Sidonie Matsner Gruenberg

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Sidonie Gruenberg
Gruenberg c. 1940
Gruenberg c. 1940
Born1881
Died1974
NationalityAustrian
CitizenshipAmerican
Literary movementChild Study Association of America
Notable worksYour Child Today and Tomorrow
SpouseBenjamin Gruenberg

Sidonie Matsner Gruenberg (1881–1974) was a parenting expert, writer, and director of the Child Study Association of America.[1][2]

In her 1912 book Your Child Today and Tomorrow, Gruenberg popularized the idea of giving an allowance to children so they could understand how to spend it.[3]

Life[edit]

Sidonie Gruenberg was born in Austria and educated in Germany and New York City.[1] She married Benjamin Gruenberg, a biology teacher, in 1903, and had four children between 1907–1915: Herbert, Richard, Hilda, and Ernest.[4]

In her parenting books, she said that children do not have any moral actions, so parents should permit actions to help them grow in their individual expression.[3] Gruenberg rejected what she saw as "arbitrary puritanism" in American parenting, saying that strict parents suggest "every desire and impulse of being Satanic."[3] On behalf of Macy's, she lectured at an exposition on "why children should have toys" in 1928.[5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Sidonie Matsner Gruenberg". American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
  2. ^ Sicherman, Barbara (1980). Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary. Harvard University Press. pp. 295–296.
  3. ^ a b c Leach, William (1993). Land of Desire. New York: Pantheon Books. p. 330. ISBN 9780307761149.
  4. ^ Roberta Wollons. "Sidonie Matsner Gruenberg". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
  5. ^ Leach, William (1993). Land of Desire. New York: Pantheon Books. p. 329. ISBN 9780307761149.

External links[edit]