Horace Mann was an American education reformer often called the "Father of the Common School" for his work building free public schools open to all children. He believed education was the greatest tool for creating a fair and successful society, regardless of a family's wealth, a mission he continued in Congress after being elected in 1848 to fill the seat left vacant by John Quincy Adams's death. His ideas helped shape the public school systems still used across the United States today, and he spent his final years as president of Antioch College.