mechanics' institutes
mechanics' institutes. Following the foundation of the London Mechanics' Institute (later Birkbeck College) in 1823, these adult education institutions spread rapidly, especially in the industrial areas of the north and midlands. Their original aim of providing science for artisans, however, proved impracticable and by 1840 they had become centres for ‘rational recreation’ and the ‘diffusion of useful knowledge’, frequented by lower middle-class clerks and tradesmen and a few better-off artisans. The membership nationally rose from 7,000 in 1831 to 200,000 in 1860. Mechanics' institutes were favoured by middle-class liberals as promoting self-help, respectability, and ‘intellectual and moral improvement’. From the 1860s mechanics' institutes acquired a new role as night schools and examination centres for the Society of Arts and the Science and Art Department, thus becoming forerunners of technical colleges.
John F. C. Harrison
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mechanics' institutes
