Horace Mann

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This article is about an early leader in education; for the private school in New York City, see Horace Mann School. For other uses of the name, see Horace Mann (disambiguation).

Horace Mann
Horace Mann
Born	May 4, 1796(1796-05-04) Franklin, Massachusetts
Died	August 2, 1859 (aged 63) Yellow Springs, Ohio
Resting place	North Burial Ground, Providence, R.I.
Education	Brown University Litchfield Law School
Occupation	College President Educator Politician
Spouse(s)	Charlotte Messer Mann (d. 1832), Mary Peabody Mann
Children	Horace Jr., George Combe, Benjamin Pickman
Parents	Thomas Mann, Rebecca Stanley Mann
Relatives	Stephen Mann (brother)
Signature

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Horace Mann (May 4, 1796 – August 2, 1859) was an American education reformer, and a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1827 to 1833. He served in the Massachusetts Senate from 1834-1837. In 1848, after serving as Secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Education since its creation, he was elected to the US House of Representatives. Mann was a brother-in-law to author Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Contents 1 Early career 1.1 Education 1.2 Massachusetts legislature 1.3 Law practice 1.4 Marriages 2 Education reform 3 U.S. Congress 4 Leadership of Antioch College and last years 5 Legacy 6 Works 7 See also 8 Further reading 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Early career

[edit] Education

Horace Mann was born on May 4, 1796,^[1] in Franklin, Massachusetts. His father was a farmer in limited circumstances, and the son was forced to procure by his own exertions the means of obtaining an education. He earned his school books when a child by braiding straw, and his severe and frugal life taught him habits of self-reliance and independence. From ten years of age to twenty he had never more than six weeks' schooling during any year.^[2] He made use of the town library, founded by Benjamin Franklin. At the age of 20, he enrolled at Brown University, and graduated after three years^[3] as valedictorian of his class in 1819. The theme of his oration was “The Progressive Character of the Human Race.”^[2] He then studied law for a short time at Wrentham, Massachusetts; was a tutor of Latin and Greek (1820-1822), and a librarian (1821-1823) at Brown University. He also studied during 1821-1823 at Litchfield Law School (the law school conducted by Judge Tapping Reeve in Litchfield, Connecticut), and in 1823, was admitted to the bar in Norfolk, Massachusetts.

[edit] Massachusetts legislature

Mann was elected to the legislature in 1827, and in that body was active in the interests of education, public charities, and laws for the suppression of intemperance and lotteries. He established through his personal exertions the state lunatic asylum at Worcester, and in 1833 was chairman of its board of trustees. He continued to be returned to the legislature as representative from Dedham till his removal to Boston in 1833. While in the legislature he was a member and part of the time chairman of the committee for the revision of the state statutes, and a large number of salutary provisions were incorporated into the code at his suggestion. After their enactment he was appointed one of the editors of the work, and prepared its marginal notes and its references to judicial decisions. He was elected to the Massachusetts State Senate from Boston in 1833, and was its president in 1836-1837.^[2] As a member of the Senate, he spent time as the majority leader, and aimed his focus at infrastructure, funding the construction of railroads and canals.^[4]

[edit] Law practice

In 1833, he entered into a law partnership with Edward G. Loring. In the practice of his profession he adopted the principle never to take the unjust side of any cause, and he is said to have gained four fifths of the cases in which he was engaged, the influence that he exerted over the juries being due in a great measure to the confidence that all felt in his honesty of purpose.^[2]

[edit] Marriages

In 1830, Mann married Charlotte Messer, though she died only two years later on August 1, 1832. His grief over her death never fully subsided.^[5] He later married Mary Tyler Peabody.

[edit] Education reform

It was not until he was appointed secretary (1837) of the newly created board of education of Massachusetts (the first such position in the United States) that he began the work which was to place him in the foremost rank of American educationists. Surprisingly, at the time, he had no special interest in education. He was only encouraged to take the job because it was a paid office position established by the legislature. He began as secretary of the board. On entering on his duties, he withdrew from all other professional or business engagements and from politics.^[2] This led him to become the most prominent national spokesman for that position. He held this position, and worked with a remarkable intensity, holding teachers' conventions, delivering numerous lectures and addresses, carrying on an extensive correspondence, and introducing numerous reforms. Mann traveled to every school in the state so he could physically examine each school ground. He planned and inaugurated the Massachusetts normal school system in Lexington and Bridgewater, and began preparing a series of annual reports, which had a wide circulation and were considered as being "among the best expositions, if, indeed, they are not the very best ones, of the practical benefits of a common school education both to the individual and to the state".^[6] By his advocacy of the disuse of corporal punishment in school discipline, he was involved in a controversy with some of the Boston teachers that resulted in the adoption of his views.^[2]

In 1838, he founded and edited The Common School Journal. In this journal, Mann targeted the public school and its problems. His six main principles were: (1) the public should no longer remain ignorant; (2) that such education should be paid for, controlled, and sustained by an interested public; (3) that this education will be best provided in schools that embrace children from a variety of backgrounds; (4) that this education must be non-sectarian (This was due to having a bad experience at his brother's funeral when he was younger; during which the Calvinist preacher preached that people not confirmed would go to hell.);^{[citation needed]}; (5) that this education must be taught by the spirit, methods, and discipline of a free society; and (6) that education should be provided by well-trained, professional teachers. Mann worked for more and better equipped school houses, longer school years (until 16 years old), higher pay for teachers, and a wider curriculum.

Under the auspices of the board, but at his own expense, he went to Europe in 1843 to visit schools, especially in Germany, and his seventh annual report, published after his return, embodied the results of his tour. Many editions of this report were printed, not only in Massachusetts, but in other states, in some cases by private individuals and in others by legislatures, and several editions were issued in England.^[2] In 1852, he supported the decision to adopt the Prussian education system in Massachusetts. Shortly after Massachusetts adopted the Prussian system, the Governor of New York set up the same method in twelve different New York schools on a trial basis.

The practical result of Mann's work was a revolution in the approach used in the common school system of Massachusetts, which in turn influenced the direction of other states. In carrying out his work, Mann met with bitter opposition by some Boston schoolmasters who strongly disapproved of his innovative pedagogical ideas ^[7], and by various religious sectarians, who contended against the exclusion of all sectarian instruction from the schools. He is often considered "the father of American public education".^[8]

[edit] U.S. Congress

In the spring of 1848 he was elected to the United States Congress as a Whig, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John Quincy Adams. His first speech in that body was in advocacy of its right and duty to exclude slavery from the territories, and in a letter in December of that year he said: “I think the country is to experience serious times. Interference with slavery will excite civil commotion in the South. But it is best to interfere. Now is the time to see whether the Union is a rope of sand or a band of steel.” Again he said: “I consider no evil as great as slavery, and I would pass the Wilmot Proviso whether the South rebel or not.” During the first session, he volunteered as counsel for Drayton and Sayres, who were indicted for stealing 76 slaves in the District of Columbia, and at the trial was engaged for 21 successive days in their defence. In 1850, he was engaged in a controversy with Daniel Webster in regard to the extension of slavery and the Fugitive Slave Law. Mann was defeated by a single vote at the ensuing nominating convention by Webster's supporters; but, on appealing to the people as an independent anti-slavery candidate, he was re-elected, serving from April 1848 until March 1853.^[2]

[edit] Leadership of Antioch College and last years

In September, 1852, he was nominated for governor of Massachusetts by the Free Soil Party, and the same day was chosen president of the newly established Antioch College at Yellow Springs, Ohio. Failing in the election for governor, he accepted the presidency of the college, in which he continued until his death.^[2] There he taught political economy, intellectual and moral philosophy, and natural theology. The college received insufficient financial support due to sectarian infighting; he himself was charged with nonadherence to sectarianism because, previously a Calvinist by upbringing, he joined the Unitarian Church. The college was founded by the Christian Connexion, who later withdrew their funding, but he earned the love of his students and by his many addresses exerted a beneficial influence upon education in the Midwest. Horace Mann also employed the first female faculty member to be paid on an equal basis with her male colleagues, Rebecca Pennell. His commencement message to the class of 1859 to "be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity" is repeated to the graduating class at each commencement.^[9]

He is buried in the North Burial Ground in Providence, Rhode Island, next to his first wife, Charlotte Messer Mann. (Charlotte Messer Mann was the daughter of Asa Messer, an early president of Brown University.)

[edit] Legacy

Antioch College continues to operate in accordance with the egalitarian and humanitarian values of Horace Mann. A monument including his statue stands in lands belonging to the college in Yellow Springs, Ohio with his quote and college motto "Be Ashamed to Die Until You Have Won Some Victory for Humanity."

There are a number of schools in the United States named for Mann. Additionally, the University of Northern Colorado named the gates to their campus in his dedication, a gift of the Class of 1910.^[10]

The Springfield, Illinois-based Illinois Education Association Mutual Insurance Company, was renamed in honor of Mann in 1950 as the Horace Mann Educators Corporation.

[edit] Works

• A Few Thoughts for a Young Man (Boston, 1850)
• Slavery: Letters and Speeches (1851)
• Powers and Duties of Woman (1853)
• Sermons (1861)
• Life and Complete Works of Horace Mann (2 vols., Cambridge, 1869)
• Thoughts selected from the Writings of Horace Mann (1869)

[edit] See also

• Henry Barnard

[edit] Further reading

• Mann, Horace. The Life and Works of Horace Mann, with introduction by his second wife, Mary Peabody Mann.
• Cremin, Lawrence A., and Kathleen E. Kendell. "American Education: The National Experience." Horace Mann. 832nd ed. Vol. 5. New York, NY: Macmillan Reference USA, 2003. 1534-537.
• Hinsdale, Burke A. Horace Mann and the Common School Revival in the United States (New York, 1898), in the Great Educators series
• Hubbell, George A. Life of Horace Mann, Educator, Patriot and Reformer (Philadelphia, 1910)
• Lang, O. H. Horace Mann, his Life and Work (Texas 3853)
• Larson, Robert W; Boulder: Colorado Associated University Press, (1989). Shaping educational change : the first century of the University of Northern Colorado at Greeley. ISBN 0-87081-172-X.
• Messerli, Jonathan. Horace Mann; a biography (New York, 1972)
• Willis, George, Robert V. Bullough, and John T. Holton, eds. The American Curriculum : A Documentary History. New York: Greenwood P, 1992. 43-44.
• Winship, Albert E. Horace Mann, the Educator (Boston, 1896)

[edit] References

•  "Mann, Horace". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. 

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Horace Mann

• Horace Mann Center at Westfield State College
• Mann on education and national welfare
• Mann's contribution's to education

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by John Quincy Adams	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 8th congressional district April 3, 1848-March 3, 1853	Succeeded by Tappan Wentworth