McGuffey, William Holmes (məgŭf`ē), 1800–1873, American educator, b. near Claysville, Pa. He was graduated from Washington and Jefferson College in 1826, having meanwhile taught in rural schools, and became professor of languages at Miami Univ., Ohio. He remained at Miami until he became (1836) president of Cincinnati College. He later served as president of Ohio Univ. at Athens (1839–43), as professor of philosophy at Woodward College, Cincinnati (1843–45), and as professor of moral philosophy at the Univ. of Virginia (1845–73). He helped to organize the public school system of Ohio but is now remembered chiefly as the compiler of the McGuffey Eclectic Readers, the First and Second of which were published in 1836, the Third and Fourth in 1837, the Fifth in 1844, and the Sixth in 1857. These were constantly revised and passed through edition after edition, maintaining their place for nearly two generations; their estimated sales totaled 122 million copies. Concerned with traditional morality as much as with reading, their influence in shaping the American mind of the mid-19th cent. can scarcely be exaggerated. A memorial was erected to McGuffey at his birthplace in West Finley township, Pa., in 1931.

Bibliography

See Old Favorites from the McGuffey Readers, 1836–1936 (1936, repr. 1969); biographies by H. C. Minnich (1936) and A. M. Ruggles (1950); R. D. Mosier, Making the American Mind (1947, repr. 1965).

McGuffey, William Holmes

(born Sept. 23, 1800, Pennsylvania, U.S.—died May 4, 1873, Charlottesville, Va.) U.S. educator remembered chiefly for his series of elementary readers. McGuffey taught in the Ohio frontier schools and then at Miami University (1826–36). His elementary school series, starting with The Eclectic First Reader, was published between 1836 and 1857. Collections of didactic tales, aphorisms, and excerpts from great books, the readers reflect McGuffey's view that the proper education of young people required their introduction to a wide variety of topics and practical matters. They became standard texts in nearly all states for the next 50 years and sold more than 125 million copies. In these years McGuffey also served as president of Cincinnati College (1836–39) and of Ohio University, Athens (1839–43). He was a founder of the common school system of Ohio. In 1845 he was elected to the chair of mental and moral philosophy at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, a position he held until his death.