Horace Mann was born in Franklin, Massachusetts, 1796. After graduating from Brown University in 1819, he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1823. For 10 years (1827-37), he served as a member of the Massachusetts legislature, and for 11 years (1837-48), served as Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education. During his years as Secretary of Education, Mann published twelve annual reports on the aspects of his work, programs and the relationship between education, freedom, and Republican government. He wanted a school that would be available and equal for all with the goal of social harmony.

   He was member of Congress (1848-53), and president of Antioch College from 1853 until his death in 1859. Horace Mann was indefatigable in his efforts toward the suppression of slavery, the promotion of temperance, and in the cause of education. Through his efforts, the first normal school in the United States was established in 1839 at Lexington (now Framingham), Massachusetts. He championed modern educational ideas with such vigor and force that he inspired the whole teaching body. Many of his educational reports are now quoted as classics in educational literature. His writings include: "Lectures on Education," "Report of an Educational Tour of Germany, Great Britain, and Ireland," and "On the Study of Physiology in Schools."

Horace Mann was elected to the American Hall of Fame in 1900.