Biographical Note
Jessie Stanton was born in Brooklyn in 1887. After leaving Barnard College in 1919, Stanton taught at the City and Country School for 10 years. She then went on to organize the Mt. Kemble School in Morristown, NJ. Following her time at Mt. Kemble, she served as assistant director of the Nursery School under Harriet Johnson and took over the directorship after Johnson’s death in 1934.
Stanton taught classes on child development and nursery education at Bank Street and several other institutions. She was a strong advocate for early childhood education. She worked with Dr. Benjamin Spock on The Baby Institute, a nationwide daily radio program about young children. She served on the Board of Trustees for Bank Street, as well as for other private nursery schools, daycare centers and committees. She died in 1976.
Scope and Content Note
The collection documents Jessie Stanton’s professional work from 1923 until her death in 1976, and is divided into seven series. These are correspondence; lectures, transcripts, and published and unpublished writings; observations and notes; personal and biographical materials; course materials; consulting work; and press clippings.