The Catholic University Bulletin, October, 1965, Sister M. Annunciata, O.P. “The Commission on American Citizenship,” Special Collections, Archives, The Catholic University of America. Rev. George Johnson of the Department of Education served as the Commission’s first director when it was established in the late 1930s. The Commission produced textbooks for all levels of Catholic school students. These texts were used in thousands of schools throughout the country by the 1960s. Image: Special Collections, Archives, The Catholic University of America.

The move from a Department of Education to a School of Education came with a restatement of priorities. Among the new emphases were intensive study of specialized issues in education and emphasis on faculty research.

Also prioritized was consultation with Catholic schools and dioceses, and “instruction on educational principles, philosophy and practices with an emphasis on the Catholic idea of education.” The Department provided consultation and leadership on the ambitious program initiated by Pope Pius XI in 1938. In a letter to the University of that year, the Pope requested that the administration create a constructive program of education based on Christian principles. The Commission on American Citizenship, which developed a series of elementary and high school level readers over the next several years, was the result. The Commission’s texts, which emphasized Christian citizenship, were used in thousands of parochial schools between the 1940s and the 1970s.

Sources:

John J. Convey, Professor of Education at The Catholic University of America, “The Catholic University Department of Education, 1908-2021 (Unpublished manuscript, 2021), Special Collections, Archives, The Catholic University of America, 28.

Sister M. Annunciata, O.P., “The Commission on American Citizenship,” Catholic University Bulletin, October 1965, 6-9, 14.