1943

Two University of Chicago educators, Robert Maynard Hutchins and Mortimer Adler, launch a series of Great Books “Shared Inquiry™ seminars” with prominent and enthusiastic Chicagoans. Enormously successful with many influential public figures, these text-based seminars inspire a Great Books continuing education program at the University of Chicago and a Chicago Public Library workshop where librarians and volunteers are trained to start their own groups. Similar workshops are held in New York and other cities, inundating the University of Chicago with inquiries from individuals, clubs, and labor unions across the country.