Maria Louise Baldwin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Maria Louise Baldwin
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| Born | September 13, 1856 Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
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| Died | January 9, 1922 (aged 65) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
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| Monuments | Maria Baldwin House, Maria L. Baldwin School, part of Boston Women's Heritage Trail |
| Occupation | Educator, civic leader |
Maria Louise Baldwin (September 13, 1856 – January 9, 1922) was an amazing American teacher and community leader. She was born and grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Maria Baldwin lived her whole life in Cambridge and Boston. In 1917, a famous writer named W. E. B. Du Bois said she was one of the most important African-American educators of her time. She achieved this while working in schools that were not separated by race.
Maria Baldwin's Life Story
Maria Baldwin was born to Peter L. and Mary E. Baldwin in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She went to public schools in Cambridge for all her education. In 1874, she finished Cambridge High School. A year later, she graduated from the Cambridge training school for teachers.
Even though she was a very talented teacher, she was not hired by Cambridge public schools at first. Instead, she taught in a school that was only for Black students in Chestertown, Maryland. After her father passed away in 1880, she came back to Cambridge.
People in the African-American community in Cambridge protested. Because of this, she was hired to teach at the Agassiz School. This was a well-known public school where many white middle-class children went.
In 1889, Maria Baldwin became the principal of the Agassiz School. She was the first African-American woman to be a principal in Massachusetts and the Northeast. As principal, she was in charge of white teachers and mostly white students.
In 1916, a new Agassiz School was built. Maria Baldwin was then made "master" of the school. She was one of only two women in the Cambridge school system to hold this high position. She was also the only African American in New England to be a school master.
Maria Baldwin worked as principal and master of the Agassiz School for forty years. Under her leadership, it became one of the best schools in the city. Children of Harvard professors and old Cambridge families went there. The school became very popular and respected in the community.
She brought in new ways of teaching math and started art classes. She was also the first to hire a school nurse. Her school was the only one in Cambridge to have an "open-air" classroom. The famous poet E. E. Cummings was one of her students. He wrote about her in his book Six Nonlectures:
Miss Baldwin was a wonderful lady with a lovely voice. She had charming manners and truly understood children. She led her students with grace and ease. Her presence brought honor and glory. She taught me that true strength comes from being gentle.
Maria Baldwin gave many talks to both white and African-American groups. Her most famous talk was about Harriet Beecher Stowe. She first gave this speech in 1897 in Brooklyn. She was the first African American and the first woman asked to give this yearly talk.
She also taught summer classes for teachers. These were at the Hampton Institute in Virginia and the Institute for Colored Youth in Cheyney, Pennsylvania. She also supported Charlotte Hawkins Brown's Palmer Institute in North Carolina.
In the late 1870s, Maria Baldwin joined several Civil Rights groups. She became a member and secretary of the Banneker Society, a debate club. She used her skills to speak up for women's right to vote. She also stressed how important it was for children to get a good education.
Her home was a main meeting place for the African-American community. In the early 1890s, she led a reading group for Black Harvard students. Some of these students were William Monroe Trotter, William Lewis, and W.E.B. DuBois. She also started and led the Omar Khayyam Circle. This was a group for Black writers and thinkers. Members included Clement G. Morgan and William Monroe Trotter. Many of them later worked for civil rights.
She belonged to many community and education groups, both Black and white. Some of the white-led groups were the Twentieth Century Club and the Boston Ethical Society. She was also a strong leader in the Black community.
In 1893, she helped start the Woman's Era Club. This was one of the first clubs for African-American women. Her close friends Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin and Flora Ruffin Ridley helped her. The club published The Woman's Era, the first magazine by Black women.
She was on the board of directors for the Boston Literary and Historical Association. In 1903, she became its President. This group of Black activists supported civil rights. She was also one of the first women to join the Niagara Movement. She was part of the Committee of Forty, which helped start the NAACP. Maria Baldwin strongly supported women's right to vote.
She was also an early board member of the Boston Branch of the NAACP. She actively supported the Robert Gould Shaw House. This was a community center in South Boston. During World War I, she helped create the Soldiers Comfort Unit. This group supported Black soldiers at Fort Devens. After the war, the group changed its name to the League of Women for Community Service. She was the President of the League until she passed away in 1922.
On January 9, 1922, she was giving a speech at the Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston. She suddenly collapsed and died from heart disease.
Her Amazing Legacy
- Her home from 1892 has been kept safe as the Maria Baldwin House. It was named a National Historic Landmark. It is a private home and not open to visitors.
- On February 12, 2004, the Agassiz School was officially renamed the Maria L. Baldwin School. An eighth-grade student at the school started the idea. Other students and the principal strongly supported it.
- Maria Baldwin is honored on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail. This is because of her work with the League of Women for Community Service.
- The Agassiz neighborhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was renamed Baldwin in 2020.
See also
