Susan Blow

Susan Elizabeth Blow (June 7, 1843 in Carondelet, Missouri – March 27, 1916 in New York City, New York) was a United States educator who opened the first successful public Kindergarten in the United States. She was known as the "Mother of the Kindergarten."

The eldest of nine children, Susan Blow was the daughter of Henry Taylor Blow and Minerva Grimsley Blow. Henry owned various lead-mining operations, was president of the Iron Mountain Railroad, was a state senator, and was a minister to Brazil and Venezuela. Minerva was the daughter of a prominent manufacturer and local politician. The Blow children grew up in a deeply religious family surrounded by comfort, wealth, and high German culture. Henry Blow had founded a Presbyterian church in St. Louis. Her grandfather was Captain Peter Blow, the owner of the slave Dred Scott, who later challenged the slavery issue in court.

Due to her family's social status, Blow received her education from her parents, various governesses, private tutors, and schools. Her parents highly valued education for their daughters although this was uncommon for Victorian families. Henry Blow contributed funds to build a public school which was named after him. At age eight, Susan was enrolled at the William McCartney School in New Orleans, Louisiana; she attended classes there for the next two years. At age sixteen Blow and her sister Nellie enrolled in the New York school of Henrietta Haynes but were forced to return home due to the outbreak of the Civil War. During this time Blow tutored her younger brothers and sister and taught Sunday school at Carleton Presbyterian Church.

At age twenty, Blow met and fell in love with a soldier named Colonel William Cole, but her parents found him to be unsuitable. When Cole was discharged for medical reasons, her father took her to Washington D.C. and introduced her to another military man who was more to his liking. However, Blow never married. She was considered a member of the St. Louis School, a literary, philosophical, and educational movement.

President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Henry Blow minister to Brazil in 1869, and Susan went with him as his secretary. During the next fifteen months, she quickly learned Portuguese. Her bilingual ability helped to ease trade communications between Brazil and the United States.

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