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1870
Maria Montessori born on August 31 in Chiaravalle, Ancona province, Italy. -
Maria Montessori attends a boys’ school in Rome, with a science/engineering emphasis.
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Against opposition from her father, she pursues her wish to become a doctor.
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Maria Montessori Becomes one of the first women to obtain a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Rome.
Represents Italy at the International Women’s Congress in Berlin; delivers address on rights of working women, including equal pay for equal work.
Studies the writings of French doctors Itard and Séguin, who worked with disabled children. -
In 1897, Maria joined a research program at the psychiatric clinic of the University of Rome. This work initiated her deep interest in the needs of children with learning disabilities. She studied & translated the work of two early 19th century Frenchmen, Jean-Marc Itard and Edouard Séguin, and adopted their sensorial materials. Maria's direction at Orthophrenic School fostered the development of some children to achieve the same results on state exams as typically developing schoolchildren.
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First Children’s House (Casa dei Bambini) is opened at 53 Via dei Marsi in the San Lorenzo district of Rome on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6.
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Resigns her teaching post at the University of Rome and gives up her private medical practice to concentrate entirely on education. Anne George, an American women from New York was one of the 100 students who was taught by Maria Montessori. • In 1911, she opens the first Montessori school in Tarrytown, New York. Anne George’s Montessori Classroom The Edward Harden Mansion, home to the first Montessori School in the United States.
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Montessori Educational Association founded in the United States. Its membership includes Alexander Graham Bell, his wife, Mabel Bell, S.S. McClure, and President Wilson’s daughter, Margaret Woodrow Wilson.
First trip to the United States. -
Dr. Montessori returned to the U.S. in 1915 to demonstrate her method at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, and to give an international training course for prospective Montessori teachers. The “Glass Classroom” was constructed and this unique design enabled spectators to observe a class of young students who worked with intense focus and concentration,
By 1916, more than 100 Montessori schools were operating in the U.S. -
William Kilpatrick, figure in the progressive education movement, and student of John Dewey, was one such detractor. Kilpatrick criticized Dr. Montessori’s credentials, perspectives, and overall philosophy. Dismissed her beliefs of the role of the teacher, classroom size, and materials rejected her interpretation of development, and freedom the children have. Kilpatrick’s negative assessment of Montessori quickly became accepted throughout the U.S. and most Montessori schools closed by 1920s.
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Departs for India with Mario to run what was to be a three-month training course at the invitation of the Theosophical Society. Italy enters World War II. Mario Montessori interned by the British colonial government and Maria Montessori confined to the compound of the Theosophical Society. Mario is released in August out of the Viceroy’s respect for Maria Montessori and to honor her 70th birthday. Still, the Montessoris are not allowed to leave the country until the war is over.
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Maria and Mario Montessori establish a Montessori Centre in London.Trip to Italy: revival of the Montessori Society. Montessori establishments start to be reopened. Assistants to Infancy work initiated in Rome.
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Maria Montessori dies May 6 in Noordwijk aan Zee, Netherlands; she is buried at the local Catholic cemetery.
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In 1953, Rambusch’s quest for a better approach to educating American children took her to Paris for the Tenth International Montessori Congress, where she met Mario Montessori, Maria’s son and her successor as head of the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), an organization she had founded to support the Montessori Movement.
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In 1956, the Rambusch family moved to Greenwich, CT. There, Nancy became involved with a group of prominent parents who wanted to be deeply involved with their children’s education. In 1958, they founded Whitby School—the first Montessori school to open in the U.S. since the initial flurry of interest in Montessori in the early 20th century. The board selected her as head of school.
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The following year, Mario Montessori appointed Nancy Rambusch to serve as the U.S. representative of the AMI.
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Six months later, in 1960, and with the vigorous support of parent-advocates, Nancy Rambusch founded the American Montessori Society. The goals of AMS were to support efforts to create schools, develop teacher education programs, and publicize the value of Montessori education. TIME magazine featured Rambusch, Whitby School, and the American Montessori revival. The article galvanized the American public, and parents turned to AMS in large numbers for advice on starting schools and study groups.
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The American Montessori Society leads, empowers, and serves the global community of Montessori educators as the foremost advocate for research and policy, ongoing teacher education, and standards of accreditation through opportunities for mentored individual growth, collaboration, and member engagement.
As a hub of all things Montessori, AMS strives to anticipate and respond to the needs of our varied constituents.
