The Underground History of American Education

John Taylor Gatto

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Rockefeller Foundation announces program to control human behavior pp. 1-8
on April 11, 1933, Max Mason, president of the Rockefeller Foundation, announced to insiders that a comprehensive national program was under…
Howard C. Hill publishes The Life and Work of the Citizen pp. 1-8
In 1935, at the University of Chicago’s experimental school where John Dewey had once held sway, Howard C. Hill, head of the social science…
Gatto cites high U.S. literacy by 1840 pp. 1-8
Abundant data exist to show that by 1840 the incidence of complex literacy in the United States was between 93 and 100 percent, wherever suc…
Gatto resigns from teaching pp. 13-14
Finally, on July 5, 1991, I swallowed hard and quit. Twenty days later the Journal published the piece.
Gatto's estimate of the cost of a schooled child in 2000 pp. 13-14
The cost in New York State for building a well-schooled child in the year 2000 is $200,000 per body when lost interest is calculated.
Gatto begins teaching in New York City pp. 15-16
When I stepped into the job of schoolteacher in 1961, the new individualism was sitting in the driver’s seat all over urban America
John Dewey's Pedagogic Creed pp. 15-16
Dewey’s Pedagogic Creed statement of 1897 gives you a clue to the zeitgeist
Walter Lippmann analyzes the Ludlow Massacre pp. 19-21
The hunt paid off with the discovery of an analysis of the Ludlow Massacre by Walter Lippmann in the New Republic of January 30, 1915.
Lincoln's brief formal schooling pp. 22-23
Lincoln, hardly a slouch as writer, speaker, or thinker, packed fifty weeks of formal schooling into his entire life over the twelve-year pe…
English Homily on Obedience set down in 1562 pp. 22-23
the Anglican "Homily On Obedience" set down by English established-church doctrine in the Tudor state of 1562
Eggleston's The Hoosier Schoolmaster published pp. 22-23
In the humbler setting of rural Indiana recreated by Eggleston for Hoosier Schoolmaster (1871)
Rules of the Stokes County School pp. 24-26
Rules of the Stokes County School November 10, 1848
Edward Mandel House at Hopkins Grammar School pp. 24-26
At the Hopkins Grammar School in New Haven at the age of seventeen, during the Hayes-Tilden campaign of 1876, House began to "hang around" p…
Gatto cites 1995 terrorism death figures pp. 24-26
According to the U.S. State Department, 1995 was a near-record year for terrorist murders; it saw 300 worldwide
Kenneth Freeman's The Schools of Hellas pp. 27-28
Kenneth Freeman concluded his unique study The Schools of Hellas in 1907 with this summary, "There were no schools in Hellas."
Gatto dates the shift of colleges toward serving business pp. 27-28
Service to business and the political state became the most important reason for college and university existence after 1910.
John Jay writes to Jefferson on American enterprise pp. 29-30
John Jay wrote to Jefferson in 1787, "The enterprise of our country is inconceivable"
Pyramid design placed on the one dollar bill pp. 29-30
the pyramid was kept from public notice until 1935. Then it appeared suddenly on the back of our one dollar bill, signaling a profound shift…
Boston merchants move to abolish town meetings pp. 31-32
As early as 1784, a concerted effort was made by the Boston business community to overthrow town meetings, replacing them with a professiona…
Timothy Dwight leads Yale pp. 31-32
Timothy Dwight, longtime president of Yale after 1795, and a pioneer in modern education (advocating science as the center of curriculum), f…
Andrew Bell publishes account of Hindu monitorial schooling pp. 33-34
In 1797, Bell, now forty-two, published an account of what he had seen and done.
First Lancaster school opens in New York City pp. 33-34
The first Lancaster school was opened in New York City in 1806; by 1829 the idea had spread to the Mexican state of Texas
Bell heads National Society to oppose Lancaster pp. 33-34
In 1811, he was named superintendent of an organization to oppose Lancaster’s British and Foreign School Society
Braddock's defeat at the Monongahela pp. 35-36
On July 9, 1755, two decades and one year before our Revolution commenced under the direction of the same Washington, Braddock executed a br…
Whiskey Rebellion leaders meet in Monongahela pp. 35-36
In 1791, leaders of the curious "Whiskey Rebellion" met in Monongahela about a block from the place I was born
Washington marches an army against the Whiskey rebels pp. 35-36
as president assembled 13,000 in 1794 to march into western Pennsylvania to subdue the Whiskey rebels.
Birth of Benjamin Franklin pp. 37-38
Ben Franklin was born on Milk Street, Boston, on January 17, 1706.
Franklin sells his business to pursue study pp. 37-38
In 1748, he sold his business in order to devote himself to study, and in a few years, scientific discoveries gave him a reputation with the…
Franklin sent to England over the Penns pp. 37-38
In 1757, he was sent to England to protest against the influence of the Penns in the government of Pennsylvania, and remained there five yea…
Massachusetts School Law of 1647 pp. 43-45
the Massachusetts School Law of 1647, legislation attempting to establish a system of schools by government order and providing means to enf…
Dean Colet founds St. Paul's grammar school pp. 43-45
the reformed Latin Grammar School founded by Dean Colet at St. Paul’s in London in 1510
Charles Francis Adams compares schools to mills and prisons pp. 43-45
Charles Francis Adams was fooled when he observed in 1880 that what was being cooked up for kids unlucky enough to be snared by the newly pr…
Calhoun's Social History of the Family pp. 46-47
Arthur Calhoun’s 1919 Social History of the Family notified the nation’s academics what was happening.
A Sociological Philosophy of Education published pp. 46-47
In 1928, a well- regarded volume called A Sociological Philosophy of Education claimed, "It is the business of teachers to run not merely sc…
Cubberley's Public Education 1934 edition pp. 46-47
the 1934 edition of Ellwood P. Cubberley’s Public Education in the United States is explicit about what happened and why.
Zuckerman essay on the American economy in Foreign Affairs pp. 48-49
an article that appeared in the June 1998 issue of Foreign Affairs. Written by Mortimer Zuckerman, owner of U.S. News and World Report
Rockefeller's General Education Board issues Occasional Letter Number One pp. 50-51
the first mission statement of Rockefeller’s General Education Board as they occur in a document called Occasional Letter Number One (1906)
U.S. Office of Education funds RAND change-agent studies pp. 50-51
By 1971, the U.S. Office of Education was deeply committed to accessing private lives and thoughts of children. In that year it granted cont…
NEA president Catherine Barrett on changing child-rearing pp. 50-51
In 1973, Catherine Barrett, president of the National Education Association, said, "Dramatic changes in the way we raise our children are in…
Bionomics taught at Indiana University pp. 52-53
By 1900, a special discipline existed at Indiana for elite students, Bionomics. Invitees were hand-picked by college president David Starr J…
Buck v. Bell upholds forced sterilization pp. 52-53
the first formal legislation making forced sterilization a legal act on planet Earth was passed, not in Germany or Japan, but in the America…
Bernays publishes Crystallizing Public Opinion pp. 52-53
In 1928, Edward L. Bernays, godfather of the new craft of spin control we call "public relations," told the readers of his book Crystallizin…
Connecticut census records near-universal literacy pp. 56-57
According to the Connecticut census of 1840, only one citizen out of every 579 was illiterate
Army investigates draftees who faked illiteracy pp. 56-57
Back in 1952 the Army quietly began hiring hundreds of psychologists to find out how 600,000 high school graduates had successfully faked il…
The Last of the Mohicans published pp. 56-57
Last of the Mohicans, published in 1826, sold so well that a contemporary equivalent would have to move 10 million copies to match it.
Appleton School Reader for fifth graders pp. 58-59
In 1882, fifth graders read these authors in their Appleton School Reader: William Shakespeare, Henry Thoreau, George Washington, Sir Walter…
Decline in top SAT scorers between 1972 and 1994 pp. 58-59
In 1972, there were 2,817 American students who reached this pinnacle; only 1,438 did in 1994—when kids took a much easier test.
Pierre DuPont's claim about American reading pp. 58-59
By 1812, Pierre DuPont was claiming that barely four in a thousand Americans were unable to read well and that the young had skill in argume…
Cobden compares American and English newspaper reading pp. 60-61
In 1835, Richard Cobden announced there was six times as much newspaper reading in the United States as in England
Edward A. Ross publishes Social Control pp. 60-61
The religious purpose of modern schooling was announced clearly by the legendary University of Wisconsin sociologist Edward A. Ross in 1901…
Goddard's Human Efficiency pp. 60-61
H.H. Goddard, said in his book Human Efficiency (1920) that government schooling was about "the perfect organization of the hive."
Oettinger questions the need for universal literacy pp. 62-63
In 1982, Anthony Oettinger, a member of the private discussion group called the Council on Foreign Relations, asked an audience of communica…
National Adult Literacy Survey ranks American adults pp. 62-63
It ranks adult Americans into five levels. Here is its 1993 analysis:
Authorized King James Bible appears pp. 64-65
An official English Bible, the Authorized King James Version, appeared in 1611, preempting all competitors in a bold stroke which changed po…
Gedike publishes the first look-say primer pp. 64-65
In 1791 he published the world’s first look/say primer, A Children’s Reader Without the ABC’s and Spelling.
Comenius's Orbis Pictus pp. 64-65
Comenius set down in his famous Orbis Pictus of 1657.
Boston adopts Gallaudet's whole-word primer pp. 68-69
On August 2, 1836, Gallaudet’s primer was adopted by the Boston Primary School Committee on an experimental basis.
Horace Mann's European tour and Seventh Report pp. 68-69
Combe helped Mann line up his great European tour of 1843, which was to result in the shattering Seventh Report to the Boston School Committ…
Cattell claims people read whole words pp. 68-69
received a giant forward push in 1885 from one of the growing core of America’s new "psychologists" who had studied with Wilhelm Wundt at Le…
Arthur Gates publishes The Improvement of Reading pp. 70-72
In 1927, another professor at Columbia Teachers College, Arthur Gates, laid the foundation for his own personal fortune by writing a book ca…
Debut of the Dick and Jane pre-primer pp. 70-72
In 1930, the Dick and Jane Pre-Primer taught 68 sign words in 39 pages of story text, with an illustration per page, a total of 565 words
Founding of the International Reading Association pp. 70-72
In 1956, 56,000 reading professionals formed a look/say defense league called the International Reading Association.
Caleb Gattegno demonstrates his reading system pp. 75-76
He was brought to the middle school where I worked in 1969 to demonstrate how his new system solved seemingly intractable problems.
Gatto's teaching license secretly terminated pp. 81-82
On September 3, 1986, my teaching license, which I had held for 26 years, was terminated secretly while I was on medical leave of absence fo…
Gatto marks 1965 as the turning point in schooling pp. 81-82
Then suddenly in 1965 everything changed.
Munsterberg becomes Harvard psychology professor pp. 86-87
In 1892, a recent émigré to America from Wilhelm Wundt’s laboratory of physiological psychology at Leipzig, in Saxony, he was a Harvard Prof…
Manhattan schools perform tonsillectomies without parental consent pp. 86-87
One year later, immigrant public schools in Manhattan began performing tonsillectomies and adenoidectomies in school without notifying paren…
'The Proper Study of Mankind' published with foundation funding pp. 86-87
In a famous book, The Proper Study of Mankind (1948), paid for by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Russell Sage Foundation
Horace Mann's Antioch College commencement address pp. 88-89
In a commencement harangue at Antioch College in 1859, he said, "Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity."
Unitarian takeover of Harvard pp. 90-91
After the Unitarian takeover of Harvard in 1805, orthodox Calvinism seemingly reached the end of its road
Campaign to change mathematics teaching launched pp. 90-91
In 1989, according to Loveless, a group of experts in the field of math education launched a campaign
Massachusetts passes the first state compulsory schooling law pp. 92-93
The list below is a telling record of the long gap between the Massachusetts compulsory law of 1852 and similar legislation adopted by the n…
Mississippi becomes the last state to adopt compulsory schooling pp. 92-93
Finally in 1918, sixty-six years after the Massachusetts force legislation, the forty-eighth state, Mississippi, enacted a compulsory school…
Cubberley publishes 'Public Education in the United States' pp. 92-93
Ellwood P. Cubberley’s celebratory history, Public Education in the United States (1919, revised edition 1934)
William Torrey Harris serves as U.S. Commissioner of Education pp. 94-95
it’s time for you to meet William Torrey Harris, U.S. Commissioner of Education from 1889 to 1906.
Harris publishes 'The Philosophy of Education' pp. 94-95
Ninety-nine [students] out of a hundred are automata, careful to walk in prescribed paths, careful to follow the prescribed custom.
NEA reports reverse the Committee of Ten report of 1893 pp. 96-97
Fitzgerald traces the changeover to a pair of influential NEA reports published in 1911 and 1918 which reversed the scholarly determinations
NEA issues 'Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education' pp. 96-97
That 1918 NEA Report, "Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education," for all its maddening banality, was to prove over time one of the most i…
Shailer Mathews publishes 'Scientific Management in the Churches' pp. 96-97
wrote his influential Scientific Management in the Churches (1912) to convince American Protestants they should sacrifice independence and a…
John H. Vincent founds the Chautauqua reading circle pp. 98-99
On August 10, 1878, John H. Vincent announced his plan for the formation of a study group to undertake a four-year program of guided reading…
William James addresses Harvard's new teachers on Chautauqua pp. 98-99
In 1899, James spoke to an idealistic new brigade of teachers recruited by Harvard
Rockefeller founds the University of Chicago under Harper pp. 100-102
Dr. Harper left Chautauqua eventually to become Rockefeller’s personal choice to head up a new German-style research university Rockefeller…
Over a thousand utopian colonies flourish in America pp. 103-104
From 1830 to 1900, over one thousand utopian colonies flourished around the country
Massachusetts School Committee holds secret schooling discussions pp. 105-106
Beginning about 1840, a group calling itself the Massachusetts School Committee held a series of secret discussions involving many segments…
Massachusetts passes first modern formal adoption law pp. 105-106
as had the adoption act passed by the nearly identically constituted legislature just four years prior, the first formal adoption legislatio…
Connecticut court introduces judicial discretion in child custody pp. 105-106
There are clear signs as far back as 1796 that elements in the new American state intended to interpose themselves in corners of the family…
Mercein v. People asserts state sovereignty over children pp. 107-108
The 1840 case Mercein v. People produced a stunning opinion by Connecticut’s Justice Paige
'Best interest of the child' test entered in New York court pp. 107-108
In 1847, Judge Oakley of New York City Superior Court staked a claim that such power "is not unregulated or arbitrary"
Ontario teacher William Young assaulted amid schooling resistance pp. 109-110
At Brantford, Ontario, in 1863 the teacher William Young was assaulted (according to his replacement)
Massachusetts reform school gives away children of retrieving parents pp. 109-110
We have felt it to be our duty generally to decline giving them up to their parents and have placed as many of them as we could with farmers…
John Dewey heralds the end of 'the old individualism' pp. 109-110
In 1932, John Dewey, now elevated to a position as America’s most prominent educational voice, heralded the end of what he called "the old i…
Three most influential American books published during schooling's rise pp. 111-112
The three most influential books ever published in North America, setting aside the Bible and The New England Primer, were all published in…
Intellectuals rank Bellamy's 'Looking Backwards' near Das Kapital pp. 111-112
In 1944, three American intellectuals, Charles Beard, John Dewey, and Edward Weeks, interviewed separately, proclaimed Edward Bellamy’s Look…
Napoleon defeats Prussia at the Battle of Jena pp. 113-115
The seed that became American schooling, twentieth-century style, was planted in 1806 when Napoleon’s amateur soldiers bested the profession…
Massachusetts enacts the 'Old Deluder Satan' school law pp. 113-115
the "Old Deluder Satan" law of 1642 in Massachusetts and its 1645 extension
Humphry Davy invents the miner's safety lamp after a fatal explosion pp. 113-115
inventor of the coalmine "safety" lamp after an 1812 explosion in which ninety-two boys and men were killed
Prussia establishes the first effective secular compulsion schooling pp. 116-117
the human race got its first effective secular compulsion schooling out of Prussia in 1819, the same year Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, set i…
William H. Welch travels to Germany for a doctorate pp. 116-117
In 1876, before setting off from America to Germany to study, William H. Welch, an ambitious young Bostonian, told his sister
Brownson attacks German-style teacher seminaries pp. 116-117
In 1839, thirteen years before the first successful school compulsion law was passed in the United States, a perpetual critic of Boston Whig…
Albert of Brandenburg declares Prussia a secular kingdom pp. 118-119
In 1525, Albert of Brandenberg declared Prussia a secular kingdom.
Teutonic Knights secure control of conquered Prussian lands pp. 118-119
By 1281, the Order’s hold on lands once owned by the heathen Slavs was secure.
John Griscom's 'A Year in Europe' praises Prussian schools pp. 120-121
First was the report of John Griscom, whose book A Year in Europe (1819) highly praised the new Prussian schools.
Victor Cousin reports to the French government on Prussian schooling pp. 120-121
The most influential report, however, was French philosopher Victor Cousin’s to the French government in 1831.
Horace Mann's Seventh Report praises Prussian schooling pp. 120-121
The third major testimonial to Prussian schooling came in the form of Horace Mann’s Seventh Report to the Boston School Committee in 1843.
Compulsory schooling spreads across Europe pp. 122-123
In 1868, Hungary announced compulsion schooling; in 1869, Austria; in 1872, the famous Prussian system was nationalized to all the Germanies…
Prussia crushes France in the war of 1871 pp. 122-123
When the spirit of Prussian pelotonfeuer crushed France in the lightning war of 1871, the world’s attention focused intently on this hypnoti…
Banker George Reynolds backs a German-style central bank pp. 124-125
George Reynolds, president of the American Bankers Association, rose before an audience on September 13, 1909, to declare himself flatly in…
President Taft urges a German-model central bank pp. 124-125
On September 14, 1909, in Boston, the president of the United States, William Howard Taft, instructed the country that it should "take up se…
University of Chicago textbook decorated with fascist symbols pp. 124-125
At the University of Chicago’s experimental high school, the head of the Social Science department, Howard C. Hill, published an inspiration…
Colorado coalminer testifies on the eight-hour day pp. 128-129
When a Colorado coalminer testified before authorities in 1871 that eight hours underground was long enough for any man because "he has no t…
U.S. Bureau of Education circular frames schooling as a business problem pp. 130-131
The first exhibit for your perusal is the U.S. Bureau of Education’s Circular of Information for April 1872, which centers around what it ca…
Senate committee calls education a cause of labor discontent pp. 130-131
We believe that education is one of the principal causes of discontent of late years manifesting itself among the laboring classes.
Carnegie publishes 'The Empire of Business' pp. 130-131
In The Empire of Business (1902), Andrew Carnegie, author of the Homestead siege which destroyed the steelworkers union, inveighs against "t…
Savery patents the 'miner's friend' pump pp. 134-135
A simple pump, "the miner’s friend" patented by Savery in 1699, became Newcomen’s steam pump powered by water boiled over coalfires
James Watt's steam engine appears in 1776 pp. 134-135
James Watt’s engine, which came along at precisely the moment the Continental Congress was meeting in 1776, was superior in every way
American railroad trackage explodes as coal replaces wood pp. 134-135
Trackage grew from 1,100 miles in 1836 to 2,800 miles in 1841 to 5,600 miles in 1845, to 11,000 miles in 1850, to 22,000 miles in 1855, to 4…
United States leads world coal production pp. 136-137
But the United States produced almost as much coal as the other three school-bound nations put together, as you can see from figures for coa…
Bessemer process transforms steelmaking pp. 136-137
The first part of the new steel revolution followed from discovery of the Bessemer process in 1856.
Harrison Brown publishes 'The Challenge of Man's Future' pp. 136-137
The full impact of coal-massified societies on human consciousness is caught inadvertently in Cal Tech nuclear scientist Harrison Brown’s Th…
Steam airplane reportedly flies along the Potomac pp. 138-139
By 1896, heavier-than-air flight had been achieved long before the Wright brothers when a pilotless steam airplane with a forty foot wingspa…
First important American oil exploitation at Seneca Lake pp. 138-139
The first American exploitation of any importance occurred at Seneca Lake, New York, in 1859, not a long ride from the ancestral home of the…
Children make up half of American coal miners pp. 138-139
By 1843, when Horace Mann visited coal-dependent Prussia to gather background for his Seventh Report, boys and girls between the ages of fiv…
Corporations employ most American wage earners pp. 140-141
By 1905, industrial corporations employed 71 percent of all wage earners, mining enterprises 10 percent more.
Homestead steel strike breaks craft union power pp. 140-141
first, destruction of skilled worker craft unions which, up to the Homestead steel strike in 1892, had regulated the terms of work in a fact…
Publisher Henry Holt calls for central control of industry pp. 140-141
Henry Holt, the publisher, speaking in 1908, said there was "too much enterprise."
Japan adopts Prussian constitution and schooling pp. 142-144
In 1868, Japan adopted large parts of the Prussian constitution together with the Prussian style of schooling.
Boston businessmen meet secretly on universal schooling pp. 142-144
On the night of June 9, 1834, a group of prominent men "chiefly engaged in commerce" gathered privately in a Boston drawing room to discuss…
Brandeis coins the term 'scientific management' pp. 142-144
The actual term "scientific management" was created by famous lawyer Louis Brandeis in 1910 for the Interstate Commerce Commission rate hear…
Frederick Taylor testifies before Congress pp. 145-146
Below, he testifies before Congress in 1912
Bagley's 'Classroom Management' becomes a standard training text pp. 145-146
His jargon-enriched Classroom Management (1907) was reprinted thirty times in the next 20 years
Atlantic Monthly calls for business organization of schools pp. 145-146
In 1903, The Atlantic Monthly called for adoption of business organization by schools and William C. Bagley identified the ideal teacher as…
Leonard Ayres publishes 'Laggards in Our Schools' pp. 147-148
In 1909, Leonard Ayres charged in Laggards in Our Schools that although these institutions were filled with "retarded children," school prog…
J.M. Rice publishes 'Scientific Management in Education' pp. 147-148
famous muckraker J.M. Rice published his own Scientific Management in Education in 1913, showing local "ward" schooling an arena of low-live…
Kronstadt Commune revolts against Taylorist labor pp. 147-148
The rebellion of the Kronstadt Commune in 1921 charged that Bolsheviks were "planning to introduce the sweat labor system of Taylor."
George Bernard Shaw states the Fabian use of force pp. 149-150
Fabian George Bernard Shaw established the principle wittily in 1920 when he said that under a Fabian future government
Darwin's books reshape thinking about children and society pp. 149-150
we need to reflect again on Darwin’s shattering books, The Origin of Species (1859) and The Descent of Man (1871)
Fabian Society comes into existence pp. 149-150
Fabianism came into existence around the year 1884, taking its name from Roman general Fabius Cunctator
Beatrice Webb joins the Royal Commission on the Poor Law pp. 151-152
a reasonable date to choose would be the last fortnight of November in 1905 when Beatrice Webb was appointed to the Royal Commission on the…
Grand dinner honors Herbert Spencer in New York pp. 151-152
Early in 1882 a grand dinner was held in his honor by the great and powerful who gathered to hear scientific proof of Anglo-Saxon fitness fo…
Brzezinski publishes 'Between Two Ages' pp. 153-154
Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote his famous signature book "Between Two Ages: America’s Role in the Technetronic Era" in 1970
Thomas Davidson publishes 'History of Education' pp. 153-154
Thomas Davidson’s peculiar and fantastic History of Education.
Banker Frank Vanderlip praises German schooling to the NEA pp. 155-156
In 1905, the vice president of the National City Bank of New York, Frank Vanderlip, made his way to the speaker’s podium at the National Edu…
Bobbitt publishes 'Elimination of Waste in Education' pp. 155-156
a more thorough and forceful exposition of its provenance was presented in the Elementary School Teacher by John Franklin Bobbit
Deweys praise the Gary Plan in 'Schools of Tomorrow' pp. 155-156
soundly praised by first pedagogical couple John and Evelyn Dewey in their 1915 book, Schools of Tomorrow.
Jewish student riots against the Gary Plan in New York pp. 157-158
Less than three weeks before the mayoral election of 1917, rioting broke out at PS 171, an elementary school on Madison Avenue near 103rd St…
Public Education Association calls for schools as welfare agencies pp. 157-158
The PEA announced in 1911 an "urgent need" to transform public schools into child welfare agencies.
First Gary Plan schools open in New York City pp. 157-158
He agreed, and the first Gary schools opened in New York City in March 1915.
Congress investigates William Wirt's statements pp. 159-160
Its title: Hearings, House Select Committee to Investigate Certain Statements of Dr. William Wirt, 73rd Congress, 2nd Session, April 10 and…
United States still had 144,102 local school boards in 1930 pp. 159-160
In 1930, when the massive socializing scheme was swinging into high gear, helped substantially by an attention-absorbing depression, this na…
School administrators grow far faster than students, 1960-1990 pp. 161-162
From 1960 to 1990, while student population was increasing 61 percent, the number of school administrators grew 342 percent.
Gatto's figure on Black two-parent households in New York, 1960 pp. 161-162
In 1960, when these gigantic child welfare agencies called schools were just setting out on their enhanced mission, 85 percent of African Am…
Gatto's grandfather ruined in the 1929 crash pp. 163-164
Once she had had much more before Pappy, my granddad, was wiped out in the 1929 crash.
Monongahela site on the Underground Railroad in the 1850s pp. 165-166
Ninety years earlier it had been a regular stop on the Underground Railroad. The barn of the Anawalt house was used for that purpose all thr…
Gatto hears the Pearl Harbor announcement on the radio pp. 169-170
I remember FDR on the radio in our postage-stamp living room announcing Pearl Harbor, eight days before my sixth birthday.
Washington's rules of conduct traced to a 1595 Jesuit manual pp. 171-172
the rules of conduct George Washington carried with him were actually an English translation of a Jesuit manual, Decency Among the Conversat…
Birth of Frances 'Bootie' Zimmer, Gatto's mother pp. 173-174
Zimmer was born on Halloween in 1911 at Monongahela General Hospital, three years before the country had an income tax or a Federal Reserve…
Gatto's mother graduates high school in 1929 pp. 173-174
graduated from Monongahela High, where she was a cheerleader, in 1929, a few months before the market crash.
Pinkertons and the Homestead steel strike pp. 175-176
So the Pinkerton detectives found out when they went to do Andrew Carnegie’s dirty work at Homestead during the steel strike of 1893.
Smithsonian removes Adena burial mound contents in 1886 pp. 175-176
In 1886, the Smithsonian robbed those graves and took the contents to Washington where they still sit in crates.
Frances Zimmer marries into the Gatto family in 1932 pp. 175-176
In 1932 Frances Zimmer went off alone on her frightening adventure, marrying into a magnificent Italian family which had pulled itself out o…
Atlantic Monthly writer warns of immigrant threat to homogeneity pp. 177-178
In 1882, an Atlantic Monthly writer predicted a coming struggle for preservation of the American social order.
Walter Lippmann indicts modern education, 1940 pp. 177-178
Walter Lippmann, speaking before the Association for the Advancement of Science, December 29, 1940
Scott Nearing publishes The Super Race in 1912 pp. 179-180
Humanist Scott Nearing wrote his masterpiece, The Super Race: An American Problem, in 1912, just as the drive to destroy an academic curricu…
Henry Ford distributes The International Jew to schools, 1920 pp. 179-180
in 1920, the Henry Ford Publishing Company distributed 2 million free copies of its recent best seller to all libraries and all schools in t…
Nazi Germany awards Henry Ford the Grand Cross, 1938 pp. 179-180
On July 30, 1938, the Hitler government presented Henry Ford with the Grand Cross of the Supreme Order of the German Eagle.
Francis Amasa Walker declares 'racial suicide' in 1891 pp. 181-182
Francis Amasa Walker, president of M.I.T., first declared in 1891 what was soon to become an
First racial science laboratory opens at Cold Spring Harbor, 1904 pp. 181-182
opened the first racial science laboratory in the world in Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, in 1904.
William Z. Ripley publishes The Races of Europe, 1899 pp. 181-182
A scholarly book from M.I.T. created intellectual havoc in the year 1899 and long afterwards, lending maximum credibility to the eugenicist…
Carrington reports involuntary sterilizations, 1910 pp. 183-184
Charles V. Carrington, writing in the Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science (July 1910), reported on two interesting case…
Madison Grant publishes The Passing of the Great Race, 1916 pp. 183-184
His magnum opus appeared in 1916 bearing the epic title The Passing of the Great Race, with an introduction by Museum of Natural History lum…
Carl Brigham asserts Nordic superiority, 1923 pp. 185-186
In his book A Study of American Intelligence, psychologist Carl Brigham concluded in 1923 that
Frances Kellor publishes Out of Work, 1904 pp. 187-188
Her first muckraking book, Out of Work, was published in 1904.
107 cities mark Americanization Day, July 1915 pp. 187-188
When Fourth of July 1915 arrived, 107 cities celebrated it as "Americanization Day,"
Minnesota passes world's first secret adoption law, 1917 pp. 187-188
At the end of 1917, Minnesota’s legislature approved the world’s first secret adoption law, sealing original birth records forever
Wave of anti-Bolshevik education laws, 1919 pp. 189-190
By 1919 a deluge of state legislation appeared, specifically designed to counteract rampant Bolshevism.
Oregon outlaws private elementary schools, 1922 pp. 189-190
In 1922, Oregon outlawed private schools for elementary school children, a decision reversed by the Supreme Court later in the Pierce vs. So…
Braddock's army defeated on the Monongahela, 1755 pp. 191-192
in the months after Braddock’s army was cut to pieces on October 16, 1755, is a fascinating story
Church of England men at the 1787 Constitutional Convention pp. 191-192
Russell Kirk estimated twenty-nine of the fifty-five delegates attending the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
Aztec Club of 1847 founding dinner, 1880 pp. 193-194
Had you been an Aztec at the founding dinner in 1880, you would have been at a table with President Grant and Jefferson Davis, as well as a…
D.A.R. begins issuing school propaganda lectures, 1898 pp. 195-196
In 1898 the D.A.R., best known of all hereditarian societies, began issuing scientifically designed propaganda lectures on American history…
David Starr Jordan publishes Your Family Tree, 1929 pp. 195-196
David Starr Jordan, president of Stanford, published his own guide to good blood, Your Family Tree.
Sir William Jones links Sanskrit and English, 1786 pp. 195-196
Then in 1786, during the early British occupation of India, the subject was addressed anew.
Horace Bushnell preaches Anglo-Saxon purity, 1837 pp. 197-198
thundered from his pulpit in 1837 that noble Anglo-Saxon blood must be preserved against pollution.
O'Sullivan equips a war vessel against Cuba, 1851 pp. 197-198
regent O’Sullivan personally equipped a war vessel for an attack on Cuba.
Henry Maine publishes Ancient Law, 1861 pp. 197-198
His Ancient Law (1861) earned him a world-class reputation in one stroke.
Fortune reveals where New York policy is really made, 1959 pp. 199-200
In 1959, Fortune magazine shocked a portion of our still innocent nation by announcing where national policy and important deals really were…
Elite boarding schools founded after Spencer's 1882 visit pp. 199-200
Over 90 percent of the great American private boarding schools issued from that short period just after Herbert Spencer’s American visit in…
Rockefeller's General Education Board chartered by Congress, 1903 pp. 201-202
Rockefeller’s General Education Board obtained an incorporating act from Congress in 1903 and immediately began to organize schooling in the…
Congress creates a commission to investigate foundations, 1913 pp. 201-202
In 1913, the Sixty-Second Congress created a commission to investigate the role of these new foundations of Carnegie, Rockefeller, and of ot…
John Dewey founds the Progressive Education Association, 1919 pp. 201-202
In 1919, using Rockefeller money, John Dewey, by now a professor at Columbia Teachers College, an institution heavily endowed by Rockefeller…
Reece Commission investigates foundations, 1954 pp. 203-205
In 1954, a second congressional investigation of foundation tampering (with schools and American social life) was attempted, headed by Carro…
Carnegie's Alan Pifer defends the welfare state, 1982 pp. 203-205
In a report issued in 1982 and widely publicized in important journals, the connection between corporate capitalism and the welfare state be…
Skinner rears his daughter in a box, 1945 pp. 206-207
a device somewhat mis-described in the famous article "Baby in a Box," (Ladies Home Journal, September 28, 1945).
B.F. Skinner publishes Walden Two, 1948 pp. 206-207
Walden Two (1948) B.F. Skinner.
John Watson issues the Behaviorist Manifesto, 1913 pp. 206-207
Watson’s "Behaviorist Manifesto" (1913) promoted a then novel utilitarian psychology
Watson claims he can train any infant, 1930 pp. 208-209
Was John Watson right when he said in 1930:
Ivan Pavlov wins the Nobel Prize, 1904 pp. 210-211
Pavlov won the Nobel in 1904, credited with discovering the conditioned reflex
Rockefeller's Colorado coal-field disaster, 1914 pp. 210-211
After the Rockefeller disaster in the coal fields of southeastern Colorado in April of 1914, ordinary counter-publicity was
La Mettrie takes refuge with Frederick of Prussia, 1748 pp. 210-211
De La Mettrie was compelled to flee the Netherlands and accept the protection of Frederick of Prussia in 1748.
E.G. Boring's circular definition of intelligence, 1923 pp. 212-213
The classic statement of behavioristic intelligence is E.G. Boring’s 1923 definition
Rousseau publishes Emile, 1762 pp. 214-215
The book, Emile, published in 1762.
John Watson publishes Behaviorism, 1925 pp. 214-215
Dr. John B. Watson, modern father of behaviorism, answered that question this way in the closing paragraphs of his Behaviorism (1925)
Edna Heidbredder publishes Seven Psychologies, 1933 pp. 214-215
Edna Heidbredder was the first insider to put the bell on this cat in a wonderful little book, Seven Psychologies (1933).
Atlantic Monthly on the psychologization of schooling, 1993 pp. 216-217
The Atlantic Monthly had this to say in April 1993:
Bertrand Russell takes a chair at the University of Peking, 1920 pp. 218-219
Bertrand Russell, who assumed a professorship at the University of Peking in 1920, and John Dewey, who lived there for two years during the…
John Childs writes on experimentalism and China, 1931 pp. 218-219
Listen to an early stage of the plan taken from a Columbia Teachers College text written in 1931.
Fellenberg's manual-labor schooling fad in the 1830s pp. 218-219
Fellenberg’s doctrine was a short-lived fad in this country in the 1830s, but ever after it had a place in the mind of certain men of affair…
G. Stanley Hall opens the Johns Hopkins psychology lab, 1887 pp. 220-221
G. Stanley Hall, who organized the psychology lab at Johns Hopkins in 1887, established the American Journal of Psychology
Cattell founds The Psychological Review, 1894 pp. 220-221
In 1894, he founded The Psychological Review.
NEA convention questions schooling the masses, 1908 pp. 220-221
this astonishing admission in 1908 at a National Education Association national convention
Dewey publishes How We Think, 1910 pp. 222-223
By 1910, Dewey was substituting his own five steps for Herbart’s in a book called How We Think.
G. Stanley Hall coins 'adolescence,' 1904 pp. 222-223
Hall inserted the word "adolescence" into the American vocabulary in 1904.
White House Conference on Child Health and Protection, 1930 pp. 222-223
In 1930, twelve hundred child development "experts" were invited to the White House Conference on Child Health and Protection, an event with…
Elementary and Secondary Education Act passed, 1965 pp. 224-225
The watershed moment when modern schooling swept all competition from the field was the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Ac…
Gatto's grant to pay students, 1989 pp. 224-225
In 1989, to my delight, I secured a substantial cash grant from a small foundation to pay kids for what heretofore they
Everson decision removes God from school, 1947 pp. 226-228
When the second shoe dropped with the Everson decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1947, God was pitched out of school on His ear entirely.
Max Otto publishes Science and the Moral Life, 1949 pp. 226-228
Max Otto argued in his intriguing book-length essay Science and the Moral Life (1949) that a philosophical revolution had been pulled off by…
Everson v. Board of Education decided pp. 231-232
The Supreme Court decision Everson v. Board of Education 330 U.S. 1. (1947) prepared the dismissal of religion from American public schools.
Engel v. Vitale and Abington v. Schempp pp. 233-234
A verbal prayer offered in a school is unconstitutional, even if it is both denominationally neutral and voluntarily participated in. Engel…
Ohio state motto ruled unconstitutional pp. 233-234
In 2000, Ohio’s state motto, "With God, all things are possible," was ruled unconstitutional by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals becaus…
Gatto hears the Dalai Lama at Naropa Institute pp. 233-234
The occasion was a Spirituality in Education conference at the Naropa Institute, Boulder, Colorado, in 1997.
Factory inspector survey of working children pp. 239-241
In 1909 a factory inspector did an informal survey of 500 working children in 20 factories. She found that 412 of them would rather work in…
Robert Michels publishes Political Parties pp. 242-243
In 1911, a prominent German sociologist, Robert Michel, warned in his book Political Parties that the size and prosperity of modern bureaucr…
New York Times reports Harvard rejects valedictorians pp. 242-243
The New York Times of March 9, 2003, reported in an article by Sara Rimer that Harvard rejects four valedictorians out of every five
Vincent Youmans lectures the London College of Preceptors pp. 246-248
In 1867, world-famous American physician and academic Vincent Youmans lectured the London College of Preceptors about the school institution…
Wundt founds his psychology laboratory pp. 246-248
The year was 1880, at the very moment Wundt was founding his laboratory of scientific psychology in Germany
Turkey adopts a new alphabet under Ataturk pp. 251-252
From 1929 on, all books and newspapers were printed in the new alphabet.
Alexander Inglis publishes Principles of Secondary Education pp. 251-252
Published in 1918 near the end of the great school revolution, Principles offers a unique account of the project written through the eyes of…
James Bryant Conant serves as president of Harvard pp. 253-254
He was president of Harvard from 1933 to 1953.
Conant publishes The American High School Today pp. 253-254
His book The American High School Today (1959), was one of the important springs that pushed secondary schools to gigantic size in the 1960s…
Trilateral Commission report Crisis of Democracy pp. 255-256
A Trilateral Commission Report of 1974, Crisis of Democracy, offered with some urgency this advice: "A program is necessary to lower the job…
U.S. defense budget in 1939 pp. 259-261
In 1939, on the eve of war, the defense budget of the United States was $11 billion (translated into a constant dollar, year-2000 equivalent…
Holes appear in Gatto's classroom floor pp. 259-261
In October 1990, three round holes the size of silver dollars appeared in the floor of my classroom at Booker T. Washington Junior High betw…
75.5 million people involved in U.S. education by 1999 pp. 262-264
By the end of 1999, 75.5 million people out of a total population of 275 million were involved directly in providing and receiving what has…
AFT lawyer calls parents 'inconsequential conduits' pp. 265-266
On June 24, 1996, in Franklin County Ohio Common Pleas Court, the attorney for the American Federation of Teachers, speaking against Ohio’s…
Judge Clark takes over Kansas City schools pp. 267-268
Judge Russell G. Clark took over the Kansas City school district in 1984 after adjudicating a case in which the NAACP acted for plaintiffs i…
NEA convention offers delegate bounty pp. 267-268
At the 1996 annual convention of the National Education Association, delegates were delighted to learn that the union would pay them a $1000…
James Koerner publishes Who Controls American Education? pp. 269-270
His book Who Controls American Education? was published in 1968.
Benson, Vermont rejects its school budget twelve times pp. 269-270
In 1995, just about one hundred years after the inception of modern institutional schooling in America, the little town of Benson in western…
NEA calls for teaching evolution as fact pp. 271-272
In 1895, the National Education Association announced that school science courses should be reorganized to teach evolution not as theory but…
Vermont Senate forces a loan on Benson pp. 271-272
In January 1996, the Vermont State Senate passed a bill to forcibly "lend" the Benson School District the full amount of its twelve- time ci…
Theodore Roosevelt's 1912 Progressive platform pp. 273-274
Teddy Roosevelt’s Progressive platform of 1912 was heavily larded with Croly/Mosca substance, an outlook demanding the public step back and…
Walter Lippmann publishes Public Opinion pp. 273-274
Lippmann produced his own pair of influential books, Public Opinion (1922), followed by The Phantom Public (1925).
Karl Polanyi publishes The Great Transformation pp. 275-276
One of the finest academic studies of the origins of our time and its economic antecedents is Karl Polanyi’s The Great Transformation. Publi…
Gatto's claim of a 1918 Carnegie history meeting pp. 275-276
And in 1918 Carnegie endowed a meeting in London of the American Historical Association where an agreement was made to rewrite American hist…
Edward Bernays publishes two propaganda books pp. 277-278
In 1928, Bernays published two books in quick succession which planted his flag in the dream terrain of the
William H. Baldwin's speech at Capon Springs pp. 279-280
By 1899 William H. Baldwin, president of the Long Island Railroad, descendant of the man for whom the Baldwin locomotive was named, demonstr…
Gatto speaks at Cypress Semiconductor pp. 281-283
I went to Silicon Valley in the middle of 1999 to speak to some computer executives at Cypress Semiconductor on the general topic of school…
Orestes Brownson publishes 'The Laboring Classes' pp. 284-285
appeared in The Boston Quarterly Review in 1840 at the very moment Horace Mann’s crowd was beating the drum loudest for compulsion schooling…
Lincoln's 1859 Wisconsin speech on mudsill theory pp. 286-287
Lincoln said in a speech to the Wisconsin Agricultural Society in September 1859 that the goal of government planning should be independent…
Carl Schurz's first view of America pp. 288-289
Carl Schurz, the German immigrant, said upon seeing America for the first time in 1848
Carroll Quigley's 1976 Oscar Iden Lectures pp. 288-289
As Quigley approached death, he came back to Georgetown one last time in 1976 to deliver the Oscar Iden Lecture Series.
Tania Aebi sets out to sail around the world pp. 292-293
Tania Aebi was a seventeen-year-old New York City school dropout bicycle messenger in 1987 when she decided to become the first American wom…
Prince Charles visits Steel Valley High pp. 294-295
In the bleak winter of 1988 Charles of the blood royal came to visit Steel Valley High in Homestead nominally to talk about turning dead ste…
G. Stanley Hall invites Freud to the United States pp. 298-299
G. Stanley Hall, the father of school administration, invited Sigmund Freud to the United States in 1909
Captain John Parker at Lexington pp. 302-304
Captain John Parker, commanding the American militia against the British. Said at first light, Lexington, Massachusetts, April 19, 1775