History

A History of Innovation. A Reputation for Excellence. A Tradition of Access.

< 1886 NLU founded as Miss Harrison's Training School by Elizabeth Harrison, Edna Dean Baker and Rumah Avilla Crouse

1887 The Modern American Kindergarten Movement begins at NLU and school's name is changed to Chicago Kindergarten Training School

1893 > School again changes its name to Chicago Kindergarten College

1897 Began the National Congress of Mothers, which later became known as the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)

1906 The College moved to 1200 South Michigan Boulevard

< 1907 A correspondence course for mothers was added to the curriculum

1912 The school's name changed to the National Kindergarten College

1913 > The College moved again to 2944 South Michigan Avenue

1916 The school's name was changed to the National Kindergarten and Elementary College

< 1920 Edna Dean Baker selected as second president of the college

< 1926 The College moved to the City of Evanston, north of Chicago

1930 > The school changed its name to the National College of Education

< 1949 K. Richard Johnson was inaugurated as the third president of the College

1952 NCE graduate department created

1982 NCE opened the Michael W. Louis College of Arts and Sciences (CAS)

1989 College officials created what is today the College of Management and Business

1990 College becomes known as National-Louis University

NLU

A History of Innovation. A Reputation for Excellence. A Tradition of Access.

In late nineteenth century Chicago, three extraordinary women with vision, a passion for education and a determination to make a difference in the lives of our children laid the foundation for what is today National-Louis University (NLU).

Urban education pioneer and community activist Elizabeth Harrison, together with Edna Dean Baker and Rumah Avilla Crouse, created a modern university—one with deep roots in Chicago as well as a reputation that extends far beyond the borders of the city it calls home.

From its beginnings as the National College of Education (NCE) to the additions of the College of Arts & Sciences and the College of Management and Business, NLU is both the outcome of and testament to the vision of these three women. It is a modern university committed to innovation and best practices in urban teaching and graduate education. A university that excels in creating learning communities where theory complements practice. A university with a tradition of access to higher education for first-generation and urban college students who want to make a difference in their lives and in their communities.

Welcome to National-Louis University.

Elizabeth Harrison's Vision

Elizabeth Harrison, our University's first president, had a radical idea for her time—to create a college to train women to teach kindergarten. It was an uphill battle, however, to get the concept off the ground in the city of Chicago. In 1886, how and what young children were taught was of little concern to parents and society. The fact that today kindergarten is a universally accepted component of public school education in the U.S. is a testament to her tenacity—and a reflection of the significant impact our university has had on American education and society.

The Modern American Kindergarten Movement Begins at NLU

It was in kindergarten that American children were first introduced to stories and songs, scissors and paper, games and pictures. It was a place for imagination to flourish and for creativity and curiosity to be nurtured. In her book The Influence of the Kindergarten on Modern Civilization, Harrison said that it was important for mothers to learn "how to teach the child from the beginning of his existence that all things are connected [and] how to lead him to this vital truth from his own observation of his pot of plants or garden bed, that his flowers droop and fade if they are not watered, that his blocks tumble down if they are not built up solidly."

A Legacy of Innovation

Women who wanted to study at her Chicago Kindergarten College, a precursor to NLU, were required to have at least a high school diploma—a requirement that Harrison herself considered radical. She also added graduate programs to the College, designed for teachers who wanted additional study in the field and the training they needed to move into supervisory positions.

The Role of NLU in the Founding of the PTA

Harrison also wanted to strengthen the direct connections between mothers and the teachers who taught their children in the city's public schools. Beginning in 1894, a series of mothers' convocations that she sponsored in Chicago resulted in the 1897 National Congress of Mothers, which then became known as the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA).

The Growth of a College

As word spread about the revolution taking place in education in Chicago, larger facilities were needed top handle both the increase in enrollment and staff to support the growth. In 1906, the Chicago Kindergarten College, privately owned by Harrison, Crouse and her husband, Dr. John N. Crouse, was incorporated as a non-profit entity under the laws of the State of Illinois. The College moved to a spacious, and centrally located, new home at 1200 South Michigan Boulevard.

Innovation in Educational Delivery

Harrison also pioneered new educational delivery systems. The College offered courses for mothers at its main campus in Chicago as well as branch classes in other cities and towns. Course content remained the same but now mothers who lived outside of Chicago had access to Harrison's teachings. In 1907, a correspondence course for mothers was added to the curriculum and, in 1908, summer school became part of the academic year.

Jane Addams, one of the nation's most revered social workers and co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for her work at Hull House on Chicago's South Side said that Elizabeth Harrison "has done more good than any woman I know. She has brought light and power to all the educational world."

Spreading the Word

Harrison's students and NLU's earliest alumnae could soon be found across the country changing the face of early childhood education. They took charge of kindergarten training programs at Columbia College in New York; the City Normal School in Washington D.C.; the Kindergarten College in Fort Worth, Texas; and at State Normal Schools in California, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. In 1912, as a result of the formal union with the National Kindergarten Association, the school's name was changed to the National Kindergarten College.

Success Fuels Growth

In 1913, the College moved yet again, this time to a red brick and stone Victorian mansion with tapestry-lined walls, ceilings decorated in gold leaf and stained glass windows at 2944 South Michigan Avenue. A three-story brick dormitory and a two-story carriage house and stable completed the facilities used by the College.

Enrollment continued to grow—from 132 in 1913 to 150 in 1920. Six houses on Michigan Avenues became elegant dormitories for the young women who came from small towns outside Chicago to be at the forefront of the country's early childhood revolution.

A Time of Change. A New Leader for the College.

In 1915, Edna Dean Baker, another activist and advocate for early childhood education who had been one of Harrison's kindergarten students in the class of 1908, was named assistant to the president. Three years later, she was named acting president following the serious heart attack suffered by her friend and mentor.

When it became clear that her health would not permit her to resume her presidency, Harrison subsequently submitted her resignation to the board of trustees in 1920 and recommended that Baker be named her successor.

The first president of what is today called National-Louis University died at the age of 78 in 1927. Her death was national news, noted in papers ranging from the San Diego Sun to the New York Herald. Harrison's legacy, however, continued to thrive.

At the Forefront of Chicago's Modern Nursery School Movement—and the country's HEAD START program

Only a handful of nursery schools existed before 1923 but an opportunity to open one presented itself in Chicago. The day nursery at Hull House, which served children in the inner city, had closed—and Baker thought that Jane Addams might be interested in replacing it with a modern nursery school.

And she was. Addams, who thought the addition would be a good complement to the kindergarten already at Hull House, co-founded with Baker the Mary Crane Nursery School in 1925. This collaborative effort also attracted the attention of the Infant Welfare Society, a healthcare provider; the Infant Welfare Department of the Chicago Board of Health, which provided dental care; the Illinois Institute for Juvenile Research, which focused on behavioral difficulties; and the United Charities of Chicago, an organization dedicated to assisting parents of the school's students who demonstrated financial need.

When the doors opened, fifty children of various nationalities from families with varying economic backgrounds were enrolled in two groups: ages two through four and four through six.

Another critical part of the program was parental involvement. In addition to helping plan the activities of the school, they also served as cooks, kitchen assistants and maintenance workers. Although tuition was free, parents often contributed whatever they felt they could afford. As Baker astutely observed "It became evident to the social agencies as well as to the nursery school staff that the parents had a greater appreciation and respect for the nursery school when they contributed to its support."

Although the Mary Crane Nursery School is no longer at Hull House, it continues to serve its original audience through a community-centered program under the educational supervision of the National College of Education at NLU. Its efforts on behalf of Chicago's neediest children also helped set the stage for the national HEAD START program.

The Evanston Years: A New Chapter for the University

The realities of the changes taking place in the City of Chicago, coupled with a growth in enrollment, proved difficult for Baker to ignore and for the College to overcome.

Overcrowding also soon became the norm in classrooms, dormitories, the dining rooms and offices. The College's move to the City of Evanston, north of Chicago, in 1926 was, many thought, long overdue.

The National Kindergarten and Elementary College had grown considerably since its inception. It now included The Children's School, established in 1918, to serve children (preschool through Grade 8) who lived above and at the back of the laundries, restaurants and shops that lined 29th Street. Tuition was initially free and the school was filled with the sounds of the seventeen nationalities represented in the neighborhood.

Baker and the governing board decided they needed at least three acres to accommodate a classroom building for 500 students; a demonstration school for 250 students; a dormitory for 150 to 200 students; and adequate playground space. The site had to be accessible by transportation, near Lake Michigan—and in or near a neighborhood where property values could be sustained for at least twenty-five years.

Evanston seemed to "fit the bill." Baker and the board were especially encouraged by the welcome extended by officials at Northwestern University, who saw the preschool and elementary education emphasis of the College to be complementary to the secondary and higher education courses offered at their own School of Education.

The National College of Education

The year 1930 was a turning point for the College. The school changed its name once more, this time becoming the National College of Education (NCE), and introduced the first four-year, teacher-training course in the state of Illinois. Baker was named to President Herbert Hoover's Preschool Committee of the White House Conference on Child Health and Protection.

Baker continued as president until her retirement in 1949. She died in 1956, having the steered the College through some of the most turbulent and exciting years in its history.

"Nothing short of a miracle" was how one trustee described Baker's administration. She moved the College to Evanston when Chicago became an untenable location for her students. During the Great Depression, she stabilized enrollment by lowering tuition and the fees charged for room and board—and cut salaries, including her own. During the war, she raised the morale of working mothers and unemployed teachers by providing care for their children and jobs in emergency nursery schools. And she did it all without the safety nets provided by an endowment or a lot of wealthy alumnae.

The Modern Era Begins at NCE

K. Richard Johnson, a faculty member, Baker's assistant and self-described change agent, was inaugurated as the third president of the College in 1949. During his tenure, Dr. J., as he was affectionately known, created the NCE graduate department in 1952. It received full accreditation in 1954 from both the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education to offer a Master of Education degree. He was also keenly interested in adapting technology for classroom instruction.

Under Johnson, the College embarked on a major building program in 1965, constructing a new residence hall and a new facility on the Evanston campus to house the library, classrooms and a swimming pool for the physical education program.

The curriculum continued to expand—and NCE now offered undergraduate and graduate degrees early childhood, elementary education and secondary education as well as programs in school psychology, curriculum and instruction, administration and supervision and reading.

College of Arts & Sciences Established

The College's new curriculum demanded that NCE students become more proficient in their content areas. Academic support programs, therefore, were added in such areas as allied health, applied behavioral sciences and human services.

In 1982, they were formally organized as the Michael W. Louis College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). The new College, named for one of the university's strongest supporters and philanthropists, expanded its offerings to include the fine arts, biology, written communications, English, applied languages, mathematics and quantitative studies, psychology, public policy and the social sciences.

College of Management & Business Established

In 1989, university officials responded to a growing demand for better prepared employees for area businesses by creating what is today the College of Management and Business. Its undergraduate programs in management and management information systems, as well as its graduate programs in management, including the M.B.A. are among the university's most popular offerings.

With growth, however, has remained a commitment to personalized instruction, a diverse student body and learning communities in which our students are active participants with our faculty.