IMPORTANT FIGURES

G. Stanley Hall (1844-1924)
Influenced by Charles Darwin, and responsible for the Child Study Movement, G. Stanley Hall proposes that the mind of a child is different from that of an adult. In 1887, Hall publishes the American Journal of Psychology, where he records much of his findings.

William Torrey Harris (1835-1909)
With the help of Susan Blow, William T. Harris opens the first permanent kindergarten in St. Louis in 1873. From 1868 to 1881, William T. Harris serves as the superintendent of St. Louis schools, and in 1889, he becomes the Commissioner of Education for the United States. A transcendentalist who feared that science would replace moral and religious values, Harris believes that teachers instill in children moral values and an appreciation for aesthetic beauty.

Hermann Krusi Jr. (1817-?)
Herman Krusi becomes a member of the faculty at Oswego Normal School in New York. With Pestalozzian methods in mind, Krusi advocates a new approach to drawing which he calls "Inventive Drawing." Believing that drawing leads to the development of higher order thinking skills, Krusi's method of instruction attempts to engage all of the child's senses.

Francis Wayland Parker (1837-1902)
An educational innovator, Francis Wayland Parker believes that children must be able to draw meaning from their learning. In Parker's view, art is essential to the curriculum, as children should be able to express themselves. Ahead of his time, Parker's teaching methods foreshadow the progressive movement.

Walter Smith
Walter Smith, a drawing master from England is hired as the first art supervisor for Boston in 1871. As art supervisor, Smith implements a plan for art instruction that includes the following types of drawing: freehand, model and object, dictation and memory, inventive, geometric, and perspective drawing. Smith is instrumental in the opening of the first normal art school, the Massachusetts Normal Art School.