Celebrating a Visionary Early Childhood Development Model

Maritime Child Development Center

Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, many women entered the paid workforce to contribute to the war effort. Though this employment fulfilled the country’s need for production, it created a shortage of care for young children. Centers such as the ones developed by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company and the Richmond City School District in Richmond, California, advanced the ideas of progressive childcare and provided a nurturing environment for children in a time of flux.

The children’s daily routine included art appreciation, reading, music, stories, hygiene lessons, nutritious hot meals and plenty of vigorous exercise – a model that offered working women a quality preschool education previously available only to the wealthiest families and one that would eventually prove to make a significant difference in children’s achievement. Today, preschool is recognized as an essential addition to a child’s early development.

Monica Haley, art director of the Richmond child care centers, developed an educational philosophy highlighting creative engagement as a route to mental and social development. Haley saved more than 5,000-plus pieces of children’s art and donated the entire art collection to the Richmond Museum of History & Culture.

Exhibit Opening Reception

March 17, 5:00 – 7:00 pm

Maritime Child Development Center

1014 Florida Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804

This event is open to the public. For more information, visit rosietheriveter.org

A selection of children’s art from Haley’s collection will be on display in various locations throughout Richmond in the spring. This project is made possible by a generous Neighborhood Public Art (NPA) mini-grant from the Richmond Arts and Culture Commission. Rosie the Riveter Trust will co-host the cross-city exhibit opening reception on March 17.

The exhibit is a colorful and reflective reminder of how critical publicly-funded childcare was to the success of Richmond’s war effort. After the war’s end, the Maritime continued to provide high quality child care to mothers working outside the home until 1966.

Artwork will be on display at various locations including the Maritime, in the Children’s Room at the Richmond Public Library, at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Golden State Model Railroad Museum, SS Red Oak Victory Ship, East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, Family Justice Center, and the Early Childhood Mental Health Program. This effort is spearheaded by the Richmond Museum of History & Culture and supported by community partners throughout Richmond, including the National Park Service and Rosie the Riveter Trust.