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Thomas Edison, his Mom, and the Letter

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islander:



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islander:
 
rated as MOSTLY FALSE by Snopes :(

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islander:

WHAT'S TRUE
Thomas Edison was described by educators as “addled,” and spent only a few months in a formal classroom before being taken out of school and educated by his mother.

WHAT'S FALSE
There was never any such letter, any discovery of the truth of that letter later in life, or any evidence to support the claim that Edison’s mother ever lied to her son about his performance in the classroom to protect his feelings.

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=86914.0

islander:

ORIGIN

Thomas Edison was famously homeschooled by his mother — a teacher by training. His troubles with the formal classroom setting, as well as his affection for his mother are well documented.

His early life is succinctly described in the National Park Service biography of Edison:

Thomas Alva Edison was born on February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio; the seventh and last child of Samuel and Nancy Edison. When Edison was seven his family moved to Port Huron, Michigan. Edison lived here until he struck out on his own at the age of sixteen. Edison had very little formal education as a child, attending school only for a few months. He was taught reading, writing, and arithmetic by his mother, but was always a very curious child and taught himself much by reading on his own. This belief in self-improvement remained throughout his life.

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=86914.0

islander:

According to a United States Library of Congress biography of Edison, there was indeed an incident in which he was labeled “addled” by a school administrator that led his mother to remove him from school, but this information was not conveyed in a letter or hidden from Edison:

Edison was a poor student. When a schoolmaster called Edison “addled,” his furious mother took him out of the school and proceeded to teach him at home. Edison said many years later, “My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me, and I felt I had someone to live for, someone I must not disappoint.” At an early age, he showed a fascination for mechanical things and for chemical experiments.

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=86914.0

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