A look back at Fremont School

This photo of kindergarteners at Fremont School, in Benton Park, reflects St. Louis’ outstanding public school system at the time of the World’s Fair. The concept of tax-supported public education was a 19th-century creation that was welcomed in the United States, where an educated public was believed a necessity for a democratic government to work. In 1873, the developing St. Louis Public School system had adopted a radical innovation in public education: kindergartens. Within a few years, every St. Louis public school had one. The idea of kindergarten, or “children’s garden,” had been developed in Germany, and it was St. Louisan Susie Blow (later known as “the mother of kindergarten in America”) who refined and Americanized kindergarten methods. By playing with building blocks, students learned shapes, forms, and volume. In St. Louis, where many children had foreign-born parents, they were introduced to English and American culture through songs and storytelling. Built in 1897, the Fremont School is today home to senior living apartments.