Josiah Holbrook and the American Lyceum Movement

Josiah Holbrook and the American Lyceum Movement Julie Martin For EDAE 520 Colorado State University November 7, 2015

In America, ‘Lyceums’ were a type of informal education, promoted by Josiah Holbrook in the early 1800’s.

The name ‘Lyceum’ comes from Greece. The original Greek Lyceum was one of three military training areas for young men -or ‘gymnasiums’- founded about 500 years BCE. These were significant facilities that became meeting places as well as having a general aim of physical and ethical self-improvement. In some countries today, such as Austria, the word ‘gymnasium’ means ‘academic school’.

Aristotle, the famous philosopher, founded a center of discussion and debate at the Lyceum gymnasium in about 330 BCE. It seems to be this idea -that knowledge and growth can come from discussion and sharing- which inspired a number of groups to use the name for their work concerning education. Holbrook also eventually used the name ‘Lyceum’ for the movement he is associated with, because it was a fairly well understood concept in the US and he wanted the organization to have some of the popular, conservative appeal of a ‘classical’ connotation, while doing something actually very radical.

Josiah Holbrook himself was from a farming family and was interested in agricultural implements/machinery and geology. He went to college at Yale but was disappointed with the limited curriculum and style. Many universities and colleges at the time were religiously affiliated and there was a strong drive to teach ‘classics’, partly for the education of clergy. The style of teaching was also very traditional and, to Holbrook, not really accessible or useful in an everyday way. However, Holbrook was greatly inspired by a gifted and progressive science professor at Yale called Benjamin Sillman who was more of an applied sciences teacher.

At this time, there were huge changes in agriculture and textiles, with need and effort to make things more efficient, yet workers in these areas could not obtain professional guidance and technical information in universities and colleges of the day. By 1826, Holbrook had learned about established and successful ‘Mechanics Institutes ‘in the UK. Holbrook believed that ordinary people could get together

in an organized way and teach each other. He wrote a proposal in the American Journal of Education and soon after the first American Lyceum branch was founded in New England (Massachussetts).

“A Town Lyceum is a voluntary association of individuals disposed to improve each other in useful knowledge, and to advance the interests of their schools. To gain the first object, they hold weekly or other stated meetings, for reading, conversation, discussion, illustrating the sciences, or other exercises designed for their mutual benefit; and, as it is found convenient, they collect a cabinet,

consisting of apparatus for illustrating the sciences, books, minerals, plants, or other natural or artificial productions.” (Holbrook 1829) Apparently Holbrook was a prolific writer and a great speaker himself and travelled the country promoting the idea of mutual education for the benefit of all throughout his life. He also went on to fabricate what we would now term school supplies and equipment, as some of his more ambitious ideas for ‘Lyceum Villages’ -utopian style co-operative educational communities (such as that in Berea, Ohio) did not work out.

Holbrook’s ideas were in line with the Transcendentalist movement that was popular among intellectuals of the time. They believed –among other things- that people should question the existing hegemony (control/dominance) around them.

This fitted with the concept of turning away from established and conservative institutions in favor of self-reliance.

“The term "American lyceum" is used to designate the lyceum system as a whole. The system was composed of town, county, State, and national lyceums.

Except for the town lyceums, the system was organized by representation, county, State, and national lyceums each being formed by delegates from the next smaller group. The name applies to the system, but the town or local lyceums were the fundamental divisions of the organization.” (Hayes 1932)

It turned out that as well as practical subjects relating to professions, people were keen to hear about and discuss many other topics.

“The Lyceum provided a venue within which social ideas such as the abolition of slavery, women’s rights, public education, unionism, and a vast array of other progressive, pertinent municipal and social causes could be explored.

Furthermore, the organizational structure of the Lyceum allowed a wide range of access, local convenience, and communicative freedom.” (Khrapak 2014)

Initially, Lyceums were set up at the local level and people volunteered to ‘take the platform’ to speak or demonstrate a skill in an available public space. Cost of attendance was a dollar or less and if presenters did not charge a fee, many Lyceums were able to turn a profit and some even built their own Lyceum Halls.

Holbrook’s stated aims included ‘the improvement of conversation’, directing educational amusements for children, rekindling interest in underused libraries and improving district schools.

The idea spread VERY rapidly, first through the east coast New England area.

By 1834, lyceums had become extremely popular and there were 3000 of them over the country. Some speakers were making names for themselves and beginning to command a fee. ‘Bureaus’ were set up to manage the speakers. Famous and notable people of the day presented, and many of them gave a range of speeches. Railroads enabled presenters to travel certain ‘circuits’ in relative comfort and safety. Lyceum bureaus communicated with venues on behalf of their speakers via telegraph.

Significantly in Maine, the Gardiner Lyceum was the first vocational trade school set up. Justin Morrill, who later became a senator for Vermont, was familiar with this organization and with the Lyceum Movement in general. He went on to promote the widespread founding of agricultural colleges through the Morrill Land Grant Acts in 1862. These acts gave federal land (and or cash) in each state for the establishment of schools to promote the practical education of the “industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life.” (Title 7 United States Code). This is one example of how the motive of the Lyceum Movement has had lasting effects.

Morrill himself was from a less privileged background and was largely self-educated.

Land Grant colleges were a significant new opportunity for the working class and women. There were many issues with inequity and delay though for some states due to the divisions that culminated in the American Civil War 1861-1865.

So Lyceums were an extremely prevalent form of social interaction and a source of much information exchange during a key part of what is called the ‘antebellum’ (‘before the war’) period of 1861-1865. To set the stage historically, the ‘Louisiana Purchase’ -of about 1/3 of what is now the USA from Napoleon of France- had happened at the beginning of the 1800’s, so there was plenty of land and aggressive expansion. Knowledge was needed everywhere.

There was a big war with the British though in 1812 in which the British got the support of the Native Americans by promising them a large amount of territory for a neutral “Indian State”. The British and the Native Americans were thwarted and there was then a period of relative calm. The Monroe Doctrine of the 1820’s had further delineated the independence of United States from European ‘interference’ and the US, after this period of war and expansion, started to develop a sense of nationalism during what is called the ‘Era of Good Feelings’. It was in this light perhaps, that the time was right for the ethos of the Lyceum Movement, which was towards progress.

The economic needs and history of the northeast US and the southern states were quite different from one another though. While industry and business in the northeast was thriving in independence from Britain, with little if any need for enslaved labor, the south –highly dependent on large agricultural operations- wanted to maintain a low cost labor force (slaves) and favorable shipping terms for their exports.

Slavery and The Slave Trade 1830­1850 (green: slave states, brown: free states)

Holbrook was from the northeast and this area was renowned for having ‘progressive’ views about the abolition of slavery, universal suffrage (votes for all including women and people of color). In the northeast there were also generations of free and educated black people who were concerned for enslaved peoples elsewhere. Holbrook’s ideal was a very democratic and open feel for the Lyceums; that women and people of color would be afforded equal attention ‘on the platform’.

However, while many women and abolitionists DID travel and DID speak on this these subjects, they were not invited or welcomed everywhere, and often they had to ‘sneak in’ their true message in the guise of some other topic. Some Lyceum bureaus were also seen as ‘white controlled’, so black churches were almost a parallel organization to the Lyceum System and impactful and instrumental in spreading consciousness about national issues.

Anna Dickinson was something of a speaking prodigy and ‘superstar’ who came on the Lyceum scene around 1860. Many were particularly inspired by not only what she said about the abolition of slavery, but that she was a confident, eloquent and largely independent woman who had made a real career out of public speaking and paved the way for others.

Another interesting example of an effect of the Lyceum Movement is the reaction of Ida Wells when angered by what she heard from famous white women such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B Anthony and Frances Willard. They had shared Lyceum platforms with the likes of Fredrick Douglass to campaign for ‘votes for all’, but then publicly seemed indignant and said some racist things after black men were given the votes ahead of white women under the 15th Amendment to the US Constitution. Ida Wells was black and from Memphis. She had risen to prominence after investigating the many lynchings of black people by whites in the south. She was emboldened to go on her own international speaking tour to raise awareness of the issue, as she had been threatened and largely ignored in the US, despite the existence of an established Lyceum system.

By 1875, ‘Chataquas’ (named after the lake where the first one was founded) were being established, which were a kind of educational summer school, usually in pleasant settings. These competed with Lyceums for the most popular speakers. The Lyceum bureaus, already established, thus helped as organizers and booking agents

for talent for Chataquas. The movement went more toward entertainment, though there was still an ethic of enrichment and social togetherness/intellectual stimulation and there was much overlap with Lyceums and Chataquas.

By 1922, some ‘circuits’ were obtaining motorized vehicles to transport their assembled teams who put on a varied and often proven ‘show’ of combined lectures and entertainments, which were competitively promoted. With the expansion of the availability of home radios, there was also the introduction of portable broadcast equipment, which served to further the reach of the lyceum to those homebound or in remoter areas.

There was evidently both a need and a hunger for the type of interaction and information that the Lyceum Movement provided. Holbrook correctly identified this in the early 1800’s and instituted an effective plan to address the issue. As with any large organization, despite the founding ethos, the more people who are involved, the more the quality of the outcomes may be subject to differing opinions about content and individual greed. Lyceums served not only improve standards in public education and raised the bar of conversation to issues of national and humanitarian importance, but also provided a forum in which women could showcase their knowledge, ideas and abilities to others en masse. In its pure form, the Lyceum Movement encouraged people to think and to talk and to become aware of other perspectives.

References

Holbrook, J., & Marvin, T. R. (1829). American Lyceum, or Society for the Improvement of Schools, and Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. Boston: T.R. Marvin, printer, 32 Congress Street.

Hayes, C. B., & United States. (1932). The American lyceum: Its history and contribution to education. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.

Bode, C. (1956). The American lyceum: Town meeting of the mind. New York: Oxford University Press.

Nero, C. (1995). “Oh, what i think i must tell this world!�: Oratory and public address of African-American women. In K. Vaz (Ed.), Black women in America. (pp. 261-276).

Thousand Oaks, CA

Welch, C. A. (2001). Ida B. Wells-Barnett: Powerhouse with a pen. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publishing Group.

Khrapak, V (2014). Reflections on the American Lyceum: the legacy of Josiah Holbrook and the Transcendental Sessions. Journal of Philosophy and History of Education 64(1), 47-62.

Osment, C. M. (2015). Learning, Living, and Lecturing: Women in the American Lyceum, 1830 to 1890 (A Thesis Submitted to the Davidson College Department of History in fulfillment of the requirements of the Kendrick K. Kelley Program in Historical Studies) Davidson, North Carolina

Moreland, W. D. J., & Goldenstein, E. H. (1985). Pioneers in adult education. Chicago: Nelson-Hall.

Foner, P. S., & Branham, R. J. (1998). Lift every voice: African American oratory, 1787-1900.

Tuscaloosa, AL: The University of Alabama Press.

University of Southern Florida Educational Technology Clearinghouse. Map of Slavery and Slave Trade, 1830-1850 http://etc.usf.edu/maps/pages/3300/3313/3313.htm (accessed Nov. 2015)