Mel and Norma Gabler were religious fundamentalists active in United States school textbook reform between 1961 and the 2000s based in Longview, Texas.
[1] Norma Gabler started her foray into school book banning in 1961 when her son pointed out how the phrase "one nation under God" was missing from the Gettysburg Address, which inspired her to complain to the State Board of Education.
Both Mel and Norma Gabler then proceeded to heavily influence which textbook were adopted by the public school curriculum in the state of Texas for the next four decades.
[2] Norma advocated against several concepts in school textbooks, including but not limited to evolution, women's liberation, and secularism, instead pushing right-wing Christian values to be adopted as the curriculum.
Melvin Nolan Freeman Gabler was born in Katy, Texas and died at age 89 on December 19, 2004, after suffering a brain hemorrhage two days prior.