William Nicholas Hailmann
William Nicholas Hailmann (born October 20, 1836 in Glarus ; † May 13, 1920 in Pasadena ) was an American educator from Switzerland who introduced kindergartens as part of the school system in the USA .
Life
Hailmann's father, Alexander Wilhelm Hailmann, came from Thann in Alsace and designed patterns for the Glarus textile industry. His mother was Barbara Hailmann, née Weber. Soon after Williams was born, the family moved into a large house in the canton of Thurgau , where the boy received a holistic education based on the ideas of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi . Thanks to understanding teachers, William was able to enter the polytechnic high school in Zurich at the age of thirteen , where he learned natural sciences, ancient languages as well as Italian, French and English. After two years, he completed his training at the age of fifteen.
Although William actually wanted to be a doctor, he traveled to New York in the spring of 1852 with his cousin, who was visiting from Texas. In Louisville he visited the Swiss consul, a friend of the family, and worked in a grocery store and in the consul's embroidery. At the age of seventeen, through a music teacher he knew, he began teaching modern languages at a girls' college. He also began studying medicine at Louisville Medical College . Thanks to his language skills and his talent as a teacher, he was employed as a teacher of modern languages and science at the high school from 1856 to 1865 , where he was able to test his progressive teaching methods. During his teaching activity, Hailmann recognized the inadequacy of the official teaching methods and decided to get involved in their development; he was particularly interested in the elementary level.
In 1857, at the age of 21, Hailmann married Eudora Lucas, who was one year older than him and who campaigned for education for girls, women and parents. The couple had a daughter and three sons. In 1860 both of them traveled to Switzerland, where Hailmann attended numerous schools, especially kindergartens and primary schools . In Zurich he heard about the work of the German pedagogue Friedrich Froebel , the "father of the kindergarten". Hailmann familiarized himself with his ideas and traveled back to the USA with them.
After serving as a major in the Union troops in the Civil War , Hailmann built the German-American academy in Louisville according to Froebel's principles, of which he became headmaster and director. He propagated the kindergarten as a separate part of the school system. In 1865 he set up the first kindergarten room at the academy according to Froebel's principles. Together with his wife, Hailmann built schools and kindergartens in Milwaukee and in Detroit in 1879 . From 1883 to 1994 Hailmann worked in La Porte (Indiana ), where he reoriented the education system as head of the public schools. Indiana became the first state in the United States to officially incorporate kindergartens into the school system. In 1885 Hailmann obtained the Ph.D. from Ohio University .
Together with his wife, Hailmann published the magazine “The Kindergarten Messenger and the New Education”. They founded the Froebel Institute, which became the kindergarten department of the National Education Association. In addition to teaching methods, the Hailmanns also developed numerous teaching materials such as dollhouses, building blocks, children's songs and opportunities for group work.
In 1894, the Democratic President Grover Cleveland appointed Hailmann National Superintendent for Indian schools, for which Hailmann developed his own teaching aids and trained Indian teachers. After three years the project was canceled by the new Republican President William McKinley . Hailmann - now a sought-after man - held several high school posts in Dayton, Chicago and Cleveland, where he implemented Froebel's ideas.
Hailmann's wife Eudora died in 1905. In 1907 he married Helena Kuhn from Detroit. In 1914, Hailmann retired to Pasadena, California, where he died on May 13, 1920.
Works
Hailmann wrote several writings on education, teaching books, was co-editor of various magazines and in 1890 translated Froebel's main work "Human Education" into English.
- Outlines of a System of Object-teaching (1866)
- History of Pedagogy (1870)
- Kindergarten Culture (1872)
- The Law of Childhood (1878)
- Primary Methods (1887)
- Application of Psychology to Teaching (1887)
- The English Language (1902)
literature
- Dorothy Hewes: WN Hailmann: Defender of Froebel ; Kindergarten Messenger 2001
- Helmut Stalder: Kindergartens for the world . In: Der Schweizerischer Beobachter 19/2011, pp. 54–55
Web links
- Andrea Weibel: Hailmann, William Nicholas. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- findagrave.com (Eng.)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hailmann, William Nicholas |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American educator of Swiss descent |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 20, 1836 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Glarus |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 13, 1920 |
| Place of death | Pasadena |