ABSTRACT
The origin of the Center for Community Education (CCE) characteristics is found in the adult learning outreach of the early 1950s. This period opened the door for critical theory to penetrate the power and politics of Elizabethtown College (EC), the result being the CCE of 1972. Both the CC and its creation, the CCE, reflected the growing attractiveness of critical theory to the structures at Elizabethtown configured to form an adult education learning community. The democratic and egalitarian milieu was a rich source of nourishment for innovation in adult outreach – the tasks of critical learning theory energized the entire system – in this case, in a positive, visible way. From the early 1950s to the 1970s, power and politics worked to support the growth of adult learning, due to the attachment of elements of critical theory to the structure of the adult learning community. The 1960s and 1970s were a chaotic time of change that nourished things democratic.
