The object of The Mentor Association is to enable people to acquire useful knowledge without effort, so that they may come easily and agreeably to know the worlds great men and women, the great achievements, and the permanently interesting things in art, literature, science, history, nature and travel.

The Mentor magazine was published from 1913 to about 1931 by The Mentor Association.  The Association was founded by William David Moffat in 1912 and included experts in various fields.  Each issue was devoted to a single subject augmented by fine photogravures (photogravures are prints produced in such a way as to mimic the richness and subtle range of tone found in photographs).  Several examples are included here:

The purpose of The Mentor Association is to give people, in an interesting and attractive way, the information in various fields of knowledge that they all want and ought to have. The information is imparted by interesting reading matter, prepared under the direction of leading authors, and by beautiful pictures, produced by the most highly perfected modern processes.

We give you in The Mentor the good things out of many books, and in a form that is easy to read and that taxes you little for time. A library is a valuable thing to have if you know how to use it. But there are not many people who know how to use a library. If you are one of those who don’t know, it would certainly be worth your while to have a friend who could take from a large library just what you want to know and give it to you in a pleasant way. The Mentor can be such a friend to you.

The D’Youville College Archives holds 43 issues of The Mentor, from September 29, 1913 to April 1, 1915.