In this historical study, the author reexamines the relationship and role of social efficiency and scientific curriculum making in the early years of the social studies (1916-1929). The author argues that historians have applied the term "social efficiency" too bluntly to label and ultimately dismiss a variety of educational reformers in the social studies, many of whom offered promising reform agendas. A closer look at scientific curriculum making in the social studies reveals that the movement was not inherently anti-academic, or anti-intellectual--critiques historians commonly associate with the social efficiency and scientific curriculum making--but rather an attempt to update the curriculum to be consistent with its own stated goals.