author
Clara Wood Mingins
b. 1860
A pioneering American educator, she is remembered for opening Connecticut’s first kindergarten and for her warm, thoughtful holiday story "A New Note in the Christmas Carol." Her life joined practical work in early childhood education with a gift for gentle, uplifting writing.
1 Audiobook
A new note in the Christmas Carol
by Clara Wood Mingins
About the author
Born in Pennsylvania in September 1859, Clara Wood Mingins built a career in education at a time when kindergarten was still a new idea in the United States. She opened the first kindergarten in Connecticut in 1884 and later led kindergarten programs in Detroit, earning recognition for her work in early childhood education.
Alongside that public work, she also wrote. Her best-known literary title today is A New Note in the Christmas Carol, a short seasonal piece that reflects the same humane, hopeful spirit that seems to have shaped her educational career.
Mingins died in 1917. Though not widely known now, she stands out as a figure who helped expand kindergarten education while also leaving behind a small but memorable contribution to holiday literature.