American Youth Science Clubs, World War II, and the Industrial Giant in the Room: The Westinghouse Electric Company's Sponsorship of the Science Extracurriculum, 1936-1941

Begun in 1936, the endowment of science fairs, clubs, and talent searches by the Westinghouse Electric Company marked the first known sponsorship of the K-12 science education extracurriculum by an industrial giant. Since the 1920s, educators sought to foster democracy through progressive education in rational thinking, but fear of a shortage of intellectual manpower to address the nation's wartime engineering needs grew. By 1941, Westinghouse-backed representatives claimed that children with undeveloped scientific talent “fail to serve to the fullest extent the nation and the world.” Political agendas shaping American science education remain influenced by these mostly unquestioned attitudes.

This work asks who at Westinghouse wanted to bankroll science clubs nationwide and student research displays at the 1939-1940 World's Fair. What were their motives? Why did they abruptly redirect their patronage between organizations in 1941? What important precedents were set for corporate sponsorship of research and education? My hypothesis is that the science extracurriculum guided science education as the nation mobilized for war in the early 1940s. These years may constitute a fulcrum on which American science education turned from encouraging rationalism and democracy strengthening the nation's military and industrial capabilities. When CBS bought the Westinghouse Corporation in 1995, many unpublished company records were stored in a private mine in rural Pennsylvania. I hope that within correspondence and memoranda, organizational reports, and press releases lies the role of the key players in the Westinghouse Foundation from 1936-1941.

The precedents set by Westinghouse may explain contemporary, widespread corporate sponsorship of American science education. Are current efforts aimed at encouraging democracy by expansion of all children's brains, or at securing the meritocracy through elevating only the most talented? Which of these goals best serves our children? Our country?