Harold O. Rugg was one of a small group of leaders of the Progressive Education Movement centered at Teachers College, Columbia University, and a leader among the Social Frontier group that emerged in the 1930s to argue that schools should play a stronger role in helping to reconstruct the society. He was the author of an innovative and best selling series of social studies textbooks which ultimately came under attack from "patriotic" and business groups in the prelude to the United States involvement in World War II. The story of his rise and fall encapsulates a significant and central story in the history of American education. The Rugg story reveals a great deal about the direction of schooling in American life, the many alternative roads not taken, and possibilities for the future. This article focuses primarily on the examination and discussion of Rugg's social studies ideas. Revisiting Rugg's vision will underline several of the main themes of his work and highlight the fact that Rugg was instrumental, a seminal thinker in the world of social studies theory and practice. A full understanding requires a brief examination of the origins of his ideas, his developing theory, his critique of the standard practices in schools, the key principles and explicit rationale under-girding his social science program, and the controversy he inspired. (Contains 89 notes.)