Social Studies in the Twenty-First Century

The teaching of social studies and our journal The Social Studies (TSS) are almost a century old. They grew up together. TSS was first published in 1909, and in its pages can be seen the first mention of the term social studies as a means of teaching students history that is relevant and meaningful and incorporates the latest thinking of the social sciences. TSS was first published by Albert McKinley in Philadelphia, and he and other leading early educators, such as the Rugg brothers, were the leading proponents of this new way to teach history. In 1920, McKinley and the Ruggs were the founders of a new band of educators interested in social studies. The name of the little group was the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), with McKinley as president, one of the Ruggs as secretary; the minutes of those exciting early meetings of NCSS were recorded in the early issues of TSS.