ENTERING
PLEASANTVILLE, IA.
HOME OF 1,023 FRIENDLY PEOPLE
AND FEW KNUCKLEHEADS
The highway sign's last line is no longer a gag in Pleasantville, a farm center near Des Moines, where friendly people now call one another Communists or John Birchers, 19 of the town's 34 teachers have quit, and replacements cannot be found to teach 700 children.
Among the key opponents in this town-splitting controversy are School Superintendent Fred C. Nus and Housewife Elberta Gilderbloom, a former teacher whom Nus once turned down for a job. Mrs. Gilderbloom ran for the school board, won, and last fall helped elect two ultraconservative members, including one...
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