Florence Holbrook

“She never struck anyone that I can recall; she just made you feel very small. That was enough for discipline. We feared but loved her.”

“There is a multitude of men and women doing delightful work in literature and language from Brookline to San Jose, from Kansas City to Toronto, from Birmingham to Seattle, but Florence Holbrook is as distinct in her leadership as are Luther Burbank, Julia Richman, and Jane Addams in their distinctive fields.”

“Holbrook has a theory that if children hear the best of literature from the beginning of their education they will never wish for any other.”

“Florence Holbrook is a woman who is not interested in educational work alone; she is strong enough to be interested in all that affects humanity.”

“Museums, theatres, and concert halls are all around us, but what use are they unless you can get the child into the way of having sympathy for the art and the artist, of seeing and hearing the thing itself and talking about it?”

“The pupils should retell the stories, thus enriching their vocabulary and learning to express thought clearly, easily, consecutively, and confidently,– a power so much needed and so valuable to citizens of a republic.”