Founder Of The American Lyceum Movement

Amateur Scientist.

From an early age Josiah Holbrook of Darby, Connecticut, who graduated from Yale College in 1810, mixed interests in business, science, and educational reform. A well-to-do farmer turned amateur scientist, Holbrook dreamed of sharing scientific knowledge with citizens throughout the nation. After listening to the science lectures of Benjamin Silliman, the eminent professor of chemistry and mineralogy at Yale, Holbrook returned to Darby to spread his interest in science to others and traveled throughout the state as an itinerant lecturer on scientific subjects. In 1819 he organized one of the nation's earliest industrial schools in his hometown. He continually experimented with other schools that combined manual training, agricultural education, and formal academic instruction. By the 1820s he had acquired a reputation as one of the leading voices of the new sciences and an advocate of educational reform. American...