Black Female Education after the Civil War

Progress
Black females are unlike any other group involved in the various social and political movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Black females represent two segments of society traditionally oppressed. Despite this extreme oppression, black females have found education as a means of elevating themselves and their race.

The first American college to admit a woman did so in 1833. Just fifty-nine years later, there were 198 women's colleges and 207 coeducation colleges. Women of all races were admitted into both the female and male courses. In 1887, thirty black women had earned their Bachelor of Arts degrees.

At the end of the nineteenth century, black education had reached some impressive statistics. By 1893, 25,530 colored schools existed in the United States with 1,353,352 male and female pupils. At this same time there were 22,956 black teachers. As impressive as those numbers appeared, educator, Lucy Laney, realized the work ahead when she stated "but, oh, large as this number seems, it is small when we think of the many hundreds to whom scarcely a ray of light has yet come!"

Obstacles
Just as the black community progressed, organizations formed to prohibit black equality. The Ku Klux Klan worked hard to prevent the education of blacks. Caroline Smith appeared before a Congressional investigation against the Klan. She testified:

They would not let us have schools. They went to a colored man there, whose son had been teaching school, and they took every book they had and threw them into the fire; and they said they would dare any other nigger to have a book in his house. We allowed last fall that we would have a schoolhouse in every district . . . But the Ku-Klux said they would whip every man who sent a scholar there. There is a school-house there, but not scholars.

The Ku Klux Klan was not the only device for limiting the progress of blacks. Jim Crow laws also threatened the future work of black female educators. Individuals attempting to subjugate blacks enacted laws to restrict voing, segregate schools, deny blacks entrance into theaters and restaurants, and force blacks to sit in the back of buses.

Heart and Hand
The Ku Klux Klan and Jim Crow laws were meant to denigrate blacks. Women such as Mary McLeod Bethune (pictured here with Eleanor Roosevelt), however; found that such blatant racism was a catalyst for change. Bethune was perhaps the most influential black woman in the early twentieth century. Strong influenced by Lucy Laney, Bethune continued the work of educating blacks. In the first decade of the twentieth century, Bethune founded the Daytona Educational and Industrial Institute. She found that black religious leaders were eager to assist her. Beginning with five students in 1904, enrollment increased to over three hundred by 1922.

The methods used by Bethune set a standard for black education. She believed in a "heart and hand" education. The "heart" included moral and religious education. It also involved teaching civic understanding and social skills. The "hand" aspect focused on vocational skills such as sewing and food handling. Bethune and her associates believed in a balanced education that also enabled students to successfully contribute to society.

Strength
The evolution of black equality may have seemed slow at times, but it was always progressive. From the time of emancipation, black women have worked to bring greater freedom to their people. In a speech given in 1933, Mary McLeod Bethune praised the work of her black sisters:

The true worth of a race must be measured by the character of its womanhood. As the years have gone on the Negro woman has touched the most vital fields in the civilization of today. Wherever she had contributed she has left the mark of a strong character. The education institutions she has established and directed have met the needs of her young people; her cultural development has concentrated itself into artistic presentation accepted and acclaimed by meritorious critics . . . she recognizes the importance of uplifting her people through social, civic and religious activities . . . she has made and is making history.

Black women do have a rich history. It is time for their powerful history of hope in the midst of struggle, of power during prejudice and of love in the face of hate to be recognized more widely. Education has been a pivotal strategy toward true equality for blacks. It must continue to be so.

Black Women Abolitionists/Educators (part 3)

These reformers recognized that prejudice was difficult to overcome. Lacy Laney felt racism was a result of the blacks' ignorance. She believed if black society became educated, whites would accept them. Not all abolitionists agreed with Laney. As an example; Sarah Douglass proclaimed, "in proportion as we become intellectual and respectable, so in proportion does their disgust and prejudice increase." It was her opinion that whites felt threatened by intelligent blacks. Peter Paul Simons spoke before the African Clarkson Association of New York City in April 1839. In his speech,, Simons denied education as a useful tactic to fight injustice. According to Simons, whites proclaimed education would elevate blacks, when in reality white society denied intelligent blacks high positions and forced blacks to settle for menial jobs. As a result of this view, abolitionists began to shift towards more forceful, energetic, and aggressive tactics. However, Frances Harper warned that reformers should not overlook an effective strategy:

"To teach our people how to build up a character for themselves–a character that will challenge respect in spite of opposition and prejudice; to develop their own souls, intellect and genius, and thus verify their credentials, is some of the best anit-slavery work that can be done in this country."

After the war, Frances Harper found great ambition among the freedmen. She wrote of former slaves who had prospered to the point of purchasing the estates of their former masters. The desire for education among the freedmen was overwhelming. Every city Harper visited required more teachers than were available.

Ann Plato cited Aristotle as claiming "knowledge was equal to power." Power therefore also depended on education. The National Convention of Black Leaders delcared that education would "elevate us from our present situation." It also proclaimed, "If we ever expect to see the influence of prejudice decrease, and ourselves respected, it must be by the blessings of an enlightened education." Frances Harper entreated young black women to consecrate their lives to the elevation of their race. Education was the primary tactic for the elevation of the black race. Black leaders realized the value of education in gaining respect, equality, and prosperity. The large nummber of freedmen schools indicated that other blacks agreed.

Lucy Laney saw a future for women as professors of higher education, not merely elementary teachers. She encouraged women to speak out, to give advice, and to share their knowledge. Black female abolitionists believed that an enlightened people were an elevated and free people. By 1893, 25,530 colored schools* existed in the United States. These schools served 1,353,352 pupils and 22,956 black teachers.

As impressive as those numbers appeared, Lucy Laney realized the work ahead when she stated, "but, oh, large as this number seems, it is small when we think of the many hundreds to whom scarecely a ray of light has yet come!"

Finally, these words by Charlotte Forten Grimke** show the amount of hope the freedmen exhibited in the years following emancipation:

"Let us take courage; never ceasing to work–hoping and believing that if not for us, for another generation there is a better, brighter day in store–when slavery and prejudice shall vanish before the glorious light of Liberty and Truth; when the rights of every colored man shall everywhere be acknowledged and respected, and he shall be treated as a man and a brother."

* Schools were primarily segregated until after 1954 with the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

** Charlotte Forten Grimke was born free in Philadelphia. Her grandfather was a free man who established a thriving business as a sail maker. As a young woman, she journeyed to the south immediately after the Civil War in order to establish schools. She kept a detailed journal. She later married one of the freed slaves (Frances Grimke). Charlotte and Frances became best friends to Anna Julia Cooper (who is my favorite little-known person in history).

Black Women Abolitionists/Educators (part 2)

Another way abolitionists used education to combat the slave institution and gain sympathy for the antislavery cause was the press. Literacy made freedom of the press available to black females such as Maria Stewart, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, and Mary Ann Shadd Cary.

Maria Stewart was active in the abolitionist movement in the 1830's. Her essays and articles frequently appeared in abolitionist papers including The Liberator. She also published a spiritual tract entitled, Meditations. After leaving Boston in the 1830's, Stewart became a member of one of New York's two literary socieities. Her speeches were recorded and published by various antislavery papers.

Frances Harper was well known as a poetess and author. She wrote hundreds of poems, many denouncing slavery and racism. Harper authored at least eight works of fiction, most dealing with slavery and racism. Her writings earned her tremendous respect. One chronicler of the time stated that "she is one of the colored women of whom white women may be proud and to whom the abolitionists can point and declare that a race which could show such women never ought to have been held in bondage."

Mary Ann Shadd Cary received her education at a Quaker boarding school. She became an educator and taught in Delaware, New York, and Pennsylvania. When the Fugitive Slave Act became law in 1850, she relocated to Windsor, Canada. In Canada, she edited The Provincial Freeman, a black newspaper. Cary was the first known black female editor in the world. As a writer and editor, Cary was able to use her education to promote and elevate her race. Frederick Douglass commented that regarding Cary's contributions to antislavery newspapers, he did "not know her equal among the colored ladies of the United States."

Black Women Abolitionists/Educators (part 1)

In the South, both free blacks and slaves used secular education as a strategy to undermine the slave system. An example is Milla Granson who learned to read and write from her owner's children. She used her education to open a "midnight school." Her school continued to operate because legislation declared that while it was illegal for whites to teach slaves, there was no law against slaves teaching other slaves. According to her own account, Milla graduated hundreds of slaves who could read and write.

Literacy aided in the escape of many slaves. Susie King Taylor* explained that the laws of Georgia required all blacks, free and slave, to carry passes to be permitted on the city streets. She spoke of frequently forging passes for her grandmother, a free woman. Milla Granson mentioned that of her graduates, many wrote passes for themselves and escaped to Canada.

Among the many proslavery arguments, perhaps the most degrading was the one that claimed that blacks were non-intellectual beings. Many abolitionists used education to combat this notion. One such woman was Frances J. Coppin. Coppin was born a slave in the District of Columbia and was aware of the argument that Negroes were incapable of learning. When she gained her freedom (her aunt purchased her freedom), Coppin determined "to get an education and teach [her] people." When Coppin heard that John C. Calhoun**, had stated that if a Negro could learn to conjugate verbs in Greek, he would abandon his belief in the inferiority of blacks, she decided to take his challenge. Coppin did learn to speak Greek to the point of conjugating verbs.

While Frances Coppin was teaching at the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia, a writer called on her and explained that he had a manuscript proving the subintellect of Negroes. Coppin asked Jesse Glasgow, a black child at the school, to answer any questions the author desired. After Jesse correctly answered all the questions posed, the writer decided his theories were wrong and never published the book.


* Susie King Taylor was a slave who ran away with the Union army during the Civil War. She spent the remainder of the war traveling with the troops and serving as a cook and laundress for them. She also wrote a memoir of the period entitled, "Reminiscences of My Life in Camp."

** John C. Calhoun had been a Senator from South Carolina and was the Vice President under JQ Adams and Jackson. He was an outspoken supporter of States' Rights and also furthered many of the racist proslavery arguments. Many streets and counties in the south still bare his name. It was nearly a deal-breaker on my marriage when we bought a house in one of those areas. I may dislike him more than anyone else I've studied.

She has needs, ya know...

While we were in Utah Eden became very vocal about her needs. She would say,
"I need mom."
or
"I need outside."
or
"I need cracker (or cookie, or cooker - which obviously is a cracker-cookie)"

but two of my favorites were these:

While driving from Alpine (south of SLC) to Cache Valley (north of SLC) there was a bad accident and the interstate was shut down. We had to travel on a slower highway (with everyone else) and so the trip that usually takes two hours took four. Eden was frustrated, tired, and eventually just mad. It was snowing and we were creeping along at about five miles an hour. I could only show her the cattle truck we kept passing so many times before she had just had it. Finally about a half hour from grandma's house she began to cry huge, fat, wet tears. In the middle of her sobs she repeated,
"I need grandma, I need grandma."
It was so sweet and sad.

A few days later at grandma's house (actually I think it was at aunt Heather's) we had just finished a big meal. Everyone was sitting around talking. There was a plate of my mother's hand dipped chocolates on the table. Eden walked up to the group of women sitting around talking and proclaimed,
"I need chocolate!"

It was classic.

Girlfriends and Sugar Gliders

While growing up, and even into my adulthood, I preferred my male friends' company to my female friends. These weren't "boyfriends" just fun guys. I thought that girls were often too emotional and competitive. It was fun to just hang with the guys.

I seemed to always have one or two female friends and that was it. Then I had some really great roommates in college - particularly in the 94-95 year. These girls were easy and fun and supportive. It was great! (This is a picture of the four of us at my wedding shower)

Then Charlotte and I became roommates and it was fabulous because we were both done with school and working in our professions and enjoying life. We endured the good and bad of "advanced single-ness" together. Still, I didn't really have a group of women with whom I could really enjoy the good times and mourn the bad. When Charlotte had other plans, I was pretty much alone. It was unwise of me to not branch out more.

Then one day I was talking with a work associate, "S", and she was sharing similar feelings. We decided to form a lunch group of like-women: not married, working professionals, no children. So we invited K and JK to join us and the Sugar-Gliders were born. (We called ourselves the sugar-gliders because JK told us a really funny story about an English grad student who brought a sugar glider to a staff meeting.) Eventually I decided to invite Charlotte and a couple of her Opera work associates to join our monthly luncheons. (Ironically, S never came after the first luncheon.)

These women became the cheerleaders, the shoulders to cry on, and the people with whom I could just hang. Eventually, JL and B were added too. Then Charlotte started going to T's house every week to watch American Idol. I thought that show sounded mean and like a waste of time but I was going through a rough time at work and needed something to tear me away from the 17 hour days I was working so I started to go to T's every Wednesday. B and D were there too! We all brought our own dinner and most of us brought our crocheting and it was much less about the Idol and much more about the fun, the laughs (BIG time about the laughs) and the support.

I love these women! T has moved back to TX, I'm in AL, Charlotte got married, JK moved to WA and D moved to Provo. I think the others are still getting together for lunch. We still get together when I'm in UT and there are still phone calls (thanks for the call the other night B) and emails. Although the dynamic has certainly changed, the bond is there and I so appreciate the friendship of these women. I'm glad I decided to do something about my loneliness. I'm glad I found the Sugar Glider women!

Some of our lunches -
JL, me, Char, T, K:

Me, T, JK:

B:

K, D, and Char:


Thanks Sugar Gliders!