What did Elizabeth Peabody do when she founded the first kindergarten in the United States?

The first kindergarten in the United States was founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1860. It was founded by Elizabeth Peabody, an educational reformer and a scholar in the 19th century American literary and philosophical movement. Peabody invited experienced kindergarten teachers from Germany to come to the United States to staff her school. Peabody’s school attracted widespread attention, and in the 1870s private kindergartens and kindergarten teacher training schools were started in most major American cities. By 1885 there were 565 private kindergartens in the United States serving 29, 716 children.
    Charity kindergartens—or so-called free kindergartens—for children of the poor became one of the main instruments of the progressive women’s and social movements of the late 1880s and 1890s. The teachers from these charity kindergartens often made home visits and taught songs, poems and games to mothers to use with their children.
    In 1873 the St. Louis public school system established the first public kindergarten in the United States. Under the leadership of American educational reformer Susan Blow, St. Louis had 60 public kindergartens by 1885. By 1910 most major American cities offered public kindergarten education. However, once established in the public schools, kindergartens began to change. For example, they began to include more preschool training and preparation for first grade.