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Susan B. Crossman Kindergarten Collection

National Museum of American History

Object Details

Collector
Crossman, Susan
Names
Froebel, Friedrich Wilhelm August, 1782-1852
Topic
Education
Teachers
Kindergarten
Provenance
Collection donated by Crossman's grandson, John L. Menke, in 2010.
Collector
Crossman, Susan
See more items in
Susan B. Crossman Kindergarten Collection
Summary
Papers document the training and career of Susan B. Crossman as a kindergarten teacher in the early twentieth century.
Biographical / Historical
Susan B. Crossman Gray (d. early 1960s) was a kindergarten teacher at the Washington City Normal Kindergarten Institute in Washington, D.C., where she trained from 1902-1903. Crossman married Leslie Gray in 1906 and they had one daughter, Dorothy. Crossman studied the "Froebel Method" of early childhood education developed by Friederich Froebel (1792-1852)a German teacher. Froebel created the "Froebel Gifts," a series of activity-based playthings ranging from simple sphere-shaped objects to geometric wooden blocks for instructing children. More advanced Gifts relate to sewing, cutting, weaving and the modelling of objects in clay.
Extent
1 Cubic foot (2 boxes)
Date
1902-1932
Archival Repository
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier
NMAH.AC.1208
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Workbooks
Manuals
Citation
Susan B. Crossman Kindergarten Collection, 1902-1932, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Arrangement
The collection is arranged topically.
Processing Information
Processed by Alison Oswald, archivist, September, 2011.
Rights
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Genre/Form
Workbooks
Manuals -- 1900-1950
Scope and Contents
Papers documenting the training and career of Susan Crossman as a kindergarten teacher in the early twentieth century. The collection includes workbooks that were part of the Friedrich Froebel method of kindergarten teaching, which are filled with cut and folded paper and needlecraft projects that were part of a kindergarten teacher's training program; a 1932 photograph of Crossman; her 1902 graduation program from the Washington City Normal Kindergarten Institute of Washington, D.C.; class notes from 1903-1904; and a manual of Froebel's teaching methodology, undated.
Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1503513439309-1503513439312-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8cd9b4fab-7112-4676-982c-a1bead1654aa

In the Collection

  • Photograph of Susan B. Crossman

  • Washington City Normal Kindergarten Institute commencement exercises

  • Kindergarten work (bound volume)

  • Friedrich Froebel Manual of "Gifts"

  • Kindergarten workbook (bound volume)

  • College program book (class notes)

Photograph of Susan B. Crossman
View Slideshow
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
View manifest View in Mirador Viewer
View Finding aid

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