Patty Hill
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 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.This kindergarten was an early experiment in modern educational methods, and was honored, along with the Hill sisters, at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893.[citation needed] Patty Smith Hill, who never married, was awarded an honorary doctorate degree by Columbia University in 1929.