Sunday School: The Formation of an American Institution, 1790-1880

by Anne M. Boylan

This engrossing book traces the social history of Protestant Sunday schools from their origins in the 1790s―when they taught literacy to poor working children―to their consolidation in the 1870s, when they had become the primary source of new church members for the major Protestant denominations. Anne M. Boylan describes not only the schools themselves but also their place within a national network of evangelical institutions, their complementary relationship to local common schools, and their connection with the changing history of youth and women in the nineteenth century. Her book is a signal contribution to our understanding of American religious and social history, education history, women’s history, and the history of childhood.

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion, History

239 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Gary Sandusky]

My first contact with religion was through a rural Sunday School - still managed by the American Sunday School Union in the 50's and 60's. Understanding the roots of the institution was important for me, but it is a little tedious and may not be for everyone.

However, the struggles to create agreement between different denominations about a core curriculum and the huge volunteer efforts to staff these schools are interesting dynamics in and of themselves. The fact that Sunday Schools were often the first schools teaching literacy in the new republic and often framed the battles that followed around how public schools should operate - bears a striking resemblance to the battles over public schools and the role of government that we are having today.