Break the Annual Meeting: Depression- and Recession-Era Keynote Speeches to Educators as Calls to Action

• In Event: Educators and Leadership for Social Justice

Abstract

This paper surveys six speeches made by National Education Association presidents at the Association’s annual meetings in the years 1931, 1932, 1933, 2011, 2012, and 2013. I aim to show that, in times of economic woe, the charge given to educators, at least in assembly-style meetings, is laden with language which represents a particular call-to-action to change society through public education. In these speeches, parallels in word use and content can be found on themes of economic struggle, corporate greed, disdain for authority outside of education field, and the significance of the teacher as primary authority in education. These seemingly intractable themes, and proposed solutions, surface across the span of 80 years of addressing educators.

Author

• Ryan H. Ozar, The College of Wooster