Bilingual Public Schooling in the United States : A History of America's 'Polyglot Boardinghouse'

This history of one of the most contentious educational issues in America examines bilingual instruction in the United States from the common school era to the recent federal involvement in the 1960s and 1970s. Drawing from school reports, student narratives, legal resources, policy documents, and other primary sources, the work teases out the underlying agendas and patterns in bilingual schooling during much of America s history. The study demonstrates clearly how the broader context - the cultural, intellectual, religious, demographic, economic, and political forces - shaped the contours of dual-language instruction in America between the 1840s and 1960s. Ramsey s work fills a crucial void in the educational literature and addresses not only historians, linguists, and bilingual scholars, but also policymakers and practitioners in the field. Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Introduction Drafting the Blueprints for This Old Boardinghouse....Pages 1-10 Laying the Foundation for the Boardinghouse: The Context of Nineteenth-Century Schooling and Bilingualism....Pages 11-34 Building the Polyglot Boardinghouse in the Northeast and the South....Pages 35-51 Inside the Boardinghouse’s Parlor....Pages 53-69 The Polyglot Boarders Move West....Pages 71-94 Nativism among the Homeowners: The Metaphysics of Foreigner-Hating....Pages 95-115 Progressivism, Science, and the Remodeling of the Boardinghouse....Pages 117-139 “If You Can’t Fight over There, Fight over Here”: World War I and the Partial Destruction of the Boardinghouse....Pages 141-161 Rebuilding the Boardinghouse: The Interwar Years....Pages 163-185 Epilogue The Federal Landlord....Pages 187-190 Back Matter....Pages 191-278