Grad - Goodman

Abstract

This paper examines the Bureau of Naturalization’s efforts to standardize citizenship education and the “making of Americans” in the 1910s through its partnership with the nation’s public schools and publication of its Student’s Textbook. Special attention is given to the national nature of the Bureau’s work, the influence of WWI, and the demand for and reception of the Student’s Textbook. The paper also provides an early example of an attempt by the federal government to standardize public education throughout the nation.