MECHANICS' INSTITUTIONS

Recent movements in education have tended to emphasize vocational and industrial training—to correlate the practical with the so-called cultural subjects. In this connection it may be worth while to recall the efforts made a century ago to graft scientific and cultural studies upon mechanical training. The mechanics' institutions which attained considerable influence during the first half of the nineteenth century were the result of the growth of democracy and education among the workers, who began to realize that training of the mind would make the hand more efficient.

ORIGIN OF MECHANICS' INSTITUTIONS

The growth of organizations initiated by men who sought to better the situation of mechanics or artisans constitutes one of the most interesting chapters in the educational and social history of Great Britain. As early as 1760 Dr. John Anderson, at Glasgow, began to illustrate his lectures in natural philosophy by the results of observation in the shops of the city. In order to carry out his design he began the instruction of what he described as his anti-toga class, which was composed of workingmen who were permitted to attend in their working clothes. At his death the property of Professor Anderson was devoted to the establishment of Anderson University at Glasgow - an institution for the instruction of artisans. And thus the course he began was perpetuated. In 1796 a course of lectures was given to over 1000 persons of both sexes.

It was in Glasgow, also, that Dr. George Birkbeck, in

1799, lectured to 500 practical mechanics and, apparently as a result of these lectures, was called to the chair formerly held by Dr. Anderson. It has generally been conceded that these lectures were the origin of mechanics' institutions under whatever name they were organized. Both Dr. Birkbeck and Lord Brougham cited these lectures to show the value of such instruction for the working classes. Professor Anderson, it has been said, "opened the temple of science to the hard laboring mechanic and artisan.""

The city of Birmingham became a center for organizations to better the life of the working man under such names as the Reformation Society in 1787, the Sunday Society in 1789, the Cast Iron Philosophers in 1791, the first Artisans' Library in 1795, and the Birmingham Brotherly Society in 1796. The Sunday Society grew out of an association for mutual improvement, wherein members addressed their associates upon the subjects connected with their occupations. Many of these speakers were connected with the technical trades of the community and they constructed apparatus to illustrate "the principles of mechanics, hydrostatics, pneumatics, optics, electricity, and astronomy." Admission to such lectures was not confined to members, inasmuch as they were free to young persons employed in the factories of the city. In some of the organizations already mentioned there were classes in drawing, in geography, and in the study of those sciences in the application of which many members were interested. From the Artisans' Library which was established especially for the use of the working people useful reading could be had for a penny a week. Dr. Andrew Ure, a Scottish chemist, has been credited with the addition of the library feature to the original design of these several associations. And 1 Barnard's The American Journal of Education, Vol. XXII, p. 31.

the movement to provide literary and scientific societies for the middle and lower classes was advocated about the same time by The Monthly Magazine (in 1814), one of the most popular periodicals of the time.

In 1823 the Glasgow Mechanics Institute, the Liverpool Mechanics' and Apprentice's Library, and the London Mechanics' Institute were established, and for many years it was believed that the latter was the first of its kind in London. In 1831, however, the London Mechanics' Magazine pointed out the fact that an organization called "The Mechanical Institution" had been active in 1817. That institution purposed to disseminate useful knowledge among its members and their friends by lectures and discussions on various branches of science. It is noteworthy that the initiative in that instance was taken by the mechanics themselves, whereas the London institution of 1823 resulted from a call sent out by the Mechanics' Magazine.

After 1823, under the leadership of Dr. Birkbeck and Lord Brougham, such institutions spread throughout the kingdom until in 1850 there were 700 societies scattered through the towns and villages. In first class towns these agencies of instruction included the following features: (1) a reference library, a circulating library, and a reading room; (2) a museum of machines, models, minerals, and natural history; (3) lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, practical mechanics, chemistry, astronomy, literature, and the arts; (4) an experimental workshop and laboratory; and (5) elementary classes for teaching arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and their different applications, particularly to perspective, architecture, mensuration, and navigation. The reading rooms of the London Mechanics' Institute were open from 9 A. M. to 10 P. M. A public lecture was given on each Wednesday and Friday evening commencing at 8:30 o'clock. The lecturers were paid 3£

13s 6d. "when they did not find any of the apparatus" and it is assumed, therefore, that a larger fee was allowed when apparatus was furnished.

In the classes connected with the London Mechanics' Institute the instruction included the subjects already mentioned and in addition the French and Latin languages and sometimes shorthand. Drawing was very popular and 100 of the 300 enrolled were pursuing it. Modelling, also, was among the subjects offered. There was a class of 120 members which received instruction on the mutual plan- a popular method about that time (1840). Chemistry, experimental philosophy, geography, natural history, and phrenology were the subjects of most prominence in this class. Ninety at least were studying music under paid instructors. In 1849 there were 120,000 members in these various institutes; there were more than 400 reading rooms with libraries possessing an aggregate of 815,000 volumes. Moreover, to meet an apparent demand, a "Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge" began the publication of a series of cheap and useful publications on a large variety of subjects.

An institution at Manchester (about 1835) was designed to enable mechanics and artisans of any trade to obtain a knowledge of the science connected with that trade. Since there was no art that did not depend upon scientific principles, the object in view was to teach such principles. Lectures, classes, a library, a reading room, and a preparatory school were the means to be employed. The plan was practically the same as that pursued in London, with some additional features. For example, a gymnasium was open to members for a small fee. The German language as well as French and Latin was taught. A subordinate organization of probably one hundred members, to which any one over the age of eighteen was admitted, had in view not only

the acquisition of knowledge, but also the promotion of social relations. The meetings were held fortnightly when some member read a paper on a subject to which his attention had been drawn, and this reading was followed by a conversation upon the same subject. It seems that the day school was among the most important interests of these organizations, since parents were taking the education of their children into their own hands. The school for boys at Manchester was opened in 1834; and that for girls in 1835. They were intended first for the sons and daughters, brothers and sisters of the subscribers to the Mechanics' Institute who paid four shillings a quarter; while non-subscribers paid five shillings. It is observed that in addition to the common literary subjects the girls were instructed in sewing and knitting.2

MOVEMENTS IN NEW ENGLAND

In 1823, Mr. Timothy Claxton, who had been identified with the "Mechanical Institute" in London in 1817, came to New England and engaged to work in the vicinity of Methuen, Essex County, Massachusetts, where there was a factory for the manufacture of cotton goods and also a machine shop. Because of his previous experiences in London he took the first opportunity to promote the establishment of a similar society in New England. It was then that he learned of a lyceum - probably the first in this country - which had been organized about 1819 in the village of Methuen. The organization was called the "Methuen Social Society for Reading and General Inquiry". Its membership was composed of both men and women who sought useful knowledge through a course of reading.

Before this society, which seems to have lost some of its early enthusiasm, Timothy Claxton in 1824 gave a lecture 2 Barnard's The American Journal of Education, Vol. VIII, pp. 250, 253; Connecticut Common School Journal, Vol. II, pp. 271–273.