Women Teaching and Learning Mathematics in the United States

Women have long played an important role in American mathematics education, especially at the elementary level. A rich variety of objects - most collected for what they show about general practices in American math teaching – suggest how girls have learned and women have taught the subject. These materials include textbooks, apparatus for teaching basic number concepts to young children, more sophisticated instruments (including geometric models) for the high school, and a few objects used at the college level.

The objects shown here come from the collections of the National Museum of American History. Almost all of them were used by girls and women whose names we know. A few such objects are not yet on the public database. The NMAH collections also include important objects like blackboards and examples of the teaching abacus whose association with specific women, if any, has been lost with time.

Other Smithsonian units contain objects of interest. For example, up until 1850, when arithmetic was often taught in association with handwriting, students compiled “cypher books” or “cipher books” in which they carefully copied out worked arithmetic problems. The cipher book of Elizabeth Harding, created in 1823, is in the rare book collections of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries. Students – including girls – also prepared notes on their classes. The copy books of Hannah Amelia Lyons, compiled in Philadelphia in the 1830s, are in the collections of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

An educational sampler from 1815 by Mary Ann Palmer Thomas. This sampler features six alphabets in both upper and lower case as well as numbers. She also included two inscriptions. The first author is unknown but appears in grammar books of the time.
Description
An educational sampler from 1815 by Mary Ann Palmer Thomas. This sampler features six alphabets in both upper and lower case as well as numbers. She also included two inscriptions. The first author is unknown but appears in grammar books of the time. The second inscription was written by Isaac Watts(1674-1748), English Christian minister. Many samplers included his poems. Red, black, and cream stitching in silk on a cream linen background. The stitches used are cross, four-sided and Algerian eyelet.
Inscription 1:
You must not expect Study to be always agreeable./ like the Rose it has its beauties but is not without its/ thorn
Inscription 2:
Seize the moments while they stay,/ Seize and use them, best you lose them,/ And lament the wasted day.
Inscription 3:
Mary ann Palmer Thomas. November 9th 1815
Location
Currently not on view
date made
November 9th, 1815
1815-11-09
ID Number
2014.0244.110
accession number
2014.0244
catalog number
2014.0244.110
This1876 black and white steel engraving by Illman Brothers was first published in Peterson Magazine, a periodical for women which published tips on fashion, etiquette and child rearing from 1855-1892.
Description
This1876 black and white steel engraving by Illman Brothers was first published in Peterson Magazine, a periodical for women which published tips on fashion, etiquette and child rearing from 1855-1892. This print was one of a series of engravings which was reprinted and bound in 1888 in an additional publication by the magazine called Choice Gems.
This print depicts a seated school girl holding a slate with a math problem on her lap. She is seated in a room, possibly a kitchen, with a stack of cards next to her and a door behind her. An axe and a piece of wood with chopped wood are depicted in the background, along with a shelf holding a cooking pan and pitcher.
Illman Brothers were a Philadelphia firm of engravers and printers, consisting of Edward, George, Henry, and William Ilman active circa 1860 to 1907. Johann George Meyer von Bremen (German, 1813-1886) was the artist of the original image, an oil on canvas.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1876
maker
Illman Brothers
ID Number
2014.0244.007
accession number
2014.0244
catalog number
2014.0244.007
The concept of Kindergarten was developed in Germany by Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852), a student of Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. Froebel’s German kindergartens encouraged children to enjoy natural studies, music, stories, play with manipulative learning toys.
Description
The concept of Kindergarten was developed in Germany by Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852), a student of Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. Froebel’s German kindergartens encouraged children to enjoy natural studies, music, stories, play with manipulative learning toys. He recommended teachers use geometric shapes and crafts for teaching and advocated the use of ‘gifts’ or playthings in the form of geometric shapes to promote learning and occupations or activities. Froebel also incorporated learning through expression, systematized play and social imitation. The first kindergarten opened in Germany in 1837; the first in the US was opened by Margarethe Schurz to a German speaking community in Wisconsin in 1856. In 1860, Elizabeth Peabody opened the first English speaking kindergarten in Boston. Over time, kindergarten was introduced into public schools with the changed purpose of providing an early academic foundation for 5 and 6-year old children preparing for 1st grade.
This set of blocks is the third “gift” in the series manufactured by the Milton Bradley Company. The blocks are in a small, square varnished cherry wood box with a removable sliding top and a faded red label on one side. The box contains a full set of eight cube-shaped blocks.
Milton Bradley Company was established in 1860 by Milton Bradley (1836-1911). A mechanical draughtsman and patent agent interested in lithography, board games and puzzles, Milton Bradley became interested in the kindergarten movement after he attended a lecture by Elizabeth Peabody in 1869. Elizabeth and her sister Mary, who was by then the widow of educator Horace Mann, were devoted to promoting Froebel’s philosophy of creative play for pre-school children and helped spread of the Kindergarten Movement to America’s cities. These “gift boxes” are examples of school equipment made by Milton Bradley sometime between 1880 to 1900 for use in kindergartens. Milton Bradley produced educational materials free of charge for the kindergartens in his hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts and was committed to developing kindergarten educational materials such as these gifts, colored papers and paints.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880-1900
maker
Milton Bradley Company
ID Number
2014.0244.374
accession number
2014.0244
catalog number
2014.0244.374
Kindergarten as a concept was developed in Germany by Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852), a student of Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. Froebel’s German kindergartens encouraged children to enjoy natural studies, music, stories, play with manipulative learning toys.
Description
Kindergarten as a concept was developed in Germany by Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852), a student of Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. Froebel’s German kindergartens encouraged children to enjoy natural studies, music, stories, play with manipulative learning toys. He recommended teachers use geometric shapes and crafts for teaching and advocated the use of ‘gifts’ or playthings in the form of geometric shapes to promote learning and occupations or activities. Froebel also incorporated learning through expression, systematized play and social imitation. The first kindergarten opened in Germany in 1837; the first in the US was opened by Margarethe Schurz to a German speaking community in Wisconsin in 1856. In 1860, Elizabeth Peabody opened the first English speaking kindergarten in Boston. Over time, kindergarten was introduced into public schools with the changed purpose of providing an early academic foundation for 5 and 6-year old children preparing for 1st grade.
This set of blocks is the third “gift” in the series manufactured by the Milton Bradley Company. The blocks are in a small, square brown wooden box with a removable sliding top and a faded red label on one side. The box contains a full set of eight cube-shaped blocks.
Milton Bradley Company was established by Milton Bradley (1836-1911) in 1860. A mechanical draughtsman and patent agent interested in lithography, board games and puzzles, Milton Bradley became interested in the kindergarten movement after he attended a lecture by Elizabeth Peabody in 1869. Elizabeth and her sister Mary, who was by then the widow of educator Horace Mann, were devoted to promoting Froebel’s philosophy of creative play for pre-school children and helped spread of the Kindergarten Movement to America’s cities. These “gift boxes” are examples of school equipment made by Milton Bradley sometime between 1880 to 1900 for use in kindergartens. Milton Bradley produced educational materials free of charge for the kindergartens in his hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts and was committed to developing kindergarten educational materials such as these gifts, colored papers and paints.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880-1900
maker
Milton Bradley Company
ID Number
2014.0244.376
accession number
2014.0244
catalog number
2014.0244.376
The concept of Kindergarten was developed in Germany by Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852), a student of Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. Froebel’s German kindergartens encouraged children to enjoy natural studies, music, stories, play with manipulative learning toys.
Description
The concept of Kindergarten was developed in Germany by Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852), a student of Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. Froebel’s German kindergartens encouraged children to enjoy natural studies, music, stories, play with manipulative learning toys. He recommended teachers use geometric shapes and crafts for teaching and advocated the use of ‘gifts’ or playthings in the form of geometric shapes to promote learning and occupations or activities. Froebel also incorporated learning through expression, systematized play and social imitation. The first kindergarten opened in Germany in 1837; the first in the US was opened by Margarethe Schurz to a German speaking community in Wisconsin in 1856. In 1860, Elizabeth Peabody opened the first English speaking kindergarten in Boston. Over time, kindergarten was introduced into public schools with the changed purpose of providing an early academic foundation for 5 and 6-year old children preparing for 1st grade.
This set of blocks is the third “gift” in the series manufactured by the Milton Bradley Company. Originally blocks were contained in this small, square cherry wood box with a removable sliding top and a faded tan label on one side. This box however is missing all its wood blocks.
Milton Bradley Company was established in 1860 by Milton Bradley (1836-1911). A mechanical draughtsman and patent agent interested in lithography, board games and puzzles, Milton Bradley became interested in the kindergarten movement after he attended a lecture by Elizabeth Peabody in 1869. Elizabeth and her sister Mary, who was by then the widow of educator Horace Mann, were devoted to promoting Froebel’s philosophy of creative play for pre-school children and helped spread of the Kindergarten Movement to America’s cities. These “gift boxes” are examples of school equipment made by Milton Bradley sometime between 1880 to 1900 for use in kindergartens. Milton Bradley produced educational materials free of charge for the kindergartens in his hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts and was committed to developing kindergarten educational materials such as these gifts, colored papers and paints.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880-1900
maker
Milton Bradley Company
ID Number
2014.0244.378
accession number
2014.0244
catalog number
2014.0244.378
The concept of Kindergarten was developed in Germany by Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852), a student of Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. Froebel’s German kindergartens encouraged children to enjoy natural studies, music, stories, play with manipulative learning toys.
Description
The concept of Kindergarten was developed in Germany by Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852), a student of Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. Froebel’s German kindergartens encouraged children to enjoy natural studies, music, stories, play with manipulative learning toys. He recommended teachers use geometric shapes and crafts for teaching and advocated the use of ‘gifts’ or playthings in the form of geometric shapes to promote learning and occupations or activities. Froebel also incorporated learning through expression, systematized play and social imitation. The first kindergarten opened in Germany in 1837; the first in the US was opened by Margarethe Schurz to a German speaking community in Wisconsin in 1856. In 1860, Elizabeth Peabody opened the first English speaking kindergarten in Boston. Over time, kindergarten was introduced into public schools with the changed purpose of providing an early academic foundation for 5 and 6-year old children preparing for 1st grade.
This cherry wood box at one time contained the fourth “gift” in the series manufactured by the Milton Bradley Company. The container is a small, square varnished cherry wood box with a removable sliding top and a slightly faded dark blue label on one side. This box however is missing all its wood blocks. They may have been put away after play in the enlarged Gift 6 box which appears to have more than it should of this size blocks.
Milton Bradley Company was established in 1860 by Milton Bradley (1836-1911). A mechanical draughtsman and patent agent interested in lithography, board games and puzzles, Milton Bradley became interested in the kindergarten movement after he attended a lecture by Elizabeth Peabody in 1869. Elizabeth and her sister Mary, who was by then the widow of educator Horace Mann, were devoted to promoting Froebel’s philosophy of creative play for pre-school children and helped spread of the Kindergarten Movement to America’s cities. These “gift boxes” are examples of school equipment made by Milton Bradley sometime between 1880 to 1900 for use in kindergartens. Milton Bradley produced educational materials free of charge for the kindergartens in his hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts and was committed to developing kindergarten educational materials such as these gifts, colored papers and paints.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880-1900
maker
Milton Bradley Company
ID Number
2014.0244.373
accession number
2014.0244
catalog number
2014.0244.373
Kindergarten as a concept was developed in Germany by Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852), a student of Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. Froebel’s German kindergartens encouraged children to enjoy natural s udies, music, stories, play with manipulative learning toys.
Description
Kindergarten as a concept was developed in Germany by Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852), a student of Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. Froebel’s German kindergartens encouraged children to enjoy natural s udies, music, stories, play with manipulative learning toys. He recommended teachers use geometric shapes and crafts for teaching and advocated the use of ‘gifts’ or playthings in the form of geometric shapes to promote learning and occupations or activities. Froebel also incorporated learning through expression, systematized play and social imitation. The first kindergarten opened in Germany in 1837; the first in the US was opened by Margarethe Schurz to a German speaking community in Wisconsin in 1856. In 1860, Elizabeth Peabody opened the first English speaking kindergarten in Boston. Over time, kindergarten was introduced into public schools with the changed purpose of providing an early academic foundation for 5 and 6-year old children preparing for 1st grade.
This set of blocks is the fourth “gift” in the series manufactured by the Milton Bradley Company. The blocks are in a small, square brown wooden box with a removable sliding top and a slightly faded dark blue label on one side. The box contains three rectangular wooden blocks.
Milton Bradley Company was established in 1860 by Milton Bradley (1836-1911). A mechanical draughtsman and patent agent interested in lithography, board games and puzzles, Milton Bradley became interested in the kindergarten movement after he attended a lecture by Elizabeth Peabody in 1869. Elizabeth and her sister Mary, who was by then the widow of educator Horace Mann, were devoted to promoting Froebel’s philosophy of creative play for pre-school children and helped spread of the Kindergarten Movement to America’s cities. These “gift boxes” are examples of school equipment made by Milton Bradley sometime between 1880 to 1900 for use in kindergartens. Milton Bradley produced educational materials free of charge for the kindergartens in his hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts and was committed to developing kindergarten educational materials such as these gifts, colored papers and paints.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880-1900
maker
Milton Bradley Company
ID Number
2014.0244.375
accession number
2014.0244
catalog number
2014.0244.375
The concept of Kindergarten was developed in Germany by Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852), a student of Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. Froebel’s German kindergartens encouraged children to enjoy natural studies, music, stories, play with manipulative learning toys.
Description
The concept of Kindergarten was developed in Germany by Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852), a student of Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. Froebel’s German kindergartens encouraged children to enjoy natural studies, music, stories, play with manipulative learning toys. He recommended teachers use geometric shapes and crafts for teaching and advocated the use of ‘gifts’ or playthings in the form of geometric shapes to promote learning and occupations or activities. Froebel also incorporated learning through expression, systematized play and social imitation. The first kindergarten opened in Germany in 1837; the first in the US was opened by Margarethe Schurz to a German speaking community in Wisconsin in 1856. In 1860, Elizabeth Peabody opened the first English speaking kindergarten in Boston. Over time, kindergarten was introduced into public schools with the changed purpose of providing an early academic foundation for 5 and 6-year old children preparing for 1st grade.
This cherry wood box at one time contained the fourth “gift” in the series manufactured by the Milton Bradley Company. The container is a small, square varnished cherry wood box with a removable sliding top and a slightly faded dark blue label on one side. This box however is missing all its wood blocks. They may have been put away after play in the enlarged Gift 6 box which appears to have more than it should of this size blocks.
Milton Bradley Company was established in 1860 by Milton Bradley (1836-1911). A mechanical draughtsman and patent agent interested in lithography, board games and puzzles, Milton Bradley became interested in the kindergarten movement after he attended a lecture by Elizabeth Peabody in 1869. Elizabeth and her sister Mary, who was by then the widow of educator Horace Mann, were devoted to promoting Froebel’s philosophy of creative play for pre-school children and helped spread of the Kindergarten Movement to America’s cities. These “gift boxes” are examples of school equipment made by Milton Bradley sometime between 1880 to 1900 for use in kindergartens. Milton Bradley produced educational materials free of charge for the kindergartens in his hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts and was committed to developing kindergarten educational materials such as these gifts, colored papers and paints.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880-1900
maker
Milton Bradley Company
ID Number
2014.0244.377
accession number
2014.0244
catalog number
2014.0244.377
Kindergarten as a concept was developed in Germany by Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852), a student of Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. Froebel’s German kindergartens encouraged children to enjoy natural studies, music, stories, play with manipulative learning toys.
Description
Kindergarten as a concept was developed in Germany by Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852), a student of Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. Froebel’s German kindergartens encouraged children to enjoy natural studies, music, stories, play with manipulative learning toys. He recommended teachers use geometric shapes and crafts for teaching and advocated the use of ‘gifts’ or playthings in the form of geometric shapes to promote learning and occupations or activities. Froebel also incorporated learning through expression, systematized play and social imitation. The first kindergarten opened in Germany in 1837; the first in the US was opened by Margarethe Schurz to a German speaking community in Wisconsin in 1856. In 1860, Elizabeth Peabody opened the first English speaking kindergarten in Boston. Over time, kindergarten was introduced into public schools with the changed purpose of providing an early academic foundation for 5 and 6-year old children preparing for 1st grade.
This set of blocks is the sixth “gift” in the series manufactured by the Milton Bradley Company. The blocks are in a square cherry wood box with a removable sliding top and a faded green label on one side. The box contains thirty-six wood blocks of three standard sizes: sixteen long, wide rectangular blocks; six long, thin rectangular blocks; and fourteen short, wide rectangular blocks.
Milton Bradley Company was established by Milton Bradley (1836-1911) in 1860. A mechanical draughtsman and patent agent interested in lithography, board games and puzzles, Milton Bradley became interested in the kindergarten movement after he attended a lecture by Elizabeth Peabody in 1869. Elizabeth and her sister Mary, who was by then the widow of educator Horace Mann, were devoted to promoting Froebel’s philosophy of creative play for pre-school children and helped spread of the Kindergarten Movement to America’s cities. These “gift boxes” are examples of school equipment made by Milton Bradley sometime between 1880 to 1900 for use in kindergartens. Milton Bradley produced educational materials free of charge for the kindergartens in his hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts and was committed to developing kindergarten educational materials such as these gifts, colored papers and paints.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880-1900
maker
Milton Bradley Company
ID Number
2014.0244.379
accession number
2014.0244
catalog number
2014.0244.379
This tool for teaching children about fractions was designed by Emoline Wilcox Ketchum (1850-1909) of Providence, Rhode Island, who patented it in 1895. The patent was assigned the number 547,217.
Description
This tool for teaching children about fractions was designed by Emoline Wilcox Ketchum (1850-1909) of Providence, Rhode Island, who patented it in 1895. The patent was assigned the number 547,217. It consists of nine wooden “fraction balls,” spheres divided into pieces of various sizes, including one-half, one-third, one-fifth, and one-eighteenth. The fractional value of each piece is painted on the piece in black and each ball has a groove in which to use an elastic band (according to patent specifications) or a ribbon to tie a band around the ball to hold the pieces together. The balls are in nine separate compartments within a wooden box which has a removable sliding top and a faded tan label on the front. The label on the box reads: FRACTION BALLS / FOR SCHOOL USE / (Patent Applied For.) / E. KETCHUM PROVIDENCE, R.I. Described as an educational appliance, fraction balls were advertised for sale in Teacher's World for $3.50 and the Popular Educator Journal for $2.00. The instruction pamphlet was not acquired with the object.
Emoline Ketchum was a graduate of the Pittsburgh Female College and attended the Women’s College of Brown University as a special student from 1892 until 1895. She was the daughter of Annie E. Wilcox and physcian Alasan W. Wilcox, and the wife of Edgar Ketchum.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1895
ID Number
2014.0244.263
accession number
2014.0244
catalog number
2014.0244.2
patent number
547217
Around 1900 many American educators advocated the use of objects in teaching mathematics and the sciences. R. O. Evans Company of Chicago published this set of twenty chromolithographed charts.
Description
Around 1900 many American educators advocated the use of objects in teaching mathematics and the sciences. R. O. Evans Company of Chicago published this set of twenty chromolithographed charts. They were designed to apply the object method “to the entire subject of practical arithmetic.” The title chart shows a man in classical garb holding a diagram of the Pythagorean theorem and a pair of dividers, expounding to a child. Other instruments displayed include a pencil, a drawing pen, a magnetic compass, several geometric models, a globe, a telescope, two set squares, an hourglass, and one of Evans’s charts.
Charts include extensive commentary for teachers. There are sheets entitled Counting and Writing Numbers, Reviews and Colors, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division,. Other charts discuss Fractions, Weights and Measures, the Metric System, and Mensuration (one chart considers the measurement of flat surfaces, another one 3-dimensional solids). There also are charts on Business Methods (3 charts), Lumber and Timber Measure,Surveying, Percentage, Commercial and Legal Forms, and Book Keeping. A variety of objects are shown.
The paper, cloth-backed charts are held together at the top by a piece of fabric that is tacked to a wooden backing. This backing slides into an oak case decorated with machine-made molding and panels. A mark on the case reads: This is the (/) Property of (/) F. C. Adams (/) Hillsboro N. H. (/) May 28 - 1902 (/) Loaned to (/) Miss L. Hany (?) (/) Teacher School Dist. No. 17. F.C. Adams is probably Freeman C. Adams (1845-1913) of Hillsborough and Manchester, N.H. This suggests that this particular example of Evans’ Arithmetical Study was used by a woman who taught at a school in New Hampshire.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1897
maker
R. O. Evans Company
ID Number
2009.0086.01
accession number
2009.0086
catalog number
2009.0086.01
In the mid-19th century, Americans began to manufacture special playing cards for teaching. The New York City firm of McLoughlin Brothers made playing cards for geography instruction from 1860, and was selling cards for arithmetic instruction by 1875.
Description
In the mid-19th century, Americans began to manufacture special playing cards for teaching. The New York City firm of McLoughlin Brothers made playing cards for geography instruction from 1860, and was selling cards for arithmetic instruction by 1875. This product of the company, Grandma's Arithmetical Game, is somewhat later.
This example includes 118 cards, numbered from 1 to 119 (one card is missing). Each card has a word problem written out on it. The other side is plain blue. One player served as teacher and the others as scholars. The teacher mixed all the cards and dealt out a stack of at least six cards to each scholar. The scholar to the left of the teacher then turned over the top card and read the question on it. If the scholar couldn’t answer the question, he or she passed it to the scholar on his left. The card continued around the table until someone answered the question. If a scholar did this, he or she claimed it. If not, the card went around to the teacher, who read the answer from the book. The teacher then asked the second scholar to the left to read the question on his or her top card, and play proceeded as before. Once all the questions had been answered, the scholar with the largest number of cards was the winner.
This was one of six “Grandma’s Games.” The others had questions relating to general knowledge, geography, riddles, the Old Testament of the Bible, and the New Testament. According to the manufacturer: “Each game is complete in itself. The Series affords a means of conveying to children in the form of play, a vast amount of desirable information. All six games should be in every household.” The games cost 30 cents apiece.
The cards and instruction booklet fit into a cardboard box. A drawing glued to the top of the box shows a schoolboy in a ruffled shirt and cap with slate and textbook, in front of a blackboard with several arithmetic problems written on it. A mark on the lid of the box reads: GRANDMA’S (/) ARITHMETICAL (/) GAME; 4610; BOOKS AND GAMES (/) EDUCATE AMUSE (/) McLOUGLIN (/) EST. 1828.
According to Alexander and Williams, the game portion of McLoughlin Brothers was sold to Milton Bradley in 1920.
Reference:
Bill Alexander and Anne D. Williams, The Game Catalogs: U.S. Games Through 1950, Dresher, PA: American Game Collectors Association, 1997, pp. 64 to 68.
date made
ca 1915
maker
McLoughlin Brothers
ID Number
2003.0048.01
catalog number
2003.0048.01
accession number
2003.0048
From at least the nineteenth century, educators have thought that playing with specially designed blocks would give children a tangible sense of mathematical relationships.
Description
From at least the nineteenth century, educators have thought that playing with specially designed blocks would give children a tangible sense of mathematical relationships. The San Diego, California, teacher Ethel Dummer Mintzer (1895-1938) designed this set of flat wooden blocks to give young children the experience of handling a few of the simplest geometrical shapes. A complete set would include one hundred forty-four blocks – right isosceles triangles in five sizes, squares in three sizes, rectangles in six sizes, and parallelograms in three sizes. Eighteen blocks are missing from this set. The blocks are arranged in two layers on specially printed square sheets of paper and stored in a box with two bases and two lids.
Also in the box are sixteen square paper sheets describing suggested uses of the blocks. Ideas include making patterns from given sets of blocks, representing equal fractions, rearranging blocks to form figures of equal area, and defining areas. Other sheets concern the Pythagorean theorem, a binomial expansion, and multiplying fractions. A mark on the first sheet reads: Copyright, 1933. Ethel Dummer Mintzer.
Mintzer named her blocks after Mary Everest Boole (1832-1916), a British educator also known as the wife of the logician George Boole and the mother of the geometer Alicia Boole Stott. A mark on the lids of the boxes reads: Boole Senior Blocks. Another mark reads: PATENT APPLIED FOR.
This particular set of blocks belonged to Carol B. McCamman, who taught mathematics at Coolidge High School in Washington, D.C. A sticker on one of the lids reads: CAROL V. McCAMMAN (/) 1901 Wyoming Ave., N.W., #54 (/) Washington, D. C. 20009.
The donor, Florence Fasanelli, taught mathematics at Sidwell Friends School in Washington. She was president of the D.C. Council of Teachers and McCamman a member. McCamman gave Fasanelli the Boole blocks in 1974 as a baby present for her daughter Antonia. Fasanelli believes McCamman may have received the blocks from Ethel Sturges Dummer (1866-1954), the mother of Ethel Dummer Mintzer. Dummer was a noted Chicago philanthropist, and an advocate of the use of Boole blocks.
It is not clear who actually manufactured the Boole blocks and for how long. Boole Blocks Senior are advertised with a variety of other wooden toys in a 1934 catalog of Holgate Brothers Company of Kane, Pennsylvania.
References:
Accession file.
Caroline Cushman Rockwell, The Holgate Play Year, Kane, Pa: Holgate Brothers Company, 1934, p. 13.
Karen Dee Ann Michalowicz, "Mary Everest Boole (1832-1916): An Erstwhile Pedagogist for Contemporary Times," Vita Mathematica, ed. Ronald Calinger, Washington, D.C.: Mathematical Association of America, 1996, pp. 291—299.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1935
ID Number
2016.0153.01
accession number
2016.0153
catalog number
2016.0153.01
This game includes 40 cards marked with a five-by-five array of one and two digit numbers on both sides. An additional 35 problem cards (each divisible into three parts, but undivided) show a total of 100 addition problems on one side and 100 subtraction problems on the other.
Description
This game includes 40 cards marked with a five-by-five array of one and two digit numbers on both sides. An additional 35 problem cards (each divisible into three parts, but undivided) show a total of 100 addition problems on one side and 100 subtraction problems on the other. Numerous red flat square markers are used in play. Players can do either subtraction problems or addition problems.
The rules are like those of bingo. A problem card is shown, players figure out the correct answer and, if the number is on their game card, cover the corresponding space. The first player to cover five spaces in a straight row - across, up-and-down, or diagonally - calls out "Quizmo." Answers are checked against the answers on the problem cards that have been used. If they are correct, the player wins the round; if not ,play continues. The first player to win a set number of rounds wins the game.
In addition to the pieces described, the game has two cards with basic addition and subtraction facts, a card with playing directions, a card listing the parts to the game, and a card listing "4 steps to mastery of basic facts." The cards also could be used as flash cards.
A mark on the cardboard box reads: QUIZMO (/) THE FUN GAME OF (/) ARITHMETIC (/) ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION; MILTON BRADLEY (/) COMPANY (/) SPRINGFIELD (/) MASSACHUSETTS. Another mark there reads: MADE IN U. S. A. Still another mark reads: COPYRIGHT 1958 BY MILTON BRADLEY COMPANY.
According to trademark records, QUIZMO as a term for a board game was first used in commerce in 1949 and registered in 1954 by Alice R. Huff of Concord, California. The trademark was renewed in 1974 and has since expired.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1960
maker
Milton Bradley Company
ID Number
2005.0055.05
catalog number
2005.0055.05
accession number
2005.0055
Wooden blocks and rods have long been used to teach young children about numbers and basic arithmetic. These are such a tool. They vary in length from 1 cm. to 10 cm., representing the numbers from 1 to 10. All rods of a given length are the same color.
Description
Wooden blocks and rods have long been used to teach young children about numbers and basic arithmetic. These are such a tool. They vary in length from 1 cm. to 10 cm., representing the numbers from 1 to 10. All rods of a given length are the same color. They are stored in a cloth bag. This set was designed by Emile-Georges Cuisenaire (1891-1976), a Belgian schoolteacher. Cuisenaire published an account of his rods in French in 1953 and attracted the attention of the Egyptian-born educator Caleb Gattegno (1910-1988).
After the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite in 1957, better instruction in science and mathematics became a national priority in the U.S. Scientists, mathematicians, and educators introduced objects like Cuisenaire rods to communicate to students their enthusiasm for basic principles.
This set was donated by Coralee Critchfield. Gilliland. She was born in 1932 in Nebraska and grew up in Tecumseh, Nebraska, a town of about 3,000 inhabitants. She received a B.A. from Lindenwood College in St. Charles, Missouri, and a M.A. in the History of Art from the University of Chicago.
Gilliland used the rods as an educator in Micronesia. She and her husband Thomas Gilliland first went there from 1957 to1959, where he had an administrative position with the Department of the Interior (then the governing authority in the area) in Majuro, Marshall Islands. She worked training elementary school teachers in the use of devices like Cuisenaire rods, and found that they were particularly suitable for teaching those whose primary language was not English. The Gillillands would return to Micronesia in the early 1960s, where Cory Gillilland served for a time as principal of the Truk high school. On her return to the United States, Gillilland became much involved in the Numismatics collections at the Smithsonian, publishing a monograph on stone money of Micronesia.
References:
Accession file.
Coralee C. Gillilland, The Stone Money of Yap: A Numismatic Survey. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1975.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1965
date received
1987
ID Number
1987.0542.01
catalog number
1987.0542.01
accession number
1987.0542
During the 1950s, the Belgian teacher Emile-Georges Cuisenaire designed a set of rods to teach about numbers and basic arithmetic. Caleb Gattegno popularized his methods in Great Britain and the United States.
Description
During the 1950s, the Belgian teacher Emile-Georges Cuisenaire designed a set of rods to teach about numbers and basic arithmetic. Caleb Gattegno popularized his methods in Great Britain and the United States. This small paperback, Book A of Gattegno’s explanation, was copyrighted in 1958 and 1961.
For a set of Cuisenaire rods, see 1987.0542.01. For related documentation see 1987.0542.02 through 1987.0542.07.
For further information about the donor of the materials, see 1987.0542.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1961
maker
Gattegno, Caleb
ID Number
1987.0542.03
accession number
1987.0542
catalog number
1987.0542.03
During the 1950s, the Belgian teacher Emile-Georges Cuisenaire designed a set of rods to teach about numbers and basic arithmetic. Caleb Gattegno popularized his methods in Great Britain and the United States.
Description
During the 1950s, the Belgian teacher Emile-Georges Cuisenaire designed a set of rods to teach about numbers and basic arithmetic. Caleb Gattegno popularized his methods in Great Britain and the United States. This small paperbound book by Cuisenaire and Gattegno first appeared in 1954, was in its third edition by 1958, and was reprinted frequently in the next few years. This is a 1961 printing.
For a set of Cuisenaire rods and further information about the donor of the materials, see 1987.0542.01. For related documentation see 1987.0542.02 through 1987.0542.07.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1961
maker
Cuisenaire, G.
ID Number
1987.0542.02
accession number
1987.0542
catalog number
1987.0542.02
During the 1950s, the Belgian teacher Emile-Georges Cuisenaire designed a set of rods to teach about numbers and basic arithmetic. Caleb Gattegno popularized his methods in Great Britain and the United States.
Description
During the 1950s, the Belgian teacher Emile-Georges Cuisenaire designed a set of rods to teach about numbers and basic arithmetic. Caleb Gattegno popularized his methods in Great Britain and the United States. This small paperback, Book C of Gattegno’s explanation, was copyrighted in 1958 and 1961.
For a set of Cuisenaire rods, see 1987.0542.01. For related documentation see 1987.0542.02 through 1987.0542.07.
For further information about the donor of the materials, see 1987.0542.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1961
maker
Gattegno, Caleb
ID Number
1987.0542.04
accession number
1987.0542
catalog number
1987.0542.04
During the 1950s, the Belgian teacher Emile-Georges Cuisenaire designed a set of rods to teach about numbers and basic arithmetic. Caleb Gattegno popularized his methods in Great Britain and the United States.
Description
During the 1950s, the Belgian teacher Emile-Georges Cuisenaire designed a set of rods to teach about numbers and basic arithmetic. Caleb Gattegno popularized his methods in Great Britain and the United States. This small paperback, Book D of Gattegno’s explanation, was copyrighted in 1958 and 1961.
For a set of Cuisenaire rods, see 1987.0542.01. For related documentation see 1987.0542.02 through 1987.0542.07.
For further information about the donor of the materials, see 1987.0542.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1961
maker
Gattegno, Caleb
ID Number
1987.0542.05
accession number
1987.0542
catalog number
1987.0542.05
During the 1950s, the Belgian teacher Emile-Georges Cuisenaire designed a set of rods to teach about numbers and basic arithmetic. John V. Trivett, a mathematics educator trained in England, wrote two paperback books to introduce teachers to the use of Cuisenaire rods.
Description
During the 1950s, the Belgian teacher Emile-Georges Cuisenaire designed a set of rods to teach about numbers and basic arithmetic. John V. Trivett, a mathematics educator trained in England, wrote two paperback books to introduce teachers to the use of Cuisenaire rods. This is the revised edition of the first of them, copyrighted in 1962 and published by the Cuisenaire Company of America, then in Mount Vernon, New York. Trivett would go on to become a professor of education at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada.
For a set of Cuisenaire rods, see 1987.0542.01. For related documentation see 1987.0542.02 through 1987.0542.07.
For further information about the donor of the materials, see 1987.0542.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1962
maker
Trivett, John V.
ID Number
1987.0542.06
accession number
1987.0542
catalog number
1987.0542.06
During the 1950s, the Belgian teacher Emile-Georges Cuisenaire designed a set of rods to teach about numbers and basic arithmetic. John V. Trivett, a mathematics educator trained in England, wrote two paperback books to introduce teachers to the use of Cuisenaire rods.
Description
During the 1950s, the Belgian teacher Emile-Georges Cuisenaire designed a set of rods to teach about numbers and basic arithmetic. John V. Trivett, a mathematics educator trained in England, wrote two paperback books to introduce teachers to the use of Cuisenaire rods. This is the revised edition of the second of them, copyrighted in 1963 and published by the Cuisenaire Company of America, then in New York, New York. Trivett would go on to become a professor of education at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada.
For a set of Cuisenaire rods, see 1987.0542.01. For related documentation see 1987.0542.02 through 1987.0542.07.
For further information about the donor of the materials, see 1987.0542.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1963
maker
Trivett, John V.
ID Number
1987.0542.07
accession number
1987.0542
catalog number
1987.0542.07
From the 1950s, particularly after the launch of the Soviet Sputnik satellite in 1958, American mathematicians and mathematics educators introduced a variety of reforms in mathematics teaching that went under the name “The New Math.” This set of flash cards reflects the way of pr
Description
From the 1950s, particularly after the launch of the Soviet Sputnik satellite in 1958, American mathematicians and mathematics educators introduced a variety of reforms in mathematics teaching that went under the name “The New Math.” This set of flash cards reflects the way of presenting addition problems that emerged.
The set includes 50 cards showing sums of one digit numbers. A sum is written out horizontally on each side of each card. The sides are numbered from 1 to 50 on one side and from 50 to 100 on the other. A "sliding number cover" fits over a card to cover one term in the "number sentence." The child is to figure out the answer. A window in the back of the cover reveals the correct answer written on the back of the card. In addition to these cards, there is a card listing "Basic Addition Facts" (written vertically, with answers) and "Basic Addition Combinations" (written vertically, without answers). Four cards give tips and instructions for teachers and parents.
A mark on the top of the box reads: NEW MATH (/) ADDITION (/) FLASH CARDS. A second mark reads: ED-U-CARDS. Another mark reads: [copyright]1966 ED-U-CARDS MFG. CORP., L.I.C., N.Y.
Compare 2005.0055.06, 2005.0055.07, 2005.0055.08, and 2005.0055.09.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1966
maker
Ed-U-Cards Manufacturing Corporation
ID Number
2005.0055.08
catalog number
2005.0055.08
accession number
2005.0055
From the 1950s, particularly after the launch of the Sputnik satellite in 1958, American mathematicians and mathematics educators introduced a variety of reforms in mathematics teaching dubbed “The New Math.” This set of flash cards reflects the way of presenting addition and sub
Description
From the 1950s, particularly after the launch of the Sputnik satellite in 1958, American mathematicians and mathematics educators introduced a variety of reforms in mathematics teaching dubbed “The New Math.” This set of flash cards reflects the way of presenting addition and subtraction problems that emerged.
The set consists of flash cards showing sums written out horizontally on one side and differences written out horizontally on the other. A blank square indicates where the answer is to go. The cards are numbered from 1 to 81, with several missing and some duplicates. One unnumbered card may be card one. The cards are cut off at one corner, like punch cards. Another card lists on one side "Basic Addition Facts" for sums as large as 9 + 9, and "Basic Subtraction Facts" on the reverse side. Two further cards provide explanation.
An explanation card for a similar set of flash cards for teaching multiplication and division is included, but none of these cards. Seven further cards, apparently from another set, give sums and differences written vertically.
A mark on the cardboard box holding the cards reads: MILTON BRADLEY COMPANY (/) SPRINGFIELD (/) MASSACHUSETTS. Another mark reads: NEW MATH(/)FLASH CARDS. Another mark reads: ADDITION-SUBTRACTION. A further mark reads: [copyright] 1965. The set has the maker’s number: 7020.
Compare 2005.0055.06, 2005.0055.07, 2005.0055.08, and 2005.0055.09.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1965
date received
2003
maker
Milton Bradley Company
ID Number
2005.0055.07
catalog number
2005.0055.07
accession number
2005.0055
From the 1950s, particularly after the launch of the Sputnik satellite in 1958, American mathematicians and mathematics educators introduced a variety of reforms in mathematics teaching dubbed “The New Math.” This set of flash cards reflects the way of presenting arithmetic probl
Description
From the 1950s, particularly after the launch of the Sputnik satellite in 1958, American mathematicians and mathematics educators introduced a variety of reforms in mathematics teaching dubbed “The New Math.” This set of flash cards reflects the way of presenting arithmetic problems that emerged.
The set consists of 50 flash cards showing products of one-digit numbers. A product is written out horizontally on each side of each card. The sides are numbered from 1 to 50 on one side and from 50 to 100 on the other. A "sliding number cover" fits over a card to cover one term in the "number sentence." The child is to figure out the answer. A window in the back of the cover reveals the correct answer written on the back of the card. In addition to these cards, there is a card listing "Basic Multiplication Facts" (written vertically, with answers) and "Basic Multiplication Combinations" (written vertically, without answers). Four cards give tips and instructions for teachers and parents.
A mark on the cardboard box holding the flash cards reads: NEW MATH (/) MULTIPLICATION (/) FLASH CARDS. Another mark reads: [copyright]1966 ED-U-CARDS MFG. CORP., L.I.C., N.Y. A third mark reads: No. 263.
Compare 2005.0055.06, 2005.0055.07, 2005.0055.08, and 2005.0055.09.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1966
maker
Ed-U-Cards Manufacturing Corporation
ID Number
2005.0055.09
accession number
2005.0055
catalog number
2005.0055.09

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