Jenny B. Merrill (September 4, 1854 – February 19, 1934) was an American

early childhood educator Early childhood education (ECE), also known as nursery education, is a branch of education theory that relates to the teaching of children (formally and informally) from birth up to the age of eight. Traditionally, this is up to the equivale ...

and author. The first articles published in the U.S. regarding

Montessori education The Montessori method of education involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing real-world skills. It emphasizes indepen ...

were written by Merrill.

Biography

Jane Beggs Merrill was born 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 ...

, September 4, 1854. Her parents were Benjamin B. and Jane Anne McBride Merrill. In 1871, she graduated from Normal College (now

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

), and in 1892, she received a Doctorate in

Pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as ...

from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. Merrill served as the Supervisor of Public Kindergartens of New York City; President of the Kindergarten Department of the

National Education Association The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college stude ...

; and Honorary President of the Public School Kindergarten Association of New York City. Jenny B. Merrill died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

in New York City, February 19, 1934.

Selected works

* ''Songs for Little Folks : a Collection Adapted for the Home Circle and the Primary Classes in Sunday and Day Schools'' (1875; with Mrs. Wilbur F. Crafts) * ''Pictures and stories for our darlings'' (1879) * ''Little folks Bible gallery'' (1880) * ''Bible pictures and stories for little folks'' (1881) * ''Shield and Buckler'' (1886) * ''The children's Bible hour'' (1888) * ''Bible Talks about Bible Pictures'' (1889) * ''A psychological study ... : from a letter written in reply to a friend's questions regarding the development of a child's early idea of number'' (1891) * ''Outline course for vacation kindergartens.'' (1899)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merrill, Jenny B. 1854 births 1934 deaths 19th-century American non-fiction writers 19th-century American women writers Educators from New York City Writers from New York City American religious writers Kindergarten New York University alumni Hunter College alumni American education writers Deaths from pneumonia in New York City