Yale to honor Noah Webster

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The announcement came in 1800 in the back of a Connecticut newspaper just above a farmer's reward for a stray cow. A man named Noah Webster was proposing the first comprehensive "dictionary of the American language."

Webster was mocked and scorned for challenging the King's English. About 60 percent of the country spoke English at the time, while others spoke German, Swedish and Dutch. Even among English speakers, regional dialects were strong.

A teacher after the Revolutionary War, Webster believed that Americans should have their own textbooks rather than rely on English books. He created a speller that taught students to read, spell and pronounce words and traveled around the country to promote the book.

His dictionary, and earlier spellers and readers widely used in schools, would help a new nation achieve unity and cultural independence at a time when most were focused on political freedom.

"He was the shaper of our language and the shaper of American identity," said Joshua Kendall, who is working on a biography about Webster. "Webster at last bonded us through our language."

Webster is the focus of a commemoration this week at Yale University to mark his 250th birthday with lectures, an exhibition of memorabilia and a visit to his grave in New Haven.

"You cannot look up a dictionary definition today and not stumble across many definitions that were written by Noah Webster," said Jill Lepore, a Harvard University professor. "His definitions are quite masterful."

Webster's speller made it easier for children to learn English by spelling words more like they sounded. The French version of words like "centre" became "center" and he dropped the British "u" in words like colour" and the redundant "k" in musick and other words.

Webster also interspersed his speller with patriotic stories about Washington and other American heroes as well as American geography. His "blue-backed speller" would go on to sell some 100 million copies by the end of the 19th century.

"Children grew up to be Americans as opposed to British subjects," said Harlow Giles Unger, who wrote a book on Webster in 1998. "I would call him the father of American education."

Webster's dictionary was so popular that he became a successful advocate for the country's first copyright laws. He also helped found Amherst College in Massachusetts and fought for a strong federal government but opposed the Bill of Rights. He also proposed that no one under 45 should vote. But to his admirers Noah Webster was a visionary who was a pioneer for everything from paving streets to helping the jobless.

"He has his finger in every pie you could imagine in the formation of modern American society as we know it," Unger said.