Adolph Douai

Carl Daniel Adolph Douai ( born February 22, 1819 in Altenburg Duchy of Saxe -Altenburg, † January 21, 1888 in Brooklyn, New York City, USA ) was a German - American journalist, author, newspaper editor, social reformer ( Marxist) and educator, one of the first founders of a kindergarten in the United States.

Family

He came from a family of teachers and was the son of the teacher Carl Eduard Douai ( 1793 -? ) And Eleonora Scheyer (1797 - ).

Douai married on September 25, 1843 in Moderwitz of Jena ( Duchy of Saxe -Altenburg ) Agnes Baroness von Beust ( born February 18, 1819 in Dresden, Saxony, † December 13, 1898 in Brooklyn, New York, USA), the daughter of Maximilian Freiherr von Beust (185-1832) and the Baroness Charlotte von Haacke ( 1788-1861 ). The couple Douai had 10 children ( 2 sons and 8 daughters ).

Life

Revolutionary in Germany

At the age of four years Douai should have learned from his father, writing, reading and arithmetic. He attended high school in Altenburg and then studied with a scholarship from the city of Altenburg at the University of Leipzig theology, philology and history. In 1841 he went on a multi-year study trip, which among other things led him into the Baltic to Estonia, where he worked as a private tutor. During this time he completed his doctorate at the University of Dorpat doctor of letters. In the self-study, he acquired extensive knowledge of world literature and modern science. It was not until 1846 he returned, now married for three years in his home town of Altenburg, where he successfully led a novel he founded a private school and the natural sciences and modern languages ​​gave preference different from the classical teaching content.

He participated diligently in the German Vormarz movement, wrote articles for various newspapers in which he spoke out for the revolutionary goals, and was one of the leading Republicans in the Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg. In his book " The ABC of Socialism" from 1851, he leaned close to the pedagogical views Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel ( 1782-1852 ) on. Due to its revolutionary, socialist commitment Douai was at least five times tried, and also received two prison sentences, including one year in jail and banned from working after his release he emigrated, many intellectuals and free thinkers to Texas. (see: Forty- Eighters ).

Journalist and educator in the U.S.

Douai reached Texas in May 1852, held initially with other refugees briefly in the "Latin Settlement " Sisterdale ( Texas) ( Kendall County) with Nicolaus zinc ( 1812-1887 ) and then settled in New Braunfels Comal County in neighboring, where he immediately founded a school. But already in the following year 1853, he moved to San Antonio ( Texas) ( Bexar County), where he became the editor of the newly founded " San Antonio newspaper ."

This newspaper had to start educational and literary content, but soon Douai used it as a platform against slavery ( abolitionist ). In a series of editorials he railed against slavery as an evil that is incompatible with the ideals of democracy and called for a nation " free peasants on their own soil ," which earned him everywhere sharpest protests. This went so far that volunteers from the local German " Turnverein " had to protect them from angry -slavery advocates his office.

The general reluctance of German immigrants against slavery separated them from their Anglo- American neighbors, the Germans also differed in language and culture. Her daily life was back then but mainly from agriculture, crafts and trade, so that they could live relatively independently as smaller ethnic group.

However, according to the Texas State Assembly ( Texas State Convention ) in 1854, support for Douais began to wane ideas even within this group of German immigrants. Several German towns written resolutions against his newspaper and merchants refused to run ads. Thereupon, the shareholders, to sell the newspaper, and Douai bought it together with the American landscape architects and travel writer Frederick Law Olmsted ( 1822-1903 ).

Douai sat in the newspaper changed its fight against slavery continues and finally called in the issue of February 9, 1855 even has its own free state in the western part of Texas. But when in 1856 the revenue continued to decline, he sold his share of Gustav Schleicher ( 1823-1879 ) and left Texas.

Douai went to the Northern States to Boston ( Massachusetts), a school and 1859 according to Froebel 's ideas (probably ) of the USA 's first public kindergarten founded there again - under the auspices of which he founded himself Workers' Association (Note: Margarethe Schurz had, however, already in 1856 the first private nursery furnishings in their house ). He joined the new Republican Party and toured the country to interest his fellow Germans for this party.

But because of its added atheism he also got into trouble with his opponents Boston and left the city already in 1860 again.

He moved on to Hoboken (New Jersey), where he was director of a German school and also editor of the New Yorker " Democrat ". In 1866 he finally moved directly to New York City, where he campaigned for the establishment of kindergartens. He founded several schools, wrote in 1871 a nursery manual and formulated guidelines for education. As leaders and teachers of these schools and kindergartens, he was always anxious to convert Froebel's educational guidelines into practice.

In the years 1868-1870 he was the editor of a labor newspaper, The New Yorker " Workers Union " and was in New York the leading Marxist. From 1878 until his death in 1888, he spent ten years with Alexander Jonas editor of " New York's People's Daily ", one of the longest-lived U.S. newspapers.

Private Douai was an excellent pianist, she even performed at social gatherings with other musicians on public and composed more than 60 pieces of music. During his years in San Antonio, he founded the glee club, which he also directed itself and its members he led in 1853 to New Braunfels, as there the first " Song Festival " was held.

At the end of his life he had written 35 books and his memoirs about his life in Texas.

Bibliography

• The ABC of Socialism. Altenburg 1851
• The kindergarten. A Manual for the Introduction of Froebel 's System of Primary Education into the public schools, and for the use of Mothers and Private Teachers. New York 1871 - translation into Japanese of Shinzo Seki, Tokyo (Japan) 1876
• Kindergarten and elementary school as a social-democratic institutions. Leipzig 1876