Elizabeth Peabody

Biography

Elizabeth Peabody, born in 1804, became a pioneering educator and publisher who introduced the kindergarten to America and nurtured the literary circle surrounding the Transcendentalists. Her Boston bookstore and press welcomed writers such as Emerson and Thoreau and became a vital exchange for progressive ideas.

She promoted education for women and children, printed influential works, and spent her final years encouraging teachers across the country before her 1894 passing; Sleepy Hollow Cemetery is now her peaceful resting place.