Marshall University News/Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Contact: Dave Wellman, Director of Communications (304) 696-7153

Marshall takes look back at Kanawha County textbook controversy with series of events on Huntington campus

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall University’s College of Education and Human Services and its Information Technology division will look back on the 1974 Kanawha County textbook controversy next week on the Huntington campus beginning Thursday, Nov. 5. The events will include the opening of a historical traveling exhibition, the premiere of a radio documentary on the controversy and two panel discussions.

The traveling exhibit, on loan courtesy of the Kanawha Valley Historical and Preservation Society, will be installed in the atrium of the John Deaver Drinko Library beginning Nov. 5 and continuing through Monday, Nov. 30.

The radio documentary will have its Marshall University premiere at 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, in the Drinko Library presentation room (DL 349).

“In 1974, Kanawha County was the first battleground in the American culture wars,” said Trey Kay, who produced the radio documentary titled The Great Textbook War. “Controversy erupted over newly adopted school textbooks. School buildings were hit by dynamite and Molotov cocktails, buses were riddled with bullets, journalists were beaten and surrounding coal mines were shut down by protesting miners. Textbook supporters thought they would introduce students to new ideas about multiculturalism. Opponents felt the books undermined traditional American values. The controversy extended well beyond the Kanawha Valley. The newly formed Heritage Foundation found a cause to rally an emerging Christian conservative movement. This documentary tells the history of that local confrontation and the effect that it had on future American politics.”

Presentation of the documentary will be followed by a panel discussion in the atrium covering both sides of the issue presented in the broadcast. Panel participants include Kay, the Rev. Jim Lewis, Kelly Wills-Carson and Stan Bumgardner, designer of the traveling exhibit. The panel will be followed by a light reception at 6 p.m.

At 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 6, in the Drinko atrium, Kay will participate in a discussion of the controversy and its impact on the university teacher education classroom, then and now. The discussion will be facilitated by Dr. Kathy Seelinger, professor of education at Marshall. Immediately after the discussion, participants can view Part II of the PBS documentary, “With God on Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America – The Zeal of Thy House,” which is about the events in Kanawha County, in the Drinko Library presentation room.

Members of the Marshall and Huntington communities are invited to attend any or all of these events, according to Dr. Rosalyn Templeton, executive dean of the College of Education and Human Services. For further information, persons may contact Templeton’s office by e-mail at templetonr@marshall.edu or by telephone at 304-696-3131 or contact Dr. Monica Brooks, assistant vice president for information technology/online learning and libraries, by e-mail at brooks@marshall.edu or by phone at 304-696-6474.

Here is the complete schedule of events:

Thursday, Nov. 5 through Monday, Nov. 30

Drinko Library Atrium: 1974 Kanawha County Textbook Controversy Display courtesy of Henry Battle, president, Kanawha Valley Historical and Preservation Society

Thursday, Nov. 5

4 p.m., Drinko Library Presentation Room 349: Audio documentary airing of The Great Textbook War, produced by Trey Kay

5 p.m., Drinko Atrium: Panel discussion led by Trey Kay and including Stan Bumgardner, the Rev. Jim Lewis and Kelly Wills-Carson

6 p.m., Drinko Atrium: Reception

Friday, Nov. 6

10 a.m., Drinko Atrium: Presentation and discussion on impact of controversy on the classroom then and now facilitated by Dr. Kathy Seelinger, MU professor, and with Trey Kay

11 a.m., Drinko Presentation Room 349: Airing of Part II of “With God on Our Side,” PBS documentary originally broadcast in 1996

More about the Audio Documentary, The Great Textbook War

More than 40 interviews and archival sound of school board meetings, public debates and news reports bring the story of the Kanawha County textbook wars to life. School board member Alice Moore, who led the opposition to the books, describes what she found objectionable, and more broadly, how she felt traditional family values were under attack. Superintendent Kenneth Underwood recalls that a reasonable conclusion felt impossible after the debate was hijacked by a mob of angry fundamentalist Christians. Reverend Henry Thaxton remembers feeling dismissed and disregarded by an arrogant governing class.

English teacher Mildred Holt, who had grown up in Kanawha’s black community, was excited to teach the works of African American writers, but when the KKK began to protest the books, she felt sure the protest was racially based. Their memories describe the charged political environment of 1974, and show how messy and destructive cultural confrontations can be, particularly in a narrow river valley where there is not much room for retreat.

Host Trey Kay was a 7th grader during the textbook protests. He rode the bus into junior high past a crowd of mothers holding picket signs. Telling the story as both the chronicler and a witness, the documentary has the personal tone of a first-person account. Combined with exclusive interviews and archival sound of national news coverage, the documentary guides the listener through the tumultuous protests that tore this community apart while setting a new course for conservative religious politics.

The Production Team

Trey Kay (host, producer and reporter) has produced segments for This American Life, Marketplace, Weekend America, Day to Day, Morning Edition and Studio 360. In 2005, he shared in a Peabody Award for 360’s “American Icons: Moby Dick” show. He was also an associate producer for “News Wars: Secrets, Sources and Spin,” a two-hour report for PBS Frontline. He is a native of Charleston, where he was a junior high school student in 1974.

Deborah George (editor) has been an NPR editor for more than 15 years. Deb’s work has received numerous awards, including the DuPont-Columbia Gold and Silver Batons, the Robert F. Kennedy Award, the Edward R. Murrow Award, and the Casey Award for reporting on children.

Anna Sale (associate producer) was a reporter and Assistant News Director at West Virginia Public Broadcasting before moving to Connecticut Public Radio in 2008. She is now in New York working as a producer for WNYC’s The Takeaway. She was named West Virginia Radio Broadcast Journalist of the Year by the Associated Press in 2005.

Stan Bumgardner (traveling exhibit designer) has been a professional historian for 20 years. Since 2005, he has served as creative director for the West Virginia State Museum renovation, overseeing all content, artifact selection, and audiovisual production.

Kanawha Valley Historical and Preservation Society is the not-for-profit fiscal agent for the tax-deductible contributions to the project. President Henry Battle is advising on historical content and promotion, and is organizing the roundtable discussion that will feature key textbook supporters and opponents.

For further information, contact: Office of University Communications
Marshall University | 213 Old Main | Huntington, WV 25755-1090
Fax: (304) 696-3197