History of Education Resources

Important People

Prior to 1800

• The New England Primer - Benjamin Harris: Benjamin Harris wrote the New England Primer, the first textbook to be used in North America, printed in 1690.  
• Mountain States Collector - Ezekiel Cheever: Ezekiel Cheever was the author of The Accidence and a teacher of grammar during colonial times.
• Rush, Benjamin: Benjamin Rush was an accomplished physician and teacher who was an advocate of free education and public schools.

19th Century Education

• John Harvard: Gentleman for which Harvard University was named, John Harvard was actually founded by an Act of the General Court of Massachusetts Bay. He was a graduate of Emmanuel College in England and came to the United States of America with his wife in 1637, a year after the college of Harvard was established. It was named in his honor after his young death at 30 years old.
• Booker T. Washington: Booker T. Washington was a black educator who did not support black militancy, was a teacher who believed in assimilation rather than segregation, and who supported action rather than sitting still.
• Horace Mann: A leading advocate of public schools, he was partially responsible for the establishment of a state board of education. He opposed formal religious instruction in the schools and was against issuing a property tax to pay for public schools.
• Henry Barnard: A leader in public education, Henry Barnard helped create the Board of Commissioners of the Common Schools in Connecticut and participated in a number of school reformation bills and policies.

20th Century Education

• TIME - The 10 Best College Presidents: This TIME article presents the 10 best college presidents, date of publication November of 2009. The list includes Gordon Gee, John Sexton, Mary Sue Coleman, Michael Crow, Scott Cowen, Ronald Liebowitz, Freeman Hrabowski, Eduardo Padrón, Juliet García, and Mark Yudof.
• John Dewey: Considered the “father of progressive education,” John Dewey was a leader in educational psychology, philosophy, politics, and social thought.
• Mary McLeod Bethune biography: Mary Bethune founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls in 1904, as well as a notable speaker on subjects of child welfare, education, and home ownership.

Schooling History

Prior to 1800

• Schooling, Education, and Literacy in Colonial America: This site provides maps and brief summaries of schooling in the colonies in the 1700’s.

19th Century Education

• British Education: Very comprehensive site that covers scholars, educational politics, educational developments of the 19th century, and British Parliamentary legislation regarding education.

20th Century Education

• History of Education: Selected Moments: This site organizes the accomplishments in education by decades of the 20th century and provides a time line for important events of each decade.

Schooling in the United States

Prior to 1800

• History of Education Info - One-Room Schoolhouses: A description of the first schoolhouses and how these schools developed in America.
• Massachusetts Education Laws of 1642 and 1647: These are very specific laws laid down by the state of Massachusetts regarding the schooling of children which state that parents and masters must be sure that their children or slaves receive basic education.
• The History of Education in America - Colonial Education: Gives a description of the education in colonial America of boys and girls and how they differed from one another and why.
• Education World ® Lesson Planning Skills Page: Education In The Colonies Descriptions of education in the New England, middle, and southern colonies.
• The History of American Education: 1600-2000: A presentation of the History of American education from 1600-2000 presented as a time line with pictures and illustrations.

19th Century Education

• School: The Story of American Public Education: Article about the evolving classroom of the 19th century.
• The History of Education in America - 19th Century Education: The 19th century is the time when education became available to the masses through public schooling. This site addresses some of the changes and breakthroughs of this time.

20th Century Education

• Civil Rights: Brown v. Board of Education I (1954): This article is regarding the segregation and desegregation of the public school system.
• The History of Education in America - 20th Century Education: This site addresses the developments in education in the 20th century including the middle school, private education, transportation, education of people of various races, and other breakthroughs.
  

Women in Education

Prior to 1800

• Women's History Then & Now - Women in Education: This site promises a “Feminist Overview of the Past 2 Centuries” and provides a history of the women’s movement and, in detail, the progress toward education.
• NWHM Exhibit: The History of Women and Education - 1700's: A description of education in the colonies for girls and boys and how those educations differed and for what reasons they differed.
• Women and Education in Eighteenth-Century Virginia: This site offered the many things that women were often required to learn through education, and outlines the differences between those things learned by common women and those from a wealthier background. This article specifically addresses women in eighteenth century Virginia.

19th Century Education

• Helen Magill White: The first woman in the U.S. to earn a doctorate, she graduated in 1877 from Boston University with her PhD in Greek studies.
• NWHM Exhibit: The History of Women and Education - 1800's: During the 1800’s there was a development of secondary schools for women, generally referred to as seminaries. For the first time women could begin to learn the same things that men learned while in secondary school.
• The Hidden Half: This article deals with Native American women and education.

20th Century Education

• NWHM Exhibit: The History of Women and Education - 1900's: In the 20th century teachers began to organize to lobby for better teaching conditions, an advancement for women, the primary sex for teachers.
• Twentieth Century: This site discusses the women’s suffrage movement and the tenets of that movement including the equality of education for women.
• The History of Women in Education: This site introduces an upcoming symposium; however, it details the developments of women in education through to the 20th century.

Adult Education

Prior to 1800

• Lifelong Learning - Adult Education: Outlines the necessity of continued learning and education throughout a person’s life in colonial America.
• A Short History of Adult Education: Traces the roots of Adult Education back to Europe and continue to America.

19th Century Education

• A brief history of informal education thinking: Developments around the world during the 19th century in the field of adult education and the perception of it.
• Adult Education in Agriculture: Power point presentation of life in rural America and the need for ongoing adult education, especially in the field of agriculture. 

20th Century Education

• Adult Education: Discusses the Lyceum, founded in 1826, in Massachusetts, a group that encouraged adult school systems for ongoing education.
• Malcolm Knowles, informal adult education, self-direction and andragogy
• Educational settlements in Britain (Mark Freeman): This site introduces education settlements, schools that assisted adults in continued education of a college nature.
• Galt Global Review: The development of adult education in the west has become a different thing in the 20th century, as it is now more concrete and established.

College and Vocational Education

Prior to 1800

• Harvard College: Harvard College was established in 1636 and is the oldest college in the United States.
• Colleges and Universities: This article discusses historical examples of colleges and universities, even as far back as Plato and then medieval times.

19th Century Education

• History of Grading Systems: Discusses the development of the grading system in the educational system of the United States.

20th Century Education

• Reinventions: Discusses how higher education has changed in response to changes in culture, demographics, and technology.
• Women's Colleges Decline in U.S.: This USA Today article points out that universities that cater to women are in decline in the United States, even though they still celebrate success in other countries around the globe.

Psychology and Religion in Education

Prior to 1800

• Educational Thought in the 1700's: A discourse that explores how psychology has shaped the educational thought of the 1700’s and how that affected the development of the educational system.
• Early American Education: Traces education’s root to religion and follows it through the separation of church and state.
• ExplorePAHistory.com - Stories from PA History: This site discusses the root of education in Pennsylvania, and it explores the role of religion in the development of education.

19th Century Education

• Emergence of Discipline of Psychology at Rutgers: This article discusses the emergence of psychology as a discipline at Rutgers University from its beginning to its successful growth.
• Religion in 18th-Century America: This article discusses religion in the 18th century, its churches, and its spill into education.

20th Century Education

• The Communitarian Network: This article argues that religion is absent in the public schools today, even in the borders of morality issues and classes. It argues that religion should be present in school, and the arguments are presented in a way that is meant to be objective.
• Liberal Education - Feature Article: This article argues that religion is making a comeback in education, in particular on the college campuses of higher education.

Tips and Miscellaneous

• History of Physical Education: This is an article about the history of physical education from the Spartans and Athenians, through colonial times and the beginnings of public schools, through today.

• The History of Distance Education: This site explains distance education, which now usually involves taking college courses on the Internet. However, distance education began in the 1700’s with correspondence courses, and this article gives that history.