Chapter 3: Social Studies vs. the United States of America: Harold Rugg and Teaching for Social Justice¹

In the late 1930s and early 40s a great deal of controversy and criticism centered on social reconstructionism as embodied in the Rugg social studies program. Critics viewed the Rugg materials as “against private enterprise,” as a “subtle, sugar-coated effort to convert youth to Communism,” as part of a “reconstructed” educational system teaching that “our economic and political institutions are decadent,” or as “un-American.” The extent of the controversy is exemplified by a pointed communique from a prominent leader of the National Council for the Social Studies, who described the growing controversy over Rugg and social studies as, “National Council for the Social Studies vs. ‘United States of America, or the civilized world ’”²