Time March 16–23, 2020DIDRIKSON, FAR RIGHT, WON
THE 80-M HURDLES AT THE 1932
LOS ANGELES OLYMPICS1930s1931
Maria Montessori
Rethinking the classroom
In thousands of classrooms around the
world, as children work independently
to solve math problems with beads
and learn the alphabet with sandpaper
letters, their activities can be traced
back a century to Maria
Montessori’s radical edu-
cational philosophy.
One of the first fe-
male physicians in Italy,
Montessori developed
early-childhood teaching methods that
made the student a respected collabo-
rator and independent thinker, rather
than the submissive pupils of yore. In
1931, she trained teachers through her
Association Montessori Internationale
and hosted Mahatma Gandhi, who sup-
ported the use of her methods in India.
Her approach has educated generations.
—Katie Reilly
1930
Martha Graham
The deity of modern dance
In 1930, choreographer Martha Graham
debuted Lamentation, a wrenching
solo piece in which a shrouded and
self-bound figure twists and writhes,
contracted into her pain and the search
for its release. Created in contrast to
male-dominated Russian and European
schools—and the
decorative roles they
gave female dancers—
Graham’s work laid
the foundation for
contemporary dance.
Her technique uses the power of the
pelvis, controlled breath and weighted
movement to embody a ritualized way
of inhabiting the feminine form. In
reflecting visceral elements of universal
human experience and collective
memory, Graham asks us to move not
just our bodies, but our souls.
—Marisa Tomei
Tomei is an Oscar-winning actor
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