From “Secular Humanism” to Project 2025: The Origins of the Heritage Foundation’s Advocacy for “Parents’ Rights”

• In Event: Navigating the Politics of Education in the 20th and 21st Centuries

Abstract

The Heritage Foundation was founded in 1973 to advocate for Conservative policies and gained national prominence after Ronald Reagan adopted its proposed policies in 1980. Roughly 50 years after its founding, the Heritage Foundation has again proposed a set of policies for a new administration, terming these “Project 2025.” This paper utilizes historical research methods to explore the origins of the Heritage Foundation’s support for what it calls “parents’ rights” and provides context for how the Heritage Foundation has stoked culture wars to advocate for white Christian parents’ rights.

Author

• Anna Yonas, University of Kansas