Hortense M. Orcutt was born in Conway, Massachusetts and was the daughter of William Baker and Mary Elizabeth Orcutt. She attended the Ethical Cultural School in New York, New York where she studied to become a kindergarten teacher. Orcutt worked as a kindergarten teacher and principals of kindergarten programs in New York before accepting the position of supervisor of the Kate Baldwin Free Kindergarten program in Savannah, Georgia. Orcutt held this job until her death in Savannah in 1936. The Kate Baldwin Free Kindergarten was founded in Savannah by the children of Kate A. Baldwin as a memorial to her. It was incorporated in 1899 as a "benevolent and charitable institution for the free training, instruction, and education of young children under the kindergarten system of education, so as to inculcate in them habits of industry and morality and fit them for entrance into institutions of higher education." It operated kindergartens (as many as five at one time) and a training school (also referred to as the Normal Department) for kindergarten teachers.
From the description of Hortense M. Orcutt papers, 1904-1922. (Georgia Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 318327777
