Harold Rugg

Harold Ordway Rugg (1886–1960) was an educational reformer in the early to mid 1900s, associated with the Progressive education movement. Originally trained in civil engineering at Dartmouth College (BS 1908 & CE 1909), Rugg went on to study psychology, sociology and education at the University of Illinois where he completed a doctoral dissertation titled "The Experimental Determination of Mental Discipline in School Studies."

After earning his PhD he went on to teach at the University of Chicago and later became a professor at Teachers College at Columbia University for three decades. He studied creativity which he believed was vital to the learning process. He created the first textbook series and his social studies books were extremely popular in US schools. By the early forties his books fell out of favor due to campaigns run by organizations like the Advertising Federation of America and the American Legion, due to Rugg's junior-high textbooks including concepts considered "pro-socialist" by conservative opponents.

Biography

Rugg was born on January 17, 1886, in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. He attended Dartmouth College, where he received his Bachelor of Science in civil engineering in 1908 and his graduate degree in civil engineering in 1909. Rugg worked as a civil engineer before becoming a professor at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, where he taught for two years and became interested in how students learn.

Rugg began teaching at the University of Illinois in 1911 and in 1915, Rugg submitted his dissertation, "The Experimental Determination of Mental Discipline in School Studies" in order to attain his PhD in education. During World War I, Rugg served as a member of the Army's Commission on Classification of Personnel under Charles H Judd.