History of Service-Learning Nationally

National History of American Service-Learning & Civic Engagement

1862 Morrill Act establishes Land Grant Institutions
1870 - 1930s Chautauqua Movement in the United States
1889 Jane Addams and friends establish Hull House in Chicago
1890's-1910 peak of University Extension Programs
1903 Cooperative Extension Movement founded at the University of Cincinnati
Early 1900's John Dewey and William James develop the intellectual foundations of service-learning
1910 American Philosopher William James envisions non-military national service in "The Moral Equivalent of War"
1914 Smith Lever Act establishes Cooperative Extension Service nationally
1932 Myles Horton establishes Highlander in Tennessee
1933-1942 Civilian Conservation Corps created by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Millions of young people serve 6-18 month terms to restore and revitalize the nation and support their families
1935 Works Progress Administration established
1961 Peace Corps established by President John F. Kennedy
1965 VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America) established
1965-1966 the term "service-learning" first used by the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies in Tennessee
Late 1960's conferences on experiential education & service-learning begin to be held nationally
1969 Office of Economic Opportunity establishes the National Student Volunteer Program
1970 Paulo Freire publishes Pedagogy of the Oppressed
1971 Federal Agency ACTION established
1971 Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs (HECUA) established
1978 National Society for Experiential Education (NSEE) established
1984 Campus Outreach Opportunity League (COOL) established as the first national student-led community service advocacy group
1984 David Kolb publishes Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development
1985 National Campus Compact formed by college and university Presidents
1988 New England Resource Center for Higher Education founded at U-Mass Amherst
1989 Wingspread conference leads to the establishment of Principles of Good Practice in Combining Service and Learning
1989 MN Legislature begins funding the post-secondary service-learning grants program
1990 Ernest Boyer publishes Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate
1990 National & Community Service Trust Act established
1990 Combining Service and Learning: A Resource Book for Community and Public Service published, edited by Jane Kendall et al.
1993 Corporation for National Service established as a result of the 1993 National Community Service Trust Act
1994 Michigan Journal for Community Service-Learning established as the first refereed service-learning journal
1994 Minnesota Campus Compact established
1994 National Service-Learning Listserv established by University of Colorado
1994 National Service Bill passed to establish AmeriCorps program
1994 US Department of Housing and Urban Development launches Community Outreach Partnership program
1994 Invisible College members meet at Highlander for the first time
1995 Invisible College sponsors the first National Gathering on service-learning
1995 National Thomas Ehrlich Faculty Award for Service-Learning established
1996 Journal for Higher Education, Outreach and Engagement established by the University of Georgia
1995 Engineering Projects In Community Service (EPICS) program founded at Purdue University
1996 Campus Community Partnerships for Health founded
1994 California State University Monterey Bay founded as the 1st comprehensive state university requiring service-learning for graduation
1997 AAHE publishes first volumes of Service-Learning in the Disciplines monograph series
1997 The national early literacy initiative, America Reads, launched by the US Department of Education
1997 Ernest Lynton Award for Faculty Professional Service and Academic Outreach established
1997 National Service-Learning Clearinghouse for K-12 funded by Corporation for National Service at the University of Minnesota
1999 Fourth of July Declaration on the Civic Responsibility of Higher Education published
1999 Wingspread Declaration Renewing the Civic Mission of the American Research University published
1999/2000 Clearinghouse and National Review Board for the Scholarship of Engagement established
2000 Kellogg Commission of the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities issues Renewing the Covenant: Learning, Discovery and Engagement of a new age and Different World.
2001 The Learn and Serve America National Service-Learning Clearinghouse moves to ETR: Education Training Research Associates in California
2001 First International Conference on Service-Learning Research held
2001 Wingspread conference on student civic engagement held
2002 The New Student Politics is published by National Campus Compact
2002 Invisible College group establishes itself as a 501c3 and renames itself Educators for Community Engagement
2002 National Campus Compact receives funding thru March 2004 from Pew Charitable Trust for the 'Student Civic Engagement Campaign'