The Idea.

Fear that people without education would form a lawless mob and upset the established order motivated reformers in the late eighteenth century to establish a broad system of education and to institute schools on Sundays. The Sunday school idea had been imported from England, where the industrial system had taken women and children from their homes and put them to work in factories, making it impossible for them to enjoy the traditional home-based education. Sunday schools gave these working people a chance to learn to read and write.

Philadelphia.

In 1791 Sunday schools were opened in Philadelphia to persons of all ages, both men and women, who could not afford to educate themselves. The schools were supported by charitable donations and were run by religious societies, though they were nonsectarian. The Philadelphia school required its students to attend public worship on Sundays, though...