Selling schools: U.S. educational publicity in the early twentieth century

Abstract

This article explores educational public relations by analyzing publicity material that urged public school administrators and educators to adopt formal public relations programs in the 1920s and 1930s. This moment represents a critical juncture for the United States’ public schools, and understanding the motivations behind the push for publicity programs can help us better understand the diverse contexts in which public relations strategies and tactics have been deployed. This study addresses the call for public relations history to broaden its scope of inquiry beyond corporate and political communication and allows for a more complete historical picture of public relations as a field.