Bessie Locke (August 7, 1865 – April 9, 1952) was an American educator and businessperson.Locke, Bessie
- ''

American National Biography The ''American National Biography'' (ANB) is a 24-volume biographical encyclopedia set that contains about 17,400 entries and 20 million words, first published in 1999 by Oxford University Press under the auspices of the American Council of Le ...

'' In 1909, she founded the

National Kindergarten Association The National Kindergarten Association (NKA) was a philanthropic organization, based in the United States, which promoted universal acceptance of the public-school kindergarten. It existed between 1909 and 1976, and its headquarters was in New ...

, which promoted universal acceptance of the public-school

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

Life and career

Locke was born on August 7, 1865, in West Cambridge, Massachusetts (today's Arlington), to William Henry Locke and Jane MacFarland Schouler. Her father was a printer. She went to a private

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, one that was amongst only a few in the United States at the time that was English-speaking. She was educated in the public schools of Brooklyn, working as a teenager as a bookkeeper, before attending

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

; she did not obtain a degree, however. After a two-year stint as an assistant to the pastor of All Souls Church in Brooklyn, Locke managed a hat-making store in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

which was owned by her uncle. In 1892, she visited a kindergarten in New York City which was operated by an acquaintance of hers. Impressed by the results of the children's education, she founded the East End Kindergarten Union of Brooklyn and, later, the Brooklyn Free Kindergarten Society. In 1899, she organized the New York Kindergarten Society. Locke founded the National Association for the Promotion of Kindergarten Education in 1909. It became the National Kindergarten Association two years later. The company was initially based in

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 ...

's brand-new Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower, located at 1

Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stre ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, but later moved one mile north to 8 West 40th Street, on the southern side of

Bryant Park Bryant Park is a public park located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Privately managed, it is located between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas ( Sixth Avenue) and between 40th and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan. The e ...

. Locke's sister, May Aldrich, was the company's secretary and a director from the time of its establishment until her death, aged 80, in 1958. One of several additional positions Locke held was as director of the

National Council of Women of the United States The National Council of Women of the United States (NCW/US) is the oldest nonsectarian organization of women in America. Officially founded in 1888, the NCW/US is an accredited non-governmental organization (NGO) with the Department of Public In ...

. She was also an honorary vice-president of the

International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's rights organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington, D.C., with ...

."Miss Bessie Locke of Kindergartens"
- ''New York Times'', April 11, 1952

Death

Locke died on April 9, 1952, aged 86.
- ''New York Times'', April 11, 1952 She was buried in Hope Cemetery,

Kennebunk, Maine Kennebunk is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 11,536 at the 2020 census (The population does not include Kennebunkport, a separate town). Kennebunk is home to several beaches, the Rachel Carson National Wildlife R ...

, alongside her parents, who had retired to the town in the late 19th century, and several siblings. Her mother died in 1900, when Locke was around 35 years old; her father died in 1917, aged 79 or 80. Her business remained in operation for the next 24 years, dissolving in 1976.

References

External links

Bessie Locke at a grave-finding website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Locke, Bessie 1865 births 1952 deaths People from Arlington, Massachusetts 19th-century American businesswomen 19th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen 20th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American women educators 19th-century American educators 20th-century American women educators 20th-century American educators