Abstract
Nova Scotia’s delayed introduction of a free school textbook policy until 1935 occurred without public debate – despite objections from booksellers and parental concerns about the spread of contagious diseases – and was due to three reasons: the strong opposition of Superintendent of Education Henry F. Munro, the state of the province’s economy, and the absence of advocacy on the part of lobby groups or members of the public. In the end, it was Liberal Premier Angus L. Macdonald, who, in spite of challenges, acted on a campaign promise to make textbooks free for all students in grades 1 to 8.Copyright for articles published in this journal is retained by the author(s), with Acadiensis being granted a non-exclusive licence to each and every right in the work throughout the world. After publication of the work, the author(s) shall have the right to self-archive the work and to reprint the work in whole or in part in books authored by or edited by the author(s) without the payment of any fee. In these other formats, however, the author or authors are required to acknowledge the original publication of the work in the pages of the journal. In the case of any requests to reprint the work, Acadiensis will require a standard permission fee -- to be divided equally between the journal and the author. In the event that such requests are received by the author(s), the author(s) shall direct such requests to the journal.