Historical Foundations

1
Historical Foundations

• Adult Education in Agriculture and Extension
  Education

2
Life in Rural America

• Prior to this century, life in rural America can
  best be described as dismal
• Worked dawn to dark to eke out a living
• Primitive sanitation
• Muddy ruts for roads
• Limited educational opportunities
• Church was basically the only social outlet

3
The Turning Point

• The late 1800s and early 1900s was the turning
  point to improving the plight of rural America.
  Why?
• There were a variety of factors but a major
  factor was the emergence of adult education in
  agriculture and home economics
• Farmers Institutes
• Cooperative Extension Service
• High School Agriculture Programs
• These things just didnt happenthere was an
  evolution

4
The Junto

• Organized by Benjamin Franklin
• In Philadelphia in 1727
• A group of Franklins friends met once a week to
  discuss morals, philosophy, etc.
• Membership was restricted
• The Junto lasted for about 40 years
• It evolved into the American Philosophical
  Society.

5
The Lyceum

• Started in 1826 in Millbury, Massachusetts by
  Josiah Holbrook.
• Purpose was to improve members
• Through association and study
• Through dissemination of knowledge by the
  establishment of libraries and museums
• And to promote tax supported schools

6
Lyceum Operations

• The Lyceum group met on a regular basis to hear
  lectures on a variety of topics such as
• Architecture
• Vegetable Physiology
• Magnetism and Electo-Magnetism
• Meteorology
• Polar Regions
• Materia Medica

7
Lyceum Origins

• The Lyceums were similar to the Mechanics
  Institutes which started in Great Britain in the
  late 1700s.
• The Mechanics Institutes
• Offered lectures for the common worker
• Maintained a library
• The Boston Mechanics Institute was founded in
  1826.
• Mechanics Institutes just didnt catch on in
  America.

8
Lyceum Growth

• The Lyceum idea spread rapidly
• Americans were hungry for an opportunity for
  intellectual growth
• By 1831 there were national meetings of the
  American Lyceum Association
• The number of Lyceums grew to over 3,000 by 1834

9
Lyceum Speakers

• Many prominent individuals spoke at Lyceum
  meetings
• John Quincy Adams
• Frederick Douglas
• Horace Mann
• Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Henry David Thoreau
• Daniel Webster
• Oliver Wendell Holmes
• Mark Twain

10
Lyceum Growth

• Many cities built special meeting halls in which
  to house the Lyceum

The Alexandria, Virginia Lyceum Hall
11
Lyceum Firsts

• The first public demonstration of the telephone
  was made by Alexander Graham Bell in the Salem,
  MA Lyceum

12
Lyceum Growth Decline

• The Depression of 1857 and the Civil War severely
  impacted the Lyceum movement.
• After the Civil War, Speaker Bureaus were
  established to supply speakers to local Lyceums
• There were even magazines
• Lyceumite
• Talent, A Magazine of Public Speaking

13
Redpath Speakers Bureau

• The Redpath Bureau was the major supplier of
  Lyceum talent (and Chautauqua talent).

James Redpath
14
Lyceum Entertainment

• Cultural entertainment was also a part of Lyceum
  programs.
• Uncle Toms Cabin was a popular post-civil war
  lyceum production.

15
Lyceum Growth Decline

• Because of competition from other types of adult
  education, the Lyceum declined in the late 1800s
• The Lyceum had virtually died out by the early
  1900s

16
The Chautauqua

• Started in 1874 on Lake Chautauqua in New York
  State
• Founders
• John H. Vincent (Methodist Clergy)
• Lewis Miller (Businessman)

17
The Chautauqua

• Original purpose was to better train Sunday
  School teachers during an 8 week summer session.
• Recreation and lectures on other than religious
  topics were included.
• The first assembly was like a summer camp.
• Later cottages, lectures halls, etc. were built.

18
The Chautauqua

• The Chautauqua soon became a great summer
  attraction where people could go to vacation and
  combine recreation, a leisure atmosphere, and
  education and cultural arts.

19
The Chautauqua

• By 1880 the Chautauqua platform had established
  itself as a national forum for open discussion of
  public issues, international relations,
  literature and science.
• Approximately 100 lecturers appear at Chautauqua
  during a season.

20
The Chautauqua Expands

• In 1878 Bishop Vincent established the Chautauqua
  Literary and Scientific Circle (C.L.S.C.), a
  home-study or correspondence course.
• The C.L.S.C. was a four-year reading course in
  the humanities, sciences, theology, and social
  studies.

21
The C.L.S.C.

• Seven thousand persons enrolled in the reading
  course in the first year of its existence. People
  would then join together in groups or circles to
  discuss the books that they were reading.
• At its zenith, there were over 10,000 reading
  circles in operation.

22
The Chautauqua

• In 1879 the Chautauqua Normal School of Languages
  was founded, thus starting the Chautauqua Summer
  Schools.
• In the following years other new courses were
  introduced until Chautauqua became a sort of
  summer university.
• In 1901 a school of library training was begun at
  Chautauqua.

23
The Idea Spreads

• Not everyone could go to New York state to attend
  the Chautauqua
• Local Chautauquas similar to the original sprang
  up in several locations
• Petoskey, Michigan
• Sandusky, Ohio
• Lake Bluff, Illinois
• Ottawa, Kansas
• Clear Lake, Iowa

24
Lyceum Chautauqua

• The various Lyceum Speaker Bureaus started
  providing speakers to the independent
  Chautauquas but there were problems
• Many Chautauquas were at the same time
• They were spread far apart which presented
  traveling problems for speakers
• Costs escalated because the independent
  Chautauquas were bidding on the name speakers

25
The Solution

• Keith Vawter of Iowa bought a 1/3 interest in the
  Redpath Lyceum Bureau and became the Chicago
  agent.
• In 1904 he envisioned a movable or circuit or
  tent Chautauqua.
• 15 towns signed on in the first year
• Each town had the same talent
• Railroad trips were shorter
• Lecturers would work full time

26
Circuit Chautauqua Grows

• In 1907 Vawter ran a circuit of thirty-three
  towns.
• According to the contract, Vawter furnished all
  of the
• talent, tents, advertising and work crews
• The local citizens handled the advance sale of
  tickets.

27
Circuit Chautauqua Grows

• The idea of the traveling Chautauqua caught on.
• In the early 1900s, there were a number of
  competing circuit Chautauquas.

28
Chautauqua Grounds

• A typical Chautauqua setting

29
Chautauqua Grounds

• Inside the big tent

30
Chautauqua Costs

• Pay had to buy tickets. They werent cheap but
  this was the educational and cultural event of
  the year for many rural communities.
• A canvas fence was used to exclude non-ticket
  buyers.

31
Chautauqua Costs

• Taking up tickets

32
Chautauqua Girls

• Pretty young girls were sent to towns in advance
  of the circuit Chautauqua to stimulate interest
  and sell tickets

33
Chautauqua Boys

• Numerous college boys found employment each
  summer working as hands for the circuit
  Chautauqua. They were called the anvil chorus

34
Chautauqua Publicity

• Banners were displayed announcing the upcoming
  Chautauqua

35
Chautauqua Publicity

• Billboards were used to promote the upcoming
  Chautauqua

36
Chautauqua Publicity

• Various fliers were used to promote the
  upcoming Chautauqua

37
Chautauqua Publicity

• Various posterswere used to promote the
  upcoming Chautauqua

38
Chautauqua Program

• The program contained a variety of lecturers
  and entertainment.
• In the early years the programs were more
  educational, in the later years about half the
  program was music

39
Chautauqua Entertainment

• The Tuskegee singers were a popular draw.

40
Chautauqua Entertainment

• The Liberty Maidswere patriotic andwholesome.

41
Chautauqua Entertainment

• Edgar Bergen (at the age of 19) and Charlie
  McCarthy got started in the tent Chautauqua.
  (the female dummy was named Laura)

42
Chautauqua Entertainment

• The White Hussars were a famous singing band on
  the circuit.

43
Chautauqua Entertainment

• Dunbars Handbell Ringers were entertaining.

44
Chautauqua Entertainment

• Daddy Groebeckers Swiss Yodelers were also
  on the circuit.

45
The Chautauqua Train

• The Redpath Chautauqua got so large that it owned
  several trains to move from town to town.

46
The End of the Circuit Chautauqua

• Even though this 1920 era poster tried to make
  the Chautauqua look exciting, the end was at
  hand. Radio and moving pictures provided the
  entertainment and other types of adult education,
  such as the extension service, were providing
  more focused adult education.

47
The Chautauqua Today

• The New York Chautauqua Institution still exists
  today and operates a variety of educational and
  cultural activities.
• The Chautauqua Institution can be described as a
  nine-week, summer center for the arts, education,
  religion and recreation, a festival for the mind
  and body, and a lake-side Victorian village
  situated in a beautiful, secure setting. (from
  its web site)

48
The Chautauqua Today

• The Chautauqua Institution is a place removed
  from the day-to-day world, where some of the
  leading thinkers of our time come to share the
  concerns and issues of the real world. It is a
  place where an abundance of music, dance and the
  visual arts find their own forms of expression.
  It is Chautauqua's extraordinary mix that draws
  over 142,000 people each summer. (from the
  Chautauqua Institution web site)

49
Farmers Institutes
50
Farmers Institutes

• Found in nearly every state in the late 1800s
• Structure varied from state to state

51
Farmers Institutes

• Ohio (1847) - County agricultural societies sent
  lecturers out on request

52
Farmers Institutes

• New York (1842-43)- State agricultural society
  started a program of itinerant lecturers

53
Farmers Institutes

• Institutes were held in counties, occasionally
  there would be 2-3 in a county
• Meetings were 1-3 days in length, 2-3 days at
  first, then one day
• Variety of speakers featured
• Typically balanced between local people and
  outside experts

54
Farmers Institutes Program

• Welcome by local dignitary
• Overview by Institute official
• Speakers followed by question and answer period
• Speeches were normally 30 minutes or less
• Question box used to overcome hesitancy to ask
  questions

55
Farmers Institutes

• Lunch prepared by the ladies (a time to
  socialize)
• Afternoon session consisted of more speakers

56
Program, cont.

• If there was an evening session, it was often
  light hearted entertainment (had to entice
  farmers back from doing their evening chores)

57
Farmers Institutes

• Recreational activities were provided for young
  people (baseball, games, races)
• Institutes were scheduled for down time on the
  farms

58
Farmers Institutes

• Once a year there was often a state wide Farmers
  Institute or Round-up

59
Farmers Institutes

• By 1900 Farmers Institutes were operated
  primarily by
• Land-grant colleges (19 states)
• State Departments of Agriculture (17 states)
• Counties (Delaware, Iowa)
• Independent Board (Minnesota)

60
Typical Topics

• How to increase profits in dairying
• Maintaining soil fertility
• Are sheep profitable?
• Potato growing
• Good citizenship
• National Grange
• Rural Roads

61
Speakers

• University Professors and Experiment Station
  staff
• Farmers often had a deep suspicion of scientists
  and few trained men could speak in a manner
  intelligible to the farmer
• Well known farmers in the state
• Local farmers
• State Department of Agriculture staff

62
Farmers Institutes

• American Association of Farmers Institute
  Workers organized - 1896

63
Farmers Institutes

• 1903 - Office of Experiment Stations (USDA) added
  an Farmers Institute specialist
• 1903 - Congress appropriated 5,000 for Farmers
  Institute work

64
Farmers Institute (NC)

• State law in 1887 called for Farmers Institutes
  to be held in every county every two years.
• State Board of Agriculture was responsible.
• No funds were appropriated.
• Some institutes were held in 1890.

65
Farmers Institute (NC)

• New Farmers Institute law passed in 1893.
• State Board of Agriculture was responsible.
• 500 appropriated.
• State treasurer wouldnt release the money, plans
  were cancelled in 1893-94.
• 45 institutes were held in 1895-96

66
Farmers Institutes

• Tait Butler and T. B. Parker were two early
  directors
• Boys corn growing contest started in 1906
• Educational reform was often a topic at Farmers
  Institute meetings

67
Womens Institutes (NC)

• A separate Womens Institute program was started
  in 1906
• Program conducted at the same time as the
  Farmers Institute
• Some joint meetings were held
• The NC Womens Institutes claim to be the first
  in the nation

68
Train Institutes in NC

• 1908 - First Demonstration Train
• 1909 - Two Demonstration Trains
• Bladenboro to Rutherfordton, 800 miles round
  trip, SeaboardAir Line Rail Road - 30
  institutes held
• Hillsboro to Murphy - 900 miles round trip,
  Southern Railway - 27 institutes held

69
Demonstration Trains

• One car was equipped with modern kitchen
  appliances
• Womens Institutes were held in this car
• Equipment was demonstrated and lectures given

70
Demonstration Trains

• One car contained farm implements
• At each stop, the workings of the implements were
  explained
• If a team was available, the implements were
  demonstrated

71
Demonstration Trains

• The trains continued in popularity fora number
  of years.
• A provision in the Smith-Lever Act doomed the
  trains.

72
NC Farmers Institutes
73
NC Counties with Institutes
74
The Decline of the Farmers Institutes

• Two factors contributed to the demise of
  Farmers Institutes
• Establishment of the Cooperative Extension
  Service
• World War I

75
Smith-Lever Act

• Congress passed the Smith-Lever Act in 1914.
• This established the Cooperative Extension
  Service.
• Agents were hired to work at the county level.
• Hundreds of thousands of adults have been taught
  by agents.

76
Original Mission

• ..to aid in diffusing among the people of the
  United States useful and practical information on
  subjects relating to agriculture and home
  economics, and to encourage the application of
  the same

77
County Agents (nationally)
78
Smith-Hughes Act

• Passed in 1917
• Provided federal funds to teach agriculture in
  the public schools.

79
Original Mission

• ..such education shall be of less than college
  grade and be designated to meet the needs of
  persons over fourteen years of age who have
  entered upon or who are preparing to enter upon
  the work of the farm

Underline mine It seems to me farmers are
mentioned first
80
Who Did Agriculture Teachers Teach?

• Ag teachers taught three groups
• Day-School or Day-Unit Classes
• High School students
• Part-time Classes
• Typically young farmers who had not completed
  high school
• Evening Classes
• Adult and Young Farmers

81
Agricultural Education Adult Enrollments
82
Adult Agricultural Education in Public Schools

• During WW II many high school agricultural
  programs operated school canneries where adults
  learned how to preserve food.

83
GI Bills and High School Adult Agricultural
Education

• In 1944 the first GI Bill was passed
  (Servicemens Readjustment Act)
• educational institution were paid up to 500 a
  year for tuition, books, fees, and other training
  costs
• Veterans received an allowance of 50 per month
  rising to 75 by 1948
• 690,000 veterans received farm training
• Program ended in 1956

84
GI Bills and High School Adult Agricultural
Education

• In 1952 the second GI Bill was passed (For those
  in the Korean conflict)
• Veterans were paid 110 a month and had to pay
  their own educational costs out of that
• 95,000 veterans received farm training
• Program ended in 1965

85
GI Bills and High School Adult Agricultural
Education

• In 1966 the third GI Bill was passed (for Post
  Korea and Vietnam veterans)
• Veterans received an allowance of 100 per month
  rising to 376 by 1984 to pay for educational
  costs
• 56,000 veterans received farm training
• Program ended in 1989

86
Adult Education in Public Schools Today

• Because of strong extension programs and
  community colleges, some states, such as NC have
  virtually no adult education programs in the high
  school
• In some states, primarily in the Midwest, there
  are still strong school-based adult education
  programs.
• More details about the types of programs offered
  will come later in the course.

87
Summary

• Forerunners of Modern Adult Education in
  Agriculture and Family and Consumer Education
  include
• The Junto
• Mechanics Institutes
• The Lyceum
• The Chatauqua
• Farmers Institutes
• Womens Institutes
• GI Bill

88
Looking Forward

• According to Birkenholz (1999) there are five
  categories of adult education
• Compensatory
• Liberal
• Occupational
• Scholastic
• Self-Help

89
Compensatory Adult Education

• To provide remedial learning opportunities for
  adults to overcome illiteracy

90
Liberal Adult Education

• To study the humanities, arts and sciences with
  an emphasis on free inquiry, curiosity, and
  intellectual growth rather than utilitarian
  purposes or persuasion to partisan points of view

91
Occupational Adult Education

• To develop job-related knowledge, skills and
  abilities in order to secure, maintain, or
  advance employment opportunities in a career.

92
Scholastic Adult Education

• To teacher undergraduate courses, graduate
  courses, or conduct research in adult learning
  and instruction.

93
Self-Help Adult Education

• To provide knowledge, information, skills, or
  recreational learning in order to better adjust
  to environments outside the work environment

94
What is the focus of this class?

• While we as class members are engaged in
  scholastic adult education the primary focus of
  the course is to enable class members to work
  primarily in the occupational and self-help areas
  of adult education.
• Even though agriculture is in the title of the
  course, much of the information is applicable to
  any adult educator.