Elizabeth Harrison (educator)
American educator (1849-1927)

Elizabeth Harrison (September 1, 1849 – October 31, 1927) was an American educator from Kentucky. She was the founder and first president of what is today National Louis University in Chicago, Illinois. Harrison was a pioneer in creating professional standards for early childhood teachers and in promoting early childhood education.
Life
Elizabeth Harrison was born in Athens, Kentucky, the fourth child of Elizabeth Thompson Bullock and Isaac Webb Harrison. According to the 1850 census, Isaac Harrison was a merchant there. The family moved to Midway, Kentucky, then to Davenport, Iowa, where by 1870 he was described in the census as a land agent. Elizabeth Harrison was invited to Chicago in 1879 by her friend Mrs. W.O. Richardson to pursue a career in education. After encountering the early kindergarten movement in Chicago and studying with early kindergarten educator Alice Putnam, Harrison sought further training in St. Louis and New York.
The public source identifies “Elizabeth Harrison (educator)” as american educator (1849-1927). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Elizabeth, Harrison and educator.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5362922. VIAF identifies the subject as 65533893. The Library of Congress control number is n87872542. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1849, 1927, 1850 and 1870.
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This entry incorporates text from “Elizabeth Harrison (educator)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.