Melanie Alexander: A life of impact
Melanie Alexander was President of Newtown Day Nursery (today SDN Linthorpe Street) from 1940-1947. Melanie Alexander Nursery School (a demonstration school on the premises of the Nursery School Teacher’s College in Newtown) was opened in 1957 in her honour as Melanie died suddenly of a heart attack on 17th April 1947.
Melanie Alexander (nee Scott) was born in Angus, Scotland on 3 December 1888. Her mother died in 1902 and Melanie was the family housekeeper until she left home to get married. She learned to play the pipe organ and was made organist at her local church in Scotland, and she was also a noted soprano.
She moved to London with her husband in 1910 and they had two sons. It was during her time in London that Melanie obtained her nous for organisation and fundraising. While her husband George was in France during World War I, she raised money for the Y.M.C.A. by putting together concerts.
The family moved to Sydney in 1923 and within a year of arriving Melanie was appointed Honorary Secretary of the North Sydney Day Nursery Committee and got busy raising funds to buy a property for a centre. A few years later she joined the Newtown Day Nursery and Nursery School Committee of which she eventually became President.
During World War II she ran a canteen on behalf of SDN that made a profit of £12,000 in four years. This money allowed the purchase and upgrade of the Nursery School Teacher’s College which eventually housed the centre named in honour of Melanie.
Below is the letter informing Melanie’s husband George of SDN’s plans for a new centre named in Melanie’s honour after her sudden passing.
