Mechanics' Institutes
Mechanics' Institutes
Mechanics' Institutes are educational establishments, originally formed to provide adult education, particularly in technical subjects, to working men. Similar organisation are sometimes simply called Institutes. As such, they were often funded by local industrialists on the grounds that they would ultimately benefit from having more knowledgeable and skilled employees (such philanthropy was shown by, among others, Robert Stephenson, James Nasmyth, John Davis Barnett and Joseph Whitworth). The Mechanics' Institutes were used as 'libraries' for the adult working class, and provided them with an alternative pastime to gambling and drinking in pubs.
Origins
The world's first Mechanics' Institute was established in Edinburgh, Scotland, in October 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh (later Heriot-Watt University), with the provision of technical education for working people and professionals. Its purpose was to "address societal needs by incorporating fundamental scientific thinking and research into engineering solutions". The school revolutionised access to education in science and technology for ordinary people.
The second Institute in Scotland was incorporated in Glasgow in November 1823, built on the foundations of a group started at the turn of the previous century by George Birkbeck. Under the auspices of the Andersonian University (est. 1796), Birkbeck had first instituted free lectures on arts, science and technical subjects in 1800. This mechanics' class continued to meet after he moved to London in 1804, and in 1823 they decided to formalise their organisation by incorporating themselves as the Mechanics' Institute.
The first Mechanics' Institute in England was opened at Liverpool in July 1823.[1] The London Mechanics' Institute (later Birkbeck College) followed in December 1823, and the Mechanics' Institutes in Ipswich and Manchester (later to become UMIST) in 1824.[2] By the mid-19th century, there were over 700 institutes in towns and cities across the UK and overseas, some of which became the early roots of other colleges and universities. See for example the University of Gloucestershire, which has the Cheltenham Mechanics' Institute (1834) and Gloucester Mechanics' Institute (1840) within its history timeline. It was as a result of delivering a lecture series at the Cheltenham Mechanics' Institute that the radical George Holyoake was arrested and then convicted on a charge of blasphemy.[3][4]
In Australia, the first Mechanics' Institute was established in Hobart in 1827, followed by the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts[5] in 1833, Newcastle School of Arts in 1835, then the Melbourne Mechanics' Institute established in 1839 (renamed the Melbourne Athenaeum in 1873). From the 1850s, Mechanics' Institutes quickly spread throughout Victoria wherever a hall, library or school was needed. Over 1200 Mechanics' Institutes were built in Victoria but just over 500 remain today, and only six still operate their lending library services.[6]
The Industrial Revolution created a new class of reader in Britain by the end of the 18th century, 'mechanics', who were civil and mechanical engineers in reality. The Birmingham Brotherly Society was founded in 1796 by local mechanics to fill this need, and was the forerunner of Mechanics' Institutes, which grew in England to over seven hundred in number by 1850.[7]
G. Jefferson explains that:
The first phase, the Mechanics Institute movement, grew in an atmosphere of interest by a greater proportion of the population in scientific matters revealed in the public lectures of famous scientists such as Faraday. More precisely, as a consequence of the introduction of machinery a class workmen emerged to build, maintain and repair, the machines on which the blessing of progress depended, at a time when population shifts and the dissolving influences of industrialization in the new urban areas, where these were concentrated, destroyed the inadequate old apprentice system and threw into relief the connection between material advancement and the necessity of education to take part in its advantages.[8]
Small tradesmen and workers could not afford subscription libraries, so for their benefit, benevolent groups and individuals created "Mechanics' Institutes" that contained inspirational and vocational reading matter, for a small rental fee. Later popular non-fiction and fiction books were added to these collections. The first known library of this type was the Birmingham Artisans' Library, formed in 1823.
Some mechanics' libraries only lasted a decade or two, many eventually became public libraries or were given to local public libraries after the Public Libraries Act 1850 passed. Though use of the mechanics' library was limited, the majority of the users were favourable towards the idea of free library use and service, and were a ready to read public when the establishment of free libraries occurred.[9]
Beyond a lending library, Mechanics' Institutes also provided lecture courses, laboratories, and in some cases contained a museum for the member's entertainment and education. The Glasgow Institute, founded in 1823, not only had all three, it was also provided free light on two evenings a week from the local Gas Light Company. The London Mechanics' Institute installed gas illumination by 1825, revealing the demand and need for members to use the books.[7]
Existing Mechanics' Institutes
Thousands of Mechanics' Institutes still operate throughout the world—some as libraries, parts of universities, adult education facilities, theatres, cinemas, museums, recreational facilities, or community halls.
Australia
Ballarat Mechanics' Institute, Ballarat
Berwick Mechanics' Institute, Berwick
Briagolong Mechanics' Institute, Briagolong
Footscray Mechanics' Institute Inc. Library[10]
Kilmore Mechanics' Institute & Free Library
Kyneton Mechanics' Institute[11]
Lancefield Mechanics' Institute & Free Library
Little River Mechanics' Institute, Little River
Maldon Athenaeum, Maldon
Melbourne Athenaeum
Narre Warren Mechanics Institute (1891)
Prahran Mechanics' Institute
Purlewaugh Mechanics' Institute
Purnim Mechanics' Institute, Purnim
Mechanics' Institute, Sorrento
Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts
Romsey Mechanics Institute[12]
Richmond School of Arts[13]
Guildford Soldiers Memorial School of Arts[14]
Cronulla School of Arts
Carlton School of Arts hall[15]
Sunny Corner School of Arts.[16]
Cookamidgera Mechanics Institute.
Warrandyte Mechnanics' Institute, Warrandyte[17]
Wambat Mechanics Institute.
Canada
Atwater Library of the Mechanics' Institute, Montreal, Quebec
UK
USA
General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York
Mechanics' Institute, San Francisco, California
Mechanics Hall, Worcester
Maine Charitable Mechanics Foundation
New Haven Young Men's Institute
Historical Mechanics' Institutes
Australia
- New South Wales
- Victoria
Ballarat Mechanics' Institute
Berwick Mechanics' Institute
Footscray Mechanics' Institute Inc. Library
Maldon Athenaeum, Maldon[24]
Melbourne Athenaeum
Melbourne mechanics institute[25] now part of the Victorian state library
Prahran Mechanics' Institute,[26] 1854, the only Mechanics’ Institute in Victoria which has its own Act of Parliament for its incorporation.[27]
Briagolong Mechanics' Institute, Briagolong
Ballarat Mechanics' Institute[28] Ballarat
Berwick Mechanics' Institute, Berwick.[29] 1862
Ballan Mechanics Institute, 1860[30]
Binalong, Victoria Mechanics Institute
Bonnie Doon [55]
Brunswick, Victoria Mechanics Institute* Briagolong Mechanics’ Institute, 1874
Bunyip Mechanics’ Institute 1905
Footscray Mechanics' Institute Inc. Library[10]
Burke and Wills Institute, Fryertown Victoria[31]
Charlton, Mechanics Institute
Drysdale Free Library
Elmhurst Mechanics Institute
Echuca Mechanics' Institute, Victoria
Geelong Mechanics Institute
Glengarry Mechanics’ Institute,1886
Great Western Mechanics Institute
Horsham, Mechanics Institute
Healesville Mechanics Institute
Kilmore Mechanics' Institute & Free Library
Kyneton Mechanics Institute[11]
Lancefield Mechanics' Institute & Free Library (est. 1868)
Little River Mechanics' Institute, Little River[32]
Long Gully Mechanics Institute
Longwarry Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library, 1886
Leongatha Mechanics Institute
Lilydale Mechanics Institute
Malmsbury Mechanics’ Institute, 1862
Meeniyan Mechanics’ Institute, 1892
Moonambel Mechanics Institute
Mornington Mechanics Institute
Morongla Creek Mechanics Institute Hall
Murrumburrah#gallery Institute
Macarthur, Victoria Mechanisc Institute Hall
Nagambie Mechanics Institute
Narre Warren Mechanics Institute (1891)
Prahran Mechanics' Institute
Purlewaugh Mechanics' Institute
Purnim Mechanics' Institute, Purnim
Port Fairy Library and Lecture Hall, 1860
Mechanics' Institute, Sorrento
Romsey Mechanics Institute[12]
Riddells Creek Mechanics Institute
Rosedale Mechanics’ Institute , 1863
Rushworth Mechanics Institute
Stanley Athenaeum and Public Room [56]
Stratford Mechanics’ Institute., 1866
Talbot Community Library & Arts Centre [57]
Trafalgar Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library, 1889
Toongabbie Mechanics’ Institute, 1883
Warrandyte Mechnanics' Institute, Warrandyte[17]
Wiiliamstown Mechanics Institute
Ballarat Mechanics Institute
Ballan Mechanics Institute
Charlton, Mechanics Institute
Drysdale Free Library
Elmhurst Mechanics Institute
Echuca Mechanics' Institute, Victoria
Great Western Mechanics Institute
Healesville Mechanics Institute
Kyneton Mechanics Institute
Horsham, Mechanics Institute
Leongatha Mechanics Institute
Lilydale Mechanics Institute
Moonambel Mechanics Institute
Mornington Mechanics Institute
Morongla Creek Mechanics Institute Hall
Murrumburrah#gallery Institute
Macarthur, Victoria Mechanisc Institute Hall
Nagambie Mechanics Institute
Riddells Creek Mechanics Institute
Rushworth Mechanics Institute
Mechanics' Institute, Sorrento
Merton Mechanics' Institute
Winiam, Shire of Lowan Mechanis Institute Library
Woodend Mechanics Institute
Yandoit Mechanics Institute
- South Australia
Adelaide Mechanics' Institute (1847–), which later developed into the Art Gallery of South Australia, South Australian Museum and State Library of South Australia
Curramulka Institute
Edithburgh Institute
Balaklava Institute Hall
Beachport, South Australia Institute
Cambrai, South Australia Institute
Cobdogla Institute
Coonalpyn Institute
Dawson Mechanics Institute [58]
Dublin Institute
Freeling Institute
Farrell Flat Institute
Hamley Bridge Institute
Owen Institute
Karoonda Institute
Macclesfield Institute
Mannum Institute
Mintaro Institute
Mitcham Institute
Morgan Institute
Mount Gambier Institute
Nackara Institute
Pinaroo Institute
Pine Point Memorial Institute
Port Vincent Institute
Ramco Institute
Saddleworth Institute
Stansbury Memorial Institute
Terowie Institute and Council Chamber
Waikerie Institute
Wasleys Institute
- Western Australia
Swan River Mechanics' Institute
Toodyay Mechanics' Institute
South Perth Old Mill Theatre
Guildford Mechanics Institute
Toodyay Mechanics Institute
Mechanics Institute of West Australia
- Tasmania
Mechanics' Institute Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
Van Diemen's Land Mechanics' Institute
Huon Mechanics’ Institute
Hobart Mechanics’ Institute
West Hobart Mechanics’ Institute
Waratah Mechanics’ Institute
Port Esperance Mechanics’ Institute
Emu Bay Mechanics’ Institute
Ringarooma Mechanics’ Institute
Queenstown Mechanics’ Institute
Canada
Atlantic Provinces
Halifax Mechanics Institute
St. John Mechanics' Institute
Ontario
Barrie Mechanics' Institute
Brockville Mechanics' Institute, now Brockville Public Library[33]
Bytown Mechanics' Institute, later Mechanics' Institute and Athenaeum of Ottawa, now Ottawa Public Library
Elmsley Library Association and Mechanics' Institute
Elora Mechanics' Institute
Farmers' Mechanics' Institute of Streetsville
Guelph Farmers' and Mechanics' Institute, now Guelph Public Library[34]
Hamilton and Gore Mechanics' Institute
Kingston Mechanics' Institute
London Mechanics' Institute
Mechanics' Institute, Coldstream
Mechanics' Institute (Orillia)
Mechanics' Institute of Goderich
Mechanics' Institute of Point Edward
Midland Railroad Mechanics' Institute
Napanee Mechanics' Institute
Newmarket Farmers' Mechanics' Institute
Owen Sound Mechanics Institute
Peterborough Mechanics' Institute
St. Catharines Mechanics' Institute Library
Toronto Mechanics' Institute
Woodstock Mechanics' Institute
Quebec
Montreal Mechanics Institute Atwater Library of the Mechanics' Institute of Montreal Montreal Children's Library – Atwater Branch
Quebec Mechanics' Institute
Hong Kong
Government Trade School
New Zealand
Auckland Mechanics' Institute, founded 30 September 1842, closed 1880, with transfer of all library content to Auckland City Council library.[35]
United Kingdom
(alphabetical order by town or city)
Aberdeen Mechanics' Institute, Market Street, Aberdeen (architect Archibald Simpson), now a hotel.
Bradford Mechanics' Institute Library
Brentford Mechanics’ Institution, founded in 1835 and closed around 1890.[36][37]
Darlington Mechanics Institute, built in 1854, as of 2014 a nightclub and bar.[38]
School of Arts of Edinburgh, renamed to Heriot-Watt University in 1966
Eyam, UK
Essex, UK
Epworth, North Lincolnshire, UK
Ipswich Institute, Suffolk, UK – Ipswich Institute Website [59]
Leeds Mechanics' Institute (West Yorkshire) designed by Cuthbert Brodrick, now Leeds City Museum
Liverpool Mechanics School of Arts, founded 1825, renamed Liverpool Mechanics Institution in 1832, which later became the Liverpool Institute High School for Boys and from 1996 the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts.
London Mechanics' Institute which eventually became Birkbeck, University of London
Lurgan, County Armagh. 69 Market Street.
Lutterworth, UK
Manchester, forerunner of University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, which merged with Victoria University of Manchester to form the University of Manchester
Nottingham Mechanics Institute[39]
University of South Wales, Newport – The old mechanics institute building was sold off and has been converted to private apartments.
Otley, Yorkshire, UK
Royston, Hertfordshire, built 1855, later became the Town Hall [60]
Spitalfields Mechanics’ Institution, founded in early 1825 by Thomas Gibson, father of Thomas Field Gibson[40]
Swindon Mechanics' Institute, UK
Wolverhampton (Queen Street, c1835)[41]
United States of America
1792 The Mechanic Library Society of New Haven, Connecticut is founded. It is chartered the following year and is eventually superseded in New Haven by The Young Men's Institute Library.
1795 The Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association of Boston, Massachusetts, was "formed for the sole purposes of promoting the mechanic arts and extending the practice of benevolence."
1820 General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York established. Renamed and became the Mechanics Institute in 1858.
1821 The English High School is established in Boston, MA, as the first public high school, with leadership from the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association.
1824 "The Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts" opens in Philadelphia.
1826 The Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts opens in Baltimore.
1827 Boston establishes a Mechanics' Institute.
1828 In Cincinnati, the Ohio Mechanics Institute (OMI) is founded on 20 November to "facilitate the diffusion of useful knowledge" to "ingenious artisans and mechanics."
Richmond, Virginia – Mechanics' Institute was located at 9th and Bank Streets[42] Marshall Street properties are now part of Virginia Commonwealth University[43] and Richmond Public Schools[44]
Rochester, New York – 1885 Mechanics Institute merged with the Rochester Athenium in 1891 to become the Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute. Renamed to Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in 1944.[45]
An "Agricultural and Mechanical" university – one that includes a college of agriculture and a college of engineering, provided for by the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act
Land-grant universities
Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University
Florida A&M University
Louisiana State University and A&M College, commonly referred to as just "Louisiana State University"
Southern University and A&M College
Texas A&M University, the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System
Community colleges
Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, a community college
Mechanics' Worldwide Conferences
Four conferences have been held on Mechanics' Institutes:
Buildings, Books and Beyond: Mechanics' Worldwide (2004) by the Prahran Mechanics' Institute at Prahran, Victoria, Australia.[46]
Self Help: Mechanics' Worldwide (2009) by the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution at Bath, Somerset, England.[47]
Buildings, Books and Blackboards:Intersecting Narratives (2012) A combined conference of the Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society (ANZHES), Mechanics' Institutes Worldwide (under the auspices of MIV) and incorporating the 10th Library history forum.
Reinvention: Thriving in the 21st Century - International Conference of Independent Libraries and Mechanics’ Institutes (2016) by San Francisco Mechanics' Institute [48]
The fifth conference is planned for 2021 in Edinburgh, Scotland.
See also
Athenaeum
Cultural institutions in Australia
Land-grant colleges