The Educator Who Shaped the Destiny and Morality of a Nation

When President Theodore Roosevelt claimed that he did not wish to be a “Meddlesome Matty,” everyone knew what he meant because he was referring to a character in McGuffey’s fourth reader who snooped and meddled in other people’s affairs. The tale of “Meddlesome Mattie,” pages 52–53, in McGuffey’s fourth reader, by William McGuffey, 1901. University of Washington, Seattle. Public domain

Passionate teachers can light a flame in their students that will burn long into the future. Few of them, however, can claim to have helped shape the destiny and moral character of a nation.

Beginning in 1835, in conjunction with the Cincinnati publishing firm Truman and Smith, professor William Holmes McGuffey (1800–1873) wrote four readers for the primary grades, or grammar school as many then called it. In addition to reading, grammar, spelling, writing, and elocution, these primers taught Judeo-Christian values, lessons in morality and character building, and the importance of hard work and education.