Oregon’s Compulsory Education Act: Americanism, Nativism, and Assimilation

In 1922, Oregonians voted on and passed the Compulsory Education Act. Often referred to as the Oregon School Bill, this ballot initiative mandated public school education for children aged 8 to 16, creating a de-facto ban on private education in the state. While many states considered passing compulsory public education bills, and several managed to get the issue on the ballot, including Michigan in 1920 and Washington in 1924, only one state actually managed to pass such a bill through the electorate—Oregon. This paper explores how the School Bill and similar ballot initiatives reflected the nativist and anti-immigrant sentiments prevalent in the United States at the time. Part of the panel: From Hoover to Horse Trails: Literacy in early Twentieth-Century AmericaModerator: Professor David Horowitz