Horace Mann

By HONEY BADGER77

  • Born in 1796

    Born in 1796 in Massachusetts, Horace Mann practiced law before serving in the state Legislature and Senate.

  • Legislature

    Mann was elected to the legislature in 1827, and in that role was active in the interests of education, public charities, and laws for the suppression of intemperance and lotteries.

  • Secretary of Board of Education

    Named secretary of the new Massachusetts board of education in 1837, he overhauled the state's public-education system and established a series of schools to train teachers.

  • Mann's Principles of Education

    (1) citizens cannot maintain both ignorance and freedom; (2) this education should be paid for, controlled and maintained by the public; (3) this education should be provided in schools that embrace children from varying backgrounds; (4) this education must be nonsectarian; (5) this education must be taught using tenets of a free society; and (6) this education must be provided by well-trained, professional teachers.

  • What Mann worked for

    Mann worked for more and better equipped school houses, longer school years (until 16 years old), higher pay for teachers, and a wider curriculum.

  • Adopting the Prussian education system

    In 1843, Mann traveled to Germany to investigate how the educational process worked. Upon his return to the United States, he lobbied heavily to have the "Prussian model" adopted.

  • Prussian Education system

    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.

  • President of Antioch College

    He accepted the presidency of Antioch College in Yellow Springs,Ohio in September of 1852. There he taught economics, philosophy, and theology; he was popular with students and with lay audiences across the Midwest who attended his lectures promoting public schools. Mann also employed the first woman faculty member to be paid on an equal basis with her male colleagues, Rebecca Pennell, his niece.