Everett Dean Martin (July 5, 1880 – May 10, 1941) was an American minister, writer, journalist, instructor, lecturer,

social psychologist Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field of ...

social philosopher Social philosophy is the study and interpretation of society and social institutions in terms of ethical values rather than empirical relations. Social philosophers emphasize understanding the social contexts for political, legal, moral and cultur ...

, and an advocate of

adult education Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained educating activities in order to gain new knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralph G. ''The Pr ...

. He was an instructor and lecturer at

The New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR), previously known as The University in Exile and The New School University, is a graduate-level educational division of The New School in New York City, United States. NSSR enrolls more than 1,000 stud ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

from 1921 to 1929, and served on the board of directors of

The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...

from 1925 to 1932. He was the final director of the People's Institute of

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

from 1922 to 1934. Martin was born in

Jacksonville, Illinois Jacksonville is a city and the county seat of Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 17,616 at the 2020 census, down from 19,446 in 2010. It is home to Illinois College, Illinois School for the Deaf, and the Illinois Sc ...

, on July 5, 1880. Graduating with honors at the age of 24 from

Illinois College Illinois College is a private liberal arts college in Jacksonville, Illinois. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (USA). It was the second college founded in Illinois but the first to grant a degree (in ...

in Jacksonville, he moved on to Chicago, attending McCormick Theological Seminary from 1904 until his ordination as a Congregational Minister in 1907.Everett Dean Martin: liberal in adult education, https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/42589283.pdf Martin received a Litt.D. (Doctor of Letters) degree from

in 1907. He was best known for his advocacy of the liberal education of adults, which he saw as "an antidote to both the

irrationality Irrationality is cognition, thinking, talking, or acting without rationality. Irrationality often has a negative connotation, as thinking and actions that are less useful or more illogical than other more rational alternatives. The concept o ...

of the

crowd A crowd is as a group of people that have gathered for a common purpose or intent. Examples are a Demonstration (people), demonstration, a Sport, sports event, or a looting (classified in sociology as an acting crowd). A crowd may also simply ...

and the power of

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

."Rose, A.D. (1999). Everett Dean Martin. In J.A. a. C. Garraty, Mark C. (Ed.), American National Biography (Vol. 14, pp. 589-591). New York: Oxford University Press.

Personal life

In 1907, he married Esther W. Kirk of Jacksonville, Illinois. They had three children: Mary, Margaret, and Elizabeth.Hannan, Caryn, Illinois Biographical Dictionary, 2008-2009 Edition, Volume One., State History Publications, 2008. From 1906 to 1908, Martin was pastor of the First Congregational Church (The First Church of Lombard) of

Lombard, Illinois Lombard is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States, and a suburb of Chicago. The population was 44,476 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Lombard was originally named "Babcock's Grove", after the Babcock brothers ...

. From 1908 to 1911, Martin was pastor of the People's Church in

Dixon, Illinois Dixon is a city in Lee County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 15,274 as of the 2020 census. The city is named after founder John Dixon, who operated a rope ferry service across the Rock River (Mississippi River ...

. Martin was minister of the First Unitarian Church of

Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

, Iowa, 1911–1915 Martin was a featured columnist for the ''

Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa, United States. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cab ...

'' during the years 1914–1915. In 1915, his successful life took a radical shift in course. He divorced his wife of eight years and left the professional ministry. He moved to New York and began writing for the New York Globe.Steven B. Frye, "Everett Dean Martin: Misunderstood Champion of Adult Education," Carson-Newman Studies, Vol. X, No 3, Fall 2004, pp. 84-98, ISSN 1081-7727. Over the next 20 years, Martin developed into a successful writer and forged a national reputation as a charismatic public lecturer, often attracting a crowd of a thousand or more at the People's Institute, a major center for adult education in

.Michael Day and Clifford P. Harbour, The Philosopher and the Lecturer: John Dewey, Everett Dean Martin, and Reflective Thinking., Education and Culture, Vol. 29 (1), 2013, pp.105-124. Martin's second marriage in 1915 to Persis Eastman Rowell also ended in divorce, they had one son, Everett Eastman Martin.

Commentary on the early 20th century

In ''The Behavior of Crowds'' (1920), his first nationally reviewed book, he posed what he saw as the dilemma of the modern age: a technological information revolution that made it possible, in the absence of an adequate educational system, to influence ignorant men and women with

and half-truths. Unscrupulous demagogues, corrupt politicians, manipulative advertisers, and revolutionary

ideologues An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...

found ready-made audiences when they appealed to the baser (a subconscious urge, behavior, or intuition directed by primeval, animalistic, self-serving, and/or ignoble motivations) instincts. Martin was a classical,

individualistic Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote realizing one's goals and desires, valuing independence and self-reliance, and a ...

liberal, in the tradition of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

humanists Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" has ...

and the authors of

The Federalist Papers ''The Federalist Papers'' is a collection of 85 articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the collective pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States. The ...

. He believed in restrained government and in the self-selection of intellectually promising students through appropriate programs of adult education. His most famous and widely read work, ''The Meaning of a Liberal Education'', appeared in 1926, the same year he helped found the American Association for Adult Education. When his book, ''The Meaning of a Liberal Education'' was released in 1926, Frederick Paul Keppel, the president of the

Carnegie Corporation The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Since its founding, the Carnegie Corporation has endowed or othe ...

proclaimed it as "the most important contribution to the understanding of

… this far in the United States." In March 1928,

John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and Education reform, educational reformer. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the first half of the twentieth century. The overridi ...

responded to a request from Marie Mattingly Meloney, editor of the New York Herald-Tribune Sunday Magazine, and offered his recommendations on recently published texts on education. Dewey wrote, "I think the best educational books of recent publication are…Martin, ''The Meaning of a Liberal Education''. This was not the first time Dewey recommended Everett Dean Martin's book. In 1927, the editors of the Journal of the

National Education Association The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college st ...

approached Dewey and asked, "What book have you recently found especially worthwhile? Something that you have read easily, eagerly, and with profit, either in the field of education or out of it." Dewey identified two books; one of them was Martin's ''The Meaning of a Liberal Education''.

Appointments

From 1919 to 1922, Martin served as chairman of The

National Board of Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered the first major harbinger of the film awards season that ...

of Motion Pictures. Martin was an instructor and lecturer at

from 1921 to 1929, and served on the board of directors of

from 1925 to 1932. He taught classes in sociology, psychology, social behavior, and adult education. At

, Martin taught alongside other prominent intellectuals of the day including,

Alfred Adler Alfred Adler ( ; ; 7 February 1870 – 28 May 1937) was an Austrian medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of the school of individual psychology. His emphasis on the importance of feelings of belonging, relationships within the family, a ...

, Norman Angell, Harry Elmer Barnes, Charles Austin Beard, Edwin Grant Conklin, Herbert J. Davenport,

, Lawrence K. Frank,

Felix Frankfurter Felix Frankfurter (November 15, 1882 – February 22, 1965) was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1939 until 1962, advocating judicial restraint. Born in Vienna, Frankfurter im ...

, Alexander Goldenweiser,

Joseph Jastrow Joseph Jastrow (January 30, 1863 – January 8, 1944) was a Polish-born American psychologist renowned for his contributions to experimental psychology, design of experiments, and psychophysics. He also worked on the phenomena of optical illu ...

Alvin Saunders Johnson Alvin Saunders Johnson (December 18, 1874 – June 7, 1971) was an American economist and a co-founder and first director of The New School. Biography Alvin Johnson was born near Homer, Nebraska. He was educated at the University of Nebraska an ...

Horace Kallen Horace Meyer Kallen (August 11, 1882 – February 16, 1974) was a German-born American philosopher who supported pluralism and Zionism. Biography Horace Meyer Kallen was born on August 11, 1882, in the town of Bernstadt, Prussian Silesia (now B ...

, Alfred Kreymborg, Eduard C. Lindeman,

Walter Lippmann Walter Lippmann (September 23, 1889 – December 14, 1974) was an American writer, reporter, and political commentator. With a career spanning 60 years, he is famous for being among the first to introduce the concept of the Cold War, coining t ...

, Frederick Macaulay,

Wesley Clair Mitchell Wesley Clair Mitchell (August 5, 1874 – October 29, 1948) was an American economist known for his empirical work on business cycles and for guiding the National Bureau of Economic Research in its first decades. Mitchell was referred to as Thor ...

, Gorham Munson, Moissaye Joseph Olgin, Harry Allen Overstreet,

James Harvey Robinson James Harvey Robinson (June 29, 1863 – February 16, 1936) was an American scholar of history who, with Charles Austin Beard, founded New History, a disciplinary approach that attempts to use history to understand contemporary problems, which ...

Mark Van Doren Mark Van Doren (June 13, 1894 – December 10, 1972) was an American poet, writer and critic. He was a scholar and a professor of English at Columbia University for nearly 40 years, where he inspired a generation of influential writers and thin ...

Thorstein Veblen Thorstein Bunde Veblen (; July 30, 1857 – August 3, 1929) was an American Economics, economist and Sociology, sociologist who, during his lifetime, emerged as a well-known Criticism of capitalism, critic of capitalism. In his best-known book ...

, and Leo Wolman. Among the courses Martin taught at

between 1921 and 1929 were: Introduction to Social Psychology, Fundamental Problems in Adult Education, The Process of Adult Learning, Psychology and the Problems of Social Behavior, Some Applications of Social Psychology, Studies on Social Behavior, and Psychological Problems of Social Reconstruction. An example of Martin's lecture topics in from a 1925 course on

social philosophy Social philosophy is the study and interpretation of society and social institutions in terms of ethical values rather than empirical relations. Social philosophers emphasize understanding the social contexts for political, legal, moral and cultur ...

taught at

include: The

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

of the

Crowd A crowd is as a group of people that have gathered for a common purpose or intent. Examples are a Demonstration (people), demonstration, a Sport, sports event, or a looting (classified in sociology as an acting crowd). A crowd may also simply ...

; The So-Called Group Mind; Has Man a Social or "Herd" Instinct?; The

of Mass Appeal; Leadership in the

; Reform Legislation; The Present Industrial Transition. Why is this seminal individual virtually ignored amidst the ranks of the founders of the

movement? Apparently Martin's wholehearted commitment to liberal education has placed him in juxtaposition with the early proponents of practical education in the eyes of contemporary scholars. Here is an individual virtually dismissed not only in the history of

, but also in the contemporary exploration of

." Among those recruited to the programs of the People's Institute of

during Martin's tenure as Director (1926-1934) had been

Mortimer Adler Mortimer is an English surname. Norman origins The surname Mortimer has a Norman origin, deriving from the village of Mortemer, Seine-Maritime, Normandy. A Norman castle existed at Mortemer from an early point; one 11th century figure associ ...

, Scott Buchanan,

Will Durant William James Durant (; November 5, 1885 – November 7, 1981) was an American historian and philosopher, best known for his eleven-volume work, '' The Story of Civilization'', which contains and details the history of Eastern and Western civil ...

Clifton Fadiman Clifton Paul "Kip" Fadiman (May 15, 1904 – June 20, 1999) was an American intellectual, author, editor, and radio and television personality. He began his work in radio, and switched to television later in his career. Background Born in Brook ...

, and Hilda Worthington Smith, all soon to surpass Martin in fame and influence. Yet, in his heyday, Martin was regarded as one of the leading figures in

in the United States. Morse A. Cartwright, who was the Executive Director of the American Association for Adult Education from its founding in 1926 to its ultimate dissolution and transformation in 1949, considered Martin to be the "spiritual father" of the association in particular and of the entire movement in general.Morse A. Cartwright, "Everett Dean Martin," Journal of Adult Education, 13 (1941): 324 Cartwright went on to say in his eulogy for Martin, published in the Journal of Adult Education, that: ". . . Thousands who had heard him lecture in all parts of the United States, more thousands who had read his numerous books and articles on philosophical and psychological subjects, and the large audience which for years listened to his notable Friday night addresses and discussions in the Great Hall of

in New York, all attested to the challenging qualities of his mind and heart." In 1934 Martin was asked to direct the Department of Social Philosophy at the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

through a $15,000 per year grant from the

through his long-time friend Frederick Paul Keppel. Martin remained in this position until 1936 when he accepted an opportunity to move to California and direct an experimental program in teaching at

Claremont Colleges The Claremont Colleges (known colloquially as the 7Cs) are a consortium of seven private university, private institutions of higher education located in Claremont, California, United States. They comprise five undergraduate colleges (the 5Cs)� ...

. Martin was a professor of

social psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...

Scripps College Scripps College is a private liberal arts women's college in Claremont, California. It was founded as a member of the Claremont Colleges in 1926, a year after the consortium's formation. Journalist and philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps pr ...

Claremont, California Claremont () is a suburban city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of Los Angeles. It lies in the Pomona Valley at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census it had ...

, from 1936 up until his death in 1941.

Death

Martin died on May 10, 1941, of a heart attack in

at the age of 60. Martin's third wife, Daphne Crane Drake, whom he married in 1931, survived him. Mrs. Everett Dean Martin (Daphne Crane Drake) was a former president of the Child Study Association of America (1934).

Selected works

* ''The Behavior of Crowds'' (1920) * ''The Mob Mind Vs. Civil Liberty'' (1920) * ''The Mystery of Religion'' (1924) * ''Psychology: What it has to Teach You about Yourself and Your World'' (1924) * ''The Meaning of a Liberal Education'' (1926) * ''Are We Victims of

Propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

, Our Invisible Masters: A Debate with

Edward Bernays Edward Louis Bernays ( ; ; November 22, 1891 − March 9, 1995) was an American pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda, referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations". While credited with advancing the profession ...

, The Forum, pp. 142-150, March 1929'' (1929)http://postflaviana.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/martin-bernays-debate.pdf * ''Liberty'' (1930) * ''The Conflict of the Individual and the Mass'' (1932) * ''Civilizing Ourselves: Intellectual Maturity in the Modern World'' (1932) * ''Psychology and Its Use'' (1933) * ''Farewell to Revolution'' (1935) * ''Philosophical Background of Current Economic and Social Problems'' (1938) * ''Some Principles of Political Behavior'' (1939) * ''A Philosophical Analysis of the Present World Conflict'' (1940)

References

External links

*
adulteducationcontributors [licensed for non-commercial use only] / 58 Everett Dean Martin

* The Online Books Page
My Thoughts Are Free: EVERETT DEAN MARTIN

The Behavior of Crowds, A Psychological Study. Everett Dean Martin

The Philosopher and the Lecturer: John Dewey, Everett Dean Martin, and Reflective Thinking

Great Thoughts Treasury

Everett Dean Martin Books - Biography and List of Works - Author of 'Liberty'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Everett Dean 1880 births 1941 deaths 20th-century American philosophers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers American humanists American educational psychologists American socialists American philosophers of education American philosophers of mind Propaganda theorists Democratic education Crowd psychologists American political writers American sociologists American social psychologists Philosophers of history American philosophers of science American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American psychologists