New Book From WT Professor Covers Political Battle from the 70’s

A new book written by a professor at West Texas A&M hopes to shed light on a political battle that can be traced back to the 1970’s.

Dr. Timothy Bowman is the head of WT’s history department, and his book titled “You Will Never Be One of Us: A Teacher, a Texas Town and the Rural Roots of Radical Conservatism” was published on July 28th.

The story focuses on Wayne Woodward, a graduate of then-West Texas State University, who began teaching English at La Plata Junior High School in Hereford in 1969.

Woodward tried to start a Hereford chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union in 1975 hoping it would help protect the rights of his students and their parents, but when school administrators found out he was immediately fired.

The book discusses the fallout from the situation, and examines the inner workings of the community and their reaction.

It is available now via the University of Oklahoma Press.

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