Mechanics' institute
Mechanics' institutes, also known as mechanics' institutions, sometimes simply known as institutes, and also called schools of arts (especially in the
Many of the original institutes included
Origins and history
The foundations of the movement which created mechanics' institutes were in lectures given by
The first mechanics' institute in England was opened at Liverpool in July 1823.[4]
The second institute in Scotland was incorporated in
The
In Australia, the first mechanics' institute was established in
The
Small tradesmen and workers could not afford subscription libraries, so for their benefit, benevolent groups and individuals created mechanics' institutes that contained inspirational and vocational reading matter, for a small rental fee. Later popular non-fiction and fiction books were added to these collections. The first known library of this type was the Birmingham Artisans' Library, formed in 1823.
Some mechanics' libraries lasted only a decade or two, and many eventually became public libraries or (in the United States) were given to local public libraries after the Public Libraries Act 1850 passed. Though use of the mechanics' libraries was limited, the majority of the users were favourable towards the idea of free public libraries.[12] However, by 1900 there were over 9,000 mechanics institutes around the world.[3]
Beyond a
G. Jefferson explains:
The first phase, the Mechanics Institute movement, grew in an atmosphere of interest by a greater proportion of the population in scientific matters revealed in the public lectures of famous scientists such as Faraday. More precisely, as a consequence of the introduction of machinery a class workmen emerged to build, maintain and repair, the machines on which the blessing of progress depended, at a time when population shifts and the dissolving influences of industrialization in the new urban areas, where these were concentrated, destroyed the inadequate old apprentice system and threw into relief the connection between material advancement and the necessity of education to take part in its advantages.[14]
21st century revival
Across the world, there is a move to sustain and revive mechanics' institutes and related institutions as
- 2004: Buildings, Books and Beyond: Mechanics' Worldwide, at Prahran, Victoria, and the Prahran Mechanics' Institute, Australia[17]
- 2009: Self Help: Mechanics' Worldwide, at the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, Bath, Somerset, England[18]
- 2012: Buildings, Books and Blackboards – Intersecting Narratives: Mechanics' Worldwide.
- 2016: Reinvention: Thriving in the 21st Century Mechanics' Worldwide, Mechanics' Institute, San Francisco, California, U.S.[20]
- 2021: Mechanics' Institutes: Past, Present and Future – Mechanics' Institutes Worldwide. Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland, and online (due to the COVID-19 pandemic)
By country
Thousands of mechanics' institutes buildings still operate throughout the world, mostly now used as libraries, parts of universities, adult education facilities, and a few still use their original names and function as a society or other type of organisation.
Australia
In the
The earliest and most prominent institute in Tasmania was Van Diemen's Land Mechanics' Institution, also known as Hobart Town Mechanics' Institute, Hobart (1827–1871), co-founded by George Augustus Robinson.[22][23]
The Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts (1833), in Sydney, New South Wales, is the oldest school of arts still operating[24] and the largest institute in Australia.[25] Others in NSW include the Moruya Mechanics' Institute[26] and the Scone School of Arts.
In South Australia, the South Australian Institute (1838, then 1847–),[27] was the forerunner of the State Library of South Australia, the South Australian Museum, and the Art Gallery of South Australia.[28]
The first institute in the
The first
In Queensland, the Brisbane School of Arts was created in 1873, in a former servants' home. The building was added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992.[32]
Over time, as local and state governments started providing libraries, community centres and other types of educational facilities, mechanics' institutes became less important in communities.[30]
Canada
Atlantic provinces
- Halifax Mechanics Institute
- St. John Mechanics' Institute
Ontario
- Barrie Mechanics' Institute
- Brockville Mechanics' Institute, now Brockville Public Library[33]
- Bytown Mechanics' Institute, later Mechanics' Institute and Athenaeum of Ottawa, now Ottawa Public Library
- Elmsley Library Association and Mechanics' Institute
- Elora Mechanics' Institute
- Farmers' Mechanics' Institute of Streetsville
- Guelph Farmers' and Mechanics' Institute, now Guelph Public Library[34]
- Hamilton and Gore Mechanics' Institute
- Kingston Mechanics' Institute
- London Mechanics' Institute
- Mechanics' Institute, Coldstream
- Mechanics' Institute (Orillia)
- Mechanics' Institute of Goderich
- Mechanics' Institute of Point Edward
- Midland Railroad Mechanics' Institute
- Napanee Mechanics' Institute
- Newmarket Farmers' Mechanics' Institute
- Owen Sound Mechanics Institute
- Peterborough Mechanics' Institute
- St. Catharines Mechanics' Institute Library
- Toronto Mechanics' Institute
- Woodstock Mechanics' Institute
Quebec
- Montreal Mechanics Institute
- Atwater Library of the Mechanics' Institute of Montreal
- Montreal Children's Library – Atwater Branch
- Quebec Mechanics' Institute
Hong Kong
- Government trade school
New Zealand
- Auckland Mechanics' Institute, founded 30 September 1842, closed 1880, with transfer of all library content to Auckland City Council library.[35]
- Port Nicholson Mechanics' Institute, Public School and Library, founded in May 1842 and renamed Wellington Athenaeum and Mechanics' Institute in 1849.
United Kingdom
(alphabetical order by town or city)
- Aberdeen Mechanics' Institute, Market Street, Aberdeen (architect Archibald Simpson), now a hotel.
- Alford Institute. Founded 1854.
- Alnwick Mechanics' Institute,[36] Northumberland. Founded 1824.
- Boston. Founded in 1849, became the Boston Atheneum in 1855.
- Bradford Mechanics' Institute Library, Yorkshire.
- Brechin Mechanics Institute, Angus.[37]
- Brentford Mechanics' Institution, Middlesex. Founded in 1835 and closed around 1890.[38][39]
- Burnley Mechanics, Burnley, Lancashire.
- Darlington Mechanics Institute, built in 1854, as of 2014 a nightclub and bar.[40]
- Dysart - Mechanics Institute.
- School of Arts of Edinburgh, renamed to Heriot-Watt University in 1966.
- Epworth Mechanics Institute, North Lincs, UK.[41]
- Eyam, Derbyshire.
- Gainsborough. Room in Gainsborough Old Hall.
- Grimsby, Lincolnshire.Founded in 1835. new building in Victoria Street in 1856.
- Ipswich Institute, Suffolk.[42]
- Horncastle, Lincolnshire.
- Keighley Mechanics' Institute, West Yorkshire, founded 1825, developed into Keighley College[43]
- Leeds Mechanics' Institute (West Yorkshire) designed by Cuthbert Brodrick, now Leeds City Museum.
- Lincoln Mechanics' Institute. Founded 1833 in the undercroft of the Greyfriars.
- Liverpool Mechanics School of Arts, founded 1825, renamed Liverpool Mechanics Institution in 1832, which later became the Liverpool Institute High School for Boys and from 1996 the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts.
- London Mechanics' Institute which eventually became Birkbeck, University of London
- Louth Founded 1835. Moved to Mansion House 1853.
- Lurgan, County Armagh. 69 Market Street.
- Lutterworth, Leicestershire.
- Manchester, forerunner of University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, which merged with Victoria University of Manchester to form the University of Manchester
- Market Rasen,Lincolnshire Founded in 1836 in Queen Street
- Marsden Mechanics Institute, Marsden, West Yorkshire, HD7 6BW,[44] now a rental hall and public library
- Neath Mechanics Institute, Neath, Neath Port Talbot Founded in 1842
- University of South Wales, Newport – converted to private apartments
- Nottingham Mechanics Institute[45]
- Otley Mechanics Institute, West Yorkshire
- Royston, Hertfordshire, built 1855, later became the town hall and picture palace
- Spitalfields Mechanics' Institution, founded in early 1825 by Thomas Gibson, father of Thomas Field Gibson[46]
- Stamford, Lincolnshire, Stamford Institution. Founded 1842.
- Swindon Mechanics' Institute, Wiltshire
- Wakefield Mechanics' Institute, West Yorkshire
- Wolverhampton (Queen Street, c. 1835)[47]
- Wisbech Working Men's Club & Institute, Wisbech, Isle of Ely.[48]
United States
Timeline
- 1792 The Mechanic Library Society of The Young Men's Institute Library.
- 1795 The Boston, Massachusetts, was "formed for the sole purposes of promoting the mechanic arts and extending the practice of benevolence."
- 1820 General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York established. Renamed and became the Mechanics' Institute in 1858.
- 1821 The English High Schoolwas established in Boston, MA, as the first public high school, with leadership from the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association.
- 1824 "The Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts" opened in Philadelphia.
- 1826 The Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts opened in Baltimore.
- 1827 Boston established a mechanics' institute.
- 1828 In Cincinnati, the Ohio Mechanics Institute (OMI) was founded on 20 November to "facilitate the diffusion of useful knowledge" to "ingenious artisans and mechanics".
- Richmond, Virginia – Mechanics' institute was located at 9th and Bank Streets[49] Marshall Street properties are now part of Virginia Commonwealth University[50] and Richmond Public Schools[51]
- Rochester, New York – 1885 mechanics' institute merged with the Rochester Athenium in 1891 to become the Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute. Renamed to Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in 1944.[52]
Existing names and uses
- General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York
- Mechanics' Institute, San Francisco, California
- Mechanics Hall, Worcester
- Maine Charitable Mechanic Association
- New Haven Young Men's Institute
- The Working Men's Institute (New Harmony, Indiana)
In addition, each state and territory in the US has at least one land grant university that includes a college of agriculture and a college of engineering, as provided for by the Morrill Land-Grant Acts to teach agriculture, military tactics, and the mechanic arts as well as classical studies.
See also
References
- ^ a b Smith, Mark K. (1997). "George Birkbeck and the London Mechanics Institute". The encyclopaedia of informal education. Archived from the original on 17 August 2010.
- ^ a b "Mechanics Institute Worldwide 2021". Heriot-Watt University. 5 November 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
- ^ a b "[Home page]". Mechanics Institutes. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
- ^ Speeches of Henry, Lord Brougham Vol. II, 1841, Lea and Blanchard, Philadelphia
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- ISBN 1-85331-016-6.
- hdl:2381/35680.
- ^ "Notes of Mr Hunt reporter August 15 1842, The Trial of George Jacob. Holyoake on an Indictment for blasphemy". British Library main catalogues. British Library.
- ^ "SMSA (Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts)". SMSA.
- ISBN 978-1-920753-16-0.
- ^ a b Kilgour, Frederick. The Evolution of the Book. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 99.
- ^ Harris, Michael. History of Libraries in the Western World. 4th ed. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1995, p. 153.
- ^ "Wisbech". Cambridge Independent Press. 16 December 1854. p. 8.
- ^ Jefferson, G. Libraries and Society. Cambridge & London, Great Britain: James Clark & CO. LTD., 1969, p. 21.
- ^ a b "History of Mechanics' Institutes". Mechanics' Institutes of Victoria Inc. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ "Mechanics' Worldwide". Mechanics' Institutes of Victoria Inc. 15 October 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ISBN 0-9756000-1-X
- ISBN 978-1-920753-18-4
- .
- ^ "Reinvention: Thriving in the 21st Century -". www.milibrary.org. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- ^ "Old Town Hall (entry 600566)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 31 December 2021. Text may have been copied from this source, which is available under a Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.
- ^ "Catalogue of the library of the Van Diemen's Land Mechanics' Institution". 1843 – via Open Access Repository, University of Tasmania.
- ^ "Hobart Town Mechanics Institute (1827-1871) - Corporate entry". Encyclopedia of Australian Science. 12 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ "About". Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts (SMSA). 25 November 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ Wotherspoon, Garry (2008). "Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts". The Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
- .
- ^ "South Australian Institute". Trove. South Australian Advertiser. 27 October 1863. p. 4. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
- ^ "A Brief History of the South Australian Museum" (PDF). South Australian Museum. 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
- ^ "Victorian Members". Mechanics' Institutes of Victoria Inc. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ a b "What is a Mechanics' Institute?". Prahran Mechanics Institute. 8 November 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
- ^ "The Perth Literary Institute". The West Australian. Perth: National Library of Australia. 13 January 1951. p. 22. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
- ^ "Brisbane School of Arts (entry 600072)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
- ^ "Brockville Public Library". ancestry.com.
- ^ "Our History". Guelph Public Library. Archived from the original on 16 December 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
- ^ "LIANZA Conference" (PDF). LIANZA – Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa. 8 September 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 February 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
- ^ Peter (27 August 2020). "Mechanics' Institute". Alnwick Civic Society. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
- ^ "Brechin Mechanics Institute". Brechin Mechanics Institute. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
- ^ Faulkner, T. (1845). History and Antiquities of Brentford, Ealing, & Chiswick.
- ^ Ronalds, B. F. (2018). "The Montgomrey Family of Brentford: Timber Merchants and Benefactors". London's Industrial Archaeology. 16: 57–69.
- ^ Lloyd, Chris (10 March 2014). "HISTORY: School for rude mechanicals". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
- ^ "Epworth Mechanics Institute". Archived from the original on 25 April 2013.
- ^ "Ipswich Institute – Reading Room & Library".
- ^ "Keighley College is Back". Keighley College. 7 September 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
- ^ Mechanics, Marsden. "Home". Marsden Mechanics.
- ^ "The Nottingham Mechanics Institute History". Nottingham Mechanics Institute. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
- ^ A Course of Three Lectures on the Formation of a Spitalfields Mechanics' Institution. 1825.
- ^ "Victorian Wolverhampton, a town though its buildings". Wolverhampton History & Heritage Website. Archived from the original on 1 June 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
- ^ "Miscellaneous institutions". British History Online. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
- ^ "Mechanics' Institute". mdgorman.com.
- ^ "Virginia Mechanics Institute Building – VCU Maps". vcu.edu.
- ^ "Richmond Technical Center". richmond.k12.va.us. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
- ^ "A01.0 History, Accreditation and Legacy – University Policies – RIT". rit.edu. Archived from the original on 22 June 2013.
Further reading
- Kelly, Thomas (November 1952). "The Origin of Mechanics' Institutes". British Journal of Educational Studies. 1 (1). Society for Educational Studies: 17–27. JSTOR 3119430.
- Russell, Rex C. (1994). Living and Learning in Lindsey, Lincolnshire: 1830-1890 - AHistory of Adult Education in North Lincolnshire. The University of Hull 1994. ISBN 0859580245.