American Black Education: Home Support (Late-19th and Early-20th Centuries)

negro education
Figure 1.-- This touching scene was photographed in 1914. It shows a black grandmother, almost certainly a former slave, we think going through thefamilt 'Bible' The book is large and has straps that close to fasten it, so we think it is probably the family 'Bible'. If so it would have had very large print. This is also where a record of the family births and deaths would have been kept. Quite a moving scene. The boy seems to be dressed for church in a knee trousers suit with black long stockings and an immaculate white shirt and tie. The family home seems to be well furnished (there is a piano in the background), and the grandmother is clearly intent on her grandson learning about the Bible or the family. Education was of course a major element in the advancement of black children at the time of World War I. This was at the time of the Great Migration with rural southern blacks moving to the northern cities. Here we are not sure if grandmother is interested in education or religion.

Schools are of course critical to the future of young people. After the Civil War and Emancipation education became widely available to blacks in large numbers for the first time. Blacks had attended schools in the Free States, but only a small percentage of black Americans lived in the northern Free States in the 19th century. The Southern dates established public school systems, but the resources were disproportionately allocated to black students. This of course affected academic achievement, but it is difficult to assess just how much of the performance gap is due to the poorly financed black schools. We suspect that an even more significant factor is the support the children received at home. As a former teacher, I know that the single most important factor in determining how well a child did at school was the home he or she came from. Committed, educated parents generally made sure that their children took education seriously. Here of course, black children were at a serious disadvantage. It is difficult to assess just how seriously the former slaves took education. There may be academic studies on this. We do know, however, that very few of the former slaves could read. This meant that most did not have the academic skills to be of much assistance to their children with their school work. And modern parents as well as children know how important this can be, especially in the early primary years. Economics was surely another factor. Parents who are hard pressed to make a living are in a less favorable position to assist their children than a more affluent family.






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Created: 10:20 PM 1/7/2011
Spell check: 2:45 AM 1/9/2011
Last updated: 12:59 AM 1/10/2011