Social studies is a unique subject because it has the potential to bring about significant social change. Social studies educators can serve as change agents because they are in a position to design the nature of the social studies taught in the schools. A case study of the historical context through which social studies evolved in the United States illustrates this thesis. Over the past 70 years, U.S. social studies educators have evolved an American notion of social studies as distinct from the separate subjects of history and geography. That unique notion is based primarily upon the characteristics of the society that educators experienced in the early 1900's, summed up in the perception that the quality of urban life was condemning generations of American citizens to lives that were not consistent with the American dream. Educators believed that public schools should be places where future citizens would learn to improve the quality of their lives. Social studies educators identified four citizenship skills which are currently encapsulated in the National Council for the Social Studies guidelines: acquiring knowledge about the human condition; processing information; valuing; and knowing how to participate. Thus, if U.S. society changes in its character or modifies its structure, social studies educators must interpret those changes and modify the curriculum accordingly. (RM)