As children return to school for the upcoming season, we sometimes forget that the grown ups have been seekers of additional education since before the time of Benjamin Franklin. Formal education via universities was well established, but what other education opportunities existed in the United States? There were three primary institutions or movements that history records.

It is believed that the first town meetings that were held in early Colonial America could be considered the beginning of education for adults. Town meetings provided the opportunity for citizens to keep apprised and discuss issues of concern to the community.

Benjamin Franklin would be a leading influence in the growth of adult education in the United States. He established a men’s club called The Junto in 1727. History determines that this was the first "formal adult education institution in the United States." The club was later created to be a civil organization then an adult education center.

The lyceum was another formal institution for the education of adults. Josiah Holbrook started the first lyceum in 1826 in Millbury, Massachusetts. The purpose of the institution was threefold: enhance member development through study and discussion, disseminate knowledge, and encourage promotion of creating elementary schools.

By the 1850s, nearly 3,500 lyceums existed throughout the United States, the vast majority being in the northeast. The movement of the lyceum lasted only into the 1920s when the concept eventually collapsed.

The Chautauqua movement was the most popular of the adult education movement. Commencing in 1874 by John Vincent and Lewis Miller in New York, although primarily religious in the beginning, it would later develop into a liberal education program. Nearly 300,000 adults were enrolled in correspondence courses. Study circles were formed by 1918 with over 10,000 groups meeting. From the early 1900s to the 1920s, over 30 million people attended Chautauqua in tents.

What our past adult ancestors have demonstrated to us today is this: education and the thirst for learning never stops! Learning is a gift that keeps on giving. With so many resources available today through academia, books, libraries, magazines, and the Internet, continued adult education is here for the asking!