Religious Lessons: Catholic Sisters and the Captured Schools Crisis in New Mexico

Religious Lessons tells the story of Zellers v. Huff, which challenged Catholic religious employed in public schools in 1948. The "Dixon case," as it was known nationally, was the most famous in a series of midcentury lawsuits, all targeting what opponents provocatively dubbed "captive schools." Spearheaded by Protestants and Other Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the publicity campaign built around Zellers drew oncenturies-old rhetoric of Catholic captivity to remind Americans about the threat of Catholic power in the post-War era, and the danger Catholic sisters dressed in full habits posed to American education.