University Press of America
Pages: 190
•
Trim: 6¼ x 9½
978-0-7618-5926-0 • Hardback • November 2012 • $86.00 • (£66.00)
978-0-7618-6553-7 • Paperback • April 2015 • $47.99 • (£37.00)
978-0-7618-5928-4 • eBook • November 2012 • $45.50 • (£35.00)
Arthur S. Meyers, director of Russell Library in Middletown, Connecticut, has been researching and writing about the Open Forum movement for more than two decades.
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1. Perspectives The most marvelous program that ever existed
Chapter 2. Beginning We have plans laid already
Chapter 3. Structure Helping to mould the Boston of the future
Chapter 4. Terre Haute The striking of mind upon mind
Chapter 5. Hammond A sturdy core of thinking, fact seeking citizens
Chapter 6. Du Bois You have given me new strength and vision
Chapter 7. Looking Ahead An America To Be
Bibliography
Meyers’ original and exciting investigation [and] deft, nuanced analysis....thoroughly explores the movement’s strengths and weaknesses, providing insights that will be valuable to historians—and to all who seek to develop inclusive solutions to social problems.
— Nancy C. Unger, associate professor of history, Santa Clara University; author, Fighting Bob La Follette: The Righteous Reformer
…[A] clearly-drawn narrative….connect[ing] this non-sectarian, semi-secular movement to the Chautauqua and Lyceum movements of earlier generations.
— Richard D. Brown, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of History, emeritus, University of Connecticut
I recommend this book highly for students of adult education and for public officials and civic leaders who want a model of public discourse for civil conversation in a time of polarization.
— Harold W. Stubblefield, professor emeritus, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
…A valuable resource…useful not only because it revives this history but also because it illustrates how the past can help to inform the present. The National Issues Forums are certainly a close descendant of this important movement.
— David Mathews, president, Kettering Foundation
…Meyers does more than simply reintroduce an important piece of our civic past; he also presents us with a model for rejuvenating contemporary public life.
— James J. Connolly, director, Center for Middletown Studies; professor of history, Ball State University; author, An Elusive Unity: Urban Democracy and Machine Politics in Industrializing America
This vivid new window brings forward Mary Caroline Crawford, a woman who shaped progressive public discourse.
— Kathryn Kish Sklar, SUNY Binghamton; author of Florence Kelley and the Nation's Work