author

Alice Chipman Dewey

1858–1927

A reform-minded educator and feminist who helped shape progressive education at a formative moment in American life. Her work is often mentioned beside John Dewey’s, but her own story shows a thinker, organizer, and advocate in her own right.

1 Audiobook

Letters from China and Japan

Letters from China and Japan

by John Dewey, Alice Chipman Dewey

About the author

Born in Michigan in 1858, Alice Chipman Dewey was an American educator, philosopher, and social reformer. She graduated from the University of Michigan and became part of the circle of late 19th-century women pushing for broader educational and civic opportunities.

She is best known for her role in the rise of progressive education. Sources describe her as deeply involved in the educational work associated with John Dewey and as an important figure in the early University of Chicago Laboratory School, where she taught, developed curriculum, and served as principal. She was also active in feminist and suffrage causes.

Later accounts note that she took a strong interest in international and social questions as well, including concerns affecting Chinese students in the United States after travels in China from 1918 to 1920. Alice Chipman Dewey died in 1927, but recent historical work has increasingly highlighted how much she contributed on her own, not simply as part of her husband’s legacy.