Back to School – Let’s Remember -
Education: The Backbone of Change
Slaveowners were fully aware that their control of slaves must go beyond physical coercion. Knowledge was power, and virtually all slave codes established in the United States set restrictions making it illegal to teach slaves to read or write.
This statute, passed by the state of North Carolina (1830–1831), was typical:
“…any free person, who shall hereafter teach, or attempt to teach, any slave within the State to read or write, the use of figures excepted, or shall give or sell to such slave or slaves any books or pamphlets, shall be liable to indictment in any court of record…”
Many abolitionists, however, disagreed with this way of thinking.
In 1750, Anthony Benezet, a Quaker, opened the first free school for blacks in Philadelphia. In 1770, Benezet founded the Negro School at Philadelphia for black children. After the state abolished slavery, Philadelphia’s free black community began to flourish.
The first boarding school for black girls, Saint Francis Academy of Rome in Baltimore, Md., opened its doors in 1829. It was established by Mother Mary Lange and the Oblate Sisters of Providence, a group of French-educated black nuns. It was a popular school, attracting young women from across the country.
After becoming coed in 1865, its name changed to Saint Francis Academy.
Witnessing several violent race riots throughout the city in the last years of philanthropist Richard Humphreys’ life may have convinced him that education was the key to black progress in Philadelphia. Whatever his motivation, Humphreys’ $10,000 bequest helped to establish the Quaker-controlled African Institute. By the time it opened in 1840, the school had been renamed the Institute for Colored Youth.
The establishment of the institute, the first higher education institution for blacks, was intimately connected to the black struggle for social freedom and economic opportunity in early nineteenth-century Philadelphia. Operated by the Quaker Board of Managers, its faculty consisted entirely of African-Americans. Both boys’ and girls’ high schools existed, as well as a preparatory school.
Mary Smith Kesick Peake, a free woman of color, was the first teacher for freed slaves. Supported by the American Missionary Association, she was appointed to teach the children of Fort Monroe, Va., and in 1861, opened a school in Hampton, Va. This marked the beginning of the general education of blacks in the South.
Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) opened in 1854, and Wilberforce University (Ohio), in 1856. In the early years, part of their mission was to provide elementary and secondary schooling for students with no previous education. It was not until the early 1900s that Historically Black Colleges and Universities offered degreed programs at the postsecondary level.
In 1869, Howard University opened the country's first black law school; in 1876 Meharry Medical College became the first black medical school; Spelman College became the first college for black women in 1881, and Booker T. Washington found the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama that same year. George Washington Carver began his academic career there in 1896.
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