Agnes de Lima (1887–1974) was an American journalist and writer on education, and a
Progressive Era
The Progressive Era (late 1890s – late 1910s) was a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States focused on defeating corruption, monopoly, waste and inefficiency. The main themes ended during Am ...
reformer.
Life
Agnes de Lima was born in Hollywood, New Jersey in 1887, and she grew up in
Larchmont, New York
Larchmont is a village located within the Town of Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York, approximately northeast of Midtown Manhattan. The population of the village was 5,864 at the 2010 census. In February 2019, Bloomberg ranked Lar ...
and
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Her family had emigrated from
Curaçao
Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coa ...
and had become successful in banking, and they held conservative values.
In 1904, de Lima entered
Vassar College
Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...
, a liberal arts school, and majored in English. It was here that she became aware of the liberal reformist thinking of the
Progressive Era
The Progressive Era (late 1890s – late 1910s) was a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States focused on defeating corruption, monopoly, waste and inefficiency. The main themes ended during Am ...
. While in Vassar, she campaigned to raise the wages of maids and drifted away from her family’s conservative beliefs and became active in many reform movements such as education and
feminism
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
.
After graduating, she worked as a writer for the
Russell Sage Foundation
The Russell Sage Foundation is an American non-profit organisation established by Margaret Olivia Sage in 1907 for “the improvement of social and living conditions in the United States.” It was named after her recently deceased husband, rai ...
and the Bureau of Municipal Research. She also continued her education and received a master's degree in 1912 from the
New York School of Social Work
The Columbia University School of Social Work is the graduate school of social work of
Columbia University. It is the nation's oldest social work program, with roots extending back to 1898, when the New York Charity Organization Society's first s ...
(now part of Columbia University).
In 1918, de Lima became the lead writer on education for ''
The New Republic
''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...
'' and ''
Nation
A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by th ...
'' journal. She wrote many articles on Progressive education. In 1924 she collected these articles into a book titled ''Our Enemy the Child''. This book described the Progressive classroom and has since been cited by many scholars in educational history.
De Lima continued to collaborate with Progressive schools and their teachers and publish more books. In 1939 she produced ''A School for the World of Tomorrow'', ''Democracy’s High School'' in 1941, ''South of the Rio Grande: An Experiment in International Understanding'' in 1942, and ''The Little Red Schoolhouse'' in 1942 featuring an introduction by Progressive educator
John Dewey
John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the fi ...
.
De Lima took the position of director of public relations for the
New School for Social Research
The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSS ...
in New York City from 1940 to 1960 making her the de facto school historian. She retired in 1960 and lived in
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
, New York.
She died November 27, 1974 at Woodcliff Lake Manor,
Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey
Woodcliff Lake is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the borough's population was 5,730,Sigrid de Lima, and granddaughter.