“Discovering New Trajectories in History: A 19th-Century Woman’s Practice of Adult Education”

Armer, Gina R. M. “Discovering New Trajectories in History: A 19th-Century Woman’s Practice of Adult Education.” American Association for Adult and Continuing Education 2024 Conference Proceedings, October 28 – November 1: 7-12.

Armer researched Mary Baker Eddy’s 1881 founding of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College in order to shine a light on her frequently overlooked contribution to adult education. The College was a co-educational institution, unparalleled for its time, but similar to those of today. It promoted lifelong learning, continuing education, self-directed learning, and vocational training, and uniquely, it heavily emphasized entrepreneurship. Many graduates started their own businesses as practitioners of spiritual healing through prayer. Some of the College graduates would go on to establish 37 institutes of instruction in healing methods—73% of which were founded by women. The College’s 1889 closure prompted the Church’s Board of Education to take over responsibility for Christian Science education where it remains today. Armer laments the lack of acknowledgement in academic literature of how Eddy affected adult education. Armer’s feminist aim also brought attention to a 19th-century woman’s achievements. The article lists features of Eddy’s historic systems of education, as well as those set up by today’s Board of Education, such as being founded by a woman relying on her own finances, welcoming adults of all ages and both sexes, deemphasizing physical locations or buildings before the advent of distance learning, and its entrepreneurial element.

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See also annotations:

“A College for Teaching Christian Science” by The Mary Baker Eddy Library

“Pioneering Women Entrepreneurs” by Gina R.M. Armer

“Mary Baker Eddy’s Contribution to Adult Education, An Historical Biography “ by Gina R.M. Armer