Horace Mann (1796-1859) was an educator and politician, who notably advocated for free and universal education in the United States. He was born in Massachusetts, where he initiated much of his social reform work as a politician.

After self-educating for much of his young life through use of the library, Mann was valedictorian of his graduating class at Brown University. He went on to study and practice law, which provided the foundation for his political career in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate, as the inaugural secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education, and in the U.S. House of Representatives. In these positions and throughout his career, Mann was an advocate for public education, abolition of slavery, and other aspects of social reform. Mann developed a pedagogical approach known as the common school movement, which prioritized orality and morality, and aimed to democratize the U.S. school system by making it consistently accessible.

Dozens of schools across the country use Horace Mann as their namesake regardless of whether he had a physical affiliation with the location, a testament to the impact he made on public education in the United States. P.S. 090 Horace Mann elementary school of Richmond Hill, Queens opened in 1909. P.S. 090 resonates with this nineteenth century reformer's mission of equitable education and continues to foster critical thinking and empowerment in their students today.