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The Simplified Spelling Board was an American organization created in 1906 to
reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...
the
spelling Spelling is a set of conventions for written language regarding how graphemes should correspond to the sounds of spoken language. Spelling is one of the elements of orthography, and highly standardized spelling is a prescriptive element. Spelli ...
of the
English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...
, making it simpler and easier to learn, and eliminating many of what were considered to be its inconsistencies. The board operated until 1920, the year after the death of its founding benefactor, who had come to criticize the progress and approach of the organization.


Founding

The Simplified Spelling Board was announced on March 11, 1906, with
Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...
funding the organization, to be headquartered in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' noted that Carnegie was convinced that "English might be made the world language of the future" and an influence leading to universal peace, but that this role was obstructed by its "contradictory and difficult spelling". Carnegie committed $15,000 per year for five years to initiate the organization. Then he provided $25,000 a year and recruited advocates."New York May Not Follow.; Mr. Draper Doesn't Believe in Telling People How to Spell"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', August 25, 1906. Accessed November 8, 2022.
The initial 30 members of the Board consisted of authors, professors, and dictionary editors, among them Supreme Court Justice David Josiah Brewer, President Nicholas Murray Butler of
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
, Melvil Dewey (inventor of the Dewey Decimal Classification), Isaac K. Funk (editor of ''The Standard Dictionary''), former
United States Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
Lyman J. Gage, United States Commissioner of Education William Torrey Harris (and editor-in-chief of the 1909 ''
Webster's New International Dictionary ''Webster's Dictionary'' is any of the US English language dictionaries edited in the early 19th century by Noah Webster (1758–1843), a US lexicographer, as well as numerous related or unrelated dictionaries that have adopted the Webster's n ...
''), publishing magnate Henry Holt, professor Calvin Thomas, and author
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...
."Carnegie Assaults The Spelling Book; To Pay the Cost of Reforming English Orthography. Campaign About To Begin Board Named, with Headquarters Here – Local Societies Throughout the Country."
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', March 12, 1906. Accessed August 28, 2008.
Offices were obtained at the Metropolitan Life Building at 1
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, and
Brander Matthews James Brander Matthews (February 21, 1852 – March 31, 1929) was an American academic, writer and literary critic. He was the first full-time professor of dramatic literature at Columbia University in New York and played a significant role in est ...
was selected as the board's chairman. Charles E. Sprague of the Union Dime Savings Institution, the board's first treasurer, noted that the group was careful to keep the word "reform" out of its name and gave the word "believe" as an example of a word that would benefit from elimination of its unneeded "i", stating that "If believe were spelled 'beleve', I think it would be a good change." On March 13, 1906, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' editorialized in support of the Simplified Spelling Board's efforts, noting that 90% of English words are "fairly well spelled", but that "a vast improvement could be effected by reducing to some sort of regularity the much-used tenth that makes most of the trouble". An editorial in the following day's edition noted that opponents of the board's efforts had suggested that the language be kept as is, only taught better, but that the members of the board would respect the language's history in its improvement efforts without hiding or distorting it.
Brander Matthews James Brander Matthews (February 21, 1852 – March 31, 1929) was an American academic, writer and literary critic. He was the first full-time professor of dramatic literature at Columbia University in New York and played a significant role in est ...
, the board's chairman, emphasized that the board's primary mission in simplifying the language was to eliminate unneeded letters, noting that " mplification by omission – this is its platform; this is its motto". Isaac Funk wrote to ''The Times'' on March 20, 1906, emphasizing that the board's first aim was "a conservatively progressive evolution, aiming chiefly at the dropping of silent letters", accelerating a process that had been going on for centuries. This would be followed by the use of a phonetic alphabet developed by the
American Philological Association The Society for Classical Studies (SCS), formerly known as the American Philological Association (APA), is a non-profit North American scholarly organization devoted to all aspects of Greek and Roman civilization founded in 1869. It is the pree ...
and including the 40 basic sounds used in English. Phonetics would be taught to children in nursery school or kindergarten.


First 300 words

The board's initial list of 300 words was published on April 1, 1906. Much of the list included words ending with -ed changed to end -t ("addressed", "caressed", "missed", "possessed" and "wished", becoming "addresst", "carest", "mist", "possest" and "wisht", respectively). Other changes included removal of silent letters ("catalogue" to "catalog"), changing -re endings to -er ("calibre" and "sabre" to "caliber" and "saber"), changing "ough" to "o" to represent the long vowel sound in the new words altho, tho and thoro, and changes to represent the "z" sound with that letter, where "s" had been used ("brasen" and "surprise" becoming " brazen" and " surprize"). Digraphs would also be eliminated, with the board promoting such spellings as "anemia", "anesthesia", "archeology", "encyclopedia" and "orthopedic". The board noted that the majority of the words in their list were already preferred by three current dictionaries: Webster's (more than half), the Century (60%) and the Standard (two-thirds). In June 1906, the board prepared a list of the 300 words designed for teachers, lecturers and writers, which was sent out upon request. In June 1906, the
New York City Board of Education The Panel for Educational Policy of the Department of Education of the City School District of the City of New York, abbreviated as the Panel for Educational Policy and also known as the New York City Board of Education, is the governing body of ...
received a report from the Board of Superintendents recommending adoption of the 300-word list, and would pass on the recommendation to the Committee on Studies and Textbooks for approval. In August 1906,
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
had supported the plan, signing an executive order at his home in
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, mandating the use of reformed spelling in his official communications and messages to Congress. Prof. Matthews stated that he had received no advance notice of the President's order and had been taken by surprise when it was issued. Roosevelt tried to force the federal government to adopt the system, sending an order to the Public Printer to use the system in all public federal documents. The order was obeyed; among the many documents printed using the system was the President's special message regarding the
Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...
.Pringle 465–7 ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' noted that the New York State Commissioner of Education thought the state would not support the board's proposal as "he did not believe that the State educational department should tell the people how they must spell". By August 1906, the board reported that over 5,000 individuals had pledged to use the words on the initial list, with another 500 to 600 agreeing to use some of the words, but objecting to others. The press on both sides of the Atlantic had a field day with the "reform spelling crusade", and editorials and cartoons abounded. The Louisville Courier-Journal published an article which stated: "Nuthing escapes Mr. Rucevelt. No subject is tu hi fr him to takl, nor tu lo for him to notis. He makes tretis without the consent of the Senit." The Baltimore Sun joked: "How will he spell his own name? Will he make it 'Rusevelt' or will he get down to the fact and spell it ' Butt-in-sky'?" One editorial summed it up this way: "This is 2 mutch." Overseas, while the
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
press viciously mocked the executive order, the board received a significant spike in interest in the word list following Roosevelt's edict. In response to mounting criticism from British newspapers, the board announced the additions of James Murray, the Scottish lexicographer and primary editor of the ''
Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...
'', along with Joseph Wright, an
Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
professor of comparative philology and editor of the '' English Dialect Dictionary''. Combined with the earlier naming of Walter William Skeat, editor of the ''Etymological English Dictionary'', the board could claim it had the three top English language dictionaries from both the United States and United Kingdom on its side."President Surprised Even Simple Spellers; Prof. Brander Matthews Didn't Expect Executive Aid. Lexicographers In Line Editors of Leading Dictionaries Here and in England Favor the Proposed Reform"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', August 28, 1906. Accessed August 28, 2008.
The Supreme Court entered the fray and directed that its opinions should be printed in the old style. Finally, Congress had the last word when Representative Charles B. Landis of Indiana, Chairman of the House Committee on Printing, introduced a resolution on December 13, 1906: "Resolved, That it is the sense of the House that hereafter in the printing of House documents or other publications used by law or ordered by Congress, or either branch thereof, or emanating from any executive department or bureau of the Government, the House printer should observe and adhere to the standard of orthography prescribed in generally accepted dictionaries of the English language." The motion passed unanimously. The President let the Public Printer and the Nation know that the old style was reinstated. Roosevelt ultimately decided to rescind the order. Brander Matthews, a friend of Roosevelt and one of the chief advocates of the reform as chairman of the Simplified Spelling Board, remonstrated with him for abandoning the effort. Roosevelt replied on December 16, 1906: "I could not by fighting have kept the new spelling in, and it was evidently worse than useless to go into an undignified contest when I was beaten. Do you know that the one word as to which I thought the new spelling was wrong – thru – was more responsible than anything else for our discomfiture?" Next summer Roosevelt was watching a naval review when a press boat marked "Pres Bot" chugged ostentatiously by. The President waved and laughed with delight.


Carnegie's dissatisfaction

Carnegie, the founding and major benefactor of the board, disagreed with its chosen approach of prescribing recommended changes. Rather, he believed that the board would be more productive by encouraging grass-roots changes. His beliefs are contained in a statement given to an editor of ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'': "Amended spellings can only be submitted for general acceptance. It is the people who decide what is to be adopted or rejected."Anderson, George B
"The Forgotten Crusader: Andrew Carnegie and the simplified spelling movement"
''Journal of the Simplified Spelling Society'', vol. 26, no. 2, 1999, pp. 11–15. Accessed November 14, 2010.
For their part, some members of the board believed that Carnegie was too meddlesome in its business. Signs of a break with the board were apparent as early as January 1915. Carnegie received a letter from Matthews, which included a list of daily newspapers that had adopted the reformed spellings. Carnegie was not impressed. In reply, Carnegie wrote, "Please note, not one Eastern paper. I see no change in New York and I am getting very tired indeed, of sinking twenty-five thousand dollars a year for nothing here in the East."Carnegie, Andrew. "My views about Improved Spelling 1906–1915", Columbia University, Brander Matthews' Manuscript Collection, p. 893. Carnegie was further irritated to learn that his own trusts' annual financial reports were seen to be taking "a step backwards in reference to spelling." One month later, in February 1915, Carnegie penned a letter to Holt, the president of the board. In this letter, he wrote that "A more useless body of men never came into association, judging from the effects they produce. ..Instead of taking twelve words and urging their adoption, they undertook radical changes from the start and these they can never make ...." Using spelling that demonstrated his own continuing attachment to certain reforms, Carnegie added, "I think I hav been patient long enuf ... I hav much better use for twenty thousand dollars a year."


Dissolution

It was always a condition that Carnegie's dollars had to be matched by results, and at his death in August 1919, his will contained no provision for the Simplified Spelling Board. Without that source of funds (a total of $283,000 over the 14 years), the board's operations ceased in 1920, the year it had published its ''Handbook of Simplified Spelling''.


''Handbook of Simplified Spelling''

In 1920, the SSB published a ''Handbook of Simplified Spelling'', which was written wholly in reformed spelling.''Handbook of Simplified Spelling''
Simplified Spelling Board, 1920.
Part 1 is a brief outline of the history of English spelling and the attempts to reform it up until 1920. Part 2 presents the arguments in favor of reform and replies to the objections that are commonly made. Part 3 contains the SSB's proposed rules for simplified spelling and a list of the words that would be changed by them. The handbook repeated and explained the SSB's plan of "gradual" rather than "sudden" reform. It noted that previous spelling changes had come into use gradually—"so gradually, in fact, that at all times (as today) ther hav been, and ar, many words speld in more than one way on equal authority of good usage". It also noted that most reformed spellings that had come into general use were originally the overt act of a lone writer, who was followed at first by a small minority. Thus, it encouraged people to "point the way" and "set the example" by using the reformed spellings whenever they can. The handbook used and set forth the following rules: The handbook also suggested the following spelling changes, which are not covered by the above rules: .


See also

* Clarence G. Child * Simplified Spelling Society * Spelling Reform 1 (SR1) * Traditional Spelling Revised


References

{{Reflist


Further reading

*Zimmerman, Jonathan. "Simplified Spelling and the Cult of Efficiency in the 'Progressiv' Era." ''Journal of the Gilded Age & Progressive Era'' (2010) 9#3 pp. 365-394 *Pringle, Henry F. ''Theodore Roosevelt'' (1932; 2nd ed. 1956), full scholarly biography.
''Handbook of Simplified Spelling''
Simplified Spelling Board, 1920. Organizations established in 1906 Organizations based in New York City Andrew Carnegie 1906 establishments in New York (state) English-language spelling reform advocates