Horace Mann

This article is about the educator Horace Mann. On the diplomat, see Horace Mann, 1st Baronet ; on the botanist, see Horace Mann junior

Horace Mann (around 1850)

Horace Mann (born May 4, 1796 in Franklin , Massachusetts , † August 2, 1859 in Yellow Springs , Ohio ) was an American politician of the Whig Party , a member of the US House of Representatives from Massachusetts and an educator and educational reformer , known as "Father of public education in the United States "applies.

Life

Studies, legal and political work

Mann came from a poor background, had to contribute to the family's livelihood at an early age and acquired much of his basic knowledge of history and theology through self-study in the small library founded by Benjamin Franklin in his hometown. In 1816 he was prepared for college within six months and graduated from Brown University in Providence in 1819 with honors.

He then studied for a short time law in a law firm in Wrentham , but then took 1820 to 1822 working as a tutor for Latin and Greek at Brown University, where he was also 1821-1823 librarian . In addition, he again studied law from 1821 to 1823 with James Gould at the well-known Law School founded by Tapping Reeve in Litchfield and was admitted to the state of Massachusetts after completing his studies .

In 1823 he opened a lawyer own firm in Dedham . A few years later he began a political career and was initially from 1823 to 1827 a member of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts . After he had established himself as a lawyer in Boston in 1833 , he continued his political activities and was not only a member of the Massachusetts Senate between 1833 and 1837 , but also President of the Senate from 1835 to 1837.

Educational reformer

In 1837 he was appointed secretary of the newly created Board of Education of Massachusetts and thus began his work as an educational reformer in this state. During his activity, which lasted until 1848, he held teachers' meetings and gave lectures and greetings. In addition, he conducted extensive correspondence and implemented numerous reforms. This was followed by the planning and introduction of the system of the normal school, the American school for teacher training, as well as the establishment and publication of the journal The Common School Journal in 1838. He also prepared a series of annual reports that were widely distributed and thus promoted the reputation of the general education common schools. Ultimately, however, his work not only contributed to the reform of schools in Massachusetts, but also in other US states.

However, he was often subjected to severe criticism, especially from schoolmasters in Boston, who rejected his educational theories and innovations. On the other hand, his reforms met with resistance from some religious sects who were dissatisfied with the exclusion of all sectarian instruction in schools. He always countered criticism objectively, albeit sometimes with unnecessary vehemence and relentlessness.

In his manner he was optimistic and did not allow criticism to dissuade him from his ideas. A follower of the theories of his contemporary, the Scottish philosopher George Combe , he believed in the infinite betterment of mankind and was convinced that nothing had as much moral , intellectual and material use as sustainable education .

Congressman and opponent of slavery

On April 3, 1848, he resigned from his post as secretary of the Board of Education, after serving as a candidate of the Whig party as successor to the late former US President John Quincy Adams as a member in the United States House of Representatives was elected. In this he represented after his re-election in 1849 and another re-election as a non-party until March 3, 1853, the eighth congressional electoral district of Massachusetts.

During his time as a congressman he was one of the most capable opponents of slavery , but not an abolitionist and ultimately rejected the radicalism of William Lloyd Garrison and his supporters.

In 1852 he ran for the Free Soil Party for governor of Massachusetts , but was defeated by the Whig Party candidate, John H. Clifford .

College president

After leaving the House of Representatives, he was President of the newly formed Antioch College in Yellow Springs from 1853 until his death . At the same time he worked there as a professor of political economy , intellectual and moral philosophy and physics theology .

The college received inadequate financial support and suffered attacks from religious sectarians, in particular he was accused of dishonesty because he was initially a Unitarian but then joined the Christian Connection , which founded Antioch College in 1852. On the other hand, he received admiration from his students and through his numerous speeches he had a great influence on education in the American Midwest .

Publications

Horace Mann published his thoughts in numerous writings and books such as:

• A Few Thoughts for a Young Man (Boston, 1850)
• Slavery: Letters and Speeches (1851)
• Powers and Duties of Woman (1853).

Posthumously published works Sermons (1861), Life and Complete Works of Horace Mann (2 volumes, Cambridge, 1869), Thoughts selected from the Writings of Horace Mann (1869) and The Case for Public Schools .

Honors

US Post special stamp (1940)

In 1845 Mann was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

Numerous schools in the USA are named after him, such as the Horace Mann School in New York City , the Mann Arts and Science Magnet Middle School in Little Rock , the Horace Mann Elementary School in Oak Park (Illinois) , the Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Allston (Boston) and the Barnstable Horace Mann Charter School in Barnstable .

In 1940 the US Post issued a special stamp in his honor . Furthermore, Horace Mann was honored by being inducted into the Hall of Fame for Great Americans .

literature

• Ernest Cassara: Reformer as Politician: Horace Mann and the Anti-Slavery Struggle in Congress, 1848-1853 . In: Journal of American Studies , 5 December 1971, pp. 247-264
• Jonathan Messerli: Horace Mann: A Biography . Button Publishing, New York 1972
• Chambers Biographical Dictionary . Edinburgh 2002, ISBN 0-550-10051-2 , p. 999
• Man, Horace . In: James Grant Wilson, John Fiske (Eds.): Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography . tape 4 : Lodge - Pickens . D. Appleton and Company, New York 1888, p. 190 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).

Web links

Commons : Horace Mann  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Horace Mann in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Horace Mann in the nndb (English)