The family moved to Midway, Kentucky, then to Davenport, Iowa, where by 1870 he was described in the census as a land agent.

Intrigued by the ideas used by a German woman working at her school, Harrison decided to find out more.

[9] During her career, Harrison wrote a number of books, including: A Study of Child Nature (1890 – which saw 50 editions published in the following years[2]), In Storyland (1895), Some Silent Teachers (1903), Misunderstood Children (1908), Montessori and the Kindergarten (1913) and The Unseen Side of Child Life (1922).

In 1893, the college published Harrison's book, The Kindergarten as an Influence in Modern Civilization, in which she explained, "how to teach the child from the beginning of his existence that all things are connected [and] how to lead him to this vital truth from his own observation .

[11][12] Nobel Peace Prize winner, Jane Addams of Hull House, said of her colleague and friend, that Elizabeth Harrison "has done more good than any woman I know.

"[13] In the 1890s, Harrison organized a series of annual conferences in Chicago, which led to the founding of what is today the National Parent Teachers Association (PTA).