Ellery Schempp facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ellery Schempp
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Ellery Schempp in 2012
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| Born | August 5, 1940 Philadelphia, PA
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Ellery Schempp was born on August 5, 1940. He is an American physicist. He became famous for a very important case in 1963. This case was called Abington School District v. Schempp. The United States Supreme Court decided that public schools could not make students read the Bible. This was a big change for schools across the country.
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Ellery Schempp's Early Life and Education
Ellery Schempp was born in Philadelphia. He grew up in a town called Abington Township. He went to Abington High School and finished in 1958.
After high school, he went to Tufts University. There, he studied physics and geology. Later, in 1967, he earned his Ph.D. in physics from Brown University.
Ellery Schempp is now retired. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts. A professor named Stephen D. Solomon wrote a book about him. The book is called Ellery’s Protest: How One Young Man Defied Tradition and Sparked the Battle over School Prayer.
Ellery's Fight for Religious Freedom
On November 26, 1956, Ellery Schempp did something brave. His school made students read 10 Bible passages and the Lord's Prayer every day. This happened during homeroom.
Ellery brought a copy of the Qur'an to school. He read from it instead of the Bible. For this, he was sent to the principal's office.
With help from his father, Edward Schempp, they decided to sue the school. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) also helped them. They wanted to stop the school's rule about mandatory Bible readings.
Ellery and his younger siblings, Roger and Donna, kept fighting this rule. They were Unitarian Universalists. This is a religion that believes in many different paths to truth.
The case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court. In 1963, the Supreme Court decided in favor of the Schempps. This was five years after Ellery had graduated from high school.
This decision was very important. It set a rule that public schools cannot force students to take part in religious activities. This rule has been used in many other cases about religion in public schools.
Ellery Schempp's Beliefs and Activism
Ellery Schempp considers himself an atheist. This means he does not believe in a god. However, he supports Unitarian Universalist groups.
He is also a strong supporter of the ACLU. He believes in the separation of church and state. This means the government and schools should not favor one religion over others.
Ellery often speaks at meetings for Unitarian Universalists and secular humanists. He talks about his famous protest. He also discusses the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
He is a member of several groups. These include the American Humanist Association and the Freedom from Religion Foundation. He also belongs to Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.
In 1996, he received the Religious Liberty Award. This award was from Americans United. He also advises the Secular Student Alliance.
In 2002, Ellery Schempp was honored. He was chosen for Abington Senior High School's hall of fame. This was for his achievements in physics. He joked that when he left in 1958, it wasn't clear the school wanted to see him again.
Ellery Schempp's Work in Physics
Ellery Schempp's Ph.D. paper was about "Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance in Nitrogen Heterocycles." This work was important. It helped lead to the development of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI is a way to see inside the human body using magnets. He worked on MRI for much of his career.
See also
In Spanish: Ellery Schempp para niños
