Author: Krysten Manke

Introduction Dale Dougherty once reported that his Make magazine–an early beacon for contemporary “makers” and their makerspace movement–“harken[ed] back to the magazines that hit their peak in the mid-20th century, like Popular Mechanics” (12). According to Dougherty, those 20th century magazines summed a key maxim for contemporary “tinkerers”: “If it’s fun, why not do it?” As the makerspace movement continues to grow, and as it exerts more influence on education, history can provide other insights into the possibilities of tinkering, and the legacy of makerspaces. In particular, historical makerspaces can provide teachers with examples that include rhetoric and literacy education,…