RELIGION AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF OHIO
by BERNARD MANDEL
Fenn College, Cleveland, Ohio
Foremost in the Bill of Rights of the
United States Constitution
was the guarantee that "Congress
shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibit
the free exercise thereof."
This amendment, however, was not a
conclusive establishment of re-
ligious freedom for three reasons.
First, it was a statement of prin-
ciple which was accepted in theory but
often circumscribed in
practice. Second, it was a principle
with so many ramifications that
its precise interpretation was left to
the determination of future
legislators, administrators, and courts.
Third, it merely transferred
the struggle from the arena of the federal
government to that of
the various states, for it had reference
only to powers exercised by
the United States government and not by
the states.
Consequently, the fight for complete
religious liberty and the
separation of church and state has
continued to the present day, as-
suming the form of separate, though
related, struggles in the various
states. One of the institutions in which
the concept has received a
major test has been the public school
system. The following pages
are a history of the relationship
between religion and public educa-
tion in Ohio, an investigation of the
forces that determined the de-
velopment of this relationship, and an
analysis of the various
issues involved in it.
Religion, Education, and the State,
1787-1850
In order to understand the principles
and practices of Ohio with
regard to religion and education, it is
necessary to investigate her
heritage from the mother colonies which
populated the Northwest
Territory, from the Continental Congress
which organized it, and
from the early settlers who established
its first traditions and
institutions.
The Anglican Church was disestablished
in the middle and
southern colonies during or immediately
following the revolution,
185
186
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
but the separation of the Congregational
Church in New England
was more protracted, being consummated
in Connecticut in 1818 and
in Massachusetts in 1833. These two
states, together with Virginia,
were the chief sources of early
emigration to Ohio and were the
mother states of the men who most
influenced the development of
the Ohio school system.1 The
charter of Connecticut proclaimed
"the onely and principall end of
this Plantacon" to be "the knowl-
edge and obedience of the onely true God
and Saviour of mankind
and the Christian faith." Similarly, the Massachusetts Constitution
of 1780 affirmed that "the
happiness of a people, and the good order
and preservation of civil government,
essentially depend upon piety,
religion and morality; and these can not
be generally diffused . . .
but by the institution of the public
Worship of God, and of public
instruction in piety, religion and
morality."
The Continental Congress also recognized
the theory that
religion was fundamental to national
existence. This policy was
expressed in the Northwest Ordinance in
the following historic
words:
Article I. No person, demeaning himself
in a peaceable and orderly
manner, shall ever be molested on
account of his mode of worship or re-
ligious sentiments in the said
territory.
Article III. Religion, morality and
knowledge, being necessary to good
government and the happiness of mankind,
schools and the means of edu-
cation shall forever be encouraged.
In pursuance of this policy the Ohio
Company established
schools for religious training. A fund
for the support of religion
and education was raised by the first
settlers, and in 1800 the
territorial assembly authorized the
lease of the ministerial lands in
section twenty-nine of each township,
three-fourths of the profit
therefrom to be used to support
"such public teacher or teachers
of piety, religion and morality as shall
be employed."
The founding fathers of Ohio were guided
by these traditions
and influences when they wrote the first
constitution in 1802.
Article VIII, Section 3, dealing with
religion and education, de-
clared that, while religious freedom
would be protected,
religion, morality, and knowledge being
essentially necessary to good gov-
ernment and the happiness of mankind,
schools, and the means of instruc-
1 W. Ross Dunn, "Education in
Territorial Ohio," Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly, XXXV (1926), 326-366.
RELIGION AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 187
tion shall forever be encouraged by
legislative provision not inconsistent
with the rights of conscience.
Adherence to these principles was
pronounced during the en-
suing seventy years by many state
officials and by practically all of
the state superintendents of education,
who frequently went beyond
the language of the constitution in
identifying religion as Christian-
ity. These principles soon received
practical implementation. In
1804 the general assembly established
Ohio University at Athens
for the "promotion of good
education, virtue, religion, and moral-
ity." It was a non-denominational
institution, although Bible classes,
religious instruction, and church attendance
were compulsory. The
state also incorporated denominational
seminaries, academies, and
high schools. Of 170 such schools
incorporated between 1803 and
1850, twenty-one were more or less
denominational in control or
sympathy.2 Public funds were
allotted for the support of parochial
schools as well as public schools until
1851. In 1837, for example,
the state school fund supported 2,175
private schools and 4,336
public schools.3 Furthermore, many
localities made grants of
money for sectarian education.
It is evident from a survey of
educational histories, journals,
and reports that a religious--almost a
missionary--spirit inspired
the educators of Ohio during the first
half of the nineteenth century.
Bible reading was extensive throughout
this period, and in the early
part of the century it was probably
universally practiced. The
custom of conducting daily devotional
exercises at the opening of
school was also generally prevalent.
These exercises usually con-
sisted of Bible reading, prayer, and the
singing of hymns. In the
secondary schools regular courses in
religion and morality were
generally offered for at least one term.
In addition a religious
context was given to other subjects,
especially reading, composition
writing, and science.
Probably the most important avenue
through which religion
entered the minds of the pupils was the
readers in common use. As
late as 1865 these books were composed
of religious material to
2 Edward Alanson Miller "History of
the Educational Legislation in Ohio from
1803 to 1850," Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Quarterly, XXVII (1919),
97-101 and Appendix A, 153-211.
3 First Annual Report of Superintendent of Common Schools Made
to the Thirty-
Sixth General Assembly of the State
of Ohio (Columbus, 1838), 46.
188
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the extent of twenty-five to forty
percent.4 From 1837 on the field
of school reading books was easily led
by the famed series of six
McGuffey Readers. About twenty-five percent of the selections in
the first editions of these books was of
a religious nature, and prac-
tically all of the remaining selections
consisted of moral lessons
which were presented as inspired
doctrines. Most of the other
readers in general use followed the same
pattern, but most of them
were based on a narrower theology. They
were all eclectic in form,
were animated by a strong religiosity,
and tended to identify
Christianity with religion although they
purported to be nonsec-
tarian.
The most important element in any
educational system is the
teachers. Consequently, the standpoint
of the teaching profession
is highly significant. The teachers not
only adhered consistently
to the doctrines and practices described
above, but generally took
an even stronger position in behalf of a
thoroughly Christian sys-
tem of public schools. The Western
Literary Institute and College
of Teachers, from 1835 to 1842, worked
out the policy that the
Bible, as the revealed word of God,
should be the authoritative
source of instruction in morality based
on the Christian religion.
The institute believed that this could
be done "in perfect consistency
with religious freedom, and without
offence to the peculiar tenets
of any christian sect."5
The Ohio Teachers Association adopted,
and continued the
propagation of, essentially the same
ideas for the next fifty years.
Its philosophy was based on the theory
that the primary right and
duty of any government is
self-preservation, and consequently "the
state may and must furnish all the
educational training necessary to
constitute good citizenship."6
Since "morality is the only inde-
structible basis of all free
government,"7 it contended, the state, to
provide for its own perpetuity, must
encourage the dissemination
of moral instruction through its public
school system. Natural
virtue and social necessity were
considered inadequate bases for
4 "Public Schools as a Moral Force," Ohio
Educational Monthly, XL (1891), 423.
5 Western Literary Institute and
College of Professional Teachers, Transactions
of the Seventh Annual Meeting Held
in Cincinnati, October, 1837 (Cincinnati, 1838),
13.
6 Samuel Findley, "Religious
Teaching in the Public Schools," Ohio Educational
Monthly, XLIV (1895), 227-232.
7 Ohio Journal of Education, II (1853), 276.
RELIGION AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 189
moral duty and action; therefore,
"effective moral instruction must
be based upon and vitalized by religion."8
Corollary to this
hypothesis was the necessity of using
the Bible in the schools since
it contained the "best code of
moral instruction known to man."9
While frequent references were made to
nonsectarianism, it is clear
that to the Ohio teachers this meant a
theology which comprised
those tenets that were common to the
various trinitarian Christian
sects.
Secularization of the Schools,
1851-1913
Following 1850 there ensued a protracted
process of seculari-
zation of the public schools during
which the principles and policies
described above were generally modified
or eliminated. In the
Ohio Constitutional Convention of 1850 a
conflict developed over the
wording of the articles concerning
religion and education and was
finally resolved by a compromise. In
final form, those sections
appeared as follows:
Article I. Section 7. . . . Religion,
morality, and knowledge . . .
being essential to good government, it
shall be the duty of the General
Assembly to pass suitable laws to
protect every religious denomination in
the peaceable enjoyment of its own mode
of public worship, and to en-
courage schools and the means of
instruction.
Article VI. Section 2. The General
Assembly shall make such pro-
visions, by taxation or otherwise, as,
with the income arising from the school
trust fund, will secure a thorough and
efficient system of common schools
throughout the State, but no religious
or other sect or sects shall ever have
any exclusive right to, or control of,
any part of the school funds of this
State.
The general school law of 1853
reaffirmed the provision that
school funds be applied
"exclusively to the support of common
schools."
These enactments had three results.
First, they ended the
practice of apportioning public funds to
private schools, thus
placing the parochial schools entirely
on their own resources.
Second, they seemed to weaken what had
always been accepted as a
constitutional mandate for religious
education, actually leaving the
problem to the future interpretation of
school boards and the
courts. Third, by ending the possibility
of a division of the school
8 Ohio Educational Monthly, XIX
(1870), 257-258.
9 William Slocomb, "School
Government," ibid., XVII (1868), 2.
190
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
funds between the various denominational
groups, they caused the
Catholics to adjust their position from
one of campaigning for
such a solution to one of opposing
religious education in the public
schools. This was to be a major factor
in the secularization of
education.
A more potent factor in bringing about a
change was the de-
struction of the homogeneity of the
small township and county
school districts which had earlier made
religious education a matter
of community concurrence rather than
sectarian domination. From
the opening of the Northwest Territory
there came from the eastern
states "Jews, Catholics,
Protestants and Agnostics," all of whom
"sought freedom to worship in the
new country."10 During the same
period European immigrants flooded into
the state, comprising
people of all faiths and people of no
faith. Particularly significant
to the outcome of the issues dealt with
here were the masses of Irish
Catholics and German liberals and
skeptics. In addition the process
of urbanization contributed to the
bringing together of people of
all creeds. Furthermore, the assemblage
of such diverse elements in
the cities inevitably resulted in
demands for a more liberal applica-
tion of religious liberty and the
elimination of unacceptable doctrin-
airism from the schools. Urbanization
also had the effect of reduc-
ing the religious fervor of a more
agrarian populace as their interests
became dominated by the more material
pursuits and activities of an
industrial civilization. This was
augmented by the rise of the
scientific spirit, especially as
influenced by Darwinism.
These factors came to fruition during
the second half of the
nineteenth century. The most spectacular
and significant contro-
versy on religion in the schools took
place in Cincinnati. This
metropolis became the testing ground of
the issue in Ohio because
the large Catholic, Jewish, and liberal
elements among its popula-
tion were strong enough to force the
issue.
The Bible was introduced into the
Cincinnati schools around
1834 on a voluntary basis, and a few
years later all pupils were
required to have fifteen minutes daily
of Bible reading, the magic
formula "without note or
comment" being added, supposedly to
10 Irene D. Cornwell, "Influences
of Early Religious Literature in the Ohio Valley
from 1815 to 1850," Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Quarterly, XXV (1916),
205.
RELIGION AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 191
prevent proselytizing by over-zealous
teachers. Upon objections
from the Catholic Church, pupils whose
parents so desired were
absolved from this requirement, but
neither the Catholics nor the
school board were satisfied.
Consequently the board, persuaded
that it "might effect a happy
termination of all past difficulties, and
a return of a large class of
pupils," adopted another compromise
in 1852 making Bible reading compulsory,
but allowing pupils to
use the version of their choice.11
The controversy lapsed until 1869, when
it was suddenly and
dramatically revived by representations
of certain Catholic author-
ities that an equitable solution to the
problem could be found in a
consolidation of the public and
parochial schools. The board agreed
to negotiate on a basis for
consolidation, but the discussions were
doomed to failure, as the archbishop
refused to relinquish the
principle that "Catholics can not
approve of that system of educa-
tion for youth which is apart from
instruction in the Catholic faith
and the teaching of the Church." In
the meantime, S. A. Miller, a
Catholic member of the board, dropped a
bombshell into the pro-
ceedings by introducing a motion to
repeal the regulation of 1852
and to prohibit all religious
instruction and Bible reading. After
several weeks of heated argument, the
board passed Miller's reso-
lution, twenty-two to fifteen.12
The following day a group of citizens
applied to the superior
court of Cincinnati for a restraining
order against the board,
enjoining it from publishing or
enforcing this resolution. A tempo-
rary injunction was granted and hearings
for a permanent appli-
cation were set.
From the beginning of these events, a
storm of controversy
burst forth throughout the state,
characterized by lengthy newspaper
polemics, pamphleteering, public mass
meetings, declarations by
every variety of organization, and
fulminations from the pulpits.
Finally, the debate was climaxed by a
week of argumentation by
the best legal and oratorical talent
before the bench of the superior
court. In general, the advocates of
religious education comprised
the Protestant clergy, virtually the
entire press, and the bulk of the
11 Trustees and Visitors of the Common
Schools of Cincinnati, Twenty-fourth
Annual Report (Cincinnati, 1853) 1-13.
12 Cincinnati Gazette, September 14, 1869; Cincinnati Commercial, September 21,
November 1, 1869.
192
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
teaching profession. The action of the
board was supported by the
Catholics, Jews, non-believers of every
variety, and liberals of all
persuasions.
The supporters of the status quo leaned
heavily on tradition,
custom, and popular prejudice to sustain
their case for the preser-
vation of Bible reading and religious
instruction in the schools.13
Their strongest argument was based on
the self-preservation theory
of education, which led to the
conclusion that the state had the
paramount right to control the education
of the children, and when
its rights or duties conflicted with the
rights or wishes of the parents,
the latter must yield. But the safety of
the state depended above
all on the inculcation of moral virtues,
and it was contended that
there was no sound morality except that
which was based on
religious principles as derived from the
Bible. It followed from
this that "whatever the State can
do without violating that right
(of conscience), it not only may do, but
is bound to do-not for
the advantage or benefit of religion,
but for its own safety and
welfare."
This position led to the question: what
religion should the state
teach? It was proposed to teach a
"universal religion," which
actually meant a so-called
"nonsectarian" Christianity, thus ignor-
ing or dismissing the objections of
Catholics, non-Christian
believers, and Nullifidians. To sustain
the right of the state to
teach Christianity, reliance was placed
on the thesis that Christian-
ity was a part of the common law of the
state. Not only was re-
ligious instruction claimed to be
authorized by these considerations,
but the plaintiffs, in their petition,
maintained that it was required
by Article I of the Ohio Constitution.
The plaintiffs even approp-
riated the sanction of Article VI, on
the grounds that the exclusion
of religious instruction from the
schools would give "exclusive
control" of the school fund to the
atheists.
This position was defended against
charges that it was in
violation of the rights of conscience
and religious liberty of all but
Protestant Christians by invoking the
precedent of a similar case
in Maine, in which the supreme court
held that "a law is not un-
13 The Bible in the Public Schools.
Arguments in the Case of John D. Minor
et al. versus The Board of Education of the City of
Cincinnati et al. The Superior
Court of Cincinnati, With the
Opinions and Decisions of the Court
(Cincinnati, 1870).
RELIGION AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 193
constitutional, because it may prohibit
what one conscientiously
thinks right, or require what he may
conscientiously think wrong."14
The secularist movement was constantly
impugned as "an open,
public act of aggression upon the
Bible," "a distinct blow at the
most precious and vital element of our
civilization, a gratuitous
assault upon the inspired source of all
religion and morality," "a
denunciation of Christianity," and
the beginning of an anti-religious
crusade that would end by tearing down
the churches. Even people
who did not believe that religious
instruction was of much value
insisted upon its retention as "a
public recognition of the Bible as
the Word of God, and an appeal to the
reverence of the child in its
behalf."
Finally, the exclusion of religious
instruction was dismissed
as a spurious attempt to overthrow the
public school system. The
entire movement was considered a cunning
plot to "crush out all
religious instruction" with the
result that "righteous men of all
sects and creeds will then unite to tear
down such a system."
Whereas the advocates of religious
education relied mainly on
the traditions of custom and common law,
the secularists based
their case largely on the principles of
religious liberty and freedom
of conscience. They held that the Bible
is a sectarian book written
in various sectarian versions, that a
judicious selection of passages
could be prejudicial to the beliefs of
any sect, that Bible reading
without comment is an essentially
Protestant practice, and that there
is no "elemental religious
truth" upon which all sects can agree.
Consequently, the practices of the
schools in the past violated the
rights of a large proportion of the
people, who objected not only
to having their children taught a
religion they did not believe in,
but even to being taxed to support the
teaching of such religion to
those who did believe in it.
Protection of these rights was found in
the constitution of
Ohio. Liberty of conscience meant that
religion was the exclusive
concern of each individual, with which
the state had no right to
interfere, but a virtual union of church
and state had been effected
by the compulsion to attend schools in
which religious exercises
were conducted. The function of the
state was to protect, not
14 Donahoe v.
Richards, 38 Me. 379.
194
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
religion or any brand of religion, but
religious liberty for all,
including minorities, who were the only
ones in need of such
protection.
The allegation that Christianity had any
special rights before
the law was rebutted vigorously and
challenged by both federal
and state supreme court decisions.15
The school board was con-
cerned with the maintenance of a public
school system which would
be, in accordance with the Act of 1853,
"equally free and accessible
to all white children." The board
claimed that the reading of the
Bible "has had the necessary effect
to prevent the attendance of
large numbers of children," and
that the exclusion of the Bible
was expected to make the schools
palatable to all and thus bring
them back into the system.
It was becoming increasingly evident
that the public schools
could not practically or expediently
take upon themselves any in-
struction in religion, and that such
practices were not only malev-
olent in their effect upon the schools,
but were equally injurious
to society, for they inevitably resulted
in the fostering of sectarian
animosities and prejudices among the
people. Finally, the board
of education denied the jurisdiction of
the court in the matter,
claiming that interference by the court
would be a usurpation of
the discretionary powers granted to the
board by the legislature. The
general assembly had fulfilled its
constitutional requirement to
"pass suitable laws," being
itself the sole judge of what was suitable,
and those laws had "confided in the
Board of Education absolute
and unrestricted and unlimited
discretion over the whole curriculum
of school exercises and school
education."
On February 15, 1870, the superior court
of Cincinnati rendered
its decision. Judge Hagans observed a
distinction "between those
provisions of the [Ohio] Constitution
which assure the protection
of the man, and those which are purely
designed for the security
of the state." This contradiction,
he held, must be resolved in
favor of the state, at least "for
this world"--the conscience may
triumph in the next. For the state had
declared religious instruc-
tion essential to good government.
Pulpit and press throughout the state
resounded with exulta-
15 Wheaton v. Peters, 8 Peters 591; Bloom v. Richards, 2 O.
S. 387.
RELIGION AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 195
tion that "the Bible is
saved." But the rejoicing was
premature.
The decision was appealed to the Ohio
Supreme Court, and in
December 1872, after two and a half
years of continued agitation,
the judgment of the lower court was
reversed and the exclusion of
religious education upheld. Judge Welch
held that "the legislature
having placed the management of the
public schools under the
exclusive control of the directors,
trustees, and board of education,
the courts have no rightful authority to
interfere by directing what
instruction shall be given, or what
books shall be read therein."
Judicial interference could be allowed
only if the board committed
a violation of the state constitution,
but the constitution did not
"enjoin or require religious
instruction, or the reading of religious
books, in the public schools of the
state."16
This decision was not a clear-cut
victory for secularism, for,
while the board was sustained, religious
education was still per-
mitted at the discretion of the local
school boards. However, during
a period in which religious education
was still prevalent in Ohio,
the ruling actually had the effect of
removing the alleged constitu-
tional sanctions for such instruction
and authorizing a change in
the status quo, thus operating
indirectly to favor the secularization
that was in process.
The story of the secularization of the
schools in Cincinnati
was reenacted in many other cities. In
most cases, however, the
secularization of the schools was not so
dramatic. It was a gradual
process, accompanied by little fanfare.
The custom in most districts
was to permit the teachers to do as they
pleased in the matter, and
as the influence of the new ideas
penetrated the ranks of the teachers,
the daily Bible-reading was dropped in
one school after another.
Even as early as 1870, the state
commissioner of common schools
reported that there was "very
little" Bible teaching in Ohio.17 In
1873 the president of the Ohio Teachers
Association stated that
"the secularization of our public
schools is all but accomplished.
The acts of worship are omitted, or are
very meagre. The schools
are generally conducted in such a way
that no religion is taught in
16 Board of
Education of the City of Cincinnati v. John D. Minor et al., 23 O. S.
211.
17 James Fraser, "Religion
in American Schools," Ohio Educational Monthly,
XIX (1870),
109-110.
196
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
them."18 By 1900 few
schools offered courses in religion or morality,
and there had been a decisive change in
the character of the reading
books. Whereas in 1865 twenty-five to
forty percent of the readers
consisted of religious matter, by 1891
the religious content was only
two to four percent.19
However, the secularization of the
schools throughout the state
was not universal and developed unevenly.
Particularly persistent
was the custom of conducting opening
exercises of five to fifteen
minutes, consisting of scriptural
readings, prayers, and hymns. In
many schools the practice has continued
to the present day. Here
and there, a reversal of the general
trend gained the ascendancy.
In the Ohio Teachers Association,
advocacy of religious
training died hard, but eventually even
the teachers were swept into
the current of the secularist movement.
The position that the
teachers had finally reached by 1886 was
summarized by the presi-
dent of the association:
How the great natural laws of morality
and of conduct . . . can be
based on the Bible itself, and be
vitalized and vivified in public school
work by a sense of religious obligation,
is a question difficult of solution....
With an unanimous judgment as to the
necessity of such instruction in
the work of education, there was such
divergence of opinion as to its prac-
ticability in schools supported by the
state, that I conclude that the matter
must rest at present where Dr. Harris
puts it, viz: "That it is for the teachers
not to claim to introduce formal
religious ceremonies, but to make all their
teaching glow with a general faith,
hope, and charity."
This seemed to be the final judgment,
for the question of religious
instruction was rarely discussed by
either the association or its
journal after 1886.
The position of the state commissioners
of common schools also
underwent modification during this
period. While belief in religious
education was retained, it was felt that
this was the job of the
church and home and not within the
domain of the public schools.
After 1875 the state education
authorities accepted the state of
affairs and lost interest in agitating
for religious instruction.
Thus, for sixty years the current of
secularization flowed for-
ward, in spite of certain stagnant
backwaters, divergent streams,
18 U. T. Curran, "Inaugural Addrets,"
Ohio Educational Monthly, XXII (1873),
326.
19 Ohio Educational Monthly, XL (1891), 423.
30 W. W. Ross, "Inaugural
Address," ibid., XXXV (1886), 377-378.
RELIGION AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 197
and retrogressive eddies. But following
1913 there were significant
and successful efforts to stop the
progress and reverse the course of
the movement.
Revival of the Religious Education
Movement,
1913-1947
Since 1913 there has been an
unmistakable trend throughout the
United States to bring religion back
into the public schools or at
least to establish a religious education
program which would be
intimately connected with the school
system. This movement has
necessarily assumed forms quite
different from those which pre-
vailed before 1850, but basically they
share one feature-they
involved a weakening of the concept of
strict separation of church
and state.
One manifestation of this trend may be
seen in the fact that
from 1913 to 1941 the number of states
which required Bible
reading in the schools rose from two to
twelve.21 During this
period, also, the supreme court of the
United States rendered two
decisions which decidedly weakened the
doctrine of separation of
church and state. In these cases it was
held that public school funds
could be applied to the purchase of
textbooks for parochial school
pupils22 and to defray the
cost of transporting children to parochial
schools.23 These and similar
practices have been inaugurated in a
growing number states.
But the most important and widespread
form in which the new
religious education movement appeared
was the week-day church
school idea. The plan, in its modern
form, was originated in Gary,
Indiana, in 1913 and soon spread
throughout the country. The
principle of released time for religious
instruction was not unknown
to Ohio. As early as 1862 Cincinnati had
allowed pupils to be
excused one-half day each week for this
purpose, and the school
board anticipated the modern
church-school system by stating that
"an arrangement may be effected, if
sufficient numbers encourage it,
that at the hours so allowed children of
different denominations of
religion might receive the instruction
of the clergy in the school-
21 Mary Dabney Davis, "Weekday
Classes in Religious Education," United
States Office of Education, Bulletin, 1941, No.
3, p. 10.
22 Cochran v. Board of Education of Louisiana, 281
U. S. 370.
23 Everson v. Board of Education of Ewing Tp. et al., 330
U. S. 1.
198
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
rooms temporarily set apart to
them."24 Columbus permitted ab.
sence for religious instruction in 1872,
and Dayton passed a similar
regulation in 1874. In 1916 Toledo
adopted the week-day church-
school plan, and thereafter the movement
spread rapidly through-
out the state. By 1922 sixty-one schools had the plan in
operation, which was more than in any
other state in the country.
Three years later Ohio was leading the
nation in both number of
schools and total enrollment in the
church-school plan. Although
it yielded its ranking position to New
York State in 1933, it had
registered an absolute gain, in spite of
the closures forced by the
depression, and by 1941 twenty-three
school systems were partic-
ipating in the plan. The movement has
continued to expand since
then. In 1947 ten of the twenty cities
reporting had church schools
in operation and six of the eight
counties reported that from one
to all of their districts were releasing
pupils. The following descrip-
tions of the operation of the plan in
several Ohio cities will illus-
trate the salient features of the
week-day church school.
In the early twenties several individual
churches in Dayton
established week-day schools, but the
attempts were unsatisfactory.
The Dayton Council of Churches then
requested that the board of
education cooperate in the program. The
board agreed, with certain
stipulations. The program was
inaugurated in 1922, and by 1929 all
schools in the city were participating,
with an enrollment of 6,500
pupils.
Toledo organized the largest system of
week-day religious in-
struction with interdenominational
church schools. From 1916 to
1929 its enrollment grew from 2,531 to
over 6,000, all in the
elementary grades. Van Wert also
developed a successful pro-
gram based on the community, or
interdenominational, plan
which was the plan followed in most
cities in Ohio. It was started
in 1918 by the ministerial association,
consisting of ministers of ten
Protestant churches, with the
cooperation of the school board.
Three of the four church schools
operated met in classrooms fur-
nished by the public schools. Children
were excused for two periods
a week for classes which consisted of
devotional services, Bible
drills, and religious expression in the
form of drawing. Enrollment
24 Common Schools of Cincinnati, Thirty-third
Annual Report (Cincinnati, 1862),
13.
RELIGION AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 199
rose steadily from eighty-one percent of
the pupils in the first six
grades in 1918, to ninety-six percent in
1924.
The majority of cities with week-day
church schools inaug-
urated their programs between 1916 and
1922. Although the
depression undoubtedly accounted for the
deceleration to a large
extent, it was not the only factor, for
only nine of the thirty-four
church-school systems for which
information is available were estab-
lished after 1925. Other reasons, not
only for the slowing down of
the movement but also for the
discontinuation of the schools in
some cities, were undoubtedly
difficulties of administration, public
opposition, and "lack of
interest." The program was confined al-
most exclusively to the elementary
grades, and where the plan was
in operation it was generally quite
successful from the point of
view of pupil participation, which
ranged in most cases from eighty-
eight to one hundred percent.
The revival of the religious education
movement also asserted
itself in an attempt to restore the
Bible to its former place of honor
in the schools. As early as 1903 a
speaker at the annual meeting
of the Ohio Teachers Association
declared that the Bible must be
brought back, if not as a book of
religion, then as a book of morals
or literature.25 It was not long before this faint plea
become a
resounding battle-cry in the chambers of
the legislature.
In 1923 a bill was introduced into the
Ohio House of Repre-
sentatives providing for compulsory
Bible reading in the public
schools. Although the Buchanan Bill was
favorably reported by
the committee on schools, no further
action was taken during that
session. The chairman of the committee
requested a decision by
the attorney general on the
constitutionality of the bill. The attor-
ney general stated that religious
principles "may be properly
taught in our public schools as a part
of the secular knowledge
which is their province to instill into
the youthful mind," that the
Bible was not sectarian, that the
reading of the Bible in the public
schools was not in violation of any
constitutional rights, and that
no pupil could evade the requirement to
read the Bible on grounds
of conscientious beliefs.26
25 A. T. Perry, "Are
the Public Schools Failing in Ethical Training," Ohio Edu-
cational Monthly, LII (1903), 335-339.
26 Opinions of the
Attorney General of Ohio, 1923, I, 83-86.
200
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
On the second day of the 86th session of
the general assembly
in 1925, the bill was introduced again.
As amended, it required
that the Bible be read, "without
sectarian comment, at the opening
of every public school on every school
day," except in schools con-
ducting week-day religious instruction,
and required all pupils
above the fourth year to learn the Ten
Commandments.27
On February 17 the bill passed the house
by a vote of eighty
to forty, and two months later the
senate concurred. However, on
April 30 the bill was vetoed by Governor
Vic Donahey, who ex-
pressed his disapproval as follows:
The spirit of our federal and state
Constitutions from the beginning
have [has] been to leave religious
instruction to the discretion of parents. . . .
Boards of education in their discretion
may require the reading of the Holy
Bible in the schools. In other words, we
now have home rule in this respect
and there is no necessity for this bill
establishing state dictation in the mat-
ter of religion.28
As in 1872 the attempt to make Bible
reading in the public
schools compulsory was defeated, but
then it was the decisive
victory of the growing secularist movement
whereas in 1924 secu-
larism found itself on the defensive and
escaped defeat by a narrow
margin. Another significant development
was the shift of forces
that took place during the half century
between the two campaigns.
Whereas in 1872 the press had been
virtually unanimous in opposing
the Cincinnati school board, in 1924 the
press was predominantly
hostile toward the Buchanan Bill. For
example, the Cleveland
Plain Dealer called it "a measure conceived in racial and
religious
intolerance, born of the fancied
superiority of one human strain
over another, and foisted as a relic of
medievalism on a twentieth
century community. Its capacity for harm
is beyond computation."29
The teaching profession and public
school officials had also
transformed their attitude from one of
vehement support of Bible
reading to one of pragmatic skepticism,
as expressed by R. G. Jones,
superintendent of schools in Cleveland,
who stated the bill could
not be carried through to the
satisfaction of anybody:
It would be almost impossible to teach
religion in the schools by reading
the Bible, even without interpretation
or comment, and convince the parents
27 House Journal, 86th Ohio General Assembly, 1 sess., CXI (1925),
47.
28 "James K. Mercer, ed., Ohio Legislative
History, 1925-1926 (Columbus, n. d.),
67-69.
29 Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 19, 1925.
RELIGION AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 201
of all pupils of all denominations that
it was being done without denomi-
national bias.
I rather doubt, too, whether
representatives of the different creeds
could reach an agreement on just which
passages of the Bible should be
read. Perhaps the way out will be an
adaptation of the Gary plan.30
Even important sections of the
Protestant community opposed the
measure. Rev. Dilworth Lupton, pastor of
the First Unitarian
Church, Cleveland, denounced it in the Cleveland
Unitarian as
"religious fanaticism."31
In spite of this opposition and of the
failure of the Buchanan
Bill to become law, Bible reading won a
new position in the schools
through local regulations or the action
of individual teachers. In
1930 Bible reading was prohibited in
several of the large cities, and
only a few required it, but in all the
rest it was permitted at the
option of the teachers. By 1939 one
investigator estimated that
eighty-five percent of the public school
pupils in Ohio were reading
the Bible in school.32 In
1947 twenty-one of twenty-eight cities and
counties reporting had Bible reading or
prayers, usually both, in
at least some of their schools, and in
most cases it was a general
practice in those districts. In about
one-third of those schools daily
devotional exercises were conducted; in
another third weekly serv-
ices were held; and in the remaining
third services were confined
to "occasional" or
"frequent" chapel and assembly programs. Just
as many junior and senior high schools
observed the practice as
elementary schools, which indicated a
new trend in that respect. In
five districts ministers were invited to
address the students at regular
programs.
Early in the depression another issue
came to the fore, and
while this, too, produced no positive
results, it was nevertheless of
great import, for it revealed that the
concept of separation of church
and state had been so greatly weakened
that a strong assault against
it could be repulsed only by a series of
narrowly won skirmishes in
a struggle lasting four years. We refer
to the campaign of the
Catholic Church to get public school
funds from the state.
In the early part of 1933 the church
announced that, due to
the difficult financial situation of the
parochial schools, it would have
30 Ibid., February 14, 1925.
31 Ibid.
32 Alvin W. Johnson, "Bible Reading
in the Public Schools," Education, LIX
(1938-39), 274-280.
202
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
to receive assistance or be compelled to
close its schools. The
public school authorities and municipal
officials did not welcome
such a possibility, as the schools were
already heavily overcrowded
and they were also pinched economically.
It was estimated that it
would cost the state over seventeen
million dollars in new buildings
and other expenses to absorb the
Catholic children into the public
school system. These conditions created
a great deal of support
for the proposals which would not have
been forthcoming under
more ordinary circumstances.
In June 1933 a bill was introduced into
the Ohio legislature
granting a two-year subsidy of four
million dollars to the Catholic
schools. The attorney general declared
that such a measure was
unconstitutional: "No authority
exists in law for the diversion or
use of the school funds of the state for
the promotion or mainte-
nance of private schools or for any
purpose other than the estab-
lishment and maintenance of common or
public schools."33 In spite
of this obvious fact, the bill won a
majority of votes in the house
of representatives, but did not get the
two-thirds necessary for
passage. Similar proposals were voted on
at least eight times from
1933 to 1937. Twice bills failed of
passage by only one vote; one
was passed by the senate but was
defeated in the house; and in the
final contest the senate vetoed
favorable action by the house.
From 1935 on the bills included a
two-million-dollar approp-
riation for all denominational colleges
in an effort to win the
support of the Protestants, but they
remained adamant in their
virtually unanimous opposition,
including at least ten of the Protes-
tant colleges which would have been the
beneficiaries of the grant.34
Chief support of the measures came from
the Catholics, of course,
and government officials who feared the
consequences of having
additional burdens placed on the public
schools. Governor Martin
L. Davey and the Cleveland City Council
both urged passage of the
bill in 1935.
Attempts were also made to solve the
problems of the parochial
schools by local agreements. For
example, the Bishop of Toledo
made the following proposition to the
school board of Tiffin:
1. The church would rent its parish
school buildings to the board
33 Opinions of the Attorney General
of Ohio, 1933, p. 1290.
34 Christian Century, LII (1935),
358, 491.
RELIGION AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 203
of education for one dollar a year; 2.
The church would main-
tain them, but the board would furnish
light, heat, and janitor serv-
ice and pay the salaries of the sixteen
teachers; 3. The church
would furnish six additional teachers;
4. The board would assume
jurisdiction of the schools, with the
provisos that the teachers were
to consist of Ursuline Sisters, and that
the enrollment of students
would not be disturbed, i. e., only
parish children would attend.
These negotiations were not consummated,
however, for the
attorney general expressed it as his
opinion that, while the board
of education could rent rooms or
buildings from the church and
employ teachers of any or no faith, it
had no authority to agree, as
a condition of such lease, that certain
teachers would be employed
or that certain pupils would be assigned
to those schools. Further-
more, the children in those schools
could not be placed under any
sectarian influence and the state
superintendent could forbid the
wearing of any religious garb by the
teachers.35
We have traced the course of the
offensive against secular
education and the separation of church
and state in Ohio schools,
and have seen that, although two attacks
were repulsed, the gradual
increase of Bible reading and prayer and
the rise of the week-day
church school, together with judicial
authority to provide aid to
private denominational schools, have
marked a new period in the
history of education in Ohio. It remains
for us now to analyze
the cause of this revival and to explain
the reanimation of forces
and concepts which seemed, a generation
ago, to have largely passed
from American institutions.
The idea of the week-day church school
was seized as an ideal
instrument for the restoration of
religion in the public schools, for
this institution had three qualities
that admirably suited it to the
aims of the churches under the
conditions prevailing in the United
States in the twentieth century: first,
it was inherently capable of
almost unlimited expansion without
apparently conflicting with
either the laws, constitutional
provisions, or popular sentiment with
regard to protection of religious
liberty; second, it was a plan
which all religious groups could
accept--the former antagonism
between Protestants on the one hand and
Catholics and Jews on the
35 Opinions
of the Attorney General
of Ohio, 1933, pp.
1712-1718.
204
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
other was largely resolved by this
compromise; third, many public
school officials viewed this program as
a solution which would
absolve them of both responsibility and
effort.
It must be noted that the antisecularist
movement was not a
mere repetition of that of the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Popular accepance of religious liberty
had been greatly liberalized
and strengthened since 1850, and any
tendency to undermine it
was viewed critically. Practically the
only reason put forward today
for religious education is the welfare
of the individual child, rather
than the interests of the state. Many
religious and educational
leaders feel that it is the duty of the
schools to protect the children
against materialistic and scientific
teaching, which, since World
War I, they have identified with
bolshevism and the "undermining
of the very foundations of religion and
society."36 Also religious
instruction is offered as a
supplementary branch of learning, few
protagonists claiming for it the
pervasive position it occupied a
hundred years ago.
Finally, while religious education has
made positive advances
since World War I, it is far from the
position it held before the
Civil War. Probably less than one-tenth
of the public school pupils
in Ohio attend week-day church schools,
although a large percentage
have Bible reading or other types of
religious exercises. Even for
these children the rest of the daily and
weekly schedule is completely
secularized.
Conclusions
The relation between religion and
education in Ohio has been
governed by two fundamental
principles: (1) religious liberty
and separation of church and state, and
(2) district autonomy in
the determination of whether, how much,
and what kind of religious
instruction shall be given in the
schools. Nevertheless, these two
principles have been subject to widely
varying interpretations, and
under their authority equally varied
practices have been followed.
We must search further than merely the
constitutional and legal
principles which underlie our
educational system for the factors
which have determined actual
practices. Operating within the
framework of religious liberty and
district autonomy there are four
36 0. T. Corson, "Protecting Our
Schools Against Materialistic Teaching," Ohio
Educational Monthly, LXXII (1923), 39-46.
RELIGION AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 205
factors that have determined the actual
relationship between religion
and education in Ohio.
1. Popular conceptions of the meaning
and application of
religious freedom. If by this is meant freedom for the state to
propagate religion, or Christianity, as
it generally did until the
middle of the nineteenth century, the
schools obviously would be
operated with different methods and
objectives than if it meant
complete neutrality of the state in all
matters of religion.
2. The composition of the population
in the state, and partic-
ularly in the localities. It is an inescapable conclusion that one of
the chief causes of the secularization
of the schools has been the
sheer impossibility of any other system
where people of many dif-
ferent creeds lived together.
3. The strength of religious thought.
It is evident that, as
religion enters more deeply into the
minds of more people, the
desire to include it as an integral part
of public education will
become more pronounced, and conversely,
as it comprises a less
dominant part of their thinking, its
inculcation by the public schools,
especially in violation of the rights of
other groups, will appear to
be of less moment.
4. The strength of religious groups. Not only the thinking
of the people, but also the strength of
the churches is an important
determining factor. Not the least
element in the strength of religious
groups is their ability to unite in
support of a particular program,
as they did in the case of the week-day
church-school plan.
Until 1850 all of these factors operated
to strengthen religious
domination of the schools. Religion
played an important part in
the life and thinking of the people, who
were predominantly
Protestant, and the implications of
church and state separation had
been developed to a very limited degree.
In the following fifty
years conditions were altered so that
all of these factors tended to
operate in behalf of a secular school
system. There was a marked
liberalization in the public attitude
towards religious freedom, as
well as other democratic principles,
such as suffrage, and economic
and social rights. There was a decided
decline in the religious
fervor that had pervaded earlier
generations and a simultaneous
ascendancy of other interests,
particularly scientific. The growth
206
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
of cities and immigration created
populations consisting of all
religious faiths, and there was a sharp
division among religious
groups on the problem of religion and
education.
During the twentieth century there was a
tendency towards
religious revival, and at the same time
the major churches found a
common meeting ground in the advocacy of
week-day church schools.
But the other two factors remained
substantially unchanged, so that
the forces tending toward the
secularization of education were
weakened, but not eliminated.
It may be said in conclusion that the
legal, constitutional, and
administrative principles underlying the
public school system of
Ohio will probably remain substantially
unaltered for some time to
come. These principles are the
established foundation of the school
system. However, wide variations in
practice are possible with-
out disturbing that foundation. Whether
the recent trends toward
more religious education and public
support to denominational
schools is accelerated, or whether they
are reversed and the schools
are completely secularized, will depend
on the modification of the
relative strengths of the four
determining factors discussed above.