Demystifying the Origin of Social Studies

Sarah Bolton was the first person to use the term social studies in their book title in 1883.

Heber Newton was a member of the Allied Social Sciences Association in 1886.

Carroll D. Wright, the first US Commissioner of Labor, was also a member of the Social Studies Committee in 1916.

The term 'social education' was initially introduced as a means to promote social welfare in private schools.

At the beginning of the 20th century, social education shifted from being a generic term to specifically focusing on science and technology concerns.

Edmund James was the first to use Social studies as an element of school curricular in 1897.

The American Social Science Association (ASSA) primarily focused on the individual subject matters of sociology, anthropology, political science, psychology, history, and geography.

There were strong calls during that time to replace the generalist approach of social studies with a specialist approach, but public school leaders decided to continue with the general field approach.

Clarence D. Kingsley's Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary School Subjects was presented to the national education association in 1913.

The committee on the articulation of high school and college was established by NEA in 1911.