AN ANNOTATED CHRONOLOGY OF LANDMARKS IN THE

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF ADULT EDUCATION WITH

PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE U.S.A.

By Roger Hiemstra

Introduction

   Because of current emphasis on the education of children and

youth and the institutionalization thereof, it would be easy to

overlook the fact that some of the most influential persons of

recorded history have been teachers of adults.  Striking and

confirming examples of course are Socrates and Jesus.  Oral 

presentations and dialogue were the dominant methods, and adults were

the participants.  For anyone who wishes to pursue the theme that

the education of adults is the oldest form of education, he will find

the first sections of Grattan's In Quest of Knowledge revealing

instructive and rich in perspective.

An Annotated Chronology

1727  The Junto established by Benjamin Franklin

   First called the 'Leather Apron', this is a secularization of the

Puritan divine Cotton Mather's idea (1710) of a discussion club.  The

original rules would still be regarded as good guidelines for

discussion.

1826  The first lyceum at Millbury, Mass.  Organized by Josiah Holbrook

   The first step in a national lyceum movement involving the

organization of local study groups.  Generally credited with

anticipating the development of later 'home study' programs, the

introduction of the lecture-forum method, as well on the action side

as being greatly influential in creating popular support for

establishing the public school system.

1833  The first tax supported library at Peterborough N. H.

1862  Two events:  the beginning of the U. S. Department of

Agriculture and The Land Grant Act (The Morrill Act)

   These are the strategic items of federal legislation that

initiated the institutional structure for the later emergence of the

Cooperative Extension System in 1914  (Smith Lever Act)

1874  The Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, New York

   Founded originally as a training school for Sunday School

teachers, and located on the shores of Lake Chautauqua, New York the

response to its program was so favorable that its agenda expanded

to include a broad range of favorable studies.  William Rainey

Harper, one of its earliest directors later became the charter

president of the University of Chicago where he introduced

correspondence study and other features which he encountered at

Chautauqua.  The institution has flourished continuously to the

present time and is one of the few agencies that has from the

beginning been designed primarily for adult education in its many

manifestations.

1911  The State Board of Vocational and Adult Education established

in Wisconsin

1912  The Smith-Lever Act setting up the Cooperative Extension

Service in the U.S. Department of Agriculture

   Another one of the few programs designed "especially for

adults".

1917  The Smith-Hughes Act launching vocational education in

public schools for adults and youth above age fourteen

1918  The first full time state supervisors of adult education

appointed in New York and South Carolina

1924  The National Education Association created its Department of

Adult Education

   At first this was aimed primarily at education of the foreign

born but later greatly widened the scope of its interests.

1926  American Association of Adult Education organized

   The A.A.A.E. initially subsidized by the Carnegie Corporation

(Dr. Frederick Keppel, president and father of Frank Keppel, recently

U.S. Commissioner of Education) and directed by Morse A. Cartwright

was the first organization to give structure and visibility to adult

education as a national movement.  It held annual national

conferences, set up a program of publications, subsidized research.

Many of its chief participants were leaders in American education

and thought but not always noted for their direct involvement the

practice of adult education.

1933  The Federal Emergency Relief Administration - FERA

1935 The Works Progress Administration - WPA

   The FERA and later, the WPA made federal funds available for

literacy education, general adult education, parent education,

workers education, vocational education, art education, etc.  It

greatly broadened the scope of public school adult education and left

a permanent deposit especially in the cultural field.

1936  Federal forum project inaugurated by the U.S. Office of

Education

   This was the outcome of the leadership of Dr. John

Studebaker, who as U.S. Commissioner of Education and with federal

funds set up a nationwide experiment in public forums using forum

committees under the supervision of state departments of education

as the local operating and sponsoring agency.

1942  The U.S. Armed Forces Institute established

   Located in Madison, Wisconsin USAFI provides a variety of

educational services to military and civilian personnel in the armed

forces, including correspondence study courses, group study guides,

resident center programs, tests of general educational development

(G.E.D. tests) educational and vocational advice, etc.  Currently the

trend for USAFI is to decentralize its operations by contracts for

educational programs to colleges and universities.

1947  The first session of the National Training Laboratory in

Bethel, Maine

   NTL the basic headquarters for "Sensitivity Training" and the

development of the application of group dynamics is essentially an

adult education enterprise.  Although it has an affiliation with the

NEA it is a good example of how a program of adult education has

influenced the methodology of instruction under both formal and

informal auspices.

1951  Formation of the Fund for Adult Education (F.A.E.)

   The F.A.E. was set up by the Ford Foundation in April 1951 and

continued until its termination in 1961.  It subsidized many projects

of the new Adult Education Association of the U.S.A., supported a

substantial program of research and publication, conducted a

training awards program for the service training of adult education

leaders, etc.

1951  Founding of the Adult Education Association of the U.S.A.

   The A.E.A. - U.S.A. came into being in May, 1951 at Columbus,

Ohio, a month after the F.A.E.  It combined the former American

Association for Adult Education and the former Adult Education

Department of the N.E.A.  It is the most representative ("umbrella")

organization of adult education in the U.S.A.

1952  Organization of the National Association of Public School

Adult Educators

   N.A.P.S.E. was set up to promote the special interests of public

school adult education in a way that the A.E.A. seemed not to be able

to do.  It is serviced by the National Education Association and is

the official spokesman for the public school sector of the field.

1964  The Economic Opportunity Act Title II, Part B (Public Law

88-452)

   This is the portion of the "poverty" act which provided funds

for adult basic education.  These funds have since been transferred

from the Office of Economic Opportunity (O.E.O.) to the Office of

Education.

1965  The Higher Education Act

   Title I of this legislation provides funds for College and

Universities to engage in community service.  So far the program it

has initiated is little more than holding its own.  But at least it

establishes a new domain and legitimizes community service

primarily to urban communities by colleges and universities in a

way somewhat comparable to that supported by the Land Grant

System through the Cooperative Extension service for rural areas.

1966  The Adult Education Act of 1966 (and 1970)

1969  The Galaxie Conference on Adult Education - Washington, D.C.

1972 - 1974  The National Adult Education Think Tank Project

1976  The Lifelong Learning Amendment

Some Implications of the Preceding Chronology

The preceding inventory of events seems to tell us that the

development of adult education has been largely an "ad hoc" affair.  It

is a highly pluralistic movement in a pluralistic society without any

evidence of the operation of a "grand strategy".

Most of the impetus for the federal support of adult education has

grown out of "emergency" and "quasi-emergency" situations.  Some of

these have been war related, e.g. the Morrill Act, the Smith Hughes

and Smith Level Acts.  Others have reflected severe economic

conditions, e.g.  FERA-WPA and more recently MDTA and Adult Basic

Education.  Even Title I of Higher Education could be interpreted as

an effort to meet the urgent needs of our cities.

For the most part, the pressure for adult education has originated

and been sustained by forces outside the agencies which ultimately

set up programs to serve adults.  Cooperative Extension is, of

course, an exception and from now on out, the Community College

promises to be another.  But generally the public schools,

universities, libraries, churches, voluntary associations, and

governmental agencies, have generally been pressured by the sheer

weight of social need and adult demand into including the

instruction of adults as part of their programs.  A case in point is

adult basic education-other examples could be cited.  Harper of

Chicago, Van Hise and Harrington of Wisconsin are almost alone

among the university Presidents, the John Studebaker of Des Moines

(later U.S. Commissioner of Education) is almost alone as a

Superintendent of Schools in being outstanding spokesman for the

field.

Selected Bibliography

Grattan, C. H. (1955). In quest of knowledge. New York: Association Press.

Knowles, M. S. (1962). The adult education movement in the United States. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.

Stubblefield, H. W. (1988). Towards a history of adult education in America. London: Croom-Helm.

 

Stubblefield, H. W., & Keane, P. (1994). Adult Education in the American Experience: From the Colonial Period to the Present. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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