Fairfax Historical Society: Creating an Informed Citizenry

Early debates over educating a new nation, with author and CML Director George D. Oberle III

Saturday, May 9, 2026 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM EDT

CML Director, Library Historian and Professor George Oberle will discuss his new book, Creating an Informed Citizenry: Knowledge and Democracy in the Early American Republic, for the Historical Society of Fairfax County. Book sales and signing will be available at the event.

How should a republic educate its constituents, asks Oberle, who serves as Society historian and board member. His book examines the early debates among U.S. elites over the best routes to an informed citizenry amid contested distribution and meanings of knowledge, expertise—a topic still relevant today.

The founders knew the new government needed electorate able to use information for rational decisions but disagreed over sources of that information. George Washington's camp wanted a national university  to educate Americans from varied backgrounds. Others looked to new "knowledge institutions," like the Smithsonian and learned societies.  

Spotlighting this tussle over institutions of learning, Oberle offers a comprehensive look at information wars of the early republic. 

At the Historic Oakton Schoolhouse; address in information box.