Mel and Norma Gabler were religious fundamentalists active in United States school textbook reform between 1961 and the 2000s based in

Longview, Texas Longview is a city in, and county seat of, Gregg County, Texas, United States. Longview is located in East Texas, where Interstate 20 and U.S. Highway system, U.S. highways U.S. Route 80, 80 and U.S. Route 259, 259 converge just north of the Sabi ...

. Norma Gabler started her foray into school book banning in 1961 when her son pointed out how the phrase "one nation under God" was missing from the Gettysburg Address, which inspired her to complain to the State Board of Education. Note that Lincoln's address supposedly contained the phrase "this nation, under God", though scholars disagree on the exact wording of the speech. Both Mel and Norma Gabler then proceeded to heavily influence which textbook were adopted by the public school curriculum in the state of Texas for the next four decades. Norma advocated against several concepts in school textbooks, including but not limited to evolution, women's liberation, and secularism, instead pushing right-wing Christian values to be adopted as the curriculum. The Gabler's campaign in many ways laid the foundation for book banning in contemporary school libraries in the United States. Melvin Nolan Freeman Gabler was born in

Katy, Texas Katy is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in the Greater Katy area, itself forming the western part of the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Homes and businesses may have Katy postal addresses without being in the City of Katy. The city ...

and died at age 89 on December 19, 2004, after suffering a brain hemorrhage two days prior. He served in the

Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and later worked for

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (from the phon ...

, a precursor of

ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...

, retiring in 1974. Norma Elizabeth Gabler () was born in Garrett, Texas on June 16, 1923, and died on July 22, 2007, from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

. The Gablers founded

Educational Research Analysts Educational Research Analysts is an organization based in Longview, Texas, United States, founded by Mel and Norma Gabler to monitor public school textbooks. The organization reviews books to locate factual errors and to promote a conservative C ...

and formally incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1973.

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