Helen Howard Wilson collection of workbooks for Froebel's System of Gifts
Scope and Contents
The Helen Howard Wilson work book collection represents samples of work completed utilizing Freidrich Froebel’s “System of Gifts and Occupation” for early education. The four workbooks in this collection include "Sewing," the twelfth gift, with examples of colored thread stitched on paper; "Cutting," the thirteenth gift, with examples of cut paper work including abstract patterns, silhouettes, and paper vignettes; "Weaving," the fourteenth gift, with examples of paper weaving in abstract and concrete forms; and "Folding," the eighteenth gift, with samples of origami and paper folding.
Dates
- Creation: Approximately 1900
Language of Materials
Materials entirely in English.
Access Information
The collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library, https://library.udel.edu/static/purl.php?askspec
Historical Note
The German Freidrich Froebel (1782 - 1852), instructor and educational philosopher, invented the first systematized approach to teaching young children; he named it "Kindergarten." His system built activities upon children’s play and used play objects, or “gifts” such as blocks, sticks, paper, pencils, and clay, in lessons for children. Teachers were introduced to about twenty gifts in a “System of Gifts and Occupations,” many of which were craft-like “fancy work”: cutting, folding, or weaving paper. In the mid- and late-nineteenth century, as Froebel’s ideas exploded in popularity in Germany, then expanded across Europe, North America and Japan, many women trained to become kindergarten teachers.
Though biographical context about Helen Howard Wilson is unavailable for these work books, her personal name plates in each volume lead one to conjecture that she at least trained in the method, and may have taught with it.
Sources:
Norman Brosterman, Inventing Kindergarten (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1997).
Additional biographical and historical information derived from the collection.
Extent
.6 linear foot (4 volumes)
Abstract
The Helen Howard Wilson work book collection represents samples of work completed utilizing Freidrich Froebel’s “System of Gifts and Occupation” for early education.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchase, April 2005
Shelving Summary
Box 1: Shelved in SPEC MSS mss (upright mss)
Processing Information
Processed by Colleen E. Lemke, May 2005. Encoded by Jaime Margalotti, October 2019.
- Title
- Finding aid for Helen Howard Wilson collection of workbooks for Froebel's System of Gifts
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- University of Delaware Library, Special Collections
- Date
- 2019 October 10
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the University of Delaware Library Special Collections Repository