Will Cooper - History of Adult Education: 1930-1939

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Name	Commented On
Will Cooper	Jacqueline S. Davis Karen Lloyd

(Conrad, 1935)

Adult Education in the Dirty Thirties:

Crisis and the Beginnings of Social Change in America

William P. Cooper

Ball State University

EDAC 631 Adult and Community Education

September 8, 2019

Abstract

The newly emerging field of adult education was not immune to the symptoms created by the Great Depression in 1929.  This review of adult education in the 1930s examines how the Great Depression impacted adult education, and how both the government and non-governmental organizations shifted the trajectory of adult education due to the economic crisis.  A brief synopsis of some major factors from the 1920s is used to prepare a review of major organizational and government programs from the 1930s.  President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, along with national educational organizations and private philanthropists become catalysts for the adult education movement during this decade.   Finally, implications of environmental change and informal education are discussed, and their application in current work.  

Introduction

The stock market crash of October 1929 led to years of crisis, and dramatically shaped America in the 1930s.  The country had recently come out of World War I, and was experiencing a time of prosperity and significant industrialization.  The stock market crash left the country reeling, and sent vast ripples throughout the economy, causing massive job loss and poverty.  The market crash was quickly followed by the dustbowl, caused by a series of droughts throughout the decade, which sent large dust storms across the United States.  This amplified the negative impacts of the Great Depression beyond the reaches of major cities into small rural and agricultural communities, and culminated in what is known as “Black Sunday” in 1935 (Ganzel, 2003).  By this time, cities such as Washington DC and New York had experienced darkened skies as massive dust clouds drifted eastward from the Great Plans.  Because of the persistent dust storms, the decade is often referred to as the “Dirty Thirties”, and American life during this time is memorialized in John Steinbeck’s 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath (Leman, Dupre, Ford, Ford, Gajewski, & Marchildon, 2014).

Although in many ways this period in time is sometimes characterized by the negative impacts of the Great Depression, this crisis also served as a great catalyst for change throughout the country.  The federal government began to develop and implement programs in response to the crisis, most of which were aimed at stabilizing the economy and providing work for the unemployed.  In 1933 the newly elected President President Franklin D. Roosevelt enacted the New Deal, a name that was derived from his campaign promise during the 1932 Democratic National Convention (Leuchtenburg, n.d.).  This later became know as the First New Deal, and in 1935 and 1937 what became known respectively as the Second and Third New Deals were enacted, building on programs implemented in the First New Deal. (Amadeo, 2019).  This landmark legislation was immense in size and scope, something never before seen or attempted by the United States federal government.

Major programs were enacted throughout the 1930s as a part of the New Deal, which provided much needed stimulation to the economy. Much of the legislation was regulatory and aimed at preventing future financial crises, but other pieces of legislation provided direct relief in the form of jobs, housing, or utilities.  Some hallmark programs of the New Deal include the Civilian Conservation Corps, which provided jobs to millions to help conserve public lands, and the Tennessee Valley Authority, which provided power to very impoverished regions of the country.  The legacy of both these, and other programs in the New Deal can still be seen today, in both physical and regulatory forms.  In addition to the New Deal, philanthropy also played a significant role in the recovery of the country, and the furthering of the movement to educate adults in the United States.  The railroad and steel tycoon, Andrew Carnegie, made one of the most significant and famous acts of philanthropy in the early twentieth century, which subsequently played a significant role in American adult education in the 1930s. 

Highlights

More formalized adult education in America had already begun to take shape in the decades prior to the “Dirty Thirties,” many of which were closely tied to public schools, extension agencies, universities, and other institutions (Stubblefield & Keane, 1994).  In 1911 just prior to World War I, Andrew Carnegie founded the Carnegie Corporation with the goal of “promotion and diffusion of knowledge” (Lagemann, 1987), and the organization remains well known even today due to the large amount of philanthropy that was used to create the organization. In regards to adult education, the Carnegie Corporation aimed to educate adults outside a traditional classroom setting through libraries and other forms of media, and the legacy of at least a portion of this effort remains visible throughout America today via Carnegie libraries.  In 1926 the American Association for Adult Education (AAAE) was formed, in part due to the work and support of the Carnegie Corporation, but was an independent organization that focused on institutional adult learning (Stubblefield & Keane, 1994).  Together with the Carnegie Corporation, the AAAE worked to promote adult education throughout the United States, and set the stage for these and other organizations to adjust to a changing economy.  They would continue, in addition to other organizations and government programs, to make an impact on adult education in the era of depression that was soon to follow in the 1930s.    

Due to the high volume of immigration in the early twentieth century, many public schools implemented adult education programs aimed at illiteracy and citizenship for immigrants.  This was spurred on in 1917, when the federal government passed a law requiring a literacy test for citizenship (Scott, 2011).  This general idea became more formally known as “Americanization”, which aimed to assimilate immigrants into American culture and society by eliminating much of their own cultural heritage.  Americanization ultimately led to a dramatic increase of adult education in public school systems throughout the country leading up to the 1930s.

The American Association for Adult Education shifted its focus in the early 1930s to compensate for the crisis created by the Great Depression.  The organization began to put pressure on the federal government to expand activity related to adult education and vocational adjustment, and promoted what was known as the open forum movement to activate local community organizations for adult education (Knowles, 1977).  This movement was run by then U.S. Commissioner of Education John Studebaker for implementation of New Deal education programs, and was based on forums he first operated in Des Moines, Iowa.  These forums were used primarily as “an agency for the dissemination and exchange of ideas essential to an informed public opinion” (Beals & Brody, 1941).  Proponents of these forums felt that traditional education had not prepared adults for how to be fully engaged as a citizen, especially in times of crisis. Because of this perceived lack of civic education, these forums were used to bolster adults’ critical thinking and patriotism during a time when many felt democracy was being threatened (Kunzman & Tyack, 2005). 

Due to the high levels of unemployment following the stock market crash in 1929, coupled with the increasing mechanization of jobs previously held by people, there was a marked increase in what became known as leisure time in America.  Beyond providing employment and basic needs, there was a great deal of fear regarding how so many adults would use this newly acquired free time (Scott, 2011).  Libraries, museums, and other exhibitions were seen as an asset to adults, and something to help productively fill their leisure time.  Leading up to the early 1930s, the Carnegie Corporation in partnership with the American Library Association (ALA) began to study what American adults liked to read.  This study was completed despite initial dissent among many library professionals who did not agree that their institutions should be heavily involved in adult education (Stubblefield & Keane, 1994).  By the early 1930s this attitude saw a noticeable shift, with adult education roundtable sessions being added to the ALA annual meetings throughout the decade and beyond.  The findings of the ALA study prompted the creation of courses, with financial support from the Carnegie Corporation, which ranged from biology to psychology in subject matter.  Libraries across the country subscribed to these courses, which were simply short publications, and by the 1930s over 54 courses had been created and over three quarters of a million copies had been sold (Rachal, n.d.). 

Influential Factors

The New Deal played a significant role in adult education during the Dirty Thirties, and it importance was even understood by then President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  His wife Eleanor was a particular proponent of the public forum movement, and as Kunzman & Tyack highlight (2005, page 338), she served as an ally for adult education with President Roosevelt.  Although support at this level was evident to some, adult education in America at the time did not enjoy such broad level support from top leadership, as did other countries such as the United Kingdom and Canada (Knowles, 1977).  Nonetheless, a significant portion of the New Deal congressional appropriation during 1933 was directed to the Emergency Relief Administration, which soon thereafter formed the Emergency Education Division.  The administrators of this division hoped to use these funds to support both nursery school and adult education, two areas of public education that had previously received little federal support (Stubblefield & Keane, 1994).  This division created a variety of adult education courses, ranging from studies of social sciences to real estate.  Stubblefield & Keane (1994, page 231) estimate that approximately 1,300,000 people learned how to read and write though the programs implemented by the Emergency Education Division by the late 1930s, and that even during a time of segregation these opportunities were promoted to African American adults by Teachers College at Columbia University.

The continued work of the AAAE and Carnegie Corporation increased the visibility and understanding of adult education throughout the 1930s.  They continued to collaborate on studies and research on adult education, and were vocal advocates for the use of “adult education” as a word to help organize the many disassociated activities and understandings of the field.  It was during the late 1920s and early 1930s that the AAAE began to truly recognize the need to train facilitators and leaders in adult education (Knowles, 1977).  Following several AAAE sponsored adult education training courses at two universities in New York, the organization sponsored its first course at Teachers College, Columbia University.  This was the start of the profession of leadership in adult education in America as provided by an institution of higher education (Stubblefield & Keane, 1994), and by the mid-1930s the Carnegie Corporation and AAAE had made multiple fellowship grants in adult education to the university.  The first course in adult education was included in Teachers College curriculum in 1931, and by 1941 the university established an Institute of Adult Education (Knowles, 1977). 

Beyond their work with Columbia University, and with continued financial support of the Carnegie Corporation, the AAAE continued to expand their impact during the 1930s.  They continued to support experiments and demonstrations aimed at the study of adult education, and were very interested in what other countries were doing with adult education.  The organization continued to advance the ideas of adult education by cooperating with other similar organizations.  Once such organization, the National Education Association (NEA), had formed their own department of adult education due to the formation of the AAAE in the years leading up to the 1930s.  During the this decade, these two organizations worked to distinguish themselves, as the “AAAE emphasized the theory, philosophy, and national prestige of the adult education movement, the NEA Department stressed practice, social action, and relationship building” (Knowles, 1977).  

Another organization that took a deeper interest in adult education during the 1930s was the American Library Association.  It is clear that many library professionals at the time were uncomfortable using their institutions and individual skill sets to further the ideas of adult education.  During the early part the decade, the adult education efforts of the ALA focused on rural adult education, and the need for expanded facilities, books, and professionals in rural communities (Drury, 1930).  Much debate occurred at the organizations annual meetings, and it is clear that although the national organization had decided to try and meet the needs of adult learners, amongst many local library professionals it was noted at the 1938 annual conference that “considerable difference of opinion still exists concerning the extent to which the library should depart from its traditional function of loan and reference service” (Munn, 1938). 

In addition to the Emergency Education Division of the Emergency Relief Administration, an important organization to adult education that was created under the New Deal is known as the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1935.  The impacts of the Great Depression were not limited to those serving in the private sector, as many teachers became unemployed during this time.  Much of the early focus of the WPA was on unemployed teachers, and providing them training in subjects more relevant to adult learners at that time, such as literacy, parent education, and vocational education.  The WPA also expanded on the work of others in leisure education by implementing special projects related to fine arts and media (Knowles, 1977). 

While much progress was being made at a national level during the 1930s, and through large organizations like AAAE and the Carnegie Corporation, what would later become an icon of the social justice and equality movement in the south was just being born.  In 1932 the Highlander Folk School was established in Monteagle, Tennessee by Myles Horton, Don West, Jim Dombrowski and others.  The school was later renamed the Highlander Research and Education Center, and still operates today (Highlander Research and Education Center, n.d.).  Although the organization has grown significantly in terms of scope and reach, the 1930s were an important and foundational time for Highlander.  Despite the chaos created by the Great Depression, Myles Horton was working organizing unemployed people in the region, training union leaders, and fighting segregation.

Implications

            Review of adult education in the “Dirty Thirties” has made clear that two major forces operated as catalysts for change during this time of major crisis: government intervention and philanthropy.  Despite the difference in size and scope, it is evident that both played a major role in supporting the adult education movement in America.  In many ways, it appears these two forces operated not in opposition, but in tandem with one another.  Much of the work of philanthropy had already begun prior to the Great Depression, and so its work in the 1930s simply shifted to meet changing needs.  The New Deal and associated government subsidizing of adult education was in many ways reactionary, as much of that programming was new and only slightly built on previous work.  Both, however, were necessary in such an extraordinary time in American history, and in many ways set the stage for much of the radical change that occurred in the 1960s and 1970s.  The amount of social action, justice, and reform that has come from the Highlander Center alone is evident, and much of the work that took place in the 1930s paved the way for its success.

            When considering what implications this period of time has for the work of adult education today, there seems to be a few themes: environment & context, and informal education.  Whether through continued or amended government intervention, philanthropy, or some other form of support, we must be prepared for an ever-changing learning environment and context.  The stock market crash in 1929 may be a stark example, but it clearly shows the impacts such an economic disruption can have on the learning environment.  There is certainly merit to relying on empirical data to drive pedagogy, but as facilitator and adult learners we must be nimble and prepared adjust strategies as change occurs.  The rapid pace at which technology continues to change presents an ever-moving target for facilitators, but one that we would be wise to do our best to track.

In addition to a rapidly changing environment, leaders during this time were learning the value of both formal and informal adult education.  As environment and context shifted so dramatically after 1929, it uncovered the value of both learning methods, as more life experience was validated through more formalized educational settings.  Despite decades of increasing formalized education in America since the 1930s, the value of informal education has not declined.  Anticipating environmental and contextual change, coupled with the added value of informal educational experiences will create even more successful and impactful adult educators in the future.    

 

References

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