The Delphian Society was founded in 1910 to promote the education of women. However, its main production, The Delphian Course, was aimed at education in general by an overview of world history, literature, and culture.
From the Wikipedia entry:
"The Delphian Society was inspired by influential Harvard President, Charles William Eliot's belief that education serves the purpose of inspiring lifelong learning and those who do not receive it "seem to live in a mental vacuum." However, "Fifteen minutes a day of good reading would have given any one of this multitude a really human life." In response to his call for lifelong learning, the Delphian Society wrote, "To meet this condition, which prevails through the length and breadth of our land, to stimulate a deeper interest, quicken a latent appreciation and facilitate the use of brief periods of freedom for self-improvement, the Delphian Society was organized and the Delphian Course of Reading made possible."
In 1913, the Delphian Society published the Delphian Course of Reading: "A systematic plan of education, embracing the world's progress and development of the liberal arts." This ten volume course covers "history, literature, philosophy, poetry, fiction, drama, art, ethics, music," however, "Mathematics, being in its higher forms essential to few, has been omitted; languages, requiring the aid of a teacher, and such scenes as make laboratories necessary, are not included."
All 10 volumes are available on the Internet Archive:
Volume 1: https://archive.org/details/delphiancourse01delp/page/n7
Volume 2: https://archive.org/details/delphiancourse02delp/page/n7
Volume 3: https://archive.org/details/delphiancourse03delp/page/n7
Volume 4: https://archive.org/details/delphiancoursesy04delp/page/n7
Volume 5: https://archive.org/details/delphiancourse05delp/page/n9
Volume 6: https://archive.org/details/delphiancourse06delp/page/n9
Volume 7: https://archive.org/details/delphiancoursesy07delpiala/page/n9
Volume 8: https://archive.org/details/delphiancoursesy8chic/page/n7
Volume 9: https://archive.org/details/delphiancoursesy09delpiala/page/n7
Volume 10: https://archive.org/details/delphiancourse10delp/page/n5
Colleen
