The Apple: The More You Know
America's public school symbol has roots that grew out of exploitation
The Smithsonian Magazine traces how apples became the universal symbol for education in our country. In early America, families often fed and housed teachers because schools couldn’t (or wouldn’t) pay them. It wasn’t a token of charm; it was a form of payment for essential labor. The apple became a quiet protest wrapped in gratitude, a symbol of how deeply public educators have always been under-compensated yet incredibly valued.
But this history doesn’t exist in a vacuum. The so-called “frontier” where teachers worked for room, board, and apples was itself a project of colonization: Indigenous lands taken, communities and people often completely obliterated, new towns built, and teachers deployed to “civilize” in the name of progress.
The apple, then, carries a double truth. It honors the persistence of teachers who kept schools alive despite poverty, and it reminds us that public education’s roots are tangled with both exploitation and expansion. But it lives as a symbol of mutual aid between the undervalued worker and the communities they not only educate, but also live in.
While the origin story and current day are separated by hundreds of years, much has remained the same. Perhaps we are finally upon a time where we can reimagine what the apple means to us. It will always undoubtedly serve as a reminder of the heartbeat of public education: nourish the mind, nourish the body, nourish the soul.
