Spend a Moment With Horace Mann

Best of West (West Central from the bridge to West Street) introduces the businesses and organizations that are built around the pedestrian- and car-friendly West Central Street and are often overlooked by residents. This is the first in the series of highlights...

(Image courtesy of sculptor Robert Shure).

In 2017, Franklin finally dedicated its first statute depicting
native son, Horace Mann, widely credited as the “Father of American
Public Education” thanks to his work on the Board of Education and
his creation of the first public colleges for training teachers. Mann
was also an abolitionist and a leader on many other causes.
Growing
up in modest circumstances in Franklin in the early 1800s, his
self-education, which eventually led to his acceptance at Brown
University, was greatly aided by access to the books Benjamin
Franklin had donated to the town, which sparked the creation of the
nation’s first free, public, lending library.

The Mann statue was unveiled with great fanfare at it current site, a
small park at the rear of the Horace Mann Square building at the
intersection of Emmons Street and West Central.

There are plenty of places to sit and “visit” with Horace or stop
to check a phone or nosh on takeout food.

These days, Horace Mann is finally getting some long-overdue attention thanks to the Horace Mann Legacy subcommittee of the Franklin School Committee.  Plans are afoot to rename two school properties into a new 'Horace Mann Campus' and there is work being done to incorporate his legacy into local curriculum

More information about the Horace Mann Legacy subcommittee is
available here or through the School Committee. Many of the books
donated by Franklin are still on display at the Franklin Public
Library.