lewis, a former staff member of the
College of Home Economics sent a four page letter containing
much information about the Gunson house days of the Nursery
School. The text of this letter is given in full in
Appendix B.
That this move to the Gunson house was considered
a temporary one seems evident from statements made by Dean
Dye in her annual report. She said, "A place for the Nursery
School must be provided as the International Center is
started."32 Apparently this was a building plan which was
not realized and the school was not moved. On June 30,
1950 Dean Dye says, "The present old and inadequate Nursery
School building is soon to be torn down to provide space
for the new college library and thus a new one is essential.
The new Nursery School should be planned for a larger number
of children with ample play space both inside and out-of-
doors, and also for the observation and participation of

more college students."33

 

3J'Interview with Mrs. Betty Tuttle, former graduate
student, now on Laboratory Pre-School staff, April 13, 1967.

32Dye, "Report to the President," in Annual Report—-
State Board of Agricglture, Vol. 87 (June 30, 1948), p. 240.

BBIDiéo. Vol. 89 (June 30, 1950), p. 221.

uu’ 32

A year later the Dean says,
The present nursery school is located in an old
house that is too small to provide a place for the
children and at the same time observation space for
the students. Larger, fireproof facilities planned
to fit the needs of a good nursery school must be
provided for the training of majors in child develop-
ment and for experience for all home economics stu-
dents. This additional space for nursery school,
laboratory for research, graduate students, classes
and offices can be met by a new Home Economics
Building or a large addition to the present one.31+

Shirley Newsom resigned as Head of the Nursery
School in 1952 and Assistant Professor Elmer Knowles, the
first man to join the faculty of the School of Home Eco-
nomics was put in charge of the Nursery School. "The old
Nursery School is being torn down and, thus, a new building
is urgently needed."35 ‘

On September 18, 1953 the State Board of Agricul-
ture approved "The moving of the nursery school for the
balance of the year to one section of the Home Management
Building [finished in the academic year of 1947-1948] where
the cost will be the construction of the fence. This is
necessary because of the construction of the new library."

Minutes for November 20, 1953 note that the fencing had

been done.36

 

Bhléigo. Vol. 90 (June 30, 1951), p. 222.
35;p;g., Vol. 92 (June 30, 1953), pp. 181, 183.

36Ibid., Vol. 93 (June 30, 1954), pp. 97, 95.

~ 33

On April 2, 1954 the State Board of Agriculture
approved the following recommendations:

a. the Operation of all Nursery Schools shall be
under the School of Home Economics and costs of such
Operation shall be charged to their budget. This re-
lieves Married Housing of the charge for the Opera-
tion of Spartan Nursery;

b. the staff of Spartan Nursery School be put on
a ten month basis at the apprOpriate time and if it
is necessary to Operate a Nursery School during the
summer session for the training of teachers the cost
shall be charged to the Summer School budget;

c. the fees be increased as follows:

1. College Nursery School morning sessions
(with lunch) $35 per term

2. College Nursery School afternoon session
(no lunch) $25 per term

3. Spartan Nursery School (no meals provided,
also some assistance is provided by parents)
$12.50 per term

d. in order to reduce the costs of the program
the staff in the Spartan Nursery School should be re-
duced to two full-time members employed on a ten month

basis.37

On January 3, 1952 the State Board of Agriculture
had approved a half-day program at the College Nursery
School with fees at $25 per term for the morning group and
$15 per term for the afternoon group.38 When this action
was put into effect the all-day sessions of the College
Nursery School ended. This change had been requested by
the College Of Home Economics as a means of increasing the

hours available for student Observation.

 

37Ibid., p. 92.

38;p;g., Vol. 91 (June 30, 1952), p. 78.

[fl

The actual moving of the Nursery School into Unit IV

34

of the Home Management building took place in December, 1953.

In the new quarters a Toddlers Group was added. Children

from eighteen to twenty-four months came with their mothers
on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The mothers had a discussion
group with a staff member in a room apart from the playroom
while the children were Observed as they played. This group
was later discontinued because it required the time of two
staff members and did not seem as useful with college classes
as a program with Older children might be.39

A parent education course was taught in alternate
years. This in time came to be combined with another course
and develOped into the course now known as Nursery School
and Parent Education.

"In 1955 the name of the College Nursery School was
changed to the Laboratory Pre-—School."‘*O The new name is
attributed to Dr. Borgman.

The move into the Home Management Residence which
had been considered temporary in 1953 proved to be a per-
manent one. Dean Thelma Porter said in her report to the
President in 1956 that, "The present quarters of the Lab-

oratory Pre-School are entirely inadequate. . . . Some

 

39Interview with Dr. Borgman, April 3, 1957.

hODr. Irma Gross, "Report to the Dean for 1955-
1956," in the files of the School of Home Economics, M.S.U.

35

planning has been done for an adequate pre-school facility
by staff members."h1

Dr. Gross retired as Head of the Department of Home
Management and Child Development in 1958. Dr. Alice Thorpe
became the new department head. In 1963 Dean (Assistant)
Jeanette Lee's report to the President contained the state-
ment that "Unit III of the Home Management Residence will
be converted to a third Laboratory pre-school for the aca-
demic year of l963-l964."‘*2 This provided room for one more
group of twelve to fifteen children.

The following year, 1964, Betty Garlick was made
Director of both Spartan Nursery School and the Laboratory
Pre-school. Mariella Aikman was made Associate Director of
Spartan and Vera Borosage was made Associate Director of the
Laboratory Pre-school. Dr. Thorpe in her report to the
Dean described the many activities of the staff: serving
on state and national Committees, giving talks to area
groups, and acting as workshOp and conference leaders, en-

gaged in many worthwile activities.43

 

thean Thelma Porter, "Report to the President" in
Annual Re ort--State Board of A riculture, Vol. 96 (June
30, 1956), pp. 220-221.

thean Jeanette Lee, "Report to the President," in
Minutes g; the Board of Trustees of Michigan State University.
The{?inutes are no longer printed but are on microfilm, un-
page 0

L3Dr. Alice Thorpe, "Annual Report to the Dean,"
1964-1965, unpaged.

36

Since the starting of Spartan Nursery School the
staff had worked in both of the nursery schools. Now with
1133 Garlick as Director Of the two nursery schools there
was even a closer tie between them.

Dr. Thorpe reported to Dean Lee in 1966, "The
staff has given outstanding leadership at both the state
and national levels in programs of early childhood edu-
cation."44

In June, 1965, the Department Of Home Management
and Child Development became involved in two six-day train-
ing programs in OOOperation with Continuing Education, re-
ceived an Office of Economic Opportunity grant for an eight
week Headstart program at Spartan Nursery School and held a
special workshOp on pre-school education for the culturally
deprived. This was the beginning of a new program, the

work of the future.

““1b1d., 1965-1966.

CHAPTER IV
THE SPARTAN COOPERATIVE NURSERY SCHOOL

"When the cold winds begin to sweep down the broad
thumb of Michigan this fall they are going to blow some new
ideas into the country. The ideas emanate from Michigan
State College, East Lansing, where a remarkable experiment
in community living is reaching fruition with the Opening
of the fall term."1 The experiment referred to by Richard
Wilcox and illustrated by beautiful colored phbtographs
was destined to produce a considerable volume of newspaper
and journal articles.

At the end of World War II in September, 1945 vet-
erans began returning to campuses all over the nation. To
meet the critical need for housing Of these students many
of whom were married and had young families, M.S.C. began
constructing a temporary village of trailers, barrack type
buildings and Quonset huts. Streets were laid out and given
names, facilities such as water, light and heat were provided

and a new Department of Married Housing was set up.

 

Richard Wilcox, "Spartan Wives," Ladies Home Journal,
Vol. 64 (October, 1947), pp. 43-49.

37

38

As the number of persons living in these temporary
quarters continued to increase it became evident that some
kind of a program had tobe planned which would meet the
educational needs of the mothers and pre-school age children
who were living in these sometimes inadequate quarters.

In 1946 a group of the wives in Spartan City as
the area was first called formed an organization known
as Spartan Wives. The group began a program designed to
make improvements in living quarters, to set up interest
study groups and to provide for recreational needs of the
citizens of this crowded area. In July, 1946 they began
planning a cooperative nursery school for the children.
Esther Anson, from the Department of Adult Education be-
came interested in the activities of Spartan Wives, was
made their sponsor and worked with them. She was very much
interested in the idea of the nursery school. The Michigan
State News commented that Miss Anson ". . . worked with the
[Spartan] wives on policy, Operation and practice. Columbia
University has studied the project and is now using it as
a model in their graduate course in Nursery Education."2

The Spartan Wives presented the idea to President

Hannah and he sent it to the State Board of Agriculture for

 

v—v—

2Michigan State News (East Lansing), January 15,
1948 (a clipping with day and page removed' date written
in, in the files of Spartan Nursery School).

39

consideration. The project was approved after a time, a
site decided upon and $30,000 allocated for setting up the
school. A Faculty Advisory Committee with Dean Lloyd C.
Emmons as chairman was instrumental in getting a grant of
$8000 from the Kellogg Foundation with the understanding
that local groups would assume much of the financial re-
sponsibility for the project. An appeal was made to local
Posts of the American Legion since the Legion at the national
level had drawn up what was considered to be an excellent
program of child development and welfare. The local and
area Legion groups became very much involved in the nursery
school project.3

The Nursery School Committee reports listed Emery
Foster as Chairman of the Faculty Nursery School Operations
committee and stated that he worked with the architects
and nursery school specialists on building plans. In the
early reports the site Of the school was listed as one wing
of the draft-horse barn. The building would be made avail-
able if the Operating expenses for two years could be obtained.
On December 1, 1947 the Kellogg Foundation gave the $8000

mentioned above.4

 

3Richard C. Thompson,"Leeion Sponsored Nurserv School
is Something for the Kids-~and Parents," 3 ty ewritten paper, not
dated, in the files or the Spartan Nursery Sc 001. It was not
possible to locate a reference to the $30,000 in the minutes
of the State Board of Agriculture.

“Mrs. Robert Fisher, Reports of the Nursery School
Committee, in the files of Spartan Nursery School

40

The Mighigan State News for November 26, 1947 in a
first page article said, "A former farm building will be
remodeled." This same article mentioned that, "A spot
survey made in December, 1946, showed that 99% of the mothers
were eager to give time and energy to the project."

The barn location proved to be unsuitable and the
State Board of Agriculture made available two Quonset huts
which were set up as a single unit at the corner of Willow
Lane and Birch Road. Jean Bowers wrote, "The arrival of
the Quonset huts yesterday marks the beginning of the final
stage in building Operations on a new nursery for children
of M.S.C. students."5

These early days were filled with doubts and dis-
appointments and sometimes with despair When, for example,
the basement in which toys and equipment had been stored was
flooded and much refinishing had to be done. These days were
also days of remarkable and dedicated involvement on the part
of many families. There are, in the nursery school files,
many newspaper clippings and photographs showing these work
days.

Before the Quonsets were put in place parents had
been collecting toys and equipment. Many work sessions in

which Old equipment was repaired or new equipment made were

 

5Michigan State News, Friday, February 27, 1948,
p. l.

41

held. Ray Lamphear, Director of Married Housing, was the
chief resource and supplies person for the workshOp groups.
He has in his files lists of materials he turned over to
the group. Emery Foster also helped to provide equipment.
The College Nursery School staff served as consultants and
furnished patterns for toys and equipment which could be
made by the parents.

An article written by Gwen Matthew described these
work sessions,many Of which took place in the basement
of the College Nursery School in the evenings under the
guidance of Miss Ruth Highberger of the Home Management and
Child DevelOpment staff and Miss Elizabeth Page who had
been employed as the director of the nursery school and
instructor in Home Management and Child DevelOpment. Equip-
ment made before the school actually Opened included iron-
ing boards, a stove and cradle, twelve large wooden puzzles,
four wooden trains each complete with engine, box cars and
caboose, a barn and a toy garage. Aprons for the children
to wear while painting or playing with clay, and doll layettes
had been made by the mothers.6 Among the families who
attended these first work shops were the George Bissetts,
the Walter Carletons, the Robert Fishers, the Stanley Fred-
ericksons, the Home: Higbees, the Greg Lills, the Orval

Morrisons and the Robert Snyders.

‘.____ ‘—

6State Journal, Sunday, April 18, 1948, Second Sec—
tion, p. 10

42

Miss Page, with a 8.8. degree from Cornell University,
an M.A. degree from Columbia University, some additional
work at the Merrill-Palmer Institute and five years of teach-
ing experience, had been interviewed by the Spartan Wives
before she was appointed by the State Board of Agriculture
at its January 15th meeting. (Her appointment was effective
as of February 1, 1948.) The Spartan Wives approval of
her may have been a factor in their fine spirit of OOOpera-
tion. Their confidence in her seems to have been warranted.
Miss Page, whom the writer met on a rainy April 1, 1967,
nineteen years later, was still a dedicated and deeply
interested friend of the Spartan Nursery School.

Miss Page helped with the workshops, led Spartan
Wives' interest group discussions, kept excellent records
of activities, served as a liaison person between parents
and area groups, attended many meetings, made a number of
speeches, and taught nursery school children and supervised
parent participation six days a week.7

Newspaper and journal articles written in the period
from 1947 to 1949 give an interesting picture of the school.
An unusual feature of the interior was the center room which
served as a library for both parents and children, sewing

corner and a social center for the mothers who brought their

 

7Interview with Miss Elizabeth Page first Director
of Spartan COOperative Nursery School, April 1, 1967.

43

sewing machines and sewed together, discussed child train-
ing or personal problems, read, or worked on school pro-
jects.

Miss Esther Anson had arranged with the Michigan
State Library to have a lending library and there was a
weekly Library Day for parents and children. These are
somewhat unique features but they tended to strengthen
loyalty to the school.

There were two large playrooms, locker rooms, two
observation areas equippped with one-way vision windows,
storage space, a kitchenette, offices and both child-size
and adult bathrooms. The decorative scheme was pink and
green. There were low windows and an asphalt tile floor.
Radiant heating had been installed which did not function
properly in the beginning, making the rooms too warm. This
was corrected later.

There was a home-made jungle gym, a sand box, other
climbing equipment and swings. The play yard was enclosed
by a white wide—picket fence. There was a storage garage
for toys with a ramp for small drivers.8

The school officially opened on Monday, April 26,
1948. Only one-half of the building was used. There was

not enough equipment available for the other half. The staff

 

8Esther Anson, "Report on Spartan Nursery School for
Students' Children, M.S.C. 1946-1948." A type-written manu-
script in the files of Spartan Nursery School.

44

consisted of Miss Page and two mothers, Mrs. Walter Carleton
and Mrs. Robert Snyder as temporary assistants. An Open
House was held on Sunday, May 30, 1948.9

Eligibility of,children between two and one-half
and five years to attend the new school was based upon
whether at least one parent was enrolled at M.S.C. for twelve
credits, or more, per term. Children were eligible to
attend the summer terms if one parent had been at M.S.C.
for three consecutive terms. By September, 1948, it was
expected that 120 children, divided into eight groups could
be enrolled for three half-day sessions per week. The hours
were from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and the Michigan State_News
for Thursday, April 29, 1948 gave the fee as being twenty-
five cents per morning for each child. In the spring term,
1948, there were two groups of fifteen or sixteen children
each attending three days a week.

By that summer, according to a Spartan Village News
letter, the Pre-Fab-Gab, three more groups had been added,
including a two year old and a pre-kindergarten group. Also
two new staff members had been added. "Mrs. Betty Poulton
comes to East Lansing after a year Of graduate work at

Merrill—Palmer and Miss Virginia Atkinson has been a

 

9Interview with Miss Page, April 1, 1967.

45

director Of a nursery school in Aurora, Illinois."10 The
minutes of the State Board of Agriculture confirmed these
appointments and stated that their salary was to be paid by
Kellogg Foundation funds.ll By the fall quarter of 1948
six groups of children were enrolled.

The basic principles of the school, then, as now
were : to provide a learning experience for parents and
children in a rich and varied program, and to give the
parents new ideas and new insights into their parent-child
relationships. Fathers as well as mothers worked as
assistants at the school.

Miss Page said in a news interview, "Special inter-
ests and abilities of the parents will be drawn upon to
enrich the program of the school. There will be a fine
opportunity for parents to make observations from rooms
built especially for this purpose so that the children
cannot see them. . . . Mothers who have secretarial experi-
ence may help with the school office work. Those with nurs-
ing experience may help Mrs. Lillie Ford, Public Health
Nurse who will cooperate with the nursery in its health

program."12

 

lOPre-Fab—Gab, Vol. 1, No. 4 (Summer of 1948). This
was almimeOgraphed newsletter--in the files of Spartan Nursery
SChOO 0

11"Annual Report," State Board of Agriculture, Vol.
87 (June 30, 1948), p. 54.

12State Journal, Sunday, April 18, 1948, Second
Section, p. 1.

 

46

The Spartan Village area was near many of the
college barns and trips were often made to see the animals
there. The first trip to be taken by the new school was
one to the M.S.C. Piggery. Trips around the area were
truly OOOperative. Wheel toy equipment was scarce so neigh-
borhood trips were planned with the parents well ahead of
time. On trip days children who could do so brought tri-
cycles, wagons and other rideable toys from home so that
each child might have a "vehicle."13

The Kellogg Foundation grant of $8000, mentioned
above, had been given with the stipulation that local
groups must be involved in the financing of this project.
Miss Anson, through her extension work and great interest
in the new school, succeeded in finding sponsoring groups.
The Nursery School Committee also approached individuals
and groups for financial aid, used equipment and even phys-
ical labor.

Since the school was first called the "Veteran's
Nursery School" the American Legion became interested in it
and over the first five years many Posts and Auxiliaries
of the Legion contributed funds, toys (four wagons and a
swing set were specifically mentioned), twenty-eight pairs

of monk's cloth curtains and two pairs of printed draperies,

 

13

Interview with Miss Page, April 1, 1967.

47
and other items. Post NO. 402 gave $250 for paving a
wheel-toy play area. The William Riker Johnson Post 205
provided the money for a new Cable—Nelson spinet piano.
Other groups such as the Gold Star Mothers gave funds to be
used for scholarships or materials. Individuals contributed
money and materials. In May, 1947 Spartan Wives and the
American Legion sold poppies on the M.S.C. campus and
part of the proceeds ($500) was donated to the Spartan
Nursery School fund. In July, 1950 the M.S.C. Campus Chest
gave $400 to the school fund.

Spartan Wives and the mothers of the nursery school
children carried out many money-making projects: magazine
sales, bake sales, puppet shows, the making and selling of
clothes trees, and managedsa re-sale center for used cloth-
ing and furniture. This was known as "The Treasure Chest."lh

In her report to the President in 1951 Dean Dye
says, "The Spartan Nursery School has had a busy year because
of the increased responsibility of the parents for raising
funds for its support. The interest and contributions Of
the parents were unusually fine. . . . The school has served
as an Observation center for a larger group of college

students."15 In 1955 Spartan Nursery School became a center

 

lZ’This information was collected from many sources:
the minutes of the State Board of Agriculture from 1946
through 1953, Michigan State News, Committee reports and
school papers.

l5Dye, "Report to the President," in Annual Report-—
State Board of Agriculture, Vol. 90 (June 30,1951), p. 221.

48

for student teaching as well as for observation.

Miss Page told a story illustrative of the OOOper-
ative aspects of the school. The William Hiker Johnson
Post of the American Legion offered funds to purchase a
piano. Jiss Page took several of the mothers and some
of the children to a music store and together they chose
a Cable—Nelson Spinet piano. It cost $A95.16

The American Legion Posts gave the children and
parents an exciting ride on the big black 40 and 8 engine
on Sunday, October 3, 1948.17

This venture in c00perative living and c00perative
education received national publicity. The previously
mentioned article in the Ladies Home Journal, probably the
most colorful of all the articles published, was only one
of many. The Detroit Free Press featured the Spartan
Nursery School in its Graphic Section on Sunday, December
12, 19A8 in an article "College is a Family Affair."18

There was also an article in the Journal of Home Economigs

 

16Interview with Miss Page, April 1, 1967.

l7M.S.C. Staff Bulletin, October 1, 1948. Unpaged.

Detroit Free_Pre§§, Sunday, December 12, l9h8,
Graphic Section pp.“18-23.

#9

which mentioned this project.19

Columbia University accepted a study of this pro-
ject as a doctoral dissertation. This study was written by
Esther Anson, the former Advisor of Spartan Wives. In her
more than five hundred page report she described the pro-
ject in detail. The first year summary report written by
nursery staff and parents with the assistance of the director
of housing and Miss Anson contained the following statement
which tends to verify the $30,000 cost figure cited above:
"Michigan State College built, at a cost of $26,000 the
Nursery School starting with two Quonsets--a gift from the
Federal Government. Actual construction started in January,
1948. The building was provided with radiant heat in the
playrooms."20

In the early years, important visitors came to
spend some time at the Nursery School. Among them were Niilo
Kotilainen,ckuunqrdirector of child welfare in Finland and
a representative of the Finnish United Nations delegation

who spent a day in June, 19h8 at Spartan Nursery School and

 

19Virginia Messenger, "Veterans' Families Go to
School," Journal of Home Economics, Vol. 42, No. 6 (1950),
pp. hBl’LBho

2OEsther Anson, "'Spartan Wives' The DevelOpment

of an Educational Program for the Wives and Children of
Students at Michigan State College" (unpublished Ed.D. dis-
sertation, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1955),

p0 #740

so

made colored films and slides to be used in Finnish and
United Nations child welfare work.21
Mrs. Mingsin Hsueh, United Nations representative,
visited the school as part of her nation-wide tour of
American child welfare institutions.22
A visitor who was quite different was Carrol, one
of the leading milk producing cows of M.S.C. She, too,
went to nursery school.23
In August, 19h9 Miss Betty Garlick was appointed
Instructor in Home Management and Child Development and
teacher in the Spartan Nursery School. She replaced Virginia
Atkinson who resigned on August 16, l9h9.24 Betty Poulton
resigned as of July 19, 1950 to be married. Betty Lee

Norris replaced her in September.25 Betty Poulton later

became the wife of Clark Moustakas.

21State Journal, Nednesday, September 29, l9u8, a
clipping with page number missing, in the Spartan Nursery
School files.

22;§id., Tuesday, October 5, 19h8, clipping with page
number missing, in the Spartan Nursery School files.

23Michigan State Newg, Wednesday, July 14, 1948:
p. l.

24An_r_rual_¢Beport---State Board of Agriculture, Vol. 89
(June 30, 19507, p. 5b.

25;§;§., Vol. 90 (June 30, 1950), p. 59.

51

As mentioned previously in this paper the State
Board of Agriculture in 195h placed all nursery schools
under the School of Home Economics, the staff was put on
a ten months basis and, as an economy measure, the staff
was reduced from three to two teachers.26

Dean Dye reported to the President on June 30, 1955,
"It is with regret that the resignation of Miss Elizabeth
Page, teacher in charge of Spartan Nursery School, was ac—
cepted. She started the school and was responsible for much
of its success. Miss Betty Garlick, a member of the Spartan
Nursery School staff will replace her."27 Miss Page's resig-
nation became effective August 31, 1955. It was fortunate
that Miss Garlick, who had been a teacher at the school since
1949, was appointed teacher in charge. Continuity in the
policies and program of the school was thereby made possible.
Miss Mariella Aikman alsc joined the staff as teacher in
1955.

In 1964 Miss Garlick was made Director of both the
Laboratory Pre-school and Spartan Nursery School with Miss
Aikman as Associate Director at Spartan and Mrs. Borosage
at the Laboratory Pre-school. Dr. Borgman continued to

work closely with both schools.

 

26

27
Dye, "Report to the President," in Annual Report--

State Board of Agriculture, Vol. 9h (June 30, 19557: p. 200}

.333" V01. 93 (June 30, 1951;), p. 92.

52

Under the new Director each school continued to
Operate as a separate unit but with close cooperation be-
tween the units. Staff was shared and programs were con-
sidered from a broader point of view.

The two schools have had many things in common
over the years. The aim of each has been to provide an en-
vironment which offered rich and meaningful experiences to
the individual child by means of which he might develOp his
own unique personality. A second shared aim has been to
provide learning experiences for college students engaged
in practice teaching and observation. A third aim has been
to offer help to parents and to groups at the state and
national levels.

There have been, perhaps, some differences in em-
phases in the program. Laboratory Pre-school was begun not
primarily as a nursery school but, as its name suggests, as
a laboratory in which college students might observe the
behavior and develOpment of children and have practical
training in working with them. Spartan was set up to meet
the needs of a group of young student parents. Its emphasis
was on parent education through actual participation in all
aspects of the school program. Today, it also serves as a
laboratory for college students.

Both schools and the staff have made significant
contributions in the area of childhood education. Dr. I

Thorpe, in her reports to the Dean of the College of Home

Economics, listed many activities of the staff. These in-
cluded leadership in organizations and on committees-local,
state and national, consultantships at other nursery schools
and to the national government, article writing, parent
and student counseling and many other services.28

The Lansing Day Care Center had started in l9t2 as a
locally operated center under the Board of Social Agencies.
In 1943, when Lanham Act funds were made available the Day
Care Center was put under the Lansing Board of Education and
Lanham Act funds were used for its Operation. Staff members
in Child Development and in the college nursery schools con—
tinued to act as consultants, program resource peOple, and
leaders of teacher training sessions.29

In 1965 when the need to train teachers for Head
Start and Community Programs appeared, the staff, as on pre-
vious occasions, managed to assume responsibility for the

additional work.

 

28
Dr. Alice Thorpe, "Report to the Dean Of the Col-

lege of Home Economics," 1958-1965.

29Miss Eunice Ninans of the Michigan Department of
Social Services offered this information,April 30, 1967.

4O

CHAPTSR V
MOVING INTO THE FUTURE

Taking part in pioneer movements is not new to
J.S.U. It began as a pioneer of the Land-Grant colleges;
its Home Economics students took part in a pioneer educa-
tional experiment with Merrill-Palmer in 1922; it had a
unique cooperative nursery school in Operation shortly
after the end of World War II; and in 1964 the Department
of Home Management and Child DevelOpment began a program
of pre-school education which is part of a new pioneer move—
ment in education in the United States.

The historian may not predict. Since this new
chapter in the history of the pre-school program at M.S.U.
is still being written one can only mention what has happened
to date.

This new movement begins, perhaps, in the fall of
1964 when members of the Child Development staff were asked
to serve on panels and planning sessions for a United States
government sponsored program in pre-school education. From
their work on these panels the staff members became much

concerned about the .rograms being planned for children

54

‘-.

K5 55

from underprivileged homes.1

In November, 1965 in an address before the National
Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges
at Minneapolis, President John A. Hannah had publicly stated
that such universities must assume a part in the struggle
to improve the conditions of American life. He stressed
the need to train teachers for working in slum schools and
not just for the suburbs as we have done in the past.

Some of us [Child DevelOpment staff] felt we should
accept the challenge and at the end of fall term be-
gan to make plans to set up such a group of children
so that we might better understand them. During the
winter term 1965, staff members visited programs,
read literature and, with the cooperation of the Dean
of the College of Home Economics, Jeanette Lee, and
our Department Chairman Dr. Alice Thorpe, as well as
public school and community persons, planned for a
group of 15 children to'enter our Child Development
laboratories in spring term, 1965. As the first
message of plans for Project Head Start was made known
to the public, our group of Community Children were
ready to begin their first school experience.

Our interest in accepting this challenge was not
alone unselfish. We felt that our students without
a doubt would be working with children from these
homes and, having had this experience, might be
better prepared for their future work.2

Since 1965 M.S.U. has been carrying on a training
program for teachers and aides for Head Start. Two-week

orientation programs were offered in the summers. In the

 

Interview with Miss Betty Garlick, Director of
pre-schools at M.S.U., April 12, 1967.

2Ibid., April 12, 1967.

 

56

fall of 1966 M.S.U. was chosen as the Regional Training
Center for Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. Eight-
week training sessions were planned. The trainees come in
groups of twenty-two to twenty-five. They attend lectures
and discussions, visit homes, go on field trips, observe
the children in the nursery schools and participate in the
school program.3 The challenge has been accepted. New

needs are being met.

 

3Both Miss Garlick and Dr. Borgman mentioned this
program.

.8?

‘;Q.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

Gilchrist, Maude. The First Three Decades of Home Economics
at Michigan State College, 1896—1926. East Lansing,
Michigan: School of Home Economics at Michigan
State College, 19h7.

Johnson, Harriet M. Children in the Nursery School. New
York: The John Day 00., 1929.

Kuhn, Madison. Michigan State-~The First Hundred Years.
East Lansing, Michigan: State University Press,

1955-

Mitchell, Lucy Sprague. Here and Now Story Book. New York:
E. P. Dutton and Co., 1921.

 

Staff, Home Economics Dept. Fiftieth Annivgrsary--School
of Home Economics, 1896-19fié. East Lansing, Michigan:
Michigan State College, n.d.

 

White, Edna Noble, et a1. lh§_Merrill-Palmer School: An
Account of Its First Twenty_Years. Detroit: Merrill-
PaImer School, 1940.

Articles and Periodicals

Detroit Freg_Press. 1925-1955 (microfilm).

 

Frank, Lawrence K. "The Beginnings of Child DevelOpment
and Family Life Education in the Twentieth Century,"
Merrilltgalmergguarterly, Vol. 8, No. 4 (October,
1962), a preprint, pp. 7, 8, 10.

Heliostat. 1896.
HOlcado 19:23“ng1}.
Messenger, Virginia. "Veterans' Wives Go to School," Journal

of Homeggponomics, Vol. 42, NO. 6 (1950), pp. 431—
434-

57

58

Michigan State News. 1928—1950 (Microfilm).
M.S.C. Record. 1946—1948. (Microfilm).

I‘CoSoUo Rgportero D’Iay, 19590

 

State Journal. 1928-1948. (Microfilm).

Wilcox, Richard. "Spartan Wives," Ladies Home Journgl, Vol.
64,(0ctober, l9h7), pp. 43-L9.

 

Reports

Michigan State University. Annual Reports of the Secretary

of the State Board of Agriculture. Vols. 61 through
96,‘l9225I9S9.

Michigan State University. Minutes of the Board of Trusteeg.
1959-1965. (Continuation of the Annual Report of
the Secretary above.)

Unpublished Material

Anson, Esther. "Report on Spartan Nursery School for
Students' Children, M.S.C." 1946-1948. (Type-
written.)

. "'Spartan Wives' The DevelOpment of an Educational
Program for the Wives and Children of Students at
Michigan State College" (unpublished Ed.D. disserta—
tion, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1955).

.—-~-....-—

Fisher, Marian. "Beginning History of Spartan Nursery
School." l9h7-l9hg. (Typewritten.)

M.S.C. Staff Bulletin. October 1, 1948. (Mimeographed.)

Pre-Fab-Gab. News sheet for Spartan Village. Vol. 1, No.
4, 1948. (iimeographed.)

Thompson, Richard. "Legion Sponsored Nursery School is
'Something for the Kids' and Parents." n.d. (Type-
written.)

59

Other Sources
Lewis, Mary. Letter dated April 12, 1967.

Stewart, Fanny L. Letter dated April 15, 1967.

Personal Interviews
Borgman, Dr. Bernice. April 3, 1967.
Borosage, Mrs. Vera. April 11, l96”.
Brauner, Mrs. Katherine. April 13, 1967.

Buell, Mrs. Catherine Miller. October 2t, 1966. April
3, 1967. April 13, 196".

Dye, Dr. Marie. November 9, 1966.
Evans, Mrs. Joseph. April 11, 1967.
Fitzpatrick, Mrs. Doris. April 9, 1967.
Garlick, Miss Betty. April 12, 1967.
Gilchrist, Miss Mary A. April 12, 1967.
Green, Mrs. Jack. April 13, 1967.
Higbee, Mrs. Homer. April 9, 1967.
Newman, Miss Ruth. April 5, 1967.

Page, Dr. Elizabeth. April 1, 1967.
Thorpe, Mrs. Margaret. April 6, 1967.
Tuttle, Mrs. Betty. April 13, 1967.
Wells, Mrs. Dorothy Hopson. April 14, 1967.

APPENDICES

60

APPENDIX A

Sites, and Dates, of the Laboratory Pre-School

Home Economics Building June, 1927 to Summer, 1938

Secretary Brown's House Summer, 1938 to Fall, 1947

Thomas Gunson Rouse Fall, 19A? to December, 1953

Home Kanagement House, Unit IV December, 1953 to present

home Management House, Unit III Fall, 1963 to present
(added)

61

.fEENDIX B

Letter from Professor Mary Lewis, April 12, 1967

62

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MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF HOME ECONOMICS
EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN

M .A - 1967--Problem

Fee, Violet Charlotte

A history of the Pre-School Program
I in tIIe College of Home Economics at.
‘ luchlgan State Univeraitv

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