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A historical account is presented of adult education practice by exploring the lives of a few prominent men and women from the 19 century often not associated with the formal adult education 19th movement. These include Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Henry David Thoreau. This article seeks to provide a historical context for the adult education movement in the United States, to discuss some dominant values that seem to have guided the movement, and to examine current values that may be evident in contemporary adult education practice.