Carmelita Hinton (, April 20, 1890 – January 16, 1983) was an American progressive educator. She is best known as the founder in 1935 of The Putney School, a progressive boarding school in Vermont.
Early life
Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Hinton was one of four children. Her father, Clement Chase, owned a newspaper and a bookstore. He was a women's rights advocate and encouraged Hinton's energetic nature and belief that she could do what she wished with her life. Her mother, Lula Belle Edwards, disagreed and tried unsuccessfully to mold Hinton into a more traditional woman's role. During her years at the Omaha's Episcopal School for Girls, Hinton found herself bored with the traditional education and turned to various extra curricular activities including working as an assistant in her father's store and playing tennis. At Bryn Mawr College, where she trained as a teacher, Hinton deepened her love of reading and the type of education she had been seeking. She graduated in 1912, then moved to Chicago, where she lived at Hull House in 1913 as secretary to Jane Addams. At Hull House she enrolled in a two-year course on the playground, and soon after married Sebastian Hinton, a lawyer. During the first six years of their marriage, the Hintons had three children, all of whom attended their mother's school.
Personal life
Hinton had three children with Sebastian. Her daughter Jean Hinton Rosner (1917–2002) was a civil rights and peace activist. Her daughter Joan and her son William H. Hinton lived for decades in China before and after the revolution. William was a Marxist and sinologist. William's daughter and Carmelita's granddaughter Carma Hinton is a documentary filmmaker.