Susan Blow opened the first kindergarten in the United States, in St. Louis. While in Germany with her father, Susan saw first hand how Friedrich Froebel's theories (the founder of kindergarten or “children’s garden”) were being applied to early child education. She saw the importance and need back in America. So in 1873 she founded the first successful public kindergarten at Des Peres School in Carondelet, St. Louis Missouri, and ran it for the next eleven years without any pay. Blow taught children in the morning and teachers in the afternoon.
While most classrooms were plain, Blow’s kindergarten classroom was bright and cheerful. It had low tables and short benches just right for small children. The room contained many plants, books, and toys for children to use during work and play. Students learned about color, shapes, and fractions by using simple objects like balls and blocks. They also learned about keeping themselves clean, eating well, and getting regular exercise.
By 1883 every St. Louis public school had a kindergarten, making the city a model for the nation. Devoting her life to early education, Susan Blow was instrumental in establishing kindergartens throughout America.
She died in 1916 and was buried at
Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis. You can also see a bust of Ms Blow in the
Hall of Famous Missourians in the State Capitol in Jefferson City.
Every woman who votes has Virginia Minor to thank for it. She launched the Woman Suffrage Association of Missouri in 1867, and five years later became a part of a nation-wide throwdown about women's rights. She first attempted to register to vote and when denied, her husband sued the St. Louis register of voters on her behalf (did you think women could file a lawsuit? Nope). Based on rights outlined in the 14th Amendment, she claimed it was illegal to deny her the right to vote because she was a native-born, free, white citizen of the United States & the State of Missouri over the age of 21. The case was first heard at the Old Courthouse in St. Louis, and eventually went all the way to the US Supreme Court, who ruled that suffrage was not coextensive with citizenship. Although she lost the lawsuit, she was still really tough for trying to shake things up. 
Her grave is in Bellefontaine Cemetery in Block 51, Lot 1623. And while you're there, don't forget to stomp on the grave of Smith Gant, just across the road in block 33, lot 2824, who represented the voting commissioner in Ms. Minor's Lawsuit. 
