Harper's Disappointment: University Extension

Abstract

Early efforts in American adult education were an expression of the need to equalize educational opportunities for all citizens. American educators attemp ted to address these needs with mixed results. William Rainey Harper—first president of the University of Chicago - was convinced that universities had a special role to play in adult education; consequently, when Chicago opened in 1892, it included, for the first time, a Division of Extension as an integral part of its academic structure. Harper's inclusion of the extension function as a major unit of the new University was striking on several counts, but the most startling feature was the general institutional context in which he embedded the Division of Extension. The consequent friction between University Extension and the University Proper was a prominent feature in the history of extension at Chicago. The present account attempts to interpret the philosophical, institutional, finan cial and personal reasons why University Extension did not realize Harper's original vision.