Maud McKnight Lindsay

Maud McKnight Lindsay (1874–1941) was an American educator. She is best known for being the founder of the first free kindergarten in Alabama, and a close friend of Helen Keller. In 1995, she was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame.

Biography

She was born in 1874 in Tuscumbia, Alabama, to parents Robert Burns Lindsay, and Sarah Miller Lindsay. One of nine children, Lindsay was homeschooled until gaining admission to the Deshler Female Institute. Lindsay studied under Jeanne Pittitt Cooper, a prominent kindergarten teacher in Alabama. She first started her career as a private music teacher in Tuscumbia, later founding a private kindergarten in her own home. She admired Friedrich Fröbel, and followed his ideas. Lindsay, in 1896 spent a year at the Elizabeth Peabody Settlement House in Boston. In 1898, she founded, and became a teacher at the first free kindergarten in Alabama.

Lindsay was also an author of over 18 children books. The first was "Mrs. Speckelty Hen". In addition, she was an avid poet. It was said that "No present day writer for the young is more deservedly well-liked than Maud Lindsay."

She was the third president of the Alabama Writers Conclave; a member Blue Pencil Club of Florence ; an officer in the Birmingham Branch of the National League of American Pen Women. Her name was inscribed in the Book of Golden Deeds by the Exchange Club of Florence as the most outstanding citizen. Lindsay died on May 30, 1941.