Harold Rugg
Encyclopedia
Harold Rugg was an educational reformer in the early to mid 1900s, associated with the Progressive Education Movement. Originally trained in civil engineering at Dartmouth College
(BS 1908 & CE 1909), Rugg went on to study psychology, sociology and education at the University of Illinois
where he completed a dissertation titled "The Experimental Determination of Mental Discipline in School Studies." After earning his Ph.D. he went on to teach at the University of Chicago
and later became a professor at Teacher's College at Columbia University
. He studied the creativity which he believed was vital to the learning process. He created the first textbook series and his social studies books were extremely popular in US schools. By the early forties his books fell out of favor due to a campaign run by big business organizations like the Advertising Federation of America (AFA) and even the American Legion
. The cause for the controversy was that in some of Rugg's junior-high textbooks he had included some pro-socialist ideas and included some criticism of the AFA.http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2381/Rugg-Harold-1886-1960.html
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
(BS 1908 & CE 1909), Rugg went on to study psychology, sociology and education at the University of Illinois
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
where he completed a dissertation titled "The Experimental Determination of Mental Discipline in School Studies." After earning his Ph.D. he went on to teach at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
and later became a professor at Teacher's College at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. He studied the creativity which he believed was vital to the learning process. He created the first textbook series and his social studies books were extremely popular in US schools. By the early forties his books fell out of favor due to a campaign run by big business organizations like the Advertising Federation of America (AFA) and even the American Legion
American Legion
The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...
. The cause for the controversy was that in some of Rugg's junior-high textbooks he had included some pro-socialist ideas and included some criticism of the AFA.http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2381/Rugg-Harold-1886-1960.html