Editing Patty Hill

{{Short description|American educator and songwriter}}
{{Other people|Patty Smith|Patricia Smith (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix   = 
| name               = Patty Hill
| honorific_suffix   = 
| image              = 
| caption            = 
| birth_name         = Patty Smith Hill
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1868|03|27}}
| birth_place        = [[Anchorage, Kentucky]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1946|05|25|1868|03|27}}
| death_place        = [[New York City]], U.S.
| death_cause        = 
| resting_place      = [[Cave Hill Cemetery]]
| other_names        = 
| education          = 
| alma_mater         = 
| occupation         = {{flatlist|
* Composer
* teacher
}}
| notable_works      = "[[Happy Birthday to You]]"
| spouse             = 
| partner            = 
| relatives          = [[Mildred J. Hill]], Jessica Hill (sister)
| awards             = Columbia University (Honorary doctorate), induction into the [[Songwriters Hall of Fame]]
}}
'''Patty Smith Hill''' (March 27, 1868 – May 25, 1946)<ref name="snyder">Snyder, Agnes. ''Dauntless Women in Childhood Education, 1856–1931.'' 1972. Washington, D.C.: Association for Childhood Education International. p. 233-270.</ref> was an American composer and teacher who is perhaps best known for co-writing, with her sister [[Mildred Hill]], the tune which later became popular as "[[Happy Birthday to You]]". She was an American [[nursery school]], [[kindergarten]] [[teacher]], and key founder of the National Association for Nursery Education (NANE) which now exists as the National Association For the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

==Family and early life==
Patty Smith Hill was born in 1868 in [[Anchorage, Kentucky]], just outside [[Louisville]]. Her parents were passionate people who instilled in Patty and her siblings the importance of education, the value of play, and the necessity of advocating for others. Her father, William Wallace Hill, was born in [[Bath, Kentucky]], graduated from [[Centre College]] in [[Danville, Kentucky]] in 1833, and earned a doctorate of Theology from [[Princeton University]] in 1838. He dedicated his entire life to ministry and education, which took the Hill family from Kentucky to [[Missouri]] to [[Texas]]. Her mother, Martha Jane Smith, was William's second wife (his first died in childbirth), and was born in [[Pennsylvania]], but as an adolescent moved with her brother to live with their aunt and uncle on their plantation in Danville. Martha Jane was intent on learning and passing along education to others, evidenced, for example, by the fact that she taught the slaves on the Grimes plantation to read and write.

Hill's parents were committed to their children's education; her father is reported to have told his daughters to understand the value of a good education, and that it was, "a tragedy for women to marry for a home. Don't live with law kin! Don't even if you have to live in a hollow tree!" Empowered by her parents' encouragement, Patty graduated valedictorian of her class from the Louisville Collegiate Institute in 1887.

==Career in early childhood education==
Hill was an authority and leader in the [[progressive education]] movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Patty developed the Patty Hill blocks and in 1924 helped create the Institute of Child Welfare Research at [[Columbia University Teachers College]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Patty-Smith-Hill|title=Patty Smith Hill {{!}} American educator|work=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=September 25, 2017|language=en|archive-date=October 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009014513/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Patty-Smith-Hill|url-status=live}}</ref> The Patty Hill blocks were large blocks with which children could create giant constructions. She was a member, President, and lifetime support of the Association for Childhood Education International.{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}}

=="Happy Birthday to You"==
Hill is perhaps best known as the sister of [[Mildred J. Hill]], with whom she is credited as co-writing the tune to the song "[[Good Morning to All]]".  The tune became even more popular as "[[Happy Birthday to You]]"<ref name="snyder"/> during the 20th century. Hill and her sister Mildred wrote the song (Mildred wrote the tune; Patty wrote the original lyrics) while Mildred was a composer of songs and Patty was principal at the Louisville Experimental Kindergarten School. This kindergarten was an early experiment in modern educational methods, and was honored, along with the Hill sisters, at the [[World's Columbian Exposition|Chicago World's Fair in 1893]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}}

==Later life and honors==
Patty Smith Hill, who never married, was awarded an honorary doctorate degree by [[Columbia University]] in 1929.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rVLOhGt1BX0C&dq=Mildred+J.+Hill+death&pg=RA1-PA195 | title=Notable American Women 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary | publisher=Harvard University Press | year=1971 | accessdate=April 4, 2013 | author=James, Edward T. | pages=195 | isbn=9780674627345 | archive-date=May 24, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240524090325/https://books.google.com/books?id=rVLOhGt1BX0C&dq=Mildred+J.+Hill+death&pg=RA1-PA195#v=onepage&q=Mildred%20J.%20Hill%20death&f=false | url-status=live }}</ref> Hill died at her home in [[New York City]], and is buried in [[Cave Hill Cemetery]], [[Louisville, Kentucky]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8eFSK4o--M0C&dq=Mildred+J.+Hill+death&pg=PA431 | title=The Kentucky Encyclopedia | publisher=University Press of Kentucky | date=May 18, 1992 | accessdate=April 4, 2013 | author=Kleber, John E. | pages=431 | isbn=0813128838 | archive-date=May 24, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240524090347/https://books.google.com/books?id=8eFSK4o--M0C&dq=Mildred+J.+Hill+death&pg=PA431#v=onepage&q=Mildred%20J.%20Hill%20death&f=false | url-status=live }}</ref> She and Mildred J. Hill were posthumously inducted into the [[Songwriters Hall of Fame]] on June 12, 1996.

==See also==
* [[Kenwood Hill]] – Louisville neighborhood where Patty and sister Mildred occasionally resided<ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.ky.gov/markers/the-little-loomhouse |title=The Little Loomhouse - Marker Number: 2298 |website=Kentucky Historical Society |access-date=May 25, 2024}}</ref>
* [[List of people from the Louisville metropolitan area]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Library resources box|by=yes|onlinebooksby=yes|viaf=21247850}}
{{wikisource author}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120722163516/http://www.littleloomhouse.org/happy-birthday-song/ The Happy Birthday Song and The Little Loomhouse]
* {{IMDb name|0384558}}
* {{Discogs artist|Patty Smith Hill}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Patty}}
[[Category:1868 births]]
[[Category:1946 deaths]]
[[Category:Teachers College, Columbia University faculty]]
[[Category:Writers from Louisville, Kentucky]]
[[Category:Burials at Cave Hill Cemetery]]
[[Category:Songwriters from Kentucky]]
[[Category:Educators from Louisville, Kentucky]]