John Dewey Papers

John Dewey was an influential American philosopher and educator as well as a psychologist, social critic and political activist. He was born in Burlington, Vermont in 1859 to Archibald, a grocer, and Lucina (Rich) Dewey. John attended the local schools and graduated from the University of Vermont in 1879. Professor H. A. P. (Henry Augustus Pearson) Torrey was a significant figure in Dewey's education and helped prepare Dewey to enter Johns Hopkins University. There he studied philosophy and psychology, earning a PhD. He taught at the University of Michigan, University of Chicago, and Columbia University. He wrote several books and lectured all over the world. He is well known for promoting liberal and progressive democracy, Pragmatism within philosophy, and humanism in the pursuit of world peace.

He married Alice Chipman (b. about 1859) in 1886 and they had six children. In 1896, they co-founded the University of Chicago Laboratory School, where Alice taught English and literature. The Deweys traveled to China where Alice lectured. She died in 1927. John Dewey remarried Roberta "Robbie" Grant (1904-1970) in 1946. They adopted two children from Belgium. John died in 1952. He and Roberta were buried on the UVM campus near Ira Allen Chapel.