William Morris and education. In this piece we provide a brief overview of William Morris’s life. As well as being a poet and designer he was also an important social reformer, political activist and educationalist. Here we provide a brief assessment of his contribution as an educator.
William Morris (1834-1896) was one of the best known Victorian poets; the ‘greatest artist craftsman of his period’, and ran a successful decorating and manufacturing business (MacCarthy 1994: vii). He was also ‘a passionate social reformer, an early environmentalist, an educationalist and would-be feminist’ (op. cit.). William Morris was also to become a revolutionary socialist (joining the Democratic Federation in 1883).
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Acknowledgements: The photograph of William Morris was taken in c 1887 when Morris was 53. The photographer was Frederick Hollyer (1838-1933). The image is believed to be in the public domain (Wikipedia Commons) as its copyright has expired. This applies to the United States, Australia, the European Union and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years.
How to cite this piece: Smith, Mark K. (2009) ‘William Morris and education’, The encyclopedia of pedagogy and informal education. [https://infed.org/mobi/william-morris-and-education/. Retrieved: insert date].
© Mark K. Smith 2013