Martin Perry Knowlton (July 30, 1920 – March 12, 2009) was the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

co-founder of

Elderhostel Road Scholar is an American not-for-profit organization that provides educational travel programs primarily geared to older adults. The organization is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. From its founding in 1975 until 2010, Road Scholar ...

, a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

established in 1975 that allows senior citizens to travel and take educational programs in the United States and around the world.

Early life and education

Knowlton was born in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

on July 30, 1920.Nelson, Valerie J
"Martin P. 'Marty' Knowlton dies at 88; co-founder of Elderhostel"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', March 18, 2009. In 1940, he left college to join the

Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army (french: Armée française de la Libération or AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (french: Forces françaises libres, l ...

, where he served in southwest Asia as an ambulance driver and was awarded the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

. He joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

in 1942 and served as a medic in the

Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

and was awarded the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an e ...

.Grimes, William
"Martin Knowlton, Co-Founder of Elderhostel, Is Dead at 88"
''

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'', March 17, 2009. Accessed March 17, 2009. Following the completion of his military service, Knowlton attended Birmingham-Southern College, where he was awarded a degree in history in 1946. He earned a master's degree in 1949 at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

, where he majored in political science, and later served on the school's faculty. He worked at a number of firms in Maine after graduation and returned to

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

for further graduate education. He was a teacher at high schools, including at

Brookline High School Brookline High School is a four-year public high school in the town of Brookline, Massachusetts. It is a part of Public Schools of Brookline. The Headmaster is Anthony Meyer who holds a Master of Education in Teaching and Curriculum from Harvard ...

, where he coached the school's chess team to the 1970 national championship.

Elderhostel

Knowlton ran the

American Youth Hostels Hostelling International USA (HI USA), also known as American Youth Hostels, Inc. (AYH), is a nonprofit organization that operates youth hostels and runs programs around those hostels. It is the official United States affiliate of Hostelling In ...

program at the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mo ...

, where he envisioned a program that would combine the features of

youth hostels A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed (furniture), bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Room, Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and ha ...

with the adult

folk school Folk high schools (also ''Adult Education Center'', Danish: ''Folkehøjskole;'' Dutch: ''Volkshogeschool;'' Finnish: ''kansanopisto'' and ''työväenopisto'' or ''kansalaisopisto;'' German: ''Volkshochschule'' and (a few) ''Heimvolkshochschule;'' ...

programs he had seen while backpacking through Europe. David Bianco, who supervised the dormitory and dining programs at UNH and had hired Knowlton to run the hostel based on their connections at

, brainstormed about the concept. "Elder hostel" came out as a name, after Bianco saw self-described hippie Knowlton with his white beard sitting under a sign saying "youth hostel". The two devised a program in which people above age 55 could take summer courses while staying in dormitories for a low price. Knowlton described the program's purpose as erasing "the disturbing concept that people are all used up after age 65", offering a program "aimed at stimulating the elderly out of this

agism Ageism, also spelled agism, is discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their age. The term was coined in 1969 by Robert Neil Butler to describe discrimination against seniors, and patterned on sexism and racism. Butler defi ...

trap", solving two different problems by matching them with each other; the inefficient use of capital resources at colleges over the summer and the difficulties of those growing old in a society focused on youth. The program started in 1975 with 220 students ages 60 and up on five campuses in New Hampshire, with the support of Eugene S. Mills, president of the University of New Hampshire and a grant of $7,500 from the Spaulding Potter Charitable Trust."In Memory of Marty Knowlton"
,

. Accessed March 18, 2009. Within five years it had grown to 20,000 students. The program was expanded internationally, to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

, in 1981.Osborne, Lawrence
"Never Too Old to Learn"
''

'', February 18, 2005. Accessed March 18, 2009. By the time of his death, Elderhostel offered 8,000 programs across the United States and in 90 countries. With Elderhostel's growth and its incorporation as a non-profit in 1977, Knowlton left the organization citing his tendency to cut "administrative corners much too freely" and to resist "beyond all reason, needed administrative developments". Bianco described Knowlton as having "the administrative skills of a gnat".

After Elderhostel

After leaving Elderhostel, Knowlton moved to California. There, he established Gatekeepers to the Future, an organization that was intended to motivate seniors to lobby for environmental change. It was restructured and renamed the Center for the Study of the Future in the early 1990s.

Personal life

Knowlton died at age 88 on March 12, 2009 at a nursing home in

Ventura, California Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city on the Southern Coast of California and the county seat of Ventura County. The population was 110,763 at the 2020 census. Ventura is a popular tourist des ...

due to natural causes. He was survived by two daughters and a grandchild; both of his marriages had ended in divorce.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knowlton, Martin 1920 births 2009 deaths Birmingham–Southern College alumni Boston University alumni Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) People from Dallas Recipients of the Silver Star University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty Yale University alumni Free French Forces United States Army personnel of World War II American high school teachers University of New Hampshire people