Dr. Harold Ordway Rugg is a mild-mannered, talkative little man, a
professor at Columbia University's Teachers College who writes history and
social-science textbooks. Lively and readable, they are the most
popular books of their kind, have sold some 2,000,000 copies, are used
in 4,000 U. S. schools. But recently the heat has been turned on.Five years ago a patriot in Washington, D. C. denounced two Rugg books
as “communistic,” but the District of Columbia Board of
Education gave them a clean bill of health. No Communist, Dr. Rugg
has espoused some radical ideas, was an ardent believer in
Technocracy.Once sympathetic with the Soviet Union, Dr. Rugg in recent years has
rewritten his chapters on Joe Stalin, made them more biting.Nonetheless, his critics object to the Rugg texts for picturing the
U. S. as a land of unequal opportunity, and giving a class-conscious
account of the framing of the U. S. Constitution. They like to point
out that he wrote of the Constitution: “The merchants,
landov/ners, manufacturers, they shippers wanted. and …” Some
bankers of were the given critics fail what to quote the rest of the
sentence, which modifies the beginning: “… namely, a government
which would stabilize the money and trade, keep order within the
country and defend the nation against foreign enemies.” Two years ago Garden City, L. I. banned Rugg's books from its public schools.
Soon reports of Rugg-beating emanated from many another town. Biggest row was in
Englewood, N. J., home town of Hearst Columnist B. C. Forbes. Mr
Forbes, a member of the Englewood Boarc of Education, charged that the
Rugg books were “subversive,” for a year agitated unsuccessfully to
have them thrown out. Meanwhile : >In Philadelphia, Mrs. Ellwood J. Turner, a Daughter of
Colonial Wars, denounced the books because they “tried to give the
child an unbiased viewpoint instead of teaching him real Americanism.” >In Bradner, Ohio, School Board Vice President D. R. Plouck seized
school copies, made a bonfire. >In Binghamton, N. Y., two members of
the Board of Education proposed a public book burning, and
Superintendent Daniel J. Kelly ordered the books off school library
shelves. Said Dr. Kelly: “Sometimes discretion is the better part of
valor. . . . Personally, I can see no harm in the books. In fact, they
are just the type of material I wish my children and grandchildren to
use.” By last term's end, the Rugg books had been banned from some half-dozen
school systems. Last month Professor Rugg, looking harassed and unhappy, rose before
summer students at Teachers College, denounced “witch hunting.” Cried
he: “Those who say that we don't believe in private enterprise lie!”
Meanwhile Professor Rugg's publishers, Ginn & Co., announced that fall
orders for Rugg books were bigger this year than last. But last fortnight Rugg book burnings began to blaze afresh in the
smalltown, American Legion belt. In rapid succession the school boards
of Mountain Lakes and Wayne Township, N. J. banished Rugg texts that
had been used by their pupils nearly ten years. Explained Wayne
Township's Board Member Ronald Gall: “In my opinion, the books are
un-American but not anti-American. . . .”
