Horace Mann

Mann, Horace (1796–1859), U.S. educator, lawyer, and politician. As secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education (1837–48), he revolutionized public school organization and teaching, promoting public education for all children, and established the first normal school in the United States. A member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1848–53), he became the first president of Antioch College (1852–59), and was elected to the American Hall of Fame (1900).