Why the South Demands Corrected Textbooks by Contoura Press
"In 1919 the United Confederate Veterans created a committee with the goal of influencing education to promote a version of history that would look back kindly on the Confederacy. This group, the Rutherford committee, focused its efforts on public education and newly formed state textbook commissions.
"The letter included in this artist's book is a facsimile of one the committee sent to education institutions and textbook-choosing commissions around 1920. In an effort to rid public schools of textbooks that were critical of the Confederacy, this letter was paired with a pamphlet with instructions to reject any textbook that didn't contain 'truths of Confederate history.' Altered facsimiles of this pamphlet and its successor are also included in this book.
"Now, students are required to take a year of Alabama history in fourth grade. Textbooks selected for this course have put forth white-washed versions of history. For this artist's book, pages from the textbook used by the artist as a student were selected and printed as altered facsimiles. These textbook spreads show the persisting influence of Lost Cause mythology in education and the insidious 'truths' it relies on." - Contoura Press
Processes, Dimensions, and Edition Information
By Katharine Buckley
Tuscaloosa, Alabama: Contoura Press, 2022. Edition of 50.11 x 8.5" overlap folder containing nine folded sheets (making four pages each); 1 sheet copied letter; one sheet copy of textbook cover; one 5.5 x 8.25" four-page pamphlet (index of intent statements); 5.5 x 8.5", 24 page pamphlet "A Measuring Rod". Letterpress printed. Archival material printed using risograph and digital print. Designed, printed and bound by Katharine Buckley. Produced at The University of Alabama Book Arts Program. Numbered.