Horace Mann (1796 - 1859)

Horace Mann (May 4, 1796 – August 2, 1859) was an American politician and educational reformer. A Whig devoted to promoting speedy modernization, he served in the Massachusetts State Legislature (1827–37). In 1848, after serving as Secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Education since its creation, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives. He advocated that education be universal, non-sectarian, free, and that its aims should be social efficiency, civic virtue, and character, rather than mere learning or the advancement of sectarian ends. Mann has been credited by educational historians as the "Father of the Common School Movement".