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Ohio inventions and firsts · Achievement · 1836-1837

McGuffey Eclectic Readers

Cincinnati publisher Truman and Smith commissioned William Holmes McGuffey (Miami University, Oxford) to write graded readers; the first four appeared 1836-37 and about 120 million copies sold by 1960.

At a glance

Year
1836-1837
By
William Holmes McGuffey
Place
Oxford, Butler County ZIP 45056 · Oxford · Butler County

The story

In the 1830s American schools were spread across new settlements, and children learned from whatever books were at hand. Teachers often drilled word lists with little reading of real stories. A Cincinnati publisher, Truman and Smith, wanted a graded series of readers that took a child from the alphabet to real literature.

In 1835 the firm asked William Holmes McGuffey to write four graded readers. McGuffey had joined the Miami University faculty at Oxford, Ohio, in 1826, and began work on the Readers while he was there. He resigned in 1835 to become president of Cincinnati College. His brother Alexander wrote the last two volumes in the 1840s.

McGuffey's method was to introduce vocabulary inside stories and poems from respected writers, building reading skill step by step. The first four readers came out in 1836 and 1837. About 120 million copies were sold between 1836 and 1960, and roughly 30,000 copies a year have sold since.

Henry Ford admired the books so much that he republished all six volumes and in 1934 moved McGuffey's birthplace cabin to his museum in Michigan. The Readers are still used by homeschoolers and some religious schools.

Timeline

  • 1826: McGuffey joins the Miami University faculty. (Oxford, OH) source
  • 1833: The William H. McGuffey House is built in Oxford. (Oxford, OH) source
  • 1835: Truman and Smith ask McGuffey to write four graded readers; he leaves Miami to head Cincinnati College. (Cincinnati, OH) source
  • 1836: The first McGuffey readers begin to sell. (Cincinnati, OH) source
  • 1840s: Alexander McGuffey writes the final two volumes. (Ohio) source
  • 1934: Henry Ford moves McGuffey's birthplace cabin to his museum in Michigan. (Michigan) source

What it changed

  • About 120 million copies sold between 1836 and 1960.
  • About 30,000 copies a year still sell.

Why it matters

Shaped American education.

Places in Ohio to see

Further reading

Sources

Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.