Benner, Lorraine W., 1906-1995

Lorraine Wineow Benner was born July 30, 1906 in Schenectedy, New York, and served on the faculty of Mount Holyoke College from 1951-1972 in the Department of Psychology and Education. Benner received her diploma from the Illman Kindergarten-Primary Training School in Philadelphia, and taught kindergarten in Longmeadow, Massachusetts from 1929-1943. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Education in 1941 from Boston University and her Master of Arts degree in Child Development in 1945 from Teachers College at Columbia University. During her leave of absence in 1940-1941 from her position as a kindergarten teacher in Longmeadow, Benner received the one fellowship awarded annually by the Association for Childhood Education International and worked as a staff member at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. She remained actively involved with the Association thereafter. Benner taught Education at Wheelock College and Smith College between 1943 and 1951. In 1951 she was hired to teach in the Psychology and Education Department and to direct the Gorse Child Study Center at Mount Holyoke College. Benner received a Fulbright grant in 1957 to be a visiting lecturer in Child Development and Family Relations at Ochanomizu Women's University in Tokyo, Japan. In 1964-1965, Benner taught at Women's Christian College in Madras, India, as one of five American professors selected to participate in the newly established US-India Women's College Exchange Program. On sabbatical from Mount Holyoke College in 1966 and 1967, she used a faculty grant to study children in the Himalayan Mountain Region. In addition to her responsibilities at Mount Holyoke, Benner was involved with many communities and organizations related to child development and early childhood education. She consulted with Head Start, an early education teacher training program, and lectured abroad and regionally. Following her retirement in 1972, she remained active in local and regional organizations relating to her academic field until her death on February 10, 1995 in South Hadley, Massachusetts.

From the guide to the Lorraine W. Benner Papers MS 0629., 1956-1995., (Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections)

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