The Ridge Historical Society
The First Chicago Christmas Tree and the Ridge –
Part 2 – The Kindergarten Movement and the Hofer Sisters
By Carol Flynn
Amalie Hofer Jerome, from the Hofer family who lived on the Ridge, was an honorary vice president for the lighting ceremony for the first Chicago municipal Christmas tree displayed in 1913.
The Hofer family had three sons and five daughters.
The sons were mentioned in the previous post. The family had owned a newspaper in Iowa, and the sons all moved to Oregon and stayed in the newspaper and publishing business.
The five daughters in the family all went into education, writing and publishing, and social reform work. They were leaders in establishing kindergartens and training programs for kindergarten teachers. They were covered in a 2013 RHS newsletter, and those pages are presented here in jpeg form. A PDF version is also available that can be sent by Messenger upon request.
Next post: Amalie Hofer Jerome and the Civic Music Association