ABSTRACT
Education for rural adults beguiles one with its apparent simplicity of purpose and delivery of services. Analysis of rural adult education in the United States during the twentieth century thus addresses major uses of education to solve problems of rural America as depicted in historical, educational, and agricultural literature. A wide range of quasi-educational endeavor might conceivably be considered as rural adult education. Religious revivals, political campaigns, and social movements all represent activities which include educational dimensions. The Country Life Commission was part of a larger phenomenon, the Country Life Movement. Several characteristics of the movement, as highlighted by William Bowers, are important for an analysis of adult education. The Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) and the National Youth Administration provided training programs for young adults, especially white male adults. Human and community development in non-metropolitan counties can be defined in different ways.
