![[North Corridor, Great Hall. Mural in arched panel by Charles Sprague Pearce. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.] Highsmith, Carol M., 1946-, photographer. Pearce, Charles Sprague, 1851-1914, artist.](//blogs.loc.gov/law/files/2018/10/02033v-1024x479.jpg)
[North Corridor, Great Hall. Mural in arched panel by Charles Sprague Pearce. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.] Highsmith, Carol M., 1946-, photographer. Pearce, Charles Sprague, 1851-1914, artist.
October 5
th is
World Teachers’ Day, an annual commemoration of the signing of the
Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (
UNESCO) and International Labor Organization (
ILO). In honor of today, we bring you an interesting tie-in among education, the Library, and Congress.
![Education mosaic in the North Corridor of the Jefferson Building, Library of Congress. [Photo by Donna Sokol]](//blogs.loc.gov/law/files/2018/10/North-Corridor-Education-In-Custodia-Legis-300x200.jpg)
Education mosaic in the North Corridor of the Jefferson Building, Library of Congress. [Photo by Donna Sokol]
In the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, the North Corridor is dedicated to family and education. On the vaulted ceilings of this hall are the names of prominent educators and philosophers whose ideas shaped the American system of early and special education. Commemorated in mosaic are the surnames of (in order of appearance) Friedrich Wilhelm August
Fröbel; Johann Heinrich
Pestalozzi; John Amos
Comenius; Roger
Ascham; Samuel Gridley
Howe; Thomas Hopkins
Gallaudet; Horace
Mann; Thomas
Arnold; and Herbert
Spencer.
![[Horace Mann, head-and-shoulders portrait, three-quarters to right] Brady, Mathew B., photographer.](//blogs.loc.gov/law/files/2018/10/Horace-Mann-by-Matthew-Brady-241x300.jpg)
[Horace Mann, head-and-shoulders portrait, three-quarters to right] Brady, Mathew B., photographer.
Horace Mann was a lawyer and served in the
Massachusetts State Legislature and
Senate before serving as secretary of the newly created
Massachusetts Board of Education. During his time on the Board, he became an advocate for free, public education provided by
trained professionals. He was elected to the
U.S. House of Representatives in 1848 and, in his
first speech, took a stance against slavery.
Thoughts from His Writings highlights Mann’s more pithy quotes about education. My favorite: “Had I the power I would scatter libraries over the whole land as the sower sows his wheatfield.”
![Mann mosaic in the North Corridor of the Jefferson Building, Library of Congress. [Photo by Donna Sokol]](//blogs.loc.gov/law/files/2018/10/North-Corridor-Mann-In-Custodia-Legis-1024x683.jpg)
Mann mosaic in the North Corridor of the Jefferson Building, Library of Congress. [Photo by Donna Sokol]