Catharine Esther Beecher

Catharine Esther Beecher was an American educator known for her forthright opinions on female education as well as her vehement support of the many benefits of the incorporation of kindergarten into children's education.

Beecher was the daughter of outspoken religious leader Lyman Beecher and Roxanna (Foote) Beecher. She was the sister of Harriet Beecher Stowe, the 19th century abolitionist and writer, and of clergymen Henry Ward Beecher and Charles Beecher.

“Without attempting any systematic employment of time, and carrying it out, so far as they control circumstances, most women are rather driven along by the daily occurrence of life; so that, instead of being the intelligent regulators of their own time, they are the mere sport of circumstances.”