Ruth Beaglehole
Ruth Beaglehole (August 30, 1943 – April 21, 2025) was a New Zealand-born American educator and child development specialist based in Los Angeles, California. Over a career spanning more than fifty years, she advocated for nonviolent parenting and helped transform how early childhood care and parenting education were understood and practiced in the region.[1][2]
Early life and immigration
[edit]Beaglehole was born in Wellington, New Zealand on August 30, 1943, the child of an American mother and a New Zealander father. She trained as a preschool teacher before immigrating to the United States in the 1960s at the age of 25. She settled in Los Angeles and became part of a community engaged in progressive activism, including organizing a food cooperative in Echo Park known as the Food Conspiracy.[1]
Community-based childcare
[edit]In response to the lack of quality, affordable childcare for working families in her neighborhood, Beaglehole founded a grassroots childcare center in the double garage of her Echo Park apartment complex. The center, called the Silver Lake People’s Playgroup, offered early childhood education for $20 per month and emphasized parental involvement and social justice education. Children in the program sang songs like We Shall Not Be Moved alongside traditional children’s songs.[1] The center later changed its name to the Echo Park-Silver Lake People's Child Care Center,[3] and was featured in the short documentary Power to the Playgroup, which received an Emmy Award.[2]
Due to zoning regulations, the garage-based center faced closure. Beaglehole and other parents organized and addressed the Los Angeles City Council, ultimately helping to change local regulations to permit preschools in residential areas.[1][3][4][5][6]
Work with teen parents
[edit]In the 1980s, Beaglehole founded the Teen Parenting and Childcare Program at the Business Industry School (later the Los Angeles Technology Center), part of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). The program offered parenting classes to pregnant and parenting students alongside their academic curriculum. She incorporated storytelling and role-play to help young parents reflect on their own experiences and develop empathetic parenting practices.[1][2][7][8][9][10]
Center for Nonviolent Education and Parenting
[edit]In 1999, Beaglehole founded the Center for Nonviolent Education and Parenting, which focused on educating adults to treat children with dignity and respect. Her approach rejected traditional reward-and-punishment methods and promoted a philosophy of mutual understanding and emotional awareness. The center served a broad demographic, including both court-mandated participants and voluntary attendees.[2] It later changed its name to Echo Parenting and Education.[11]
Personal life and death
[edit]Beaglehole was married for several years to Art Goldberg, an attorney, and had three children, including Rabbi Susan Goldberg.[2][12] Her sister-in-law was the politician Jackie Goldberg.[3][13] Another sister-in-law was the epidemiologist Ruth Bonita. Beaglehole died on April 21, 2025 at the age of 81.[1]
Legacy
[edit]Beaglehole was a pioneer in nonviolent parenting education and a community leader whose work influenced generations of families in Los Angeles.[2][14] She was considered an expert in her field and was interviewed and quoted by many journalists on topics related to early childhood education and healthy parenting behavior.[15][16][17][18][19] In her later years she traveled to India, Japan, Africa, and New Zealand to lead trainings on nonviolent parenting and domestic violence.[20]
Publications
[edit]- Mama Listen! Raising a Child Without Violence: A Handbook for Teen Parents (1998).[21]
- A Compassionate Guide to Parenting with Nonviolence (2024).[20]
External links
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Rainey, Libby (May 14, 2025). "Ruth Beaglehole, early childhood pioneer in LAUSD, dies". LAist. Retrieved May 27, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f Netburn, Deborah (May 23, 2025). "Long before Dr. Becky, this L.A. woman changed parenting for good". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 27, 2025.
- ^ a b c Grange, Lori (1990-05-03). "Day-Care Center Teaches Commitment Echo Park: It Was Founded 20 Years Ago by Self-Described Progressives Who Believed in Fostering Political and Social Awareness". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Cheryl Revkin (2016-05-22). SLHC Interview with Ruth Beaglehole and Stephanie Woods (YouTube). Silver Lake History Collective.
- ^ Estepa, Andrea; White, Deborah Gray (2017). "When a 'Sister' Is a Mother: Maternal Thinking and Feminist Action, 1967–1980". In Brown, Leslie (ed.). U.S. Women’s History: Untangling the Threads of Sisterhood. Rutgers University Press. p. 158. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
- ^ Spain, Daphne (2016). Constructive Feminism: Women’s Spaces and Women’s Rights in the American City. Cornell University Press. pp. 42–43. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
- ^ Aubry, Erin J. (1995-03-12). "Crenshaw Mentor Program for Teen Parents Offered". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Abcarian, Robin (1991-10-13). "In Love and in Danger: Teen Victims of Dating Abuse Often Are Too Immature and Insecure to Escape Jealous, Sometimes Violent Boyfriends". Los Angeles Times – via ProQuest.
- ^ Mitchell, John L. (1995-03-25). "Teen-Age Mothers Say Reforms Could Limit Opportunities". Los Angeles Times – via ProQuest.
- ^ Hall, Carla (1994-11-19). "Taking Parenting a Step at a Time: Education at L.A. Adult Occupational Center, Young Mothers Celebrate the Learning of Skills and Lessening the Violence Against Their Children". Los Angeles Times – via ProQuest.
- ^ Hilfman, Karen (2012-04-20). "Patch Blog: Meet Ruth Beaglehole – Parent Education Pioneer". Patch.com.
- ^ Overend, William (1976-05-09). "Lawyers: Two Sides of a Spectrum". Los Angeles Times. p. 4-D1 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Smith, Ryan E. (2011-09-27). "Acting Rabbi Brings Rebirth to 1920s Shul". Jewish Journal.
- ^ Banks, Sandy (2000-04-30). "Should the Hand That Rocks the Cradle Also Spank?". Los Angeles Times – via ProQuest.
- ^ Vidal, Josefina (2005-05-26). "Niños Expulsados en la Educación Preescolar". La Opinión – via ProQuest.
- ^ Richards, Andrea (March 2014). "Mad About You". Los Angeles Magazine. Vol. 59, no. 3. p. 112. ProQuest 1514945821.
- ^ Abcarian, Robin (1994-03-06). "Making a Difference, One Young Woman at a Time". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 282333416.
- ^ Akundi, Sweta (2018-12-17). "Adults Too, Have to Respect Children". The Hindu. ProQuest 2157259364.
- ^ Sanchez, Jennifer W. (2009-08-27). "Conference Takes Aim at Domestic Violence". The Salt Lake Tribune – via ProQuest.
- ^ a b "About Ruth Beaglehole". Retrieved 2025-05-28.
- ^ Noriyuki, Duane (2001-03-15). "In Books, a Bridge to Becoming a Better Parent; Through Reading, a Young Mother Has Learned How to Control Her Temper and Connect With Her Toddler Sons". Los Angeles Times – via ProQuest.