World's Oldest Early Childhood Programs

In the November 2010 issue of Exchange we will be listing the "50 Oldest Early Childhood Programs in the World."  This will highlight the fact that early childhood services are not a recent development.  In fact, in the United States, the first child care agency was founded in New York City 30 years after the USA declared its independence.  We described the history of this program in the November 1990 issue of Exchange:

"In 1806, Ms. Isabella Graham, Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, and 12 other women established the Orphan Asylum Society.  Other early contributors to this organization included Governor DeWitt Clinton, Peter Stuyvesant, and Jennie Lind.

"These men and women were concerned with the plight of orphaned children who were often forced to work for food and shelter under harsh and exploitative circumstances.  As New York City grew, these concerns broadened to include children of 'poor but worthy parents' who needed to 'go to their daily labors' knowing their children 'would be trained for some practical, useful course of life' and 'taught their duties and responsibilities as members of society.'  As a result, in 1835, the Society of Half Orphan and Destitute Children was opened to meet the child care needs of working parents.

"The Orphan Asylum and the Half Orphan Society continued in operation until 1977 when the two organizations consolidated into a single agency. The merger created today's Graham-Windham agency, whose mandate throughout 180 years has remained constant:  to aid homeless, neglected, and handicapped children and fragile families in trouble."

We need your help in compiling the list of the 50 oldest early childhood programs in the world.  To qualify, these organizations need to have been providing full-day or part-day child care services for children under the age of six continuously since 1912 or earlier.  If you know of an organization that may qualify for this list, please send us the organization's name along with a contact person at that organization (and e-mail address if possible) to [email protected].

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