Social Reforms of America: Early to Mid 19th Century
1801 - James Pillans invents the blackboard.
1817 - The Connecticut Asylum at Hartford for the Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons opens. It is the first permanent school for the deaf in the U.S. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc are the school's co-founders. In 1864, Thomas Gaullaudet's son, Edward Miner Gallaudet, helps to start Gallaudet University, the first college specifically for deaf students.
1821 - The first public high school, Boston English High School, opens .
1823 - Catherine Beecher founds the Hartford Female Seminary, a private school for girls in Hartford, Connecticut. She goes on to found more schools and become a prolific writer. Her sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe, an influential abolitionist, is the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin.
1827 - The state of Massachusetts passes a law requiring towns of more than 500 families to have a public high school open to all students.
1829 - The New England Asylum for the Blind, now the Perkins School for the Blind, opens in Massachusetts, becoming the first school in the U.S. for children with visual disabilities.
1836 - The first of William Holmes McGuffey's readers is published. Their secular tone sets them apart from the Puritan texts of the day. The McGuffey Readers, as they came to be known, are among the most influential textbooks of the 19th Century.
1837 - Eighty students arrive at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, the first college for women in the U.S. Its founder/president is Mary Lyon.
1839 - The first state funded school specifically for teacher education (then known as "normal" schools) opens in Lexington, Massachusetts.
1848 - Hervey Wilbur helps establish the Massachusetts School for Idiotic and Feebleminded Youth, the first school of its kind in the U.S.
1849 - Elizabeth Blackwell graduates from Geneva Medical College, becoming the first woman to graduate from medical school. She later becomes a pioneer in the education of women in medicine.
1853 - Pennsylvania begins funding the Pennsylvania Training School for Feeble-Minded Children, a private school for children with intellectual disabilities.
1854 - Ashmun Institute, now Lincoln University, is founded on October 12, and as Horace Mann Bond, the university's eighth president states in his book, Education for Freedom: A History of Lincoln University, it becomes the "first institution anywhere in the world to provide higher education in the arts and sciences for male youth of African descent." The university's many distinguished alumni include Langston Hughes and Thurgood Marshall.
1856 - The first kindergarten in the U.S. is started in Watertown, Wisconsin, founded by Margarethe Schurz. Four years later, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody opens the first "formal" kindergarten in Boston, MA.
1857 - The National Teachers Association (now the National Education Association) is founded by forty-three educators in Philadelphia.
1859 - Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species is published on November 24, introducing his theory that species evolve through the process of natural selection, and setting the stage for the controversy surrounding teaching the theory of evolution in public schools that persists to this day.
1867 - The Department of Education is created in order to help states establish effective school systems.
1867 - After hearing of the desperate situation faced schools in the south, George Peabody funds the two-million-dollar Peabody Education Fund to aid public education in southern states.
1867 - Howard University is established in Washington D.C. to provide education for African American youth "in the liberal arts and sciences.” Early financial support is provided by the Freedmen's Bureau.
1869 - Boston creates the first public day school for the deaf.
1817 - The Connecticut Asylum at Hartford for the Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons opens. It is the first permanent school for the deaf in the U.S. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc are the school's co-founders. In 1864, Thomas Gaullaudet's son, Edward Miner Gallaudet, helps to start Gallaudet University, the first college specifically for deaf students.
1821 - The first public high school, Boston English High School, opens .
1823 - Catherine Beecher founds the Hartford Female Seminary, a private school for girls in Hartford, Connecticut. She goes on to found more schools and become a prolific writer. Her sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe, an influential abolitionist, is the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin.
1827 - The state of Massachusetts passes a law requiring towns of more than 500 families to have a public high school open to all students.
1829 - The New England Asylum for the Blind, now the Perkins School for the Blind, opens in Massachusetts, becoming the first school in the U.S. for children with visual disabilities.
1836 - The first of William Holmes McGuffey's readers is published. Their secular tone sets them apart from the Puritan texts of the day. The McGuffey Readers, as they came to be known, are among the most influential textbooks of the 19th Century.
1837 - Eighty students arrive at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, the first college for women in the U.S. Its founder/president is Mary Lyon.
1839 - The first state funded school specifically for teacher education (then known as "normal" schools) opens in Lexington, Massachusetts.
1848 - Hervey Wilbur helps establish the Massachusetts School for Idiotic and Feebleminded Youth, the first school of its kind in the U.S.
1849 - Elizabeth Blackwell graduates from Geneva Medical College, becoming the first woman to graduate from medical school. She later becomes a pioneer in the education of women in medicine.
1853 - Pennsylvania begins funding the Pennsylvania Training School for Feeble-Minded Children, a private school for children with intellectual disabilities.
1854 - Ashmun Institute, now Lincoln University, is founded on October 12, and as Horace Mann Bond, the university's eighth president states in his book, Education for Freedom: A History of Lincoln University, it becomes the "first institution anywhere in the world to provide higher education in the arts and sciences for male youth of African descent." The university's many distinguished alumni include Langston Hughes and Thurgood Marshall.
1856 - The first kindergarten in the U.S. is started in Watertown, Wisconsin, founded by Margarethe Schurz. Four years later, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody opens the first "formal" kindergarten in Boston, MA.
1857 - The National Teachers Association (now the National Education Association) is founded by forty-three educators in Philadelphia.
1859 - Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species is published on November 24, introducing his theory that species evolve through the process of natural selection, and setting the stage for the controversy surrounding teaching the theory of evolution in public schools that persists to this day.
1867 - The Department of Education is created in order to help states establish effective school systems.
1867 - After hearing of the desperate situation faced schools in the south, George Peabody funds the two-million-dollar Peabody Education Fund to aid public education in southern states.
1867 - Howard University is established in Washington D.C. to provide education for African American youth "in the liberal arts and sciences.” Early financial support is provided by the Freedmen's Bureau.
1869 - Boston creates the first public day school for the deaf.
