Horace Mann

“Horace Mann, was born on this day in Franklin, Massachusetts, in 1796. He grew up without much money or schooling, and what he did learn, he learned on his own at his local library, which had been founded by Benjamin Franklin. He was accepted into Brown University and graduated in three years, valedictorian of his class.” (5/4/2014 Writer’s Almanac) I love this combination of (unmentioned) real-world, hard-knocks education and library-based, self-taught academics. The recipe obviously worked for Horace Mann, “the father of American pubic education.”