OURPROUDHERITAGE
NAEYC can trace its beginnings to this 1926 Washington, DC, conference.
Patty Smith Hill, a pioneer in establishing what was to become NAEYC.
What follows is a sampling of NAEYC’ s rich history. More extensive details can be found in the Young Children archive, NAEYC at 75( 1926 – 2001): Reflections on the Past, Challenges for the Future( published in 2001), and other materials we cite.
The Beginnings: 1925 – 1935
Patty Smith Hill, who convened the first committee that would become the National Association for Nursery Education( NANE)( Bredekamp 2001), had a pioneering role in early childhood education in Louisville, Kentucky, between 1893 and 1905( Liebovich 2020). She initiated the integration of Black and White kindergarten classrooms within the same public school buildings and led the merger of the Louisville Colored Kindergarten Association with the Louisville Education Association( Lascarides & Hinitz 2011).
As a professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, Hill convened a series of meetings with colleagues in 1925 to discuss common concerns. She brought with her the foundational principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion that mark NAEYC to this day( Committee of Nineteen 1913; Lascarides & Hinitz 2011). In addition,“[ b ] y the mid-twenties, alarmed at the proliferation of all types of nursery schools despite the lack of standards or curriculum plans, and with the threat of some unqualified person taking leadership, Patty Hill decided to act”( Hewes 1976; 297).
Hill and colleagues widened the discussion at a conference that was convened in Washington, DC, on February 26, 1926( Osborn 1991). The discussions were about the role of nursery schools, including how they fit into the broader educational program, how they assisted families, and the services they offered to support children’ s health and welfare.“ At the conclusion of the conference, an Advisory Committee on Nursery Education was appointed and charged with the responsibility to study the situation”( Lascarides & Hinitz 2011, 599).
Rose Alschuler chaired the founding meeting. Dr. Lois Hayden Meek Stolz, also at the founding meeting, was named permanent chairperson of the National Committee on Nursery Schools, and Victoria Dike became the secretary( Hewes 1976). Given the diversity of the field and the complexity of promoting positive child development for each and every child, individuals with varied expertise, experience, and backgrounds were needed. The initial committee included college faculty, researchers, nursery program directors, and teachers. Bird Baldwin, Edna Dean Baker, Mary Dabney Davis, Abigail Adams Eliot, Lucy Gage, Arnold Gesell, Harriet Johnson, Alice Temple, Lee
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