The Education of Black Children in the Jim Crow South
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Griot: Russell Brooker, PhD
Copy Editors: Adekola Adedapo and Fran Kaplan, EdD
Photo Editor: Fran Kaplan, EdD
Education is the key to economic success. It is true now, and it was true in the Jim Crow South. Southern education was not very good – even for white children. But education for blacks in the South in the early 1900s was worse in many ways.
Why Education for African American Children Was Inferior
- Southern schools were racially segregated. Blacks and whites had to attend different schools. The separate school systems were not equal. Schools for white children received more public money.
- Fewer African Americans were enrolled in school. Black children were often pulled out school because they were needed on the farm. Many of their parents were sharecroppers. To plant and harvest enough crops, sharecroppers’ children had to work alongside their parents.
- Even if they weren't needed on the farm, the white owner of their farm might pull black children out if he decided they were needed for work. Or he might simply believe that African American children did not deserve an education.
- There were not as many public schools available for blacks. If a town did not have enough money for two separate schools, they built only one school – for white children. This was especially true in the rural towns, because most rural towns had little money.
- City school systems had more money than rural ones. However, at that time in the South, most African Americans lived in rural areas, on farms. On the other hand, many white children lived in cities and could attend well-funded city schools. In rural areas, schools for both black and white children were scheduled around the cotton growing season. These schools were open fewer days than city schools. As a result, many black children went to school only two or three months out of the year.
- Among the African Americans who did attend school, most were in the fourth grade or lower. Many left school after fourth grade. Therefore it would be a long time before there would be a large number of blacks going to college.
The Conditions in the Schools Where Black Children Studied
- Many school buildings for African Americans had leaking roofs, sagging floors, and windows without glass. They ranged from untidy to positively filthy, according to a study issued in 1917.
- If black children had any books at all, they were hand-me-downs from white schools.
- Black schools were overcrowded, with too many students per teacher. More black schools than white had only one teacher to handle students from toddlers to 8th graders. Black schools were more likely to have all grades together in one room.
- There were not enough desks for the over-crowded classrooms.
- Black teachers did not receive as much training as white teachers. On top of that, the salary for black teachers was so low that it was hard to find fully qualified ones.
- There were limits on what blacks could be taught in school. White school leaders did not want black children to be exposed to ideas like equality and freedom. Carter G. Woodson told how some black children in Southern schools were not allowed to use books that included the Declaration of Independence or the U. S. Constitution. These documents state that government should get its power from the consent of the governed. Reading them would confirm for African Americans that they were being denied the rights due to all citizens of the United States.
The One Bright Light
Fortunately, some schools for black children were built with money sent by Northern foundations. The Rosenwald Foundation was most important of these. It gave over four million dollars to help build nearly 5,000 black schools throughout the South. These schools were built with the health and comfort of the children and teachers in mind. Thousands of African American children received a good education in the Rosenwald Schools.
Russell G. Brooker, PhD, is Professor of Political Science at Alverno College, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He teaches courses in political science, and research methodology. He has taught courses in African American history, Jim Crow, and the Civil Rights Movement since 1981. He is currently writing a book on the civil rights movement before 1954.
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This website is so well put together and very easy to read. I am a college student doing a research paper on Jim Crow laws and I am shocked and appalled by the information I have discovered on the subject. The pervasiveness of this era on the lives of Southern African Americans is astounding. Thank you for your enlightenment on the subject for those who were not there to witness its events in history and I pray that these gross and unfortunate injustices will NEVER repeat themselves.
[…] https://www.abhmuseum.org/2012/09/education-for-blacks-in-the-jim-crow-south/ […]
I’m a student currently learning about Segregation in the South, and I decided to do some more research on this subject (to help my grade, and understand more on the topic for future reference). I liked this website- it’s easy, interesting, descriptive, and neat. I am very shocked with this information, as I do agree with the previous comment- I do hope the history will never repeat its unfortunate self. But thank you, for a really informative website.
We are impressed with the quality of your writing as a middle school student and your decision to research this subject further. Hope you got the good grade you were looking for and that you will visit again in future and explore other exhibits. Thank you so much for your extensive comment and appreciation for the museum.
This website helped me and my group get some ideas of how the black Children were treated I can’t believe that happened. I just wanted to thank you for helping us do some research on are project XD
P.S ….. Thanks a lot :)
Taryn, Thanks for your comments. We are glad to be of help. You are to be commended for researching this subject.
very helpful for my research paper
This website was very clear and easy to read, also the pictures that went along with the articles were excellent. I am currently doing a project on segregation and I really wanted to get more information about the schools during segregation, and this website helped me a lot. Thank you(:
awesome
I loved that this website gave me some good info. It really helped me with a project I had.
Ready good site and article. You provided a brief overview on the subject of educating African Americans in the 1900’s. I am writing annotated bibliographies for my cultural diversity class and found the information posted here very interesting as well as helpful.
I would like to note that this article is extremely biased. I feel it’s difficult to present the other side, but might I ask you do, Dr. Fray? It would make for a better exhibit.
Dear Middle School Researcher, I’m interested to know what in this article you find biased, what you believe is “the other side” of this exhibit’s topic, what facts you know to be untrue and what sources you base your claim upon. It’s difficult to respond without these specifics, but if you provide them, I can ask the scholar-griot who curated this exhibit to correct any misinformation. Thanks.
Very helpful when learning about “To Kill a Mockingbird” loved it
We are learning about “To Kill a Mockingbird” right now! We are reading it right now and we are at chapter 21, they are in court with Tom Robinson… Anyways, yes, this website is very helpful when learning TKMB.
Your amazing.. :*
i am happy this information came in handy for a mini-project i have in my final year. i am happy you guys made this reliable, there will no need to plagiarize if information is easily available outside the traditional textbook library.
i hate the jim crow laws
woo cool
I grew up in the jim crow south and I can say that this article is not biased! I went to school in the late 50’s and early 60’s and at that time the black children walked to school and we whites rode a bus. whites had a different room for each grade and one teacher for each grade ,whereas the black children had all grades in one room and one teacher for all!!
thank you for this information .. it has greatly helped in my research project on the great deppressi0on and seggregation … i hope whoever may read this has a nice day :)
This helped with my school project so thank you for this website it helped me out a lot.
This is helping me with my project
black should be allowed to do what white children can do, and teachers should not be allowed to hit or HURT the black and white I HAVE A DREAM………..
XD
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I would like to know what year this article was published to use as a reference in a book I’m writing. Thank you.
Sept. 11, 2012
Good stuff
Thank you-this will help tremendously on a report I’m doing.
I think think this was helpful for my social project
Thank you so much for putting this article up it is extremely helpful for my essay I’m writing about . And In no way is it okay to treat a black person so poorly because their DIFFERENT!!!! BEING DIFFERENT IS WHAT MAKES THIS WORLD SO SPECIAL!!!!!
Thank you so much for putting this article up it is extremely helpful for my essay I’m writing about . And In no way is it okay to treat a black person so poorly because their DIFFERENT!!!! BEING DIFFERENT IS WHAT MAKES THIS WORLD SO AWESOME!!!
Hello! I think this whole website is amazing. I’m learning a lot more detailed stuff than I’ve known before.
Out of curiosity, what year was this article created?
This exhibit was posted on 9/11/12.
Wow! Thank you!! This helped me so much on my research paper. This has some great information.
this website really helped me write my paper. i got a lot of good facts off on this website. This website helped me and my group get some ideas of how the black Children were treated I can’t believe that happened. I just wanted to thank you for helping us do some research on are project. :)
This website is good
I love the website so better information on where you got this information would be nice for citing purposes.
WoW! thank you, I love this website!!!
I have been researching the Rosenwald schools as part of the background for my trilogy “Crimes of a Guilty Land” and I came across your site. You are to be commended for the content and quality. And what a blessing to see so many young people leaving comments!
Well done. Brooke Stewart
This website really helped me, I am writing this short story in english about south america during the Jim Crow laws, and this website really helped me, Thank you :)
This is one of the most helpful websites for discrimination, ect. I used it for three different projects! Just please add more information for bibliographies:/ Thank You for saving me hours of research! <3
TKaM research project this is helpful
i througholy enjoyed this website, as well as the book TKaM
Really good stuff. Writing about schools in class, the information is great.
Hi, I am doing a research paper about segregation in the 1930’s. This website was amazingly helpful. Thank you SO MUCH! Just one thing I was wondering if you could possibly send me or put on your website the citation for this article Thanks if you could that would be really helpful.
Brooker, Russell. The Education of Black Children in the Jim Crow South, published September 11, 2012 at https://www.abhmuseum.org/2012/09/education-for-blacks-in-the-jim-crow-south/
I’m trying to do a citation in MLA format. What is the publication date of this website?
Brooker, Russell. The Education of Black Children in the Jim Crow South, published September 11, 2012 at https://www.abhmuseum.org/2012/09/education-for-blacks-in-the-jim-crow-south/
Have you read Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry? I’m using this site for my project on that book.
These are so many good facts that will be in my paper for my project. Also I like how the facts are like explained and note plain. Thank you for all the information.
I was writing a paper on racial issues in the 30’s as seen in To Kill A Mockingbird and this site came in really helpful! Thank you!
good
How do I cite this source in APA format for my college research paper?
Information very informative and helpful; however, do you know of any research on schools self-built by African-Americans prior to the Washington & Rosenwald initiative. I ask because I am currently working on a project about a segregated school located in a rural community in southwest GA. The school is still standing and it is apparent that it was built & erected by unskilled labor (based on materials & construction). As I work on this project it is very difficult to obtain literature on schools built by African-Americans for African-Americans during Reconstruction & Jim Crow eras…this would illustrate the concept of self-help & self-determination, including education reform which I think is missing from the narrative when there is so much research on the Washington & Rosenwald school initiative. Any insight you can provide would be appreciated. Thanks.
It’s quite likely that at no point in the post-apartheid era has there been more urgent and decisive action taken to address inequalities related to basic water and sanitary infrastructure than at present in the education system.
Kevin Nelson || irainbow.co.za
I am doing a project on Jim Crows Laws and the Education of blacks. This website amazing- it is very clear to understand, amazing facts, very discrictive, and very interesting! This website is one of my favorite websites for this subject. I have been to many websites for this one topic. I only used this website and I got a B+ ! Thank you so much for this amazing website!
this was a wonderful website and really put together well. I really appreciated all the small touches. also I was in a really terrible mood trying to do my history paper to distract myself as well as get it in on time tonight but when I was reading the comment on this website I felt so much better. it was so sweet that dr Fran responded peoples comments so nicely but one comment just made me laugh so hard. the guy goes “I hate the Jim Crow laws” like obviously I could not stop laughing and I really hope that’s not insensitive but its just so out of the blue. anyway thanks for putting me in a better mood!:)
these comments are all fake, i mean look at the names, “middle school student” “english honor student” and they are all saying how great this article is and how much it has helped them. its all fabricated
like yours?
Roasted and toasted.
It was simple, straightforward and not overwhelming.
This article was amazing! Before I read it, my life was full of confusion and turmoil. Now it has been revived to even greater potential! In fact, I used this article for my Jim Crow project and my teacher was so blown away that I skipped through Highschool and now have a full ride at Duke University! Thanks so much!
This website helped me and my partner so much with our slide show, we have to present this to a different class. Love the website.