16:1 - Education, Teaching, & Learning When Books Are Battlegrounds
Oct 16, 2025
Dive into the explosive 1974 Kanawha County textbook wars that ignited boycotts and violence over educational materials in West Virginia. Explore the state's division rooted in Civil War history and how the Scopes Trial influenced public perception of fundamentalism. Witness local protests escalate as extremist groups, including the KKK, amplify tensions. Uncover the complex factors behind curriculum changes and the emotional fallout for students as educators grapple with the clash between fundamentalism and pluralism in schools.
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Historical Roots Shape Local Identity
- West Virginia's founding and Civil War split produced deep regional and cultural divisions that shaped local identity.
- Those divisions set the stage for later educational and cultural conflicts in places like Kanawha County.
Scopes Trial Fueled Cultural Polarization
- The 1925 Scopes trial created a national media spectacle that framed fundamentalism as defensive and fuelled cultural polarization.
- That spectacle shaped later reactions to school curricula and outside involvement in local disputes.
Alice Moore's School Board Campaign
- Alice Moore joined the Kanawha County school board to remove a sex education program and later opposed textbooks she found objectionable.
- Her objections extended to dialect teaching and authors like Malcolm X and Eldridge Cleaver.
