The role of the teacher in public life: Benjamin rush of Philadelphia

Abstract

The right or obligation of teachers to become publicly involved in controversial public issues is often debated. The 1960's have seen several social and political movements in the United States which attracted the active support of members of the academic community. Both the civil rights struggle of the early part of the decade and the current anti-war protestations have attracted school and college teachers to the support of their often unpopular causes. Participation in such non-academic affairs is often attacked by those outside of academia, but those within its no longer cloistered walls consider participation to be prerogatives of both full citizenship and academic freedom. Those who encourage the involvement of teachers can easily point to the life and work of Benjamin Rush as an example of a concerned citizen-teacher.1 Benjamin Rush (1746-1813) was successively Professor of Chemistry, Theory and Practice of Medicine, Clinical Practice, and the Institutes WILLIAM D. CARRELL Western Reserve University Cleveland