Governor Signs Anti-German Bill

From The Indianapolis News, Wednesday, February 26, 1919: Yesterday, Indiana became the first state to enact anti-German school legislation when the Indiana House of Representatives suspended the rules and voted 97 to 0 to pass Sen. McCray’s bill which had earlier cleared the Indiana Senate by a vote of 48 to 1. Gov. Goodrich signed the bill, which carried an emergency clause, and it became law immediately. The law repeals an 1869 provision providing for the compulsory teaching of German in elementary schools on the petition of the parents or guardians of twenty-five children. The law also stipulates that instruction in public, private, parochial and institutional elementary schools “shall be taught in the English language only,” and the teaching of the German language is specifically prohibited. The anti-German bill was spurred on by Hoosier war mothers and veterans.

“Governor Signs Anti-German Bill,” The Indianapolis News, 26 February 1919, p. 15:1