John Orville Taylor: A Forgotten Educator

Abstract

JOHN ORVILLE TAYLOR was one of many prominent educators of the eighteen thirties and forties who labored continually to win public support for popular education. One can safely infer that his efforts to muster common school support were comparable with those of his more publicized contemporaries; yet today he receives little recognition from educational historians for the part he played in laying the groundwork for the American public school. Burke A. Hinsdale's Notes on the History of Foreign Influence upon Education in the United States (i) was one of the earliest works to cite Taylor as the man who furnished an American preface in 1835 to Sarah Austin's partial translation of Victor Cousin's famous Report on the State of Public Instruction in Prussia. The auspicious appearance at this time in America of part of Cousin's work provided timely justification for Americans struggling with the traditional resistance to universal education. Prussia's common, normal and higher schools were excellent; consequently, the publicity given by Taylor to her overall system helped immeasurably to quicken the metabolism of American education. Considering the influence of Prussian education upon American schools, it is proper then to mention Taylor's role in the early practice of imitating an exemplary foreign model. It is also important to note that Taylor was not alone in popularizing German ideas in America, but his efforts were early enough to stimulate others to action later on.