American Education

The first volume of Lawrence A. Cremin's monumental work on the history of education in America was described by Choice as "indispensable... unquestionably one of the most important projects of our time, certain to influence American historical scholarship for years to come."

In this second volume the noted historian, who is president of Columbia University's Teachers College, carries his account to 1876, portraying the development of an authentic American vernacular in education. As in the first volume, Cremin defines education broadly, to include not only the work of schools and colleges but also the efforts of families, churches, libraries, lyceums, museums, and expositions, and indeed of individuals engaged in systematic efforts to instruct themselves. He emphasizes the increased significance of schools, newspapers, and voluntary associations in nineteenth-century America. He deals extensively with ideas about education as moving forces that influence what people believe to be possible and desirable. And he covers educational institutions in detail, pointing out that during the nineteenth century they were small and loosely structured and that individuals made their own way through these institutions, irregularly, intermittently, and indeterminately.

This major study of American society and culture will be essential reading, not only for educators and historians, but for everyone interested in contemporary educational affairs. It will surely become a classic in its field.