Explores the historical bases for turning to education for solutions to U.S. economic problems. Discusses the Founders' dream of an educated republic, the nineteenth-century origins of public education, and the Progressive era view of schools as laboring communities in miniature. Addresses the implications for contemporary education. (SG)

Observes the romanticized, contradictory, and occasionally reviled character of the American South and considers the role education played in its development. Discusses shifting movements in American historical writing about education (from triumphant public access to oppressive social control) and how these related to the southern experience.…