Indiana Historical Society - Manuscripts & Archives
User information
Biographical sketch
Scope and Content note
Cataloguing information
Processed by
Charles Latham
4 February 1994
VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 1 folder
COLLECTION DATE: 1994
PROVENANCE: CLIO grant by Indiana Historical Society
RESTRICTIONS: None
REPRODUCTION RIGHTS: Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained in writing from the Indiana Historical Society
ALTERNATE FORMATS: None
OTHER FINDING AIDS: None
RELATED HOLDINGS: None
ACCESSION NUMBER: 94.0367
Winifred Sackville Stoner (ca 1870-1931) and her daughter Winifred Sackville Stoner Jr. (born 1902) lived in Evansville from 1905 to 1910. The younger Stoner was a child prodigy, who at six was speaking six languages and using the typewriter. A good deal of her prowess seemed to be due to the way she was trained by her mother. A major tenet of the elder Stoner's system was that learning should be fun and exciting and should appeal to all the senses. At this time Mrs. Stoner was publishing books of verse and local histories. She was an advocate of Esperanto, the universal language that had been developed in 1897; in 1910 at the age of eight the daughter produced a translation of Mother Goose into Esperanto.
Michael V. O'Shea, a professor of education at the University of Wisconsin, became interested in Mrs. Stoner's methods. After she had deluged him with letters of explanation, he urged her to write down and publish her games and techniques. He submitted her work to the Bobbs-Merrill Company in Indianapolis, which brought out her Manual of Natural Education in 1916. Mother and daughter continued to publish works during the 1920s, including a monthly pamphlet, Mother Stoner's Bulletin, which discussed the Stoner philosophy of education. Both women were clearly very bright, and the mother was an adept practitioner of publicity.
After her mother's death Winifred Jr. faded from the limelight. She had two unsuccessful marriages.
Sources: Materials in collection
Indianapolis Star Magazine, 29 February 1976, pp.20-21
This collection consists of one item, a photocopy of "Winifred Sackville Stoner and Winifred Sackville Stoner Junior: A Selected Bibliography," by Maria (Koens) Nix. The 26-page work is the product of a CLIO grant from Indiana Historical Society in 1993-1994. It includes a short essay about the Stoners, short comments on a number of their books, and a list of eleven others.
MAIN ENTRY: Nix, Maria Koens
SUBJECT ENTRIES: Stoner, Winifred Sackville, b. 1902
Stoner, Winifred Sackville, 1883-1931
Education--United States--Philosophy
Educational innovations--United States
Learning
Women in education--Indiana--Evansville
Authors--Indiana--Evansville
Women authors--Indiana--Evansville
Bibliographers--Indiana
Evansville (Ind.)
ADDED ENTRIES: Nix, Maria Koens
END