Home > Encyclopedia of Psychology > Margaret Naumburg

1890-1983
American educator; founder of the Walden School and pioneer in art therapy.

Margaret Naumburg was not a psychologist, but her work as an educator and as a therapist influenced twentieth century ideas about creativity and mental illness. Her work with children and with the mentally ill was widely studied by psychologists and psychiatrists. She was able to achieve all this despite her lack of training as a scientist.

Naumburg was born in New York on May 14, 1890. She attended Barnard College (graduating in 1911) and continued with graduate studies at Columbia University. Later, she studied in Europe; while in Rome, she studied briefly with the educational innovator