Annie Laws

Anna "Annie" Laws (January 20, 1855 – July 1, 1927) was an American educator, clubwoman, and philanthropist based in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was president of the International Kindergarten Union from 1903 to 1905.

Early life and education Anna Laws was born in Cincinnati, the daughter of James Hedding Laws and Sarah Amelia Langdon Laws. She attended Miss Appleton's School. In 1924, she received an honorary master's degree in education from the University of Cincinnati, in recognition of her career in the field.

Career Education Laws co-founded the Cincinnati Kindergarten Association in 1879; she was president of the association from 1901 to 1927. She was president of the International Kindergarten Union from 1903 to 1905, and chaired the Union's "Committee of Nineteen", working with other kindergarten movement leaders including Lucy Wheelock, Susan Blow, Patty Hill, and Elizabeth Harrison. From 1912 to 1916, Laws served on the Cincinnati Board of Education, as its first woman member.

Laws hosted meetings of the Cincinnati Visiting Nurse Association in her home. In 1888 she helped to establish the Cincinnati Training School for Nurses, and was president of the school. She founded the School for Household Arts in Cincinnati in 1910. She was president of the Ohio Federation of Women's Clubs from 1907 to 1909. She served on the local program committee of the biennial meeting of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, when it met in Cincinnati in 1910. She was president of the Cincinnati chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. There is a collection of papers related to Laws in the University of Cincinnati Libraries, which also holds the records of the Cincinnati Kindergarten Association. A portrait of Annie Laws, painted by Dixie Selden, is in the collection of the University of Cincinnati Fine Arts Collection. The Annie Laws Auditorium at the University of Cincinnati was built and named in her memory.