ABFFE Book Review: Ellery's Protest by Stephen D. Solomon

Book Review by Audrey Eisman

Ellery Frank Schempp was a straight-A student in the Abington High School, a new school in suburban Philadelphia.  He was enrolled in all of the advanced college preparatory classes offered in his 11^th grade class. 

At Abington, each school day began with a compulsory reading of ten verses from the King James Version of the Protestant Bible, followed by a recitation of the Lord’s Prayer.  The Schempp family was Protestant, but they were more liberal in their beliefs, and Ellery determined that these readings and recitations were a violation of his rights to religious freedom, as guaranteed in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  The year was 1956, and Ellery was 16 years of age when he decided to take action against these compulsory readings, by bringing a dangerous weapon to his classroom – The Koran.  This was Ellery’s protest, and his first step on his journey to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Abington School District v. Schempp began in our nation’s courts that year, and Ellery’s case was finally heard by the Supreme Court in 1963. The Supreme Court voted in his favor, but the conservative backlash to that decision continues to this day. 

Mr. Solomon has written a compelling book that details Ellery’s battle, the community responses to his actions, and his role in the struggle for religious freedom in the classroom.   It is a fine account of important litigation, and gives us a fascinating picture of Ellery and his family.

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