Archives West Finding Aid

The first controversy occurred in 1981, when Leah Coash of Cascade, Idaho, challenged state textbook adoption policies and what she described as a Humanist bias in Idaho textbooks. The items were collected by David Baldwin, who was head of the Library's Curriculum Resource Center at the time and a member of the state's textbook selection committee. A biographical sketch of Leah Coash from the Idaho Statesman and some letters to the editor by her have been added.

The second and third controversies took place in 1989 and 1990. These items were collected by Anne L. Matjeka, David Baldwin's successor as head of the Curriculum Resource Center. She served on the textbook selection committee during these two controversies. In 1989 the committee considered adoption of the biology text, Of Pandas and People (Haughton Publishing Company). Although the issue did not become public, there was debate within the committee. Anne Matjeka opposed adoption of the book chiefly because of its Creationist interpretation, and she collected critical reviews to distribute to fellow committee members. The collection contains those materials, plus correspondence and clippings from Alabama, where the consideration of the textbook created heated public controversy.

The third controversy arose when and Dr. Ronald Hunter, pastor of the Coeur d'Alene Church of the Nazarene, leading the group known as Citizens for Quality Education, petitioned the state and the Coeur d'Alene school district to rescind adoption of the Impressions reading series published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. They maintained that the books contained too much violence, negativity, anti-Christian bias, and emphasis on witchcraft and the occult. The collection contains the group's commentary on the books, plus other opinions as well.