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{{Merge from|Draft:Lida Brown McMurry|discuss=Talk:Lida Brown McMurry#Proposed merge of Draft:Lida Brown McMurry into Lida Brown McMurry|date=December 2022}}
[[File:Lida Brown McMurry NIU Screenshot 1901.png|thumb|Yearbook photo of Lida Brown McMurry at Northern Illinois State Normal (1901) <ref>{{Cite web |title=Norther (1901) {{!}} Northern Illinois University Digital Library |url=https://digital.lib.niu.edu/islandora/object/rhcua:218#page/1/mode/thumb |access-date=2022-12-02 |website=digital.lib.niu.edu |language=en}}</ref>]]
[[File:Lida Brown McMurry NIU Screenshot 1901.png|thumb|Yearbook photo of Lida Brown McMurry at Northern Illinois State Normal (1901) <ref>{{Cite web |title=Norther (1901) {{!}} Northern Illinois University Digital Library |url=https://digital.lib.niu.edu/islandora/object/rhcua:218#page/1/mode/thumb |access-date=2022-12-02 |website=digital.lib.niu.edu |language=en}}</ref>]]


Revision as of 01:08, 4 December 2022

Yearbook photo of Lida Brown McMurry at Northern Illinois State Normal (1901) [1]

Lida Brown McMurry (1853 - 1942) was an American educator, author, founder of Y.W.C.A., and prominent figure within American Herbartianism throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

In 1853, McMurry was born in the state of New York, but by her early childhood, her family had moved to Illinois. [2]

She is the sister of the former United States Commissioner of Education (1906–1911), Elmer Ellsworth Brown. [3][4]

She is the sister-in-law of American Herbartianist educators, Charles A. McMurry and Frank M. McMurry. [4][5]

Career in education

McMurry began her educational career at the age of sixteen, working in rural Illinois schools before enrolling in Illinois State Normal University (ISNU) in the early 1870s.[2] She graduated from ISNU in 1874, and continued to teach in rural Illinois schools, until returning to the university in 1891, where she held the position of elementary "critic teacher" in the university's practice school.[4]  During her time at Illinois State, McMurry participated in the National Herbart Society, Herbart Club, and various educational discussion groups, all of which were held on the university's campus.[3][4]

Her contributions to the Herbartian movement at ISNU came in the form of her literary and teaching skills, which earned her the title, "The Great Primary Teacher of the Herbartians".[3] McMurry authored several books for instructors on how to incorporate aspects of German Herbartianism into early childhood education.[4] She authored sixteen volumes of Stories for the First Grade[6], aiming to prepare instructors on how to apply and present these educational stories with purpose.[4] In addition, her journal submission, "Plan of Concentration for the First Two School Years" in the First Yearbook of the National Herbart Society, is revered as one of the greatest contributions to the American Herbartian movement, as it earned her national notoriety and gave definitive goals for educators to aim for.[7]

Charles McKenny, second president of Central Michigan University, admired Brown's work as an educator and author, stating that by the early twentieth century she had become, "The recognized leader in primary education in the Middle West." [3][8]

In 1900, McMurry left Illinois State Normal University to join Charles A. McMurry and John W. Cook at Northern Illinois State Normal at Dekalb, where she would continue educating throughout the early twentieth century.[3][4]

McMurry Hall, located on the campus of Northern Illinois University, is named after Mrs. McMurry and her brother-in-law, Charles A. McMurry. It was opened in 1911, where Charles served as the director of the school hall for teacher education and Mrs. McMurry as the subsequent educator of student teachers and elementary school students. [9]

Young Women's Christian Association

In 1872, while enrolled at Illinois State Normal University, McMurry invited several classmates to her room to participate in a prayer meeting, though only six had attended. The group consisted of Lida Brown McMurry, Ida E. Brown, Emma Stewart, Jennie Leonard, Ms. Hopkins, and Mrs. Hattie Lawson. [2]

This group of women, led by McMurry, had begun to meet regularly every week following the first meeting, thus marking the birth of the first chapter of the Students' Young Women's Christian Association, which later became the Young Women's Christian Association in 1881. [9][2]

By 1911, thirty-five Y.W.C.A. chapters were active in Illinois, while six hundred sixty-seven active chapters across the United States and Europe, comprising of 54,369 members. [2]

As of 2022, there are over 200 active Y.W.C.A. chapters in the United States, serving over 2.3 million women and children across thirty-three states. [10]

Today, the Y.W.C.A. focuses on serving women and children through a variety of wellness programs that aid the victims of sexual assault, trafficking, domestic violence, substance abuse, and mental health struggles. [10]

Published works

Throughout her career in education, McMurry was an established prolific author of educational children's books, authoring thirty titles in over one hundred publications by the early 1930s.

  1. Fifty Famous Fables (1910; first edition)
  2. Nature Study Lessons for Primary Grades (1905; first edition)
  3. A Method for Teaching Primary Reading (1914; first edition)
  4. Special Method in Natural Science for the First Four Grades of the Common School(1899; first edition), with C.A. McMurry
  5. Robinson Crusoe for Boys and Girls (1915; first edition), with D. Dafoe, M.H. Husted
  6. Classic Stories for Little Ones (1895; first edition)
  7. Our Language, Book I (1905; first edition), with F. T. Norvell
  8. Songs of the Tree-Top and Meadow
  9. Songs of a Mother and Child (1905; first edition), with A. Gale
  10. The Smith-McMurry Language Series (1919; volume four), with C. A. Smith
  11. Plan of Concentration for First Two School Years
  12. Hints for Primary Teachers (1911; first edition)

References

  1. ^ "Norther (1901) | Northern Illinois University Digital Library". digital.lib.niu.edu. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
  2. ^ a b c d e McCormick, Henry (1913). The women of Illinois. The Library of Congress. Bloomington, Ill., Pantagraph printing and stationery company.
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Charles (1935-01-01). "Development of the Teachers College in the United States with Special Reference to the Illinois State Normal University". Illinois State University History Books.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Dunkel, Harold B. (1969). "Herbartianism Comes to America: Part I". History of Education Quarterly. 9 (2): 202–233. doi:10.2307/367318. ISSN 0018-2680.
  5. ^ Willoughby, Olivia. "History's foundation: McMurry Hall". Northern Star. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
  6. ^ Ibid., XII (January 1893), 236-39, to XIV (October 1895), 79-80
  7. ^ McMurry; Holmes; Brown; Parker; Henry, Charles A.; Manfred J.; J. Stanley; Samuel C.; Nelson B (1895). First Yearbook of the National Herbart Society (1 ed.). Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press; Blackwell Publishers Teachers College.
  8. ^ McKenny, Charles, in The American Schoolmaster, Vol. 21, June 15, 1928, pp. 212-217
  9. ^ a b University, Northern Illinois (March 2019). "Huskie History" (PDF). Northern Staff News. Retrieved December 2, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ a b "YWCA Data Map". YWCA USA. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
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