A case study of Harvard University is presented that documents the development of education as a subject and an occupation. The university's experience since education was first taught as a subject matter in 1891 brings to light the larger issues of whether education is a proper university subject, what educational roles are most important, whether the focus should be theory or practice, teacher education approaches, and the main tasks education can or should perform in American society. The following developments are examined in detail: Harvard and the schools, the Harvard normal, transformations in professional identity, the rise of educational science, new careers for the socialization of youth, the Graduate School of Education, the formation of educators, professional training and institutional disaster, the lure of social science, educational careers and the missing elite, and roots of instability. (SW)