9/17/2009:
... as we observe Education Week.
In 1946, the people of Selfridge feared that an "undemocratic and un-American" presence had infiltrated their public schools. The suspects were not devious spies, but rather Catholic nuns. In 1943, the taxpayers of Selfridge signed a petition to hire Benedictine sisters to teach in the public school in the hopes of saving money. The nuns worked for reduced pay, and on average they saved the school district about $6,000 per year. However, three years later, the residents of Selfridge signed another petition, only this time they aimed to remove the nuns.
The practice of hiring nuns began as early as 1918 in North Dakota, not only to save money, but also due to a shortage of qualified teachers. But, the presence of these nuns in the public schools made many North Dakotans uneasy. They were afraid that the Catholic sisters would dominate public education and promote sectarianism.
The Selfridge petitioners accused the sisters of violating the law by teaching religion to students and "proselytizing" during class. Anti-Catholic and atheist publications joined in the protest and printed pamphlets warning against the "Catholic interference in the Public Schools of North Dakota." Not wishing to endure any more abuse, the Benedictine sisters left the school.
The Selfridge case wasn't the first effort to limit the religious influence of the nuns. In 1936, a civil case was filed against three Benedictine sisters who taught at the Gladstone school in Dickinson. In the case of Gerhardt v. Heid, the plaintiffs argued that the students' right to freedom of religion had been violated by their constant exposure to the nuns' habits. After all, the students of Gladstone school were predominantly protestant. However, the sisters also invoked the First Amendment, arguing that any attempts to ban their religious garb would be a violation of their right to practice their own religion. When the case reached the North Dakota Supreme Court, the judges decided in favor of the nuns. Because the sisters did not teach religion in the school or force the students to participate in religious activities, public schools could not ban their religious attire. Yet the court's decision did not end the protests.
During the 1940s, the state legislature tried to pass an "Anti-garb" bill twice, and failed both times. Then, the Committee for the Separation of Church and State led a petition campaign to put the Anti-garb issue on the 1948 election ballot. Come election time, North Dakotans voted to ban religious garb in public school. By the early 1960s, most of the nuns had disappeared from North Dakota's classrooms.
Dakota Datebook written by Carol Wilson
Sources
Ellensburg Daily Record, June 24, 1948.
The Selfridge Journal, July 25, 1946.
Wishart, David J. Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004.