The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935

One of the best books I've read this year.I came to it because it featured a number of subjects I am interested in: education; Reconstruction; the American Baptist Home Mission Society and their work among the Freedmen of the south after the war; Black history; Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois -- this book had it all, and more.I would call this book a historical and historiographical tour-de-force. Anderson confronts and dismantles a number of historical misconceptions regarding Black history, Black education, southern history, and in particular the features of "industrial education" as modeled by the Hampton Institute and Tuskegee. He demonstrates irrefutably that the Hampton-Tuskegee model was always intended to shape Black teachers, and through them the Black population in the south, into willing acceptance of their subordinate role in society. In particular, white Southern leaders partnered with white Northern philanthropists to push this ideology on as much of the south as they could, and found some willing Black educators willing to go along with it, like Washington. In some cases, they took over schools, pushed out teachers and principals, reorganized the board, and remade the school in their own plans, against the protests of the Black students and teachers who had been running it.Anyone interested in the Booker T. Washington vs. W.E.B. Du Bois debate over education *must* read this book. I was honestly shocked at some points at how blatantly racialized the Hampton-Tuskegee method was, and understood more than ever why Du Bois (and many others long before him) resisted and critiqued it so vehemently.Anderson's work is rooted in solid primary sources, letters, census data, educational survey data, and deep dives into the archives. The endnotes are a testament to this. The bibliography stretches to 38 pages and demonstrates the breadth and depth of scholarship in this book. Anderson is also correcting some of the standard interpretations of this subject (the education of Blacks in the South), and by my verdict he does so convincingly and exceptionally well.Highly recommended, a first-rate work of important history.

This is a masterful book, full of many insights and corrections of historical misconceptions. Its most important point: blacks in slave-holding states have always valued education, and did everything in their power to promote education of black children, even during slavery. They were responsible for the setup of public education during Reconstruction, a point others have acknowledged, but more original is Anderson's description of the remarkable sacrifices of money, labor, and time that black adults made to bring black elementary schools into being in the first third of the 20th century, even though this meant that they suffered from double taxation. That is, they paid public taxes that failed to build schools for their children but they also raised money among themselves to match Rosenwald fund grants and thereby pay yet again. Even so, Southern states refused to provide public funds for secondary education, until in some cases after World War II.Anderson covers all this with a broad span, bringing in examples from over a dozen states. Even so, this book--which could have been too dense--reads very well, since the mind-numbing facts accompany narratives from letters and reports that bring the numbers alive. Once you read this book, it's impossible to not understand what all the fuss was about concerning so-called "industrial education" (as with Booker T. Washington) or to feel admiration for Northern white philanthropists during an era that promoted "industrial education." About the only heroes of this book are members of ordinary black communities and, in some sense, the Northern missionary societies and church groups based in the black South. These pretty much ignored the Northern philanthropists' push for education that denigrated black people and instead set up a web of private schools and colleges that eventually bore fruit. These schools educated at least a few black leaders in the absence of public education and in spite of barriers set up to block such education. I read this about the same time as W. E. B. DuBois's "The Souls of Black Folk"; an excellent companion.

This book is a must read for educators everywhere, especially those who educate even one black child. So much of what we see currently is a direct reflection of what has occured in times past. This book should be one of the works triangulated in every educators professional development.

Good book! For research purpose, good for master and doctoral student in education.

I learned so much about post-civil war education from this text. I find it infuriating that this information is kept from our students in K-12. Our entire education system, such as it is, is owed to African Americans. Americans who question the notion of white privilege need to start with this text.

This book transform the way we view and look at education in terms of economic growth. Book can be used as an argument for reparations.

I found this history to be fascinating. Dr. Anderson research is meticulous. He exposes how African Americans worked to educate themselves during slavery and after, from native schools to their fight for universal education. As an educator of the inner city, I hold this history as a sign of resiliency, dedication and fortitude.Every educator should read this book in order to understand how a people so vested in education continue to struggle to achieve it.

Enjoyed this book from start to finish. I recommend this book for those craving knowledge about the beginning of education of Blacks in America.