Tufts University: 175 Years of Innovation

The Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development: When Elizabeth Pearson approached Abigail Eliot about opening a nursery training school in Boston, Eliot famously replied, "What's a nursery school?" In the coming years, these two women would change children's education in America. Together, Pearson and Eliot founded the Ruggles Street School, one of the first nursery schools in America. The school broke boundaries by introducing the early stages of child development as a field of study. In 1951, the Ruggles Street School began its affiliation with Tufts University. It was eventually renamed the Eliot-Pearson School and incorporated under the College of Special Studies.