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Flora J. Cooke (December 25, 1864 - February 21, 1953) was an American progressive educator. She helped found and was principal of the Francis W. Parker School for 34? years.
December 25, 1864
Flora Juliette Cooke | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Flora Juliette Hannum December 25, 1864 |
| Died | February 21, 1953 (aged 88) |
| Occupation | Educator |
| Years active | 1884-1939 |
| Known for | Progressive education and the Francis W. Parker School |
Biography
Flora Juliette Hannum was born December 25, 1864 in Bainbridge Township, Ohio[1] to Rev. Sumner Hannum and Rosetta Ellis Hannum.[2] She was one of six children.[2] Her mother died when she was five and her father put Flora and her siblings up for adoption.[2] Flora was a "headstrong child" and went through six homes in a year.[2] She was finally adopted by her mother's friends Charles Cooke and Luella Miller Cooke of Youngstown, Ohio in 1881.[2]
Cooke was educated in the public schools in Youngstown[1] and graduated high school there in 1884.[2] She immediately began her career teaching in rural schools in the area.[2] From 1885 to 1889 she was teaching at the Hellman Street School in Youngstown, at the end as its principal.[2] At the Hellman Street School she met Zonia Baber, a graduate of the Cook County Normal School (a teacher training school in Chicago).[2] Baber was a disciple of the methods of Francis Wayland Parker of that institution.[2] Baber and Cooke began a lifelong professional association.[2]
In 1889 when Baber was back teaching at Cook County Normal School, Parker invited Cooke to become a student[2] on the suggestion of Baber.[3] After graduation Cooke taught at the institution's practice school, and Parker said she had become "the best primary teacher I ever saw."[2][3] Cooke would spend ten years at the school, and became an evangelist for Parker's methods, eventually speaking in 28 states including Hawaii.[2] She also represented Parker internationally at conferences in Switzerland and Denmark.[2]
When philanthropist Anita McCormick Blaine funded a new private school called the Chicago Institute to serve as a laboratory for Parker's research, Cooke joined him.[2] This eventually became the School of Eduation at the University of Chicago.[2] Blaine also funded the creation of the Francis W. Parker School and Cooke was made its first principal, a position she held until her retirement in 1934.[2]
While at the Parker School, she advanced both Parker's ideas and her own on progressive education.[2] She ensisted on enrolling a diverse student body, hoping the private school would also serve as a model for public education.[2] She defended the rights of students, including one who wrote a pacifist essay during World War I, incurring the wrath of parents.[2] She treated the school as a learning laboratory, and in 1932 agreed for it to participate in the Eight-Year Study, which added to the school's reputation.[2]
After retirement she was a trustee of the Parker school until 1948.[2] She was one of the founders of the North Shore Country Day School and was a founder and trustee of Graduate Teachers College of Winnetka and Roosevelt University in Chicago.[2]
She remained active in her later life, including becoming involved in a "celebrated controversy" with Senator Theodore G. Bilbo over his racially motivated opposition to fair employment legislation.[2][4] She was also a member of liberal organizations including the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, the NAACP and the ACLU.[3]
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Her papers and those of the Francis Parker school are held at the Chicago Historical Society.[8] Cooke never married.[3] She died of a heart attack on February 21, 1953.[2]