Early Kindergarten
Camilla Cobb was born in Dresden, Germany, in 1843. Her father died when she was young which resulted in Camilla being adopted by her sister and brother in-law, Dr. Karl G. Maeser. In 1855 the entire family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before emigratting to the US in 1858. She married James T. Cobb in 1864 after moving to Utah[1], becoming his second wife (he married Mary Van Cott in 1859). Camilla was given permission to travel to New Jersey in order to study teaching by Brigham Young. [2]
Cobb returned from her training in New Jersey to open Utah's first kindergarten in 1874 in a house owned by Brigham Young. She taught and ran the school for two years before being encouraged to teach older children. As there were no other teachers trained to teach at a kindergarten level, the school closed. [3]
Photograph of an Early Kindergarten Class, date unknown
Camilla Cobb was the First Certified Kindergarten Teacher in Utah, date unknown
Soon many schools, kindergartens included, were opened by different religious organizations. By 1890 there were no sectarian public schools in Utah. In 1893 Bessie Goodrich was invited to direct a kindergarten in Salt Lake City which would be sponsored directly by the parents. In the same year the Utah legislature passed a bill allowing kindergarten to become part of the public school system but that did not allocate any tax dollars to support them. [4]
This bill allowed families to petition the school board to build a kindergarten if 25 children within a certain radius were interested in attending. The cost varied depending on the teacher, school district, and if it was privatized. The exhibit includes cards from early kindergartens advertising fees of $0.35/week per child or $1 for 3 weeks. [5]
Anne Marie Felt Fox, born on July 24, 1900, to Jessie M. and Rena Neve Fox, spent her life in Salt Lake City working in the field of education. She attended public schools in Salt Lake, graduated from LDS High School, and went on to graduate from the University of Utah as a kindergarten and primary teacher. She taught in public schools from 1919 to 1931 and served as president of the State Kindergarten-Primary Association from 1927 to 1931. [6]
Portrait of Augusta W. Grant the First President of the Utah State Kindergarten Association, date unknown
Throughout her life, Marie Fox Felt involved herself in organizations and activities whose purposes lay in benefitting children. She was instrumental in establishing the Kiwanis-Felt Boys and Girls Clubs. As a teacher, author, and community figure, her contribution to the welfare of children in Utah has been significant. [6]
During the 1960s Anne Marie began to write a history of kindergartens in Utah as a thesis for a M.A. degree in the Department of Education at the University of Utah, titled "History of Kindergartens in Utah During the Pioneering Period, 1874-1898". Although never completed, she did write a partial history dealing with the pioneering period of the kindergarten movement and collected a great deal of research material from 1874 through the 1960s. [6]
Anne Marie was married in 1931 to Joseph H. Felt, a prominent Salt Lake businessman. She died in 1974. [6]
Anne Marie Fox Felt Papers Finding Aid
Anne Marie Fox Felt Photograph Collection Finding Aid
[1] Jenson, A. (1941). Latter-Day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia (Vol. 4, p. 279) [Review of Latter-Day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia]. Deseret News. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/BYUIBooks/id/5676
[2] Family Search. (2025). James Thorton Cobb [Review of James Thorton Cobb]. Family Search; Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/about/KWN2-4Q4
[3] Women and the Kindergarten Movement in Utah - Issuu. (2022, December 22). Issuu. https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume81_2013_number2/s/10422432
[4] Center for the Study of Child Care Employees. (2022). Association for Childhood Education (ACE) State Kindergarten Histories [Review of Association for Childhood Education (ACE) State Kindergarten Histories]. University of California Berkely . https://cscce.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/ECHOES-ACE-Kindergarten-Histories.pdf
[5] Anne Marie Fox Felt papers, MS 0142, Box 1, Folder 11. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.
[6] Anne Marie Fox Felt papers - Archives West. (2018). Orbiscascade.org. https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv62637