The Controversy over Fascist Textbooks in the United States of America (1934–1937)

Abstract

During the Fascist era, the publishing production aimed at Italian schools abroad and young people of Italian descent experienced significant growth, particularly after the appointment of Piero Parini as head of the General Directorate for Italians Abroad and Schools in December 1929. Parini directed the content of these publications - especially the school textbooks with the introduction of the unified state textbook (1929) - towards a pronounced nationalist and fascist orientation, surpassing the more moderate patriotic tone they had held during the 1920s. These schoolbooks were distributed worldwide, but in the United States they sparked strong protests from the public opinion, the press, and American diplomatic authorities. Furthermore, Italian consuls and school directors in the US voiced specific criticisms, considering the texts unsuitable for Italo-American students attending Italian language courses in American schools and after-school programs. This controversy, which lasted several years (1934-1937), had significant repercussions up to the fall of Fascism. Despite the moderate and cautious tone of the parties involved, divergent and sometimes irreconcilable positions emerged regarding the political-cultural, educational, and propagandistic role of the “Fascist” textbook. The paper reconstructs the entire affair in detail: the underlying motivations, the various positions and interests at stake, the main protagonists in Italy and especially in the United States, the proposed, adopted, or rejected solutions, and the deadlock situations that arose. Finally, it analyzes the structure and content of the new reading book destined for the United States, produced following the described events, to assess its response to the previously raised critical objections.