As a young education reformer working on the frontlines of social change in France, Baron Pierre de Coubertin became a member of Frédéric le Play’s Union for the Social Peace.  Le Play, who is often referenced as a pioneer of modern social sciences, had worked for decades on both political and education fronts to improve the quality of life for the French poor and working class. His Unions rallied communities to advocate for change, and his publication, La Réforme Sociale, carried his ideas to the elite.  In 1889, the Baron’s article, “English Education in France,” appeared in that journal with this quote.

“Social reform must be achieved through education. Our efforts must focus not on adults, but on children, in order to ensure our success. We must give those children qualities of mind that will make them capable of understanding, and qualities of character that will render them capable of performing the transformation in which your illustrious founder saw France's salvation.”