Tracing the history of algebra within the U.S. secondary curriculum requires at the same time a review of the various reform movements relevant to secondary education, an acknowledgement of the sociological, political, and psychological perspectives driving these reforms, and most importantly, the perceived role of mathematics in the education of the junior high and high school populations. Making algebra more relevant and developing greater understanding, as is currently being urged, is not a new curriculum concept. What will differ is the learning theory used to achieve understanding. The development of these ideas is carefully traced through the recommendations of influential committees, text materials, and the writings of psychological theorists, all considered in relation to other events of their times. The paper concludes, "just as in the past, skills and structural understanding are the goals of the current curriculum movement. The traditional algebra curriculum works for routine and repetitive problems but not for the development of free and creative thinking so fundamental to mathematical modeling and problem solving. It is the technological advances which will perhaps give us the motivation to stress both conceptual knowledge as well as technical facility in routine skills..." (Author/MNS)