Hannah Kent Schoff

Hannah Kent Schoff (née Hannah Kent; June 3, 1853 – December 10, 1940) was an American welfare worker and reformer. She was influential in state and national child welfare and juvenile criminal legislation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Hannah Kent Schoff
Hannah Kent Schoff from a 1903 publication.
Born
Hannah Kent

(1853-06-03)June 3, 1853
Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, USA
DiedDecember 10, 1940(1940-12-10) (aged 87)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Known forpresident of the National Congress of Mothers
Spouse(s)
Frederic Schoff
​
​
(m. 1873⁠–⁠1922)​
Children7

Early life

Kent was born on June 3, 1853 in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania to woolen manufacturer Thomas and Fanny Kent. She was the eldest of five children and received an education from both private and church schools. On October 23, 1873, she married engineer Frederick Schoff, with whom she would raise seven children.[1]

Career

In the 1800s, Kent Schoff rose up the ladder within the National Congress of Mothers. She first became a project manager but was eventually promoted to vice president for a three-year term. She also founded the Pennsylvania Congress of Mothers in 1899 and became its first president until 1902.[1]

While in these leadership positions, Kent Schoff began to read news articles of youth tried and jailed as adults in the Pennsylvania area.[2] She was specifically interested in a case from May 1899, regarding an eight-year-old girl sentenced to the House of Refuge for arson.[1] This sparked her to lead a campaign to establish a Juvenile court system. She lobbied for states to follow the recently passed Illinois Juvenile Court Law, which mandated that youths be held in houses, not detentions while awaiting trials, regular checkups, and a mandated police officer watching over them.[2]

After taking over presidency of the National Congress of Mothers from Alice Birney, Kent Schoff persuaded President Theodore Roosevelt to endorse the Juvenile court system and was the first woman to speak in front of Canadian Parliament on this topic.[3] She also established a National Endowment Fund to sustain the organization, established the Home Education Division within the U. S. Bureau of Education, and created the first national magazine called the National Parent Teacher.[4] In 1908, the first International Congress on the Welfare of the Child was held under the sponsorship of the National Congress of Mothers and Parent-Teacher Associations.[5] In 1913, she was appointed director of the Home Education Division within the U. S. Bureau of Education.[2] Before her resignation in 1920, Kent Schoff changed the name of the organization to the National Congress of Mothers and Parent-Teacher Associations.[6]

While the organization supported the suffragist movement, Kent Schoff firmly believed in a women's power within the home.[3]

Kent Schoff died on December 12, 1940.[7][8]

Selected publications

The following is a list of selected publications:[9]

  • The history of the juvenile court movement in Pennsylvania (1903)
  • Education for child nurture and home making outside of schools (1915)
  • The Wayward Child: a study of the causes of crime (1915)
  • Education in the home (1916)
  • Wisdom of the ages in bringing up children (1933)

References
  1. Clapp, Elizabeth Jane (1998). Mothers of All Children: Women Reformers and the Rise of Juvenile Courts in Progressive Era America. Penn State Press. pp. 86–93. ISBN 9780271017785. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  2. Cutler, William W. (May 1, 2015). Parents and Schools: The 150-Year Struggle for Control in American Education. University of Chicago Press. p. 100. ISBN 9780226307930. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  3. Ladd-Todd, Molly (1994). Mother-work: Women, Child Welfare, and the State, 1890-1930. University of Illinois Press. pp. 48–49. ISBN 9780252064821. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  4. "Reflecting on the PTA Legacy: A Challenge for 21st Century Leaders". papta.org. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  5. "Hannah Kent Schoff, president, National Congress of Mothers and Parent-Teacher Associations 1902-1920 (Pennsylvania)". pta.org. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  6. "Hannah Kent Schoff". collaborativehistory.gse.upenn.ed. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  7. "HANNAH K. SCHOFF, CHILD-AID LEADER; Former President of National Congress of Mothers Dies". The New York Times. December 12, 1940. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  8. "Mothers' Leader Dies". San Antonio Express. Texas. December 12, 1940. p. 5.
  9. "Kent Schoff, Hannah". worldcat.org. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
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