National forces and local democratic voices: A historical comparative case study of the Rugg textbook controversy in two citie

Harold Rugg, a prominent social studies advocate, wrote and edited a series of widely adopted social science textbooks, Man and His Changing Society, which became both popular and controversial in the late 1930s and early 1940s for its inquiry-based, critical approach to history and the social studies. This controversy is important because it demonstrates, in dramatic fashion on both a national and local level, the extent to which vested interests can shape the discourse of schooling and the development of curriculum. Feeling threatened by the content in the series, powerful national organizations, such as the Hearst Newspaper Organization, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the Advertising Federation of America, organized to expose what they believed to be questionable content in the textbooks and remove them from public secondary schools throughout the United States. The prevalent historical perspective of the controversy depicts the events as an organized corporate and conservative attack on progressive education, with the financial publisher, Bertie C. Forbes, as one of the leaders of the charge.;In this dissertation, I provide a historical descriptive narrative comparing two cities that became mired in the controversy --- Binghamton, New York and Englewood, New Jersey --- to illustrate the complexity of curriculum development and the importance of local voice in the decision-making process within the United States educational system. What transpired in these two cities is but a small chapter in the turbulent history of the social studies curriculum. Yet, their stories demonstrate how differently national political forces, powerful individuals, ideological movements, and community culture can influence curricular decisions and what is taught in public school. The fact that Rugg's textbooks had a lasting impact upon social studies textbook design, format, and instructional practice, indicates that the story of conservatives triumphing over progressive educators is much too simple. Even more telling, are the events in Englewood, New Jersey, where Forbes, an appointed member of the school board who became a nationally known opponent of Rugg, led an unsuccessful crusade to remove the books from where it mattered most, his own children's school. The merger of national and local forces in one major, forceful figure will reveal much about the way textbook and curricular decisions play out and how national forces influence the local scene.;This dissertation offers insight to school reformers, curriculum developers, social studies educators, and social studies teachers about the importance of local forces in the adoption of curriculum. As shown in the comparative case studies, curricular decision-making in this country is the result of a complex democratic process that requires a careful analysis to understand how certain forces affect the selection of teaching materials in public schools.