Alva Review-Courier -

Horace Mann was a successful politician when he set out to spread the concept of publicly funded education throughout the United States.

The Massachusetts family into which Mann was born in 1796 was one of poor farmers. Consequently, he received only a cursory formal education while growing to adulthood.

But he read voraciously at the local public library, and in 1816 he enrolled in Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. He graduated three years later at the top of his class.

Later, Mann attended a law school in Massachusetts and was admitted to that state’s bar association in 1823.

A member of the Whig Party, Mann served in the Massachusetts House of Delegates (1827-1833), the State Senate (1835-1837), and the U.S. House of Representatives (1848-1853).

In 1837 Mann resigned from the state legislature to become the superintendent of the Massachusetts board of education. Before long he was advocating for free and universal public education not only in his home state but in all others as well.

Opposition to spending taxpayer money to educate every child came from several quarters. Most early schools in the U.S. were private and featured a religiously oriented curriculum.

Mann thought the public schools should instill “Christian morals” in students, but he also believed that they should be non-denominational. As he put it: “Our public schools are not theological seminaries.”

At any rate, some religious groups opposed public education because it would take students away from their institutions. Others fought the concept because they had no children or their children were not of school age.

Mann argued successfully, however, that an educated populace was good for the country. With every state offering public education by 1850, the demand for teachers grew.

Therefore, Mann also advocated for the creation of “normal” colleges to train teachers. These institutions were so-called because they would teach the same “norms” in their curriculum.

Northwestern Oklahoma State University (NWOSU) began its existence in 1897 as a normal school to train teachers for Oklahoma Territory. Today, of course, many teachers hold NWOSU degrees.