The California Council for Adult Education is celebrating its 66th year of service since 1944. Dr. George C. Mann, Chief of the State Bureau of Adult Education was the driving force behind the founding of CCAE during World War II.  As an appointed government official, he saw the need for a grass roots organization that would support legislation and further the cause for adult education and adult schools throughout the state. 

The organization has shown steady and continuous growth and has been a definite influence in the shaping of adult education in California over the past 66 years. Adult education in California has a proud history of helping its citizens to meet the challenges of life in a huge, complex, multicultural state. Through the years, California adult educators have provided leadership to the nation in the development of innovative instructional practices and creative educational solutions.

The first recorded adult education class in California was held in the basement of St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco in 1856. The class was authorized by the San Francisco Board of Education to teach English to the Irish, Italian and Chinese immigrants  who were flooding into the city following the discovery of gold in California. John Swett, a noted educator, was the first teacher. Swett later went on to become the 4th State Superintendent of Schools in California.