Walter Harry Green Armytage (22 November 1915 – 13 June 1998) was a social historian and historian of education at the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

. He was later the Gerald Read Professor of Education at

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in As ...

in Ohio.

Early life

Walter Harry Green Armytage was born in

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

, South Africa, on 22 November 1915. He graduated with first class honours in the historical tripos from

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in 1937 and then completed a

Certificate in Education The Certificate in Education (Cert Ed) is a professional qualification for teachers in the United Kingdom. There have been two incarnations of the Cert Ed over the years. New Cert Ed The current Cert Ed is a non-compulsory qualification offering ...

and a master's degree.

Career

Armytage's first career was as a history teacher at

Dronfield Grammar School The Dronfield Henry Fanshawe School is a mixed, state comprehensive school for 11- to 18-year-olds, in the town of Dronfield, Derbyshire, United Kingdom. History Dronfield Grammar School, later renamed the Henry Fanshawe School, was founded i ...

in Sheffield. After war service, he joined the University of Sheffield in 1946. He was a

social historian Social history, often called the new social history, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in his ...

and historian of education and wrote a history of English education as well as a social history of engineering and an account of Utopian experiments in England. He was later the Gerald Read Professor of Education at Kent State University in Ohio.

Family

Armytage married Frances Horsfall in 1948 (died 1996). They had one son.

Death

Armytage died on 13 June 1998. After his death, ''History of Education'', journal of the

History of Education Society The History of Education Society is an "international scholarly society devoted to promoting and teaching the history of education across institutions." The Society was founded in 1960. Its journal is the ''History of Education Quarterly''. Hist ...

, carried an article in which three colleagues recalled their memories of him.

Selected publications

* ''A.J.Mundella 1825–1897: The Liberal Background to the Labour Movement''. Benn, London, 1951. * ''Civic universities: Aspects of a British tradition''. Benn, London, 1955. * ''Heavens below: Utopian experiments in England 1560-1960''.

Routledge and Kegan Paul Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

, London, 1961. * ''A social history of engineering''.

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...

, London, 1961. (Technology today and tomorrow series) * ''Four hundred years of English education''.

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

, Cambridge, 1964. * ''The rise of the technocrats: a social history''.

, London, 1965. * ''French influence on English education''. Routledge, 1968. *''German Influence on English Education''. Routledge, 1969.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armytage, Harry 1915 births 1998 deaths Academics of the University of Sheffield Kent State University faculty Alumni of the University of Sheffield Alumni of the University of Cambridge British historians of education People from Kimberley, Northern Cape