Abstract
In 1962, the Florida State Department of Education introduced Americanism vs. Communism (AvC), a mandatory statewide anticommunist course and the only such program in the United States to endure for three decades. Its longevity demands explanation. This thesis examines Florida’s anticommunist curriculum reforms between 1945 and 1965, situating AvC within the political, social, and ideological transformations of the early Cold War South. Drawing on theories of collective memory and curriculum as hegemonic power, it treats civic education as a mechanism through which state leaders defined national identity and managed perceived ideological threats.Using archival materials from the Florida Department of Education, the Florida Bar Association, and gubernatorial papers, this study analyzes the political origins, intellectual foundations, and historical silences embedded within the AvC curriculum. Although presented as a course in “critical analysis,” AvC advanced American exceptionalism through selective history, logical fallacies, and the conflation of cultural values with political loyalty.
At the same time, Florida’s approach differed from that of more hardline Southern states. Leaders such as Governor C. Farris Bryant and Superintendent Thomas D. Bailey pursued a moderate, bureaucratic anticommunism that relied on professional expertise rather than overt repression. This study demonstrates how AvC reflected a broader political realignment in Florida, revealing curriculum’s role in mediating ideological conflict during a period of economic growth, demographic change, and partisan transition