Eliza Blaker

(1854-1926)

If the first years of one’s life are the most important in shaping the kind of person one becomes, then Eliza Blaker was probably the most influential person in Indianapolis around the turn of the last century.

By 1907, the Free Kindergarten Society she established 25 years prior had taught 49,252 children, assisted 53,171 women in finding ways to improve the home, enriched 33,267 boys and girls in Saturday classes, and taught 5,574 teachers in the Normal School she established, which later became part of Butler University.

Burial: Section 15, Lot 114; GPS (39.8177641, -86.1753600)