Abeka’s roots go back to the 1925 Scopes Trial, which pitted evolutionary science and expert academic knowledge against local control and religious dogma. After the trial, which produced reams of journalistic mockery of conservative religion, prominent fundamentalists like Bob Jones Sr. decided that America needed a new kind of educational institution, one free from the influence of mainstream academic expertise. He founded Bob Jones College in Florida (now Bob Jones University in South Carolina) to provide white conservative Christians with a “fighting base.”
Bob Jones University succeeded in many ways. By the 1960s, Jones called it the “World’s Most Unusual University,” holding on to its segregationist origins and fiercely refusing to work even with other conservative evangelical allies. Yet to some of its alumni, Bob Jones University was not conservative enough.
Arlin and Rebeka Horton graduated from BJU in 1951. By 1954, they had founded their own school in Pensacola, Fla., eventually expanding to include Pensacola Christian College. In 1972, the Hortons accused the leadership of Bob Jones University of surrendering to “progressive” trends in education. The Hortons thought that the leaders of BJU had adopted too many secular ideas, such as focusing on child-centered teaching. They started their own textbook publishing company — originally A Beka Books, from a combination of their first names — to offer a more conservative alternative. At first, they purchased the copyrights for older, out-of-print textbooks and added biblical quotations and patriotic clip-art to the margins.
The Hortons were not the only ones who wanted more radically conservative textbooks. During the late 1970s, a network of white-dominated private religious schools grew rapidly. These schools promised to maintain prayer and traditional teaching. Most importantly, they promised a refuge from court-ordered desegregation efforts. These schools needed textbooks that would teach the lessons that parents who opposed such measures wanted their children to learn.
In response, Abeka expanded its publishing efforts. The company eventually published original textbooks in every subject, for every grade. The goal was to provide an alternative kind of curriculum, one that—in the words of one Abeka leader in 1979—would teach students to cherish the Bible, “master the three R’s,” maintain a healthy “respect for authority,” and develop “pride in America.”