During the World War, European history textbooks bore the brunt of attack. Discussions tending to bestow praise upon the Central Powers, or in any way to disparage the institutions or prowess of the Allies, were deemed disloyal to the cause in which the United States was engaged. Not only were history textbooks condemned but also textbooks in foreign language, particularly in German. The same spirit showed itself in many avenues through which public opinion could be affected. Thus a federal judge enjoined the production of “The Spirit of ’76,” a film depicting the Wyoming Massacre and Paul Revere’s ride, because it tended “to make us a little bit slack in our loyalty to Great Britain in this great emergency.”[754]

To those who feared a diluted Americanism, it seemed quite apparent that sinister forces were abroad, and in the attacks made upon authors of history textbooks, it was frequently charged that the preparation of school histories was in the hands of German paid agents. Indeed, the activities of pro-German forces to control the content of history textbooks, it was alleged, had been operating for some time, and since 1915 had been directed by Dr. Dernburg, under whom definitely made plans had been perfected.[755] This conclusion was reached by the skeptical when to one of his agents was attributed this statement: “The Americans do not love the British, and they are inclined to like the Germans. By controlling the preparation of school histories, we can begin to make Americans from the time they are children see the German point of view.”[756]

Among the organizations which feared the inculcation of disloyalty through a study of history as commonly written was the Fathers of Soldiers and Sailors League. It was through their influence that the James Harvey Robinson histories were excluded from the schools of Des Moines, Iowa, because of the statement regarding Germany contained in these books.[757] Among the objections raised against Robinson’s Medieval and Modern Times were the characterization of the German government, the failure to fix the responsibility upon Germany for bringing about the World War, and the discussion of the violation of “all laws of humanity as well as of international law” by Germany. In addition to criticisms directed against the 1916 edition of this book, the Des Moines objectors felt that there was a pro-German bias evident in the 1918 Supplement in such a statement as the following: “So while Germany was able, as we shall see, to conquer important portions of Central Europe as the war proceeded, she lost all her colonies. The question whether she is to have them back or not will be one of the great problems to adjust at the end of the war.”[758]

The same organization identified itself with a movement in California to investigate the content of history textbooks. In July, 1918, the State Board of Education directed that all textbooks in American and European history appearing upon the official list of high school textbooks be submitted to a committee of expert historians for review, to determine whether such textbooks were objectionable on the ground of being pro-German or containing matter which might be offensive to the American allies in the World War. On September 18, the committee reported, and the following books were stricken from the official list: Botsford, A Brief History of the World, Myers, Mediaeval and Modern History, and Myers, General History. Robinson’s Medieval and Modern Times, edition of 1916, was also eliminated from the official list, but the edition with the supplement of 1918 was substituted upon condition that the publishers make certain changes in the revised edition. Robinson and Beard, Outlines of European History, Part II, was banned until a specified revision should take place. Of the books examined, the committee found no important objections to Andrews, Short History of England, Ashley, Early European Civilization, Cheyney, Short History of England, Harding, New Mediaeval and Modern History (edition of 1918), Robinson and Breasted, Outlines of European History, Part I, Webster, Early European History, and West, Modern World. The committee rendered decisions against the Myers histories because they represented a viewpoint opposed to that of the time. Botsford’s textbook was found objectionable because it was “favorable to the acts of Germany and critical to an unjust degree of the acts of the ... allied nations,” and because it presented the causes of the American Revolution in a “bald form.”[759]

Other places, actuated by similar sentiments, interested themselves in the character of history instruction. Seattle, Washington, became the center of a controversy between the school superintendent and the teachers on the one hand, and two of the school directors on the other, regarding Robinson and Beard’s Outlines of European History.[760] As a result of the discussion, the book was thrown out of the Seattle schools until the expurgation and revision should occur.[761]

In Montana, the State Council of Defense ordered the withdrawal of West’s Ancient World from circulation in all public and school libraries, because they objected, among other things, to an introductory statement that “the settlement of the Teutonic tribes was not merely the introduction of a new set of ideas and institutions ... it was also the introduction of fresh blood and youthful minds—the muscle and brain which in the future were to do the larger share of the world’s work.”[762]

Due to the same point of view and under the same compulsion, the Commissioner of Education of Rhode Island in 1918 undertook an investigation of the textbooks in use in that state, and found objectionable “various text-books designed for sixth grade history according to the report of the committee of eight.” In a large number of books [were found] ... “various references to the Germans which, in the light of recent developments, are to be regarded as incorrect or exaggerated statements....” And it was considered “objectionable to place before the children of America statements which are, or which will appear to them to be, laudatory of the people with whom we are at war or adversely critical of our own people.”[763] The use of histories considered “offensive” was also discontinued in the states of Arizona, Iowa, Ohio, and Oklahoma, either through the action of the office of the state superintendent or some other official.[764] Doubtless in other states the action of local boards brought about the same result.

New textbooks, syllabi and other teaching aids appeared. Superintendent William L. Ettinger of the New York City schools, for example, in 1918 issued a syllabus on the War designed to aid teachers in “imparting a correct intellectual understanding of the causes, events and issues of the war,” as well as to help them in inspiring “the pupils with a love for the ideals and an appreciation of the sacrifices of our country.” For, he held that “the American Army of the future, both men and women, are in our schools today.” Dr. Ettinger’s letter to the Principals of High Schools declared that “History should be taught so that a deep emotional appeal” should be made in all topics; that “a lasting effect” could “be produced on the ideals, purposes and emotions of the child only by arousing deep feeling in connection with the presentation of the subject matter.” In the event of adding new material as the War progressed, it was required that “all such material ... be approved by the Principal of the School before ... used in the classroom.”[765]

As in all books which were meeting the popular demand of the time, the Syllabus made Germany “the only country in the world that was prepared and anxious for war” because of her autocratic government, the character of the Kaiser, militarism and navalism, Germany’s desire for world domination, and the insidious inculcation of loyalty in the German people through the Prussian system of education.

The insistence of the American people that histories in the schools should not be in any degree “laudatory” of the enemy peoples nor “unfavorable” to our allies in arms led to the revision of many textbooks after April, 1917. Since 1923 these revisions, in turn, have been criticized in the light of recently published documents relating to the origin of the War. Although the question of war guilt is still held by many historians as debatable, it is pointed out in The Freeman for June, 1923, that probably “children have already been indoctrinated with a theory that leaves no excuse for uncertainty, no opening for new evidence and no stimulus to free thought.”[766]

With this condition in mind, critics have assembled their arguments against certain textbooks in European history found in the public schools. Because it made Germany primarily responsible for the World War objection was raised to The Story of Human Progress by Willis Mason West, an author but a short time before criticized for pro-Germanism.[767] Roscoe Lewis Ashley is challenged for saying in his Modern European Civilization that “Germany wanted war and determined to rule or ruin ... and a war which in the true sense had been made ‘in Germany’ was a reality”; while Webster, in his Modern European History, is criticized for the statement that “There is no longer any need to fix the responsibility for the World War. That the German government planned it and precipitated it has been made evident by the avowal of the Germans themselves.”[768]

The interpretation placed upon the causes leading to the War by Charles Downer Hazen in his Modern Europe has likewise been condemned. For Hazen “summarizes the case as follows: ‘The world was stunned by the criminal levity with which Austria-Hungary and Germany had created this hideous situation. The sinister and brutal challenge was, however, accepted immediately and with iron resolution by those who had done their utmost during those twelve days to avert the catastrophe.’”[769] A criticism by Professor Harry E. Barnes directed for the same reason at the textbooks of this author provoked a spirited exchange of opinion in the spring of 1924. Professor Hazen upheld his interpretation as to Germany’s guilt, while Professor Barnes asserted that such a point of view was untenable in the light of official documents made known since the War.[770]

Other writers of European histories used in the schools have not escaped. According to The Freeman, Robinson and Beard, in their History of Europe Our Own Times, seem to have been “more or less taken” with the plan of leaving the “readers to draw their own conclusions” in their chapter on the origin of the War. Disapproval arose out of the statement that “the assertions of the German leaders that England desired war and was responsible for it are, of course, as the rest of the world knows, wholly without foundation in fact,” and because of the quotation from Prince Lichnowsky indicting Germany.[771]

On the other hand, Modern History, by Hayes and Moon, is given a clean bill of health because of its treatment of this controversial subject. The critic, however, pointed out, in fairness to the other writers criticized, that “in the interval that has elapsed since the appearance of the other texts ..., certain new items of evidence had been brought forward and the general war-fever had abated somewhat. The authors of the new book therefore enjoyed certain special advantages, which help, no doubt, to explain the novel tone....”[772]

Not only has the treatment of the origin of the War been a source of criticism but also the divergent points of view regarding German atrocities, reparations and the Treaty of Versailles. On these points Professor Donald Taft in his study “Historical Textbooks and International Differences” has declared that American pupils are taught from two kinds of textbooks, one group being “bitterly anti-German” and the other attempting a fairness of judgment. Of this he cites Guitteau’s Our United States and Long’s America as examples.[773] Much the same point of view is held by Isabel Kendig-Gill in a pamphlet “War and Peace in United States History Text-Books,” in which, in addition, she declares that “nowhere is there any fundamental analysis either of the political and economic situation out of which the war grew or of its spiritual and moral costs to the world.”[774]

Following the close of the World War, the place of prominence held by the histories of Europe in the critic’s eye was eclipsed by American histories. A desire to depict events favorable to the Allies was superseded by the apprehension that such a narrative would prove the undoing of American patriotism. This apprehension was mingled in the minds of many with the fear that the solid pillars of society were being threatened with radicalism and socialism. In this spirit, for example, attacks on history textbooks were inaugurated by the editor of The Daily Courier of Ottumwa, Iowa. On March 2, 1919, under the caption, “Get a New History,” appeared an editorial attacking Muzzey’s An American History because of its “socialistic trend” and its treatment of the period since the Civil War.[775] Two years later, due to the energy of the editor of the Ottumwa Daily Courier, Governor Nate Kendall of Iowa was asked by the joint committee on Americanism of various patriotic and civic organizations to appoint a commission “to investigate anti-American and radical teaching in state owned institutions and the public schools.” The action of the committee was prompted by the information “that there were good reasons to believe that some of the textbooks on American History used in our schools were wanting in national and patriotic spirit and sentiment; that they failed to instil devotion to American ideals, and pass[ed] over lightly events in American history which should ... stimulate pride of country, patriotism and devotion to our institutions.”[776] No action was taken by the Governor.

One of the most active organizations in the present-day movement to remodel the content of history textbooks has been the Sons of the American Revolution. In 1917 at the instigation of the Executive Committee of the National Society an examination of Muzzey’s An American History was undertaken by Judge Wallace McCamant, later president-general of this organization. His verdict was unfavorable; and as a result the book was excluded from the public schools of Portland, Oregon, and Evanston, Illinois. Although a revised edition later appeared, this critic still believed Muzzey a “political partisan” and his history unsuitable for use in the public schools.[777] One of the most “grievous faults” which Muzzey committed, in the opinion of Judge McCamant, was in his discussion of the American Revolution, wherein he spoke “contemptuously of Hancock, Warren, Otis and the Adamses” in calling them “patriots” with quotation marks attached to the word.[778] He was held equally culpable because the Revolutionary dispute is said to have involved “a debatable question,” a statement, which, in the critic’s mind, should disqualify him from writing a school history.[779] Yet a reading of the statement in its context conveys a different meaning from that suggested by Judge McCamant, for Muzzey declares: “Until the Declaration was published the Tories and Loyalists, of whom there were tens of thousands in the American colonies, were champions of one side of a debatable question, namely, whether the abuses of the King’s ministers justified resistance; but after the Declaration loyalty to the King of Great Britain became treason to their country.” The reviewer found other grievous faults in that “the author contemptuously refers to the speeches and papers of Henry and the Adamses as ‘their rhetorical warnings’ against being ‘reduced to slavery’”; that only one sentence is devoted to Bunker Hill; that there is “no mention of the death of Joseph Warren”; that there is “no reference to the gallantry with which the Americans defended the rail fence and the redoubt”; and only a brief mention of Lexington and Ticonderoga. “Aside from four sentences,” only “seven pages” are devoted “to the Revolutionary War,” when the “students in our public schools should be taught that our free institutions were won by heroism and sacrifice.”[780] Other omissions of “essential” facts were the failure to describe the work of Marion, Sumter, Pickens and Williams; no mention being made of Gansevoort, Anthony Wayne or Stony Point, Light Horse Harry Lee or Paulus Hook, Bennington or John Stark.

Carrying the criticisms further, it was alleged that this history contains inaccuracies and unfair statements; that it is full of partisanship of a political character; that it gives a biased treatment of controversial subjects; and is pro-British.[781] It was the belief of the reviewer, moreover, that controversial subjects like the tariff have no place in a high school textbook, for “whatever the views of a citizen may be on this subject he should be permitted to send his children to school without having them taught that his own views on this question are unsound.” Characterization of Mr. Wilson’s policies, “particularly as set forth in his ‘New Freedom’ as an economic Declaration of Independence,” also struck a discordant note. Class distinctions are also made conspicuous, the reviewer declared, as in such a statement as “Federalism, which stood in John Adams’ phrase, for government by ‘the rich, the well-born and the able’”; and in “The failure of the South to get rid of slavery in the early decades of the nineteenth century must be set down to the domination of a class of rich, aristocratic planters.”[782]

During the year 1923 the activities of the Sons of the American Revolution became diversified to the extent that their report on Patriotic Education dealt with several American histories. This report was actuated by the interest that had been shown in the “National Congress” meeting at Springfield in May, 1922, when that body expressed a deep interest in “the subject of American history textbooks” and resolved that the Committee on Patriotic Education “take needful measures to eliminate from our schools” all objectionable textbooks.[783]

In their review of American histories, the Committee found “a great deal of inaccuracy and considerable propaganda bearing on political questions which still divide the people.”[784] They held as “fundamental defects and those which are most clearly subject to criticism at the hands of a patriotic society ... inadequate and unsympathetic treatment of the American Revolution and a treatment of events in our recent history in such a manner as to inculcate loyalty to class rather than to country.”[785] The Committee, furthermore, emphasized the importance of a study of an untainted American history, one teaching “a veneration of the great men of our past” as “the best antidote for radical and disintegrating propaganda.” They maintained that “the chief purpose to be subserved in teaching American history is the inculcation of patriotism.”[786] To devote only ten pages out of five hundred to a discussion of the Revolutionary War laid the author open to criticism by patriotic groups; and such inadequate treatment could not be excused on the ground that the book was written for advanced students who have gathered the necessary details in the elementary grades. The works of Fiske, Schouler, Trevelyan, and Lodge, although written for adults, discussed these details, which, in itself, was proof of their value to the Committee who were considering textbooks.

In the examination of history textbooks the Committee found “the McLaughlin and Van Tyne, O’Hara, Everett Barnes, Hart, James and Sanford, Muzzey and West histories objectionable in the treatment of the American Revolution.”[787] The Muzzey, West and Burnham histories were described also as “open to criticism on the ground of class hatred.” Because the objections to Muzzey’s and West’s books were based on more than one ground for complaint, separate criticisms were published by the Committee, which were “widely circulated.”[788]

On the other hand, endorsement was accorded to Gordy’s textbook and the Thwaites and Kendall history for grammar school use. For the high school the Committee recommended the amended edition of Guitteau’s book and the Halleck history.[789]

As a result of their agitation, according to the Report, the Everett Barnes history had been amended and the author had removed from it the aspersions on John Hancock. The Committee wished to distinguish sharply, however, between this Barnes and “the old Barnes history which has always been sound in its Americanism.”[790] They desired also to recommend “without qualification” the history of Dr. Edward Channing, who at their request had signified his willingness to make suggested changes in his textbook. With evident approval they quoted the following statement from William J. Long, “author of the latest history published by Ginn and Company” in which he said: “What I missed in our histories, especially those of recent date, was the spirit of devotion without which the mere facts of history have little interest or consequence to my boy and your boy.”[791]

The efforts of the national group received the active support of many local units. Under the direction of “Compatriot S. T. Cameron of the District of Columbia Society” the Piney Branch Citizens’ Association of Washington, D. C., opened fire on Muzzey’s An American History for the reasons frequently assigned, and circulated, according to Judge McCamant, “a scholarly brief” that proved this textbook “hopelessly unfit for school use.”[792]

Among the standards which the Piney Branch Citizens’ Association set up for a textbook in American history were: that it should assume “an unquestioning attitude toward the sincerity, the aims or the purpose of the founders of this Republic or of those who have guided its destinies; that it should contain no material that tends to arouse political, racial, or religious controversy or hatred”; that it should “emphasize the principles and motives that were of the greatest influence in the formation and development” of the government; that “it must incite in the pupil ideals of patriotic and civic duty,” as well as cultivating “an appreciation of the hardships endured and the sacrifices made in establishing and defending American ideals.”[793]

No success attending their efforts to eliminate this textbook from the acceptable list in the Washington schools, the Piney Branch Association continued their attack. On April 25, 1923, a public hearing was given Professor Muzzey and his critics, at which “more than one hundred persons, including school officials, teachers, civic leaders and interested students ... listened attentively to the arguments pro and con which continued for nearly four hours.”[794] In defending himself, Professor Muzzey declared that Mr. Cameron had “garbled the facts and twisted phrases in a way” that was “absolutely unfair”; that he had taken “certain words and sentences and read them without the complete section,” which, in many cases, put “an entirely different aspect upon them.”[795] With Mr. Cameron, in criticizing adversely this American history, was Charles Edward Russell of the “Patriot League for the Preservation of American History.” He regarded the book as “‘a grave public menace,’” and declared that “the school children in the heart of China” were being taught “a more accurate account of the American revolution than those in the Washington schools.”[796]

On the other hand, unqualified endorsement was given the textbook by Superintendent of Schools Frank W. Ballou. George J. Jones, head of the history department of the Washington high schools, emphasized “the destructive nature” of the attack and “pointed out that all of the teachers of American history in the local high schools vouch[ed] for its patriotism....”[797] In support of Mr. Jones were Dr. George M. Churchill and Elmer L. Kayser, professors of American history at George Washington University, Dr. Charles E. Hill, professor of political science at the same university, Dr. Leo F. Stock, professor of history at the Catholic University, and Rear Admiral George W. Baird, former president of the Board of Education.[798]

In commenting upon this and other attacks directed against this textbook, Carson C. Hathaway in The Dearborn Independent for October 23, 1923, declared: “To Muzzey, history is a review of what happened and an important analysis of why it happened. To those who desire to be thrilled by the familiar stories of our national heroes, the text may not be satisfying. But perhaps there is enough thrill in even an unbiased treatment of American history to satisfy any thoughtful and patriotic American.”[799]

In November, 1922, the Kentucky branch of the Sons of the American Revolution addressed a communication to nine educational institutions requesting the exclusion of Muzzey’s An American History from the lists of approved textbooks, because of its “flippant, inaccurate and unsympathetic” content-matter.[800] Failure to inculcate “reverence for our Revolutionary fathers and their ideals” besides its “callous indifference” in the treatment of battles and heroes appeared to the Kentucky Sons characteristic of this book.

As a comment on their action, the Louisville Times editorially remarked:

The Courier-Journal also, in an editorial on “Writing History,” stressed the new values which have developed in the scientific presentation of history, causing “a fresh and clarified perspective.” To the Courier-Journal Muzzey’s textbook represented “the newer tendencies in historical writing,” and aimed wisely “to give the emphasis to those factors in our national development, which appeal to us as the most vital from the standpoint of today.” The editorial commended it for omission of facts which could easily be found elsewhere, and because of its non-sectionalism.[802]

Action similar to that taken by the Kentucky chapter occurred in California, where not only the Sons of the American Revolution but the Sons of the Revolution instituted a search for “anti-American” histories. Here the latter organization, under the leadership of Frank H. Pettingell, in an effort to gain converts to their point of view, distributed to all school districts Charles Grant Miller’s pamphlet Treason to American Tradition.[803] By the former organization two detailed reports regarding Muzzey’s An American History were issued, the one expressing the opinion of a majority of a committee to investigate this book, and the other setting forth the views of a dissenting member.

The majority report revealed no criticisms which had not been presented in the National Report.[804] On the other hand, the minority statement included four points: first, that “fairness requires that if we are to pass upon the histories used in the schools, there should be an examination of those in general use, not merely one; second, if there is to be a critical examination of histories in use in the schools of this country, it should be by a committee composed of members sufficiently acquainted with the writing and teaching of history, that their report may be comprehensive and scientific, as well as patriotic; third, the majority report fails to consider thoroughly the purpose for which this history was written; and fourth, the history should be judged by its whole tone and spirit and purpose, and not by words and sentences isolated from their context.”[805]

In analyzing the textbook and comparing statements with those cited in the majority report as reprehensible, the minority report accepted the principle adopted by some textbook writers, namely, that biographical history should be left to the elementary grades and the study of institutional development to the secondary school.

As a result of this agitation, the Commissioner of Secondary Schools of California appointed a committee to investigate history textbooks. They reported that none of the books examined were found tainted by disloyal or unpatriotic sentiments, and that the attacks against history textbooks were due to a “revival of pro-German sentiment,” to “an ineradicable Irish anti-British sentiment,” to a “journalistic opposition to Great Britain,” and “to an element of political reaction against the domestic legislation of recent years.”[806]

In Ohio, also, the Sons of the American Revolution at their state convention in Cleveland in May, 1923, condemned Muzzey’s An American History and adopted a resolution that no textbook should be used in the schools “which belittles the founders of our government or minimizes their achievements.”[807]

During Education Week in 1922, the Idaho Society Sons of the American Revolution, under the leadership of Captain A. H. Conner, started an agitation against the History of the American People by Willis Mason West, resulting in the exclusion of this book from the Boise schools. Criticized in much the same manner as Muzzey’s An American History, this textbook was held unfit to “be found in a single school in the United States of America.”[808] To Captain Conner, the treatment of historical incidents, not only in the Revolutionary period and in the War of 1812, but in the Civil War and recent period, deserved severe condemnation.

Objection was raised to the treatment accorded battles in the American Revolution and in the War of 1812, as well as that of controversial questions which have “no place in a history.”[809] From the latter, Captain Conner adduced that “the author of this book is quite evidently a free trader.” The discussion of the labor question, socialism, the direct primary, the initiative, the referendum, the League of Nations and other “controversial subjects,” such as were found in this book “are out of place in a school history.” Furthermore, it was charged that the book “excuses the South for its disgraceful treatment of Union soldiers in military prisons, (p. 566), states that Robert E. Lee ranks among the noblest figures in American history and practically accuses Grant of being in collusion with the ‘Whiskey Ring.’”[810]

Captain Conner’s criticism of West’s discussion of the Civil War period gained ready converts to his point of view, and the Phil Sheridan Post Number 4 of the Grand Army of the Republic issued a denunciation of the textbook as “worse than a travesty on justice, and a slam in the face of true Americans.”[811]

These and other efforts of the Sons of the American Revolution to censor history textbooks have resulted in their elimination from many lists of approved textbooks. According to F. W. Millspaugh, vice-president of the Tennessee chapter, “efforts to have certain books withdrawn from public schools in Tennessee and Alabama have been unvaryingly successful.”[812] Muzzey’s history, according to Judge Wallace McCamant, was excluded from the schools of Adrian, Michigan, Murfreesboro and Nashville, Tennessee, Florence, Alabama, and a number of schools in Kentucky, and “all of the objectionable histories ... from the schools of Indiana on a hearing before the textbook commission and as a result of the attack made upon them by the Sons of the American Revolution.”[813] According to Captain Conner, “Muzzey’s history has been taken out of the schools of Burley, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho Falls, Nampa and Pocatello, and West’s history has been taken out of Boise as a result of the activities of the National Society acting through the Idaho Society.”[814]

Although many places have barred the books under suspicion, success has not everywhere attended the efforts of the Sons of the American Revolution. This is accounted for by Judge Wallace McCamant because of “the attempt made by the educators responsible for its [a book’s] presence to defend their action,” and because “the publishers of these objectionable books are strongly entrenched in educational circles....”[815]

But others than “the educators” and “the publishers” have opposed the efforts of the Sons of the American Revolution in their attempts at textbook censorship. “Individual members” of the organization “in Rhode Island, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, Ohio, South Dakota and California have taken issue publicly with the work of ... the [national] Committee.”[816] For example, the historian of the Passaic Valley (New Jersey) chapter, in reviewing Muzzey’s textbook, asserted that “the whole trend of the book is to tell the logical course of events, and to explain the causes of events,” and that there was “no ground” for Judge McCamant’s observation that “the author has ‘no abiding conviction in American fundamentals; no enthusiastic veneration for the great men who founded the Republic.’”[817]

Other dissenters from Judge McCamant’s opinion were in general agreement with this statement, another member of the Sons of the American Revolution suggesting that “one must surmise that Judge McCamant came to the book determined to be displeased.”[818]

A mutuality of interest with the Sons of the American Revolution in censoring school histories is seen in the action of the Sons of the Revolution at St. Louis in December, 1922. Aroused by an address of Roy F. Britton, president of the local chapter, a resolution to investigate history text-books used in the St. Louis schools was unanimously adopted. In Major Britton’s report to the local chapter he expressed disapproval of Muzzey’s An American History and Hart’s School History of the United States, books which he himself had examined, as well as condemning Ward’s edition of Burke’s Speech on Conciliation with America and Guitteau’s Our United States, which he had not examined. The last two books used in the St. Louis schools were also classed with the “de-Americanized” histories because “several men of prominence, apparently speaking with authority, as well as certain patriotic societies and newspapers have denounced” them.[819] McLaughlin and Van Tyne’s A History of the United States for Schools and West’s History of the American People were cited likewise as examples of the “revisionists’ methods” according to men like Charles Grant Miller and Charles Edward Russell.[820] Major Britton’s efforts received the approval of some of the newspapers of St. Louis for the “real service” he had rendered,[821] one editorial remarking that school histories should set forth that the American Revolution was “a tremendous exhibit of resolution and courage to set at naught the most powerful military and naval country of the time.”[822]

Other patriotic organizations have likewise attested their interest in the status of present-day history instruction. The Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, on July 4, 1922, at their national convention, asserted an aversion to public school histories which would “misinterpret the men and measures, manners and methods and the great events of the Revolution and the subsequent periods leading up to the Constitution of 1787.”[823] The Veterans of Foreign Wars in National Encampment on August 24, 1922, “indignantly” protested against the alleged un-American histories, and commended Charles Grant Miller for his “patriotic service” in exposing and checking “a sinister attempt to degrade our country’s history.”[824]

Similar action was taken by the New York State Department, Grand Army of the Republic, in 1923, in demanding the presentation of “true American history,”[825] and by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution in 1923.[826] The United Spanish War Veterans in annual convention deplored the “British propaganda” found in a school history,[827] and the Veterans of the Seventy-Eighth Division of the American Legion at Atlantic City, in September, 1923, passed resolutions for the suppression and removal from the schools of all unpatriotic textbooks and “particularly history books.”[828]

These criticisms upon history textbooks impelled the American Legion to undertake, in 1922, the writing of an American history. This project received the endorsement of more than fifty national patriotic societies, but the preparation of the textbook was first entrusted to Charles F. Horne, professor of English in the College of the City of New York and editorial director of the American Legion. According to Mr. Horne, the Legion had as a purpose “an absolutely honest history ... in no sense boastful or extravagant.”[829] In the statement of their principles, the Legion expressed a desire that their history “speak the truth, so that no child learns afterwards to distrust it. But in telling the truth it must be careful to tell the truth optimistically. It will mention the blunders of the past so that the child learns to be careful; but it must dwell on failure only for its value as a moral lesson, must speak chiefly of success....”[830]

The Legion, among other things, likewise set up as a principle for their textbook the inspiration of patriotism. Upon “every page a vivid love of America” must be preached. It was their conviction that such a book should “encourage patriotism, strengthen character, stimulate thought and impress the worth of Truth.”[831]

In 1925, The Story of Our American People expressed in a tangible form the aims of the Legion. Two volumes offer solace to those whose sensibilities have been wounded by the treatment accorded events in the American histories most commonly used in the public schools. For the pupil is taught that “this is the land of hope,” a land that “even strangers love,”—looked upon by “the poor folk and oppressed of other lands ... as a kind of paradise, ... where work brings its best reward, the one region where Peace seems assured, the land of Opportunity ...” to which even “the leaders of other countries” turn “as a land of Power, able to help them in their political troubles, yet not grasping at their rights.”[832]

To the pupil is revealed “a Divine Purpose” controlling the history of America for, although “perhaps the oldest continent in the world,” America lay “unused” until the time when “civilization should prove worthy of it.” It was “by natural processes” that “the world of Europe was sifted and sorted that there might be planted here some of its richest seed,” a people who might well be “called a ‘chosen race’ of Europeans.” Among this number were some “made desperate by Europe’s dreary lack of opportunity”; sometimes there were “folk convicted as criminals, but laws have not always judged men as God judges them, and the governments of those days were apt to be harsh and narrow.”[833]

Many of the points “omitted” from other school histories are found here. Not a few of our heroic characters such as Betsy Ross, Nathan Hale, Molly Pitcher, “Mad Anthony” Wayne, John Paul Jones, and Haym Salomon are given recognition. Nor are there missing such slogans as “Don’t give up the ship.”[834]

The pupil is led through “the Second War for Independence, a story of outworn patience and of mistakes which ended in unexpected fortune;” through the war with Spain, “a people’s war”; and finally through the World War, in which we were “no feeble foe to match even the terrible German colossus.”[835]

In a letter to The New York Times Professor Claude H. Van Tyne, under the caption “A Questionable History,” declares the title of this history to be “so bombastic that it might as well be ‘The Marvelous Story of Us.’” He points out that the pamphlet which accompanies the book lists not only the organizations which are said to have gone over the material and to have given it their approval, but also schoolmen and historians “of wide repute.” “I will not say as to the schoolmen,” said Professor Van Tyne, “but as to historians I have looked over the entire list which is given and I find not one historian of repute in it.... There is also added an imposing array of senators ... some chairmen of great national political parties, who, of course, endorse the scheme out of pure policy.... That which was a cloud no bigger than a man’s hand when Charles Grant Miller began his infamous attack upon the histories written by men who really knew the facts has become a menacing storm, threatening truth wherever it is found.”[836]

According to Frank C. Cross, National Director of the Americanism Commission in 1925, the American Legion believed that “much of the agitation and complaint regarding school textbooks in history has apparently come from prejudiced sources—from men and institutions that are themselves propagandists....” The Legion, furthermore, he declared, do not believe that the authors who have been generally attacked are “unpatriotic or that their books are written as the result of organized propaganda.” Yet they felt that some of the authors had “laid themselves open to just criticism because they have sometimes made statements from the point of view of a critic or investigator rather than from that of a teacher,” that “some of these authors are at fault in placing before immature pupils the blunders, foibles and frailties of prominent heroes and patriots of our Nation.” The Legion also took exception to the introduction of “matters of controversial nature without giving adequate space ... for presentations of the essential facts on both sides.”[837]

Through the activities of such patriotic groups have arisen agitations similar to that in Dubuque, Iowa, where the local post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars sponsored a history textbook attack.[838] Under the direction of a committee composed of a representative of the Ladies’ Grand Army of the Republic, the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Spanish-American War Veterans, the Parent-Teacher Association, and the Superintendent of Schools, McLaughlin and Van Tyne’s A History of the United States for Schools was cast out of the public schools.

Still others than the patriotic societies of the United States have censored the content of history textbooks. Among these are the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, who have advocated the inclusion in all school histories of some account of the place and achievement of the negro in this country’s development.[839] The Ethical Society of Davenport, Iowa, would seek a substitute for West’s History of the American People because it does not depict sufficiently the contributions of countries like Germany to the United States.[840]

The New Jersey State Council of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, “representing 80,000 members in its 1922 Convention” endorsed the work of the Patriot League for the Preservation of American History and demanded an “unimpaired” American history.[841]

Similar action was taken by the Knights of Pythias in their Grand Lodge meeting in Trenton, New Jersey, in September, 1923, in unanimously accepting a report on history textbooks used in the New Jersey schools and adopting a resolution condemning “A School History of the United States by Albert Bushnell Hart; A History of the United States (1919) by John F. O’Hara; Burke’s Speech on Conciliation with America (1919) by C. H. Ward; An American History Revised (1920) by D. S. Muzzey; Builders of Democracy by Edwin Greenlaw; Our United States (1919) by William Backus Guitteau; McLaughlin and Van Tyne’s History of the United States for Schools, revised 1919; History of the American People (1918) by Willis Mason West; Short American History by Grades and later condensed into one volume and American History for Grammar Grades (1920) by Everett Barnes.”

They further pledged their “unflagging support to the Patriot League for the preservation of American History in its plans to drive from our schools all treason texts that have a tendency to deprive the generations yet to come of the sacred heritages that were won by the unmatchable sacrifices of our forefathers.” The Committee recommended also a campaign of publicity against the condemned histories and the appointment of committees in each “subordinate Lodge” through whom these books were to be “thrown out and their use prohibited.”[842]

In March, 1923, The New Age called the attention of Masons to the criticisms raised by patriotic organizations and by Charles Grant Miller against American histories. Since most of the “distinguished patriots,” who were either omitted from the textbooks or who were slightly mentioned “with some slurring or critical allusion,” were “Masons,” The New Age urged parents to look into the kind of histories their children were using.[843]

In 1924 “forty-three” patriotic and fraternal organizations of New Jersey united in endorsing the Williams school history bill, designed to legalize the censorship of histories in that state. These included the American Legion, the Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, the Sons of the American Revolution, the Steuben Society of America, the Grand Army of the Republic, the United Spanish War Veterans, the Knights of Columbus, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Junior Order United American Mechanics, the Knights of Pythias, and the Patriotic Order Sons of America.[844] An exhaustive discussion of the text books commonly attacked was issued by the New Jersey Unit of the Patriot League in February, 1924. According to this pamphlet the Guitteau, the Muzzey, the Barnes, the McLaughlin and Van Tyne histories had been revised to meet the objections raised against them, but not to the entire satisfaction of their critics.[845]

Set off against the advocates of a highly nationalized history are those interested in promoting the spirit of internationalism. With this desire Robert Andrews Milliken suggested the re-writing of history through the Committee of the League of Nations on Intellectual Coöperation. The work as projected purported not to be an attempt to reform each nation’s textbooks but to present an impartial world history, neither neglecting nor overestimating the achievements of distinct national groups.[846] The same sentiment is responsible for the advocacy of an abolition of partisan textbooks tending to foster bitterness and hostility among nations, which was sanctioned in June, 1923, by the Federation of the League of Nations Society.[847]

INVESTIGATIONS BY MUNICIPAL AND SCHOOL AUTHORITIES

The endeavors of those who have constituted themselves textbook censors have borne fruit in many towns and cities of the United States. They are the source of the well-known New York City investigation of history textbooks. In October, 1920, Superintendent William L. Ettinger appointed Associate Superintendent Edgar D. Shimer and a committee to investigate attacks made on histories used in the public schools. In November, 1921, the Committee presented a unanimous report on the fundamental principles that should govern the preparation of textbooks on history for the city schools. During November and December, 1921, and into January, 1922, the Committee held open session weekly to listen to charges against histories, at which L. R. MacEagain of the Irish Patriotic League, Charles Grant Miller, Patrick J. Lang, Mrs. E. J. Cramer of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Mrs. M. R. Jacobs, Abraham Wakeman,[848] and Edward F. McSweeney of the Knights of Columbus appeared.[849]

On May 12, 1922, the comprehensive report of the Committee was adopted by the Board of Education. This document is concerned chiefly with three matters: the establishment of a set of fundamental principles and reasonable standards for the writing of school histories, a detailed consideration of the charges made against textbooks, and certain conclusions reached as a result of the inquiry.

In the formulation of the “General Principles” by which a history textbook should be written, the Committee was doubtless guided by a letter of October 28, 1920, from Superintendent Ettinger, in which he suggested that “a distinction should be drawn between the obligation to cleave closely to the line of historical truth, such as is incumbent upon the historian writing for adult readers and the discretion properly conceded to an author of school texts who writes for immature minds incapable of and disinclined to make fine distinctions but instinctively inclined to worship at the shrine of all that is loyal, heroic, and self-sacrificing.” Mr. Ettinger believed it unwise to present to children facts concerning the infirmities of men who had been inspirational forces in national life. He objected, furthermore, to forces which tended to destroy a reverence for the institutional life of the country.[850]

In setting forth the “General Principles” for guidance in writing history textbooks, the Committee denied to the author “absolute freedom in the selection or in the interpretation of historical material” because “predetermined aims and standards predetermine selection and interpretation.” Furthermore, the Committee felt there should not be included in a textbook statements of a derogatory character concerning American heroes. Material which would tend to “arouse political, racial, or religious controversy, misunderstanding, or hatred” they also wished excluded.[851]

In the investigation, examination was made of many of the best known textbooks in American history and government including those by Barnes, Guitteau, Hart, Magruder, McLaughlin and Van Tyne, Morris and West. In all of these books the Committee found statements which were objectionable to them, their chief disapproval arising from the discussions of our relationship with England, especially in the American Revolution and in the War of 1812; the incorporation of controversial topics in the textbook; the failure to inculcate patriotism; the emasculation of accounts of wars for the purpose of encouraging peace; and derogatory statements concerning our national heroes.

In speaking of the American Revolution, the Report declared: “Throughout ... there should be but one aim: to impress upon the pupils the sublime spectacle of thirteen weak colonies spread along fifteen hundred miles of sea coast, poorly equipped and poorly disciplined, giving battle to the strongest military and naval power in the world. In addition the Colonists were surrounded by hostile Indians and in their midst was a large body of Tories working at times openly, at times secretly, but, at all times against them.... The pupil must be taught that if liberty is to continue ‘to dwell in our midst’ he must be prepared, should occasion arise, to make similar sacrifices.”[852] Authors of textbooks, the Report indicated, should “refrain from such characterizations as ‘War Hawks’ or from cynical, sarcastic or sneering remarks concerning the prosecution of the war.” It was also felt that such a statement as Barnes made—“The war was a mistake. It was a case in which anger overcame judgment”—would be the generator of an unfortunate attitude in the pupils.[853] Nor should writers indulge in controversial discussions because “The public schools are maintained by the public funds. The taxpayers are of various creeds and political beliefs” and it is necessary to respect their feelings.[854]

Criticism was directed toward several textbooks because they failed “to inculcate patriotism by bringing to the attention of the pupils the best in the lives, words and deeds of our patriots.” According to the Committee too much attention was given “to the utterance and achievements of the heroes of other countries.” To those who would offer disagreement to such a statement because it meant a “narrow-visioned patriotism” tending to accentuate racial consciousness, they offered the suggestion that “in the elementary grades, our primary concern is to acquaint the pupils with the deeds and words of our own heroes, and the traditions of our own land.”[855] Even though derogatory statements regarding our national heroes might be statements of fact, they asserted that “truth is no defense to the charge of impropriety,” for it “is a solemn and sacred obligation” to preserve “unsullied the name and fame of those who have battled that we might enjoy the blessings of liberty.”[856]

The conclusion of the Committee included, besides the criticism indicated in the discussion of the Report given above, the statement that no evidence of intentional disloyalty had been found on the part of the authors of the textbooks although their attitude toward the founders of the Republic in some cases was “entirely reprehensible.” Nor was there evidence to support the charge that the textbooks had been written as “a result of unwholesome propaganda” although some of the writers frankly stated that they believed “there ought to be more friendly relations between Great Britain and the United States, and that they had written their histories from that standpoint.”[857]

Another investigation of the history textbooks used in the New York City schools was projected in December, 1921, under the auspices of the Hylan city administration. On December sixth, Mayor John F. Hylan instructed David Hirshfield, Commissioner of Accounts, to make “a thorough investigation ... with regard to the new history readers and text-books alleged to contain anti-American propaganda, which have been introduced into the schools of this city.”[858] To the Mayor it was a matter of considerable concern that the school children of that city should be “inoculated with the poisonous virus of foreign propaganda which seeks to belittle American patriots.”[859]

The inquiry was begun December tenth, at which time J. J. Shields, an insurance agent, and Charles Grant Miller were consulted by Mr. Hirshfield.[860] According to The New York Times, Mr. Hirshfield did not wish to employ experts in his investigation, preferring men of “sound judgment” who were “open to conviction.”[861]

In the course of the examination of the books under criticism, Mr. Hirshfield held “five public hearings during the period from February 3 to April 18, 1922, to which all those interested were invited.”[862] Among those who spoke were Alvin E. Owsley, National Commander of the American Legion, who raised objections to history teaching in which “children do not understand the facts” of American history; Joseph T. Griffin;[863] Colonel H. B. Fairfax, representing the Veterans of Foreign Wars, who was surprised at the intimation in school textbooks that Paul Revere’s ride was a myth; Julius Hyman, who felt that Jewish heroes like Haym Salomon and Aser Levi should be given a place in histories;[864] and William Pickens, a negro, who wished history textbooks to record the fact that the first man killed in the Boston riot was Christmas Adams [Crispus Attucks] a negro, that 5,000 negroes fought in Washington’s army, 250,000 in the Civil War and 400,000 in the World War.[865]

On the other hand, Mr. Francis M. Kinnicut of the English-Speaking World and Mr. Telfair Minton of the Loyal Coalition spoke in defense of the histories under attack.[866] According to Mr. Hirshfield, “representatives of the text book publishers” were also present but “none spoke” in defense of their books.[867]

In his investigation, Mr. Hirshfield examined Muzzey’s An American History, West’s History of the American People, Hart’s School History of the United States, McLaughlin and Van Tyne’s A History of the United States for Schools, Guitteau’s Our United States, Barnes’ Short American History by Grades, and Barnes’ American History for Grammar Grades.[868] All of the books were found guilty of “promoting more friendly relations and mutual understanding with Great Britain” to the extent that the “school children are now being taught not the consecrated maxim, ‘Taxation without representation is tyranny,’ but, quite to the contrary, that ‘in England’s taxation of the colonies there was no injustice or oppression,’ and that the real reason independence was sought, was because after England had at great cost crushed out autocracy in the Western Hemisphere, the colonists no longer needed the protection of the mother country, and were unwilling to pay their fair share of the costs incurred.”[869]