This study explores the contributions to adult education of the San Francisco Mechanics' Institute from its inception in 1854 to its destruction in the great fire of 1906. Attention is directed to social control which continuously influenced program objectives and to the important contributions of President Andrew S. Hallidie. The relative importance of various components of the program is assessed, particularly that of the increasingly dominant library, and relationships with other bodies at home and overseas are noted. Lastly, an overall evaluation is attempted of the degree to which the institute survived to meet changing interests when most of its contemporaries failed to do so. It is concluded that the administration successfully walked a tightrope between prescriptive needs and popular aspirations.
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