Today In History: Primary School Teachers Meet Dr. Harold Rugg

The truth is, they do not want the whole of American life to be studied in the schools. They want a roseate, a partial and one-sided picture, hence a false view of it to be given.

When all the smoke-screen of name-calling has been dissipated, just one central question remains: what interpretation of "the American way"  shall guide the civilization of study in the schools? This is the nub of the whole attack.

Many different interpretations of "The American Way" have been given since our country was founded. Many different ones are being given today...."

-- Harold Ordway Rugg, in reference to the Attacks on the Rugg Social Science Series, 1940.  Harold O Rugg Faculty File.

On November 11th, 1929, Professor Harold O. Rugg of Teachers College met with primary school teachers of kindergarten through grade four at Weaver High School in Hartford, Connecticut where he presented on modern methods in social studies. Sponsored by the Principals' Club, this meeting was one in a series of seven meetings that introduced progressive thinking into the curriculum, encouraging students to investigate social problems through integrated branches of social studies: economics, history, geography, political science.

Harold Rugg came to Teachers College and its affiliated Lincoln School in 1920, after serving as an Associate Professor of Education at the University of Chicago.  His highly influential work, Man and His Changing Society comprised a series of thought-provoking educational pamphlets that were  published as textbooks in 1929.  Beginning in 1934, Rugg became a target of sharp criticism for his approach,  deemed subversive  or unAmerican -- to such an extent of that his works were banned by a number of school districts where fear of communism, socialism, and anarchism took hold. Eventually Harold Rugg's name was cleared, concerns were alleviated, and charges, dropped.

An engaged teacher-practitioner and prolific writer, Harold Rugg joined  the seminal group of leading progressive faculty at Teachers College to publish The Social Frontier (later, Frontiers of Democracy), a journal that ran from 1934-1943 and sought to look critically at education and redefine teachers' roles in social reconstruction. Rugg retired from the College in 1951.

The following articles are drawn from Proquest Historical Newspapers, which informs and inspires classroom teaching and learning.

• Conscious History. (1929, Feb 10). New York Herald Tribune (1926-1962) 
• 'Warless Histories' Endorsed by Many American Teachers. (1929, Feb 10). New York Herald Tribune (1926-1962) 
• Principals' Club Will Sponsor Social Study Course for Teachers. (1929, Oct 04). The Hartford Courant (1923-) 
• G, B. S. (1931, Nov 28). "Glorified School Books'". The China Weekly Review (1923-1950) 
• D. C. School Board Hunts "Red" Books: Committee Studies Texts in High Schools After Citizens Complain. (1935, Nov 22). The Sun (1837-) 
• Clears Capital Schools: Inquiry Into Textbooks Shows No Teaching of Communism.  (1935, Dec 19). New York Times (1923-)
• Teachers Seek to Line Schools with the Times: Acquainting Child with World As It Is. (1937, Feb 26). The Christian Science Monitor (1908-) 
• Texts by Rugg Defended by 47 at Englewood: School Board Urged Not to DropThem As 'Subversive' Without a Fair Hearing.  (1939, Dec 15). New York Herald Tribune (1926-1962) 
• Shuster, G.N.(1941, Apr 27). Dr. Harold Rugg Replies to His Critics: "That Men May Understand" Sets Forth His Purpose in Writing His Textbooks.  New York Times (1923-) 
• Harold Rugg Dies; Author of Textbooks: Professor Emeritus at Teachers College.  (1960, May 18). New York Herald Tribune (1926-1962) 

Tips:

• Evans, Ronald W. This Happened in America : Harold Rugg and the Censure of Social Studies. Information Age Pub., 2007. LB885.R732 E93 2007.
• The Harold O. Rugg Collection. Teachers College Digital Collections.
• Office of Public Relations. Harold O. Rugg Faculty File #1. 1947.  Faculty Files. Teachers College Digital Collections.
• Rugg, Harold Ordway, and Ann Shumaker. The Child-Centered School : An Appraisal of the New Education. World Book Company, 1928.  Closed Stacks Research ; LB1026 .R8 1928.
• Rugg, Harold Ordway. Democracy and the Curriculum : The Life and Program of the American School. D. Appleton-Century Company, Incorporated, 1939. Closed Stacks Research ; L101.U6 J6 3d 1939.
• Rugg, Harold Ordway. An Introduction to American Civilization ;:A Study of Economic Life in the United States. Ginn and Company, 1929.  TCANA ; HC106.3 .R68 1929.
• Rugg, Harold Ordway. A History of American Civilization : Economic and Social. Ginn and Company, 1930. Closed Stacks Curr ; E169.1 .R92 1930.
• Rugg, Harold Ordway. Man and His Changing Society. Revised edition., Ginn, 1937. Closed Stacks Curr ; E178 .R885 1937.
• Rugg, Harold Ordway. The Rugg Social Science Course. Ginn, 1929. Closed Stacks Curr ; HF1027 .R8.
• Rugg, Harold Ordway. Teacher’s Guide for A History of American Government and Culture. Ginn, 1931.  Closed Stacks Curr ; E183 .R924 1931.
• Rugg, Harold Ordway. That Men May Understand ; An American in the Long Armistice. First edition, Doubleday, Doran and Co., Inc., 1941. Closed Stacks Research ; LB875 .R86 1941.
• Sabine, George Holland, and Wesley C. Mitchell. The Text Books of Harold Rugg : An Analysis. [American Committee for Democracy and Intellectual Freedom], 1942. Closed Stacks Research ; H62 .A52.
• Sewall, Gilbert T., and American Textbook Council. History Textbooks at the New Century. American Textbook Council, 2000.  Oversize ; E175.85 .S5 2000.

Images:

• Vintage Postcard, Weaver High School, Hartford Connecticut, date known.  Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford.
• Poster Image: Cover, Nature Peoples Workbook, Harold O Rugg Collection. Teachers College, Columbia University.