Index to Kindergarten Songs Including Singing Games and Folk Songs

In Short

This reference work is a meticulously compiled index of songs designed for use in kindergarten classrooms, encompassing singing games, folk tunes, and early childhood melodies. By indexing sixty-three distinct collections, it provides a structured guide for educators seeking specific pieces by composer, title, or first line. Though its utility as a shopping list for modern acquisition is limited, it remains a vital historical document, preserving a snapshot of the musical and pedagogical landscape of 1914. It has lasted as a testament to the era's commitment to standardizing children’s education through song.

The Story

The volume begins with an administrative necessity: the need for order in the face of an overwhelming influx of musical material. Librarians in St. Louis, prompted by the specific demands of local kindergartners, found themselves unable to efficiently locate the myriad songs required for daily classroom instruction. What began as a local inquiry blossomed into a larger enterprise, ultimately requiring the support of the American Library Association Publishing Board. The narrative of the book is one of transition—moving from the chaotic, uncatalogued shelves of public library branches to a standardized index modeled after the well-known Granger index to recitations.

The architecture of the book is defined by its scope and its exclusions. It explicitly categorizes its contents into three varieties: collections dedicated solely to kindergarten songs, those blending kindergarten and folk material, and those containing folk music exclusively. The author, working with a team of librarians, establishes a clear methodology for inclusion, prioritizing works recommended by the St. Louis Board of Education and the American Library Association’s existing catalogs. By deliberately omitting kindergarten magazines, the creators focus their attention on permanent, bound collections, ensuring that the index points to stable, accessible resources rather than ephemeral periodicals.

The arc of the index is essentially a giant, alphabetical map. From the opening entries under "C"—such as the "Cachucha" or the "Cackling hen"—to the final specialized lists at the end of the volume, the work serves as a reliable, if dry, guide to the musical education of the time. The transition from the main index to the "Lists of Songs for Special Days" marks the practical conclusion of the project. This final section shifts the focus from simple retrieval to thematic utility, categorizing songs by their appropriateness for holidays like Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, and Washington's Birthday.

The ending of the book is not a narrative resolution, but a functional one. It closes with a list of songs for Washington’s Birthday, having completed its service as a tool for the teacher. There is no moral arc, only the satisfaction of a task completed: the chaos of sixty-three separate songbooks has been compressed into a single, navigable alphabet. The book concludes with the quiet assurance that, for the seeker of a specific melody or verse, the labor of the librarians has rendered the search unnecessary.

How It Unfolds

The mandate for order The project arises from the practical frustrations of St. Louis librarians who struggled to locate specific songs requested by kindergarten teachers. This identifies the core struggle: the sheer volume of musical material in circulation without a reliable way to access it.

Defining the scope The author clearly establishes which collections are eligible for indexing, focusing on books found in library catalogs and school recommendations. This step filters out noise and ensures the index acts as a professional, rather than popular, guide.

The mechanism of access The core of the work adopts the formatting conventions of established literary indexes, allowing for rapid look-ups by title, composer, or first line. This provides the reader with three distinct entry points for every song, maximizing the utility of the data.

Thematic categorization After the main index concludes, the work introduces a secondary layer of organization by grouping songs according to the calendar year. This creates a bridge between pure alphabetization and the seasonal needs of the classroom.

The final utility The concluding pages offer a definitive list of holiday-specific music, closing the book on a note of practical application. It leaves the user with a complete, if purely utilitarian, resource for their professional requirements.

The People

The book is a collaborative effort, yet the voices behind it are distinct in their roles. Margery Closey Quigley stands as the primary compiler, though she is quick to deflect sole credit. She acts as the engine of the project, executing the labor-intensive task of cataloging while acknowledging the institutional guidance of figures like Harriet P. Sawyer and Effie L. Power. These women are the intellectual architects of the work; they identified the gap in educational resources and directed the staff toward a solution.

Arthur E. Bostwick, the Librarian of the St. Louis Public Library, serves as a peripheral but crucial figure. His role is to provide the necessary administrative backing and "advice occasionally in matters of policy," acting as a steward for the project's institutional transition to the American Library Association. The "other members of the staff" represent the anonymous workforce, the hands that physically sifted through the sixty-three collections to transcribe titles and authors. Together, these figures represent a professional class of women in the early twentieth century—librarians who recognized that their duty extended beyond simply housing books to actively organizing information for the benefit of the community's teachers. Their collaboration transforms the disparate efforts of songbook publishers into a unified, accessible system.

In Its Own Voice

The index, the plan of which is similar to that of the well known Granger index to recitations, was suggested by demands from St. Louis kindergartners for the location of songs for which they were searching.

This sentence from the Preface explains the primary motivation for the book's creation.

Three types of books are indexed:--those containing only kindergarten songs, those containing both kindergarten and folk songs, and those including folk songs only.

This description from the Plan of the Index clarifies exactly what the reader can expect to find within the pages.

What It's Really About

The book is an argument for the necessity of classification in the service of education. It posits that musical knowledge, when trapped in the sprawling, unindexed volumes of the past, is effectively lost to the practitioner. By imposing an alphabetical structure on the amorphous world of song, the author suggests that the librarian’s role is to act as a bridge between the vast inventory of human expression and the specific, immediate needs of the classroom. Underlying this is a desire for efficiency and standardization in the kindergarten movement, viewing the teacher’s preparation as a task that should be streamlined by professional bibliography rather than hindered by the inefficiency of searching through disorganized archives.

Why Read It Today

Reading this today is an act of historical immersion. It is not a book for someone looking for lyrics or melodies—it is a dry, technical index. However, for those interested in the history of education, library science, or the development of pedagogical tools, it offers a fascinating, granular look at what was considered essential musical knowledge in 1914. There is a quiet, rhythmic pleasure in the lists themselves; scanning the entries for "Caterpillar" or "Dandelion" reveals the charming, nature-focused aesthetic of the era's childhood education.

The book is honest about its limitations. It does not attempt to be a "discriminative check-list for purchase," meaning it is a historical record rather than a guide to finding these books on shelves today. The period attitudes are evident in the selection of songs and the structure of the classroom, reflecting a time when the "kindergarten song" was a highly curated, almost ritualistic component of the school day. Some readers may find the reliance on outdated references and the absence of modern context challenging, but those who appreciate the beauty of archives will find the precision of the work compelling. It remains a sturdy, unpretentious monument to a time when information had to be found by hand, and librarians were the primary gatekeepers of that discovery.