Maud Lindsay Free Kindergarten - Magnolia's Historical Setting, Part 4

By Billy Ray Warren

Located just a few blocks west of Magnolia’s property and a couple of blocks off of Veterans Drive on Enterprise Street is the historic Maud Lindsay Free Kindergarten, the first free kindergarten in the State of Alabama.
           
Established in 1898, its official name is the Florence Free Kindergarten, but it has always been known locally as the Maud Lindsay Free Kindergarten in honor of its world-famous teacher who was there from 1898 until her death in 1941.
           
Born in Tuscumbia in 1874 but living most of her life in Sheffield, Maud Lindsay was the daughter of Robert Burns Lindsay, the only foreign-born Governor of Alabama. (He emigrated with his family from Scotland.)
           
In 1898, a group of leaders in Florence (Miss Loulie Jones, Mrs. John R. Price, Mr. Frank Jackson and Mr. Thomas J. Phillips) recognized the need for a kindergarten to allow children of mill workers in east Florence to enjoy a pre-school experience.  They formed a Board and raised funds to purchase a building and to pay a small salary to a teacher.  Thus was born the kindergarten that still operates today (though it now serves younger children because the City of Florence, since 1972, has free kindergarten for all five-year-olds).
           
Little did the organizers know that they had found, right here in the Shoals, a teacher who was totally enchanted with pre-school education and who would become known throughout the world for her books written specifically for children.
           
Nominated by Dr. Pat Chandler, a Professor of English at the University of North Alabama, Maud Lindsay, a contemporary and personal friend of Helen Keller, has the distinction of being listed in the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame.
           
Though the Maud Lindsay Free Kindergarten still operates in its original building, it is not in its original location; in fact, it has been moved three times over the years.  Each move was within a few blocks of the original site.  The most recent move - to accommodate the construction of the new Regional Care Health Center - finds the building on the corner of Enterprise Street and Central Avenue.  The grounds have been beautifully landscaped and the exterior has received a fresh coat of paint.  It really looks grand - Miss Maud Lindsay would be proud.
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​Among the numerous stories and poems (and one play for children) published by Maud Lindsay, many people cite the following poem (just two of its stanzas are recorded here) as their favorite because it reflects her love for the Shoals area - from its red clay soil to its strong, sturdy residents (the latter referred to as the “rose” in the poem).

MY LAND IS A RED LAND
My land is a red land, with clay hills all aglow,
And roads like streaks of giants’ blood where my folk come and go.
Every man for his land where his own harvest grows;
But my land is a red land, and the red land breeds the rose.
My land is a scarred land, flood and storm cut deep,
But who would choose a smooth land that’s never learned to weep?
Every man for his land with his own weal and woes;
But my land is a red land, and the red land breeds the rose.