Adult Education in California has a one hundred fifty year tradition beginning with the first classes for adults at Old St. Mary's Cathedral in 1856. As a part of the Sesquicentennial Celebration, there is a state-wide effort to identify when each adult education program first started. The task is challenging because many programs had interruptions in service over the years, and institutional memory was lost.

To assist in the process, a group of volunteers researched both key documents in the California Adult Education Archives and the California School Directory collection, years 1918 -1978, that is located in the State Library. The chart posted here lists currently active adult programs, the earliest date that there is evidence that adult education classes were provided, the names of those early programs, and the source of the data. You may search the data by current adult progam name, district, city, and county.

Please find your school on the chart and review the data. If you have evidence of an earlier start date or have other questions, please send an email to OTAN using the form provided. Be sure to include the source of your data.