McGuffey Museums in Oxford, Ohio

McGuffey in Oxford, Ohio

The early association of McGuffey with Miami University led them to collect his papers and various editions of his readers. The special collections library holds most of this material. There are finding aids are on the following link. Scroll down to McGuffey. There are several different finding aids, several with much more information than typical finding aids. http://spec.lib.muohio.edu/publications.php

A digital scan and transcription of McGuffey’s papers is available here: http://doyle.lib.muohio.edu/cdm4/mcguffey

For many years, there was a special display of McGuffey material in the library. This included the 8 sided lazy susan style desk to keep multiple tasks open at once, the way we keeps multiple windows open on our computers today. After years of service as a private home and with various university functions, the house was purchased in 1958 and has been restored to a similar condition to when the McGuffeys lived there.  The McGuffey objects previously on display in the library are now on display in the home. The house is pictured above.
http://www.units.muohio.edu/mcguffeymuseum/
The museum produces a quarterly newsletter known as The McGuffey Report Card. Unfortunately they do not offer postcards, but they have started a series of McGuffey themed Christmas tree ornaments with a new issue every year.

The McGuffey bust off the McGuffey Memorial in front of McGuffey Hall

Also, on campus, is a McGuffey statue in front of McGuffey hall. The statue consists of a bust with a smaller statue of three children reading from a McGuffey reader behind them.

Often times people say the McGuffey Readers are like those Laura read, but the biggest period of McGuffey Readers had already passed before Laura came along and she didn’t use them. In Walnut Grove she used the Watson Independent Reader and De Smet used the Swinton series (with a few other texts also required). However, according to one author, part of the McGuffey appeal was there emphasis on proper public speaking and reading aloud and that tradition was certainly alive and well in Laura’s education.

Tags: McGuffey Readers