Correspondent photo / Sean Barron
Richard S. Scarsella, the William Holmes McGuffey Historical Society’s board chairman, shows a DVD about McGuffey to those who attended a program he conducted Saturday at Denny’s restaurant in Liberty. Scarsella also is the new Mahoning County recorder.
LIBERTY — Decades before the start of the Civil War, William Holmes McGuffey was already hitting the ground — not running, but teaching.
“He educated generation after generation of people. He was the nation’s storyteller and schoolmaster,” Richard S. Scarsella, the William Holmes McGuffey Historical Society’s board chairman, said. “His books became the standard bearers for how the country was educated.”
Scarsella, who also is the new Mahoning County recorder, spoke to an audience of a few dozen who attended a presentation he gave Saturday morning in the Denny’s restaurant meeting room, 4020 Belmont Ave., about McGuffey, who became famous for having written the Eclectic Readers series that became popularly known as the McGuffey Readers.
The widely read series, first published in 1836, told stories that highlighted the importance of one’s character, values, patriotism and piety, as well as the importance of God and good citizenship. They also featured illustrations that further advanced the stories’ main themes — treating everyone fairly and knowing that men should not exploit nature, for example — Scarsella explained.
Soon after their introduction, the McGuffey Readers became successful, having sold more than 150 million copies. They also were the basic primer for elementary school students, especially in the Midwest, for about a century, according to Miami University Libraries in Oxford. Additional content included grammar, proverbs and selections from Shakespeare, the website states.
In some cases, immigrants who arrived in the U.S. at Ellis Island in New York City were given copies of the McGuffey Readers and a Bible, Scarsella said.
The McGuffey Readers became popular to the extent that Henry Ford paid to have the series republished, Scarsella said, adding that financial gain was never a motive for the famous storyteller, who also taught on people’s front porches and farms.
“He got paid very little money,” Scarsella said, adding, “He did it for the common good.”
To this day, among those who use the McGuffey Readers are people who are overseas on mission trips and students who are home-schooled, along with many Christian and private schools. They also are available online, Scarsella noted.
During the program, he also played a DVD about the 55th anniversary of the William Holmes McGuffey Historical Society, which was established in 1961 in Coitsville Township.
In it, several historical society members who also were prominent in the Mahoning Valley — and were recipients of the society’s Pioneer Award — spoke about McGuffey. The awardees were Sister Jerome Corcoran, a longtime area educator and advocate for the poor who served with the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown until her death June 6, 2021, at age 105; Alfred L. Bright, a longtime artist and art educator; and former state Sen. Harry Meshel, who served five terms in that capacity and was the Ohio Senate president before his death in September 2017 at age 93.
McGuffey spent much of his childhood in Coitsville, now home to the William H. McGuffey Boyhood Home Site which also includes the 73-acre McGuffey Wildlife Preserve. The property has been designated a National Historic Landmark, Scarsella noted.
McGuffey began his foray into education at Old Stone Academy in Darlington, Pa., before being hired at Miami University as a professor. Early on, McGuffey’s mother, Anna Holmes McGuffey, knew he was a “special child” because when her son was 13, he was able to memorize and recite church sermons he had heard, Scarsella added.
At Miami University, McGuffey taught ancient languages after Robert H. Bishop, university president, recommended McGuffey to the board of trustees. At the same time, in the late 1820s, McGuffey was ordained to the ministry of the Presbyterian Church.
His teaching career took a turn when McGuffey began teaching moral philosophy in 1845 at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, a position he held until he died in 1873 at age 72. Contrary to what many think, McGuffey is buried there, not in the Mahoning Valley, Scarsella noted.
“They thought so highly of him that they wanted to bury him on a university campus,” Scarsella said.
Like McGuffey, Scarsella, a 1972 Ursuline High School graduate, has spent much of his life in education, having served 31 years in the Youngstown City Schools, including as a job coordinator with Choffin Career and Technical Center, where he also taught interior design and served as the district’s special education supervisor. He also earned master’s degrees from Youngstown State University in special education and education administration.
From 2005 until last year, Scarsella sat on the Mahoning County Educational Service Center’s governing board.