SPEAKER_00: Since the beginning, Mercedes-Benz has been a champion of women. After all, a young girl named Mercedes inspired the company's name, and it's been dedicated to the next generation ever since. From June to August, we shared bonus episodes that highlighted some of Mercedes-Benz's employees and ambassadors, who've been encouraged to pursue their dreams and have broken barriers while doing so. We also shared the I Am Mercedes campaign, which focused on young women across the country named Mercedes, who are making a difference in science, technology, social change, and in the creative arts. Thank you to the people at Mercedes-Benz for their sponsorship and for support of Womanica and Women Everywhere. To listen back to any of these bonus episodes, head to the show notes.
SPEAKER_01: Hello. From WonderMedia Network, this is Womanica. I'm Adeswa Agbanyal, a producer here at W.M.N. and the curator of December's theme. This month, we're talking about mothers, women who ushered forth new generations and new futures through their care, work, and imagination. Today, we're talking about a woman who I learned about while producing Teaching Texas, another incredible W.M.N. podcast. This woman turned her motherhood into a weapon, bending the American educational landscape to fit her own moral compass. Let's talk about Norma Gabler. Norma was born in Garrett, a small town in the heart of Texas, in 1923. When she was growing up, her father worked for an oil company, which meant she had to move a lot and switch schools a lot. Those schools often taught different curricula and had different requirements for advancing to the next grade. As a result, she never officially graduated high school. In 1942, Norma married Mel Gabler. She was 19, and the two quickly set about fulfilling their duty as a good Christian Texan couple. They got a house in Hawkins, 100 miles outside of Dallas. Mel served in World War II and then worked as a clerk for an oil company. Norma stayed home and raised the kids. But in 1961, the couple found their true calling. Their son, Jim, was 14. He'd been tasked with memorizing the Gettysburg Address, so he looked it up in the encyclopedia, where it was accompanied by a photo of the Lincoln Memorial. The image was pretty small and hard to read. And when he turned to the typed version of the speech, he realized two key words were missing from the text. Under God. Jim asked his mother, where can you go to get the truth? Norma was furious. So she marched into the superintendent's office and demanded an explanation. Here's what the superintendent told her. Their public school, like all public schools, was only allowed to buy textbooks that had been approved by the State Board of Education. Then he gave her a suggestion. Why don't you go to Austin? That's where you can have some impact. It may have been an offhand comment, but this small piece of advice shifted the trajectory of American education. Austin is the Texas state capital. Every spring and summer, it was where the Texas State Board of Education held hearings on the textbook lists for individual school subjects, like English and history. At the hearings, citizens were allowed to make arguments for why specific books should not get approved for public school use. Here's why that mattered. Texas is the second largest textbook market in the U.S., only smaller than California. The approved textbook list is used across the state in all of the public school districts. To make it on that list means an almost guaranteed profit. To be left off, that was a recipe for financial ruin. And there was one more level of influence. Publishers would often make an addition for approval in Texas and then sell that version to the entire country. In a time where printing was done on analog press, it could get really pricey to make multiple editions to meet different standards across the country. So that superintendent was right. To have an impact, a national impact. Norma and her husband needed to go to Austin. In preparation, the Gablers camped out at their kitchen table, pouring over textbooks word by word. They were searching for factual errors, yeah, but they were also driven by something much more subjective. Anything and anyone who didn't align with their conservative beliefs. They developed a process around what they called the three P's. Prayer, preparation, and persistence. In 1962, a year after starting her crusade, Norma headed to Austin for the first time. At first, publishers were dismissive of this inexpert Texas housewife. But by 1970, Norma got her first big win. Science textbook publishers would have to include a statement that said evolution was a theory, not a fact. Publishers also had to avoid any language that might cause embarrassing situations in the classroom. And any prospective books were to be made available at 20 regional educational centers way ahead of filing deadlines. Norma later said those were the three biggest gains they ever had. And from then on, the tide shifted. In the early 1970s, Norma and her husband Mel founded a nonprofit called Educational Research Analysts. The couple hired some of their son's high school classmates to help type and fact check every single word, sniffing out as many errors as they could. Factual inaccuracies were their Trojan horse. They gave Norma and Mel the upper hands to press for more insidious changes, like pushing American exceptionalism and Christian nationalist ideas. That manifested in defining marriage exclusively as between a man and a woman. Or not calling Robin Hood a hero because he embodied wealth redistribution. For more than 40 years, Norma and Mel, their followers and their nonprofit held the textbook industry hostage. They also laid the groundwork for other parents to express their opinions about education. Norma traveled across the country and as far as Australia to spread their methods. She also caught the attention of national television and was featured on 60 Minutes and The Firing Line with William F. Buckley. She was fastidiously dedicated to the cause and was steadfast in her beliefs. She rarely, if ever, took a vacation. Norma died in 2007 at the age of 84. Her influence can still be felt today. Not only in the textbooks we use, but in the way that parents and politicians have turned school board meetings into ideological battlegrounds, often under the guise of protecting our children. If you want to learn more about Norma Gabler and more about the history behind today's educational culture wars, you should listen to Teaching Texas. I'm biased, but I think it's really good. All month we're talking about mothers. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram at Wamanica Podcast. Special thanks to co-creators Jenny and Liz Kaplan. Talk to you tomorrow.
SPEAKER_04: The Wamanica Night tradition is back for its 56th season with all new big name interviews, hard-hitting investigations, and epic adventures. No place. No one. No story is off limits. And you'll always learn something new. It's time for 60 Minutes. New episode airs Sunday, September 24th on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus.
SPEAKER_06: AT&T and Verizon lure you in with their best phone offers, only to lock you into a three-year phone contract, not at T-Mobile. Now, with T-Mobile's best Go 5G plans, upgrade when you want. Every year or every two, you decide. Visit T-Mobile.com to take charge of your upgrades.
SPEAKER_05: Get two-year financing on Go 5G Plus and Next. One-year upgrade on Go 5G Next requires financing new qualifying device and upgrading in good condition after six plus months with 50% paid off. Upgrade ends financing in any promo credits. See T-Mobile.com. Do you hear it?
SPEAKER_04: The clock is ticking. It's time for the new season of 60 Minutes. The CBS News Sunday Night tradition is back for its 56th season with all new big name interviews, hard-hitting investigations, and epic adventures. No place. No one. No story is off limits. And you'll always learn something new. It's time for 60 Minutes. New episode airs Sunday, September 24th on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus.
SPEAKER_02: Your home is important. It's where you raise your family and your biggest financial investment. For your home improvement projects, visit iHeart.dibella.us for your roofing, siding, window, and bath renovations. In your community, there's a local Dibella team. Visit iHeart.dibella.us for your free no obligation quote. It's easy. There's no payments until 2024 on approved credit. Over 15,000 satisfied customers on Google had a five-star experience with Dibella. For your home improvement projects, check out the award-winning pros at iHeart.dibella.us, where quality begins at home.
