John "Kinderman" Taylor Papers

John Taylor (b. 1936 - d. 2018) was a teacher, music and dance instructor, and popular children's television star in Baltimore. He is known as the "Kinderman" because of his successful children's television shows "It's Kindertime" and "The Kinderman Show." Taylor was born and raised in Baltimore; he lived in the region including Columbia for the majority of his life.

Growing up in Baltimore, Taylor enjoyed dance and eventually went to New York to pursue a career in dance and performance. After returning to Maryland, Taylor earned a bachelor’s degree at Morgan State University and a master’s degree in art education from the Maryland Institute College of Art. In the 1950s, he began teaching in the Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County school systems. His teaching career spanned 18 years.

In the 1970s, he returned to music and dance and founded his own business: The John Taylor Experience, where he taught disco dances. Later he began to teach dance aerobics. In the 1980s he began focusing on teaching music and dance to children.

Throughout the 1990s, Taylor was a popular children’s television star in Baltimore and around the region. He was associated with the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts and its early learning institute. Taylor’s show on WMAR-TV, “It's Kindertime,” ran for six years and was a three-time National Capital Region Emmy Award winner. After "It's Kindertime," the station aired Taylor's “The Kinderman Show.” He continued performing for decades at malls, festivals, schools, and other events until his death in 2018.

Information for this historical note came from materials in the collection and from a local news obituary.