Margaret McMillan

Margaret McMillan

Margaret McMillan was born to James and Jean McMillan in Westchester County, New York, on 20 July 1860. Her parents were from Inverness but had emigrated to the United States in 1840. When she was four an epidemic of Scarlet fever killed her father and sister and left Margaret deaf (she recovered her hearing at the age of fourteen). Thereupon Mrs. McMillan returned to Scotland with her daughters Margaret and Rachel McMillan, where both attended the Inverness High School. McMillan's mother Jean McMillan died in 1877.^{[citation needed]}

McMillan went on to study Psychology and Physiology, followed by Languages and Music in Germany.

With Bradford's school medical officer, James Kerr, McMillan carried out the first medical inspection of elementary school children in Britain. They published a report and began a campaign for local authorities to install bathrooms, improve ventilation and supply free school meals for children, after seeing the success of Bradford Cinderella Club providing a warm meal to underprivileged children.^{[citation needed]}

In 1902 the sisters joined the recently formed

In 1908 McMillan and her sister opened England's first school clinic at Bow followed by the Deptford Clinic in 1910. A Night Camp where slum children could wash and wear clean nightclothes followed. In The Child and the State published in 1911, McMillan argued that schools should be offering a broad and humane education instead of preparing children for unskilled, monotonous jobs.^{[citation needed]}

McMillan and her sister campaigned for

McMillan died in Harrow, London in 1931.

Legacy

The Rachel McMillan College, named after Margaret's sister, was founded in 1930 and merged with

In early May 1936 the Duke of York opened Margaret McMillan House. The first purpose-built outdoor centre created in memory of Margaret McMillan. The centre is now part of the charity, Widehorizons, which delivers a range of adventure based activities.

A memorial college to Margaret McMillan was opened in Bradford in 1952.^[5]

An English Heritage blue plaque commemorates McMillan and her sister, Rachel, at 51 Tweedy Road in Bromley where they lodged.^[6]

An award-winning park named after her^[7] stands on the site of what was once one of the most deprived streets in Deptford, as shown on the poverty map published by Charles Booth.^[8]

There is a Grade II listed memorial to Margaret McMillan located within the Rachel McMillan Nursery School in Deptford.^[9]

Published work

• The Life of Rachel McMillan by Margaret McMillan. J.M. Dent and Sons, London (1927)
• Education Through the Imagination by Margaret McMillan. BiblioBazaar (10 February 2009)
  ISBN 978-1103333233
• Early Childhood Education: A Series of Classic Readings by Margaret McMillan. Cosmo Publications (30 November 2008)
  ISBN 978-8130706689
• The Nursery School by Margaret McMillan. BiblioLife (10 Dec 2009)
  ISBN 978-1117660783
• Reflections on Contemporary Nursing by Judith Townsend and Margaret McMillan. Butterworth-Heinemann (17 July 1995)
  ISBN 978-0750689113
• Wikidata Q107325671
• Child Labour and the Half-time System (Clarion pamphlet) by Margaret McMillan (1896) "Clarion" Newspaper Co (1896) ASIN B0008BN3JG
• The Passing of Rudolf Steiner McMillan, Margaret. 1925 Article: Journal of Education and School World 57 (June): 392-393.
• Margaret McMillan (1907). "
  Wikidata Q107211889
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