The Great Textbook War

1. The Great Textbook War Curriculum Launch Sponsored by: The College of Human Resources and Education, Office for Diversity and Global Initiatives, West Virginia University, & West Virginia Humanities Council

4. The protesters felt the proposed textbooks were undermining religion, home, and the nation. [Photo courtesy of Charleston Newspapers]

6. Kanawha County school board member Alice Moore's 1976 campaign flyer

10. The Kanawha County Textbook Controversy and similar events were catalysts for the Christian and home-school movements. [Photo courtesy of Charleston Newspapers]

15. The Rev. Ezra Graley protests the textbooks and holds up one of the books in question--Communicating, part of the D. C. Heath English series.[Photo courtesy of Charleston Newspapers]

16. Alice Moore reviews transcripts as protesters watch through the board office auditorium windows.[Photo courtesy of Charleston Newspapers]

18. Parents and children form picket lines at the entrances to Kanawha County schools.[Photo courtesy of Charleston Newspapers]

19. Miners buck the will of their union's leaders and join the textbook boycott.[Photo courtesy of Charleston Newspapers]

20. The American flag was an ever-present symbol at nearly every anti-textbook gathering. The Rev. Avis Hill is shown here speaking outside the board office. [Photo courtesy of Avis Hill]

22. Some 1,200 students walk out of Charleston's George Washington High School to protest the board's decision to remove the textbooks. [Photo courtesy of Charleston Newspapers]

25. Klansman Dale Reusch attends a January 1975 anti-textbook rally; the Rev. Marvin Horan is holding the umbrella. [Photo courtesy of Charleston Newspapers]

27. A sparse crowd attends the November 8 meeting, during which the school board reinstates the books. [Photo courtesy of Charleston Newspapers]

31. Teachers and other supporters of the textbooks attend a rally at the Civic Center on October 27. [Photo by Ferrell Friend, courtesy of Charleston Newspapers]

35. This image shows the damage caused by a presumed dynamite blast at Midway Elementary Midway Elementary along Campbells Creek. [Photo courtesy of Charleston Newspapers]

36. Charleston Gazette cartoonist Jim Dent's take on the textbook controversy

37. Charleston Gazette cartoonist Jim Dent's take on the textbook controversy

39. A special thanks goes to the curriculum and development team… Mr. Trey Kay Mr. Stan Bumgartner Mr. Henry Battle Mr. Mark Swiger Dr. Joy Faini Saab Mr. Matthew Cox Mrs. Rebecca Berry Mr. Daniel Berry Mrs. Ashley Finniss Audio Documentary Producer and Narrator of "The Great Textbook War" Historian and Producer / Designer of "Books and Beliefs: The Great Textbook War Story" Kanawha Valley Historical Society, Sponsor of the Traveling Exhibit Social Studies Teacher, John Marshall High School Chair, Curriculum & Instruction/Literacy Studies, Social & Cultural Foundation, Educational Leadership StudiesDirector,Office for Global Initiatives and Diversity, West Virginia University Social Studies Teacher, Capital High School Social Studies Teacher, Morgantown High School Social Studies Teacher, Morgantown, High School Curriculum & Instruction Graduate Assistant Graduate Student This has been a production of West Virginia University Department of Curriculum and Instruction