The author discusses 40 years of Adult Education in the United States. This year, they celebrate 40 years of Adult Literacy and Literacy System that was created by the Adult Education Act of 1966, and which continues today as Title 2: The Adult Education and Family Literacy Act of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.

How the Adult Education Act emerged from the adult basic education program of the War on Poverty illustrates how multiple interests were brought together to break through a barrier that had blocked the development of an Adult Education and Literacy System for decades.