Founded in 1933, the Boston Center for Adult Education is the oldest nonprofit adult education center in New England. Its founder, Dorothy Hewitt, envisioned a place where "small groups of men and women would meet together in living room settings to learn, discuss, and create for the sheer pleasure of doing so." Throughout its history, the BCAE has remained responsive to the demands of a diverse community, as well as to the evolving demands of the individual. Whether serving as a site for volunteer wartime efforts in the 1940s, a haven for social policy debate in the 1960s, or a resource for personal and professional growth as one navigates through the new millennium, the BCAE meets the challenges of a thriving urban community.