This study of newspaper advertisements in London and Philadelphia in the mid-eighteenth century reveals similarities in the public lectures and private instruction/evening schools offered for adults. Differences illustrate how colonial Americans were able to modify British institutions for their own needs. (SK)

The adult evening schools of colonial America served a mixed clientele and provided instruction in a variety of subjects. Although most historians have described evening schoolmasters as incompetent frauds, research indicates that such descriptions are generally unjust and unfounded. (NHM)

Describes the role of private teachers in colonial America, including evening schools and literacy education, costs of instruction, basic writing and arithmetic curriculum, evening schoolhouses, and schoolmasters' characteristics. Newspaper advertisements served as primary sources for the study. (SK)

Exploring the contribution of the home, apprenticeship, and evening schools, the analysis suggests that while sex bias apparently favored males in quality and quantity of educational opportunity, women's education in Colonial America was richer than popularly conceived. (Author/MW)

Designed to consolidate information about adult educational activities in colonial America, the publication covers self-directed learning, public lectures, apprenticeships and evening schools, education of women and girls, and leisure education. Advertisements and announcements from colonial newspapers published from 1765-1776 constituted the…