Florida State University Libraries
Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations
The Graduate School
2010
The Race to Educate: African American
Resistance to Educational Segregation in
Kentucky, 1865-1910
Tashia Levanga Bradley
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THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
THE RACE TO EDUCATE: AFRICAN AMERICAN RESISTANCE TO
EDUCATIONAL SEGREGATION IN KENTUCKY, 1865-1910
By
TASHIA LEVANGA BRADLEY
A Dissertation submitted to the
Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
Degree Awarded:
Spring Semester, 2010
Copyright © 2010
Tashia Levanga Bradley
All Rights Reserved
The members of the committee approve the dissertation of Tashia Levanga Bradley defended on
February 3, 2010.
__________________________________________
Jeffrey Milligan
Professor Co-Directing Dissertation
__________________________________________
Victoria-Maria MacDonald
Professor Co-Directing Dissertation
__________________________________________
Alejandro Gallard
University Representative
__________________________________________
Lora Cohen-Vogel
Committee Member
Approved:
____________________________________________
Patrice Iatarola, Chair, Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members.
ii
I dedicated this to my parents Mr. Conrad Archibald and Ms. Leah Smith Bradley, my sister Tara
Bradley and all those who paved the way.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to acknowledge my parents and sister for all of their support and help along the way.
I would like to thank Mark Blaweiss, Gordon E. Michalson of New College of Florida for their
support and allowing me to pursue this endeavor. I would like to acknowledge Vickie Oldham,
Muriel Braithwaite, Pearl Smith, Camille LaFleur, Adriela and Jonathan Allen, the SARASOTA
Chapter of the NAACP, Dr. Willie and Sandra Holley, Dr. Ed James, Elzie McCord, Andrew
and Symader Baskin, Janice Blythe, Felicia and Dwayne Mack, Althea Webb, Sherilyn Poole,
Valarie Rand, bell hooks, Bryant Smith, Zephia Bryant, Mr. Shannon Wilson of the Berea
Archives, Thomas Owens of the University of Louisville Archives, Kentucky Historical Society,
Deborah Thompson (Dissertation Divas), Christian Motley, Enchanta Jackson, Dee Sanders,
Christopher Perkins, Amanda “Revolution” Lucas, Jimmy Pastrano, and my outstanding
committee- Dr Jeffrey Milligan, Dr. Lora Cohen Vogel, and Dr. Alejandro Gallard.
I finally want to share my deepest gratitude to my Directing Professor and committee member
Dr. Victoria-Maria MacDonald who took me through the backwoods of Florida, the Archives at
the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was my cheerleader when I didn’t believe in myself.
This is also dedicated to the students at Berea College and my colleagues who pushed me to
finish and believed I would complete this document.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract
vii
Introduction
1
1. HOW FREE?
1.1 Establishing a Culture of Educational Segregation
1.2 Early Educational History of Kentucky
1.3 Blacks and Schooling Prior to the Civil War
23
33
36
39
2. A THEORETICAL APPROACH TO RESISTANCE
2.1 A Theoretical Framework of Oppression
2.1 Maintaining a System of Oppression
2.3 Unraveling the Pedagogy of the Oppressed
46
51
54
57
3. BLACK RESISTANCE TO DECLINING OPPORTUNITY FOR EQUAL SCHOOLING IN
KENTUCKY
62
3.1 Educational Opportunity for Some
66
3.2 Out of One Many... Reverend Henry Adams, Elisha Green, and the State
Convention of Colored Baptists in Kentucky
69
3.3 Isaac E. Black
72
3.4 Kentucky State Colored Teacher’s Association
73
3.5 Alma Mater: From Interracial to an all-White Institution
76
4. STRATEGIES OFRESISTANCE: LETTER WRITING, FUNDRAISING, AND BUILDING
83
4.1 State Normal School for Colored Persons
85
4.2 Resistance as a Response to Segregation at Berea College
89
5. CONCLUSION: RACISM, PATERNALISM, OPPRESSION AND DETERMINATION AS
ELEMENTS OF SCHOOLING FOR BLACKS IN KENTUCKY
104
REFERENCES
116
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
129
v
ABSTRACT
The Race to Educate is an exploration of Black resistance to educational segregation in
Kentucky, 1865-1910. Set in Kentucky, this dissertation examines the ways in which Blacks
struggled to address and mitigate the impact of U.S. segregation, especially as it related to
education. Through the experiences of Blacks who resisted efforts to undermine their freedom,
this dissertation challenges presumptions that segregation was an effort that Blacks did not try to
address in its earliest forms. Additionally, this dissertation identifies individuals who participated
in these efforts and investigates the relationship between oppression and segregation. Finally,
this dissertation identifies such results of resistance as Kentucky State University and Lincoln
Institute. The Race to Educate challenges the reader to recognize Blacks as active, engaged, and
significant participants in their educational journey and thus their quest for freedom
vi
INTRODUCTION
In 1996, Kentuckians went to the polls to vote on the removal of the State’s
Constitutional provision that banned racially integrated education. About two-thirds of the total
electorate voted for removal of this provision, almost forty-two years after Brown vs. Board of
Education.1 The provision which was invalidated by Brown vs. Board of Education served as a
grim reminder of Kentucky’s segregated educational past. Segregation was not unique to
Kentucky; in fact segregation was the law of the land throughout the United States for over sixty
years. During this unique period in American history, Blacks did their best to gain equality
despite the circumstances. It proved to be a monumental task to live as full and free in the age of
segregation. Almost fifty years after the successful ending of educational segregation in
Kentucky, Kentuckians symbolically returned to the polls to once again make history by
removing this mark on the past. The events leading up to that historical moment forever changed
the path of Black equality and the educational experience of Kentuckians.
When the Civil War ended in 1865, four million plus Blacks across the country finally
had access to a freedom they had never experienced in this country. The rebuilding of the U.S.
after the Civil War proved to be a tedious and monumental effort. Restoration of the country,
particularly the South, included the inclusion of Blacks as free participants. During
Reconstruction, Blacks eagerly established opportunities for themselves to become full
participants and citizens through politics, land ownership, and education. Prior to their freedom,
the formerly enslaved ascertained the value of education when they risked grave punishments to
access literacy. As a result of their status as enslaved, Blacks were provided such basic needs as
food, clothing, and shelter, but higher order needs such as relationships, and literacy were
regulated by laws and social norms. In their new world of freedom they were no longer the
“ward” of their masters or the state, but expected to enter citizenship as whole and intact people.
In this new life, Blacks attempted to enter with optimism and determination. Many saw their
1
“No More White Racism in America?,” Journal of Blacks in Higher Education 45 (Autumn 2004): 18.
1
efforts as future vindication for their maltreatment as chattel. What better way to prove their
capacity as full humans then through schooling.
Blacks had earned their freedom and even gained footing with their participation in U.S.
civic and political life, but Blacks did not immediately enter U.S. society as full and equal
citizens. U.S. citizenship was provided to Blacks in 1868 by the 14th Amendment. Establishing
Black citizenship did not instantaneously eradicate perceptions of Blacks as inferior and subhuman. The lingering beliefs about Black inferiority continued even as Blacks embraced daily
life and leadership. Regardless of the ways Blacks represented themselves in American society,
there was an element of white supremacy that dominated. This effort of white supremacy was not
only violent, but transcended through everyday experiences from individuals who now had to
compete with Blacks for labor and resources. Coupled with these new challenges and negative
attitudes, whites were both able to uplift and oppress. Despite this reality, Blacks continued to
engage the notion of equality by working for literacy. As innocent as the role of education or
schooling is considered, schooling is political. In this case, prior to 1865, schooling was not
publicly accessible for the masses, Black or white. Schooling had been reserved for a certain
class of white men and later white women. Schooling would be used as a tool for achieving
equality by Blacks. As the zenith of the Reconstruction period declined, white efforts shifted.
The support that Black educational efforts garnered had receded by the 1880’s. The South and its
ideologies were strengthened. The return to overt paternalistic hegemony by white southerners
and northern philanthropists challenged the way of life Blacks had slowly established during
Reconstruction. The dominating forces created and slowly implemented segregation. Like a
display of dominoes, the structures that Blacks assisted in creating struggled and later tumbled.
This dissertation will show that these structures included schools and educational
institutions. The created structures withstood their (attempted) dismantling, but the spirit of these
and future organizations changed drastically. Blacks’ positions as interlopers or as foreigners in a
different land gained momentum during this segregation period. As the momentum gained, some
Blacks did their best to stop and then usurp the process of segregation. This dissertation seeks to
add to this history of U.S. segregation by illuminating philosophical and historical successes that
challenged, slowed the process, and eradicated segregation. The content of this dissertation
communicates the ways in which Blacks used resistance to engage the segregation process. This
concept goes beyond the traditional understanding of resistance as merely violent acts and
2
includes such elements of self determination and hope. Resistance is an effort that shapes the
revolution; and it is revolution that shifts relationships between the oppressed and the oppressor.
Schooling was a tool of both the resistor and the resisted. For the educational resistor, their goals
included creating, shaping, and re-appropriating education as an effort of resistance.
This dissertation also grapples with the duality of identity; the public self of Blacks
provided a level of comfort for whites, and the private self challenged and responded to the
inequities. This behavior of duality is a form of double-consciousness and was a tool for
resistance.2 One thing Blacks learned in their quest for equality was how and when to present the
appropriate identity. In the cases discussed in this dissertation, the resistance efforts were not
fringe activities. They were front and center, far removed from images of the antebellum slave or
the stereotype of the shifting and nervous Black man illuminated during segregation. The
resistors of educational segregation were close enough to recognize the oppression imbedded in
the system and thus attempt to overthrow it. Probably the most compelling is the intimacy that
resistors of educational segregation had with the system. In addition to being products of the
system, they were also members, serving as teachers, principals, trustees, and fundraisers. They
had an important knowledge that could be used to eradicate the system or to replicate the system.
The challenge is not to judge their efforts, but to record them as we analyze the race to
educate. In the end, because schools are cultural transmitters, one must inquire what types of
information was being transmitted in these schools for Blacks.3 Were these schools used as a recreation of the hierarchy of oppression, teaching the 3R’s- Reading, ‘Riting, and Racism or were
they able to assist resistors in transcending racism to transmit a new cultural norm?
Background:
At the close of 2007, U.S. public school systems still reported glaring academic
achievement gaps across different racial groups.4 The educational landscape has always been
troubling for various groups, not because of ability, but because of access, resources, and
sustainability. The African American educational experience continues to provide a dichotomy
2
Dubois, W.E.B., The Souls of Black Folks: Essays and Sketches (Chicago: McClurg & Co., 1907).
Signithia Fordham, Blacked Out Dilemmas of Race, Identity, and Success at Capital High (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1996), 16.
4
Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Minorities (National Center for Educational Statistics,
2007), http://nces.ed.gov/pubSearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2007039 accessed on December 29, 2009.
3
3
that represents success and failure. African Americans have historically obtained literacy in
various ways, both legally and in many cases illegally. Until the emancipation of enslaved
Blacks, their education in the U.S. was not a priority. In fact, educating Blacks was considered to
have grave consequences. Therefore the schooling of Blacks in most cases was a covert
operation.
Educational opportunity for Blacks was restricted prior to the Civil War, not
because Blacks lacked desire, but laws and social norms ensured limits. Despite the seriousness
of antebellum slavery and its control of Black life, literacy was viewed as an important element
of Black liberation and a means to equality. Blacks successfully obtained education in significant
ways after their emancipation. Interestingly, the efforts for Black education helped to
revolutionize educational opportunity for whites. As educational opportunities for Blacks
increased, education for whites shifted dramatically. Educational access for the masses gained
momentum in the South. Educational opportunity for Blacks encouraged economic and social
growth in its earliest forms after emancipation. This prosperity threatened the social structure
which was based upon the perception of Black inferiority. Post Civil War, the accessibility of
education was immensely greater for Blacks and poor whites. However a remarkable set of
circumstances remained. Although Blacks had an abundance of schools in comparison to their
earlier experience, they now had the challenge of maintaining, growing, and sustaining these
institutions and their participation over time.
The research establishes that Blacks were active participants in their educational
experience. They were active in advocating, establishing, and maintaining educational
opportunities.5 Despite these efforts, Blacks could not prevent the full implementation of
segregation. Segregation changed the momentum for experiencing equality in all aspects of life,
especially in the area of education. Unlike before where economic class and social standing
determined the level of participation in education, regardless of economic means and class,
Blacks were regulated to experience life as second-class citizens.
When Blacks were emancipated they entered into a world where equality with whites
seemed possible. However a gradual change obstructed any vision of equality, the efforts to
establish and grow schools were modified. As a result of these changes in attitude and policy,
5
James Anderson, The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 1988).
4
Blacks began challenging the impending segregation. This dissertation is about their challenges
to segregation prior to its full implementation. Fittingly, researchers have illuminated the
struggle to end segregation, but greater attention needs to be paid to Black responses in the early
movements towards segregation. One response that Blacks exhibited to segregation was
resistance. Blacks used the act of resistance to slow the process, challenge the process, and to
create new outcomes. Throughout this dissertation, I have presented several examples of how
Blacks responded to these acts of hegemony. Additionally, this dissertation pays special attention
to not only who resisted and why, but how these efforts seemingly competed and how that
shaped outcomes. The findings establish that their resistance was not only in regards to equality
with whites, but more profoundly about self-determination and in some instances the opportunity
to revolutionize the system.
At the core of this dissertation is the question, how did African Americans respond to
segregation? In particular, how did they respond in Kentucky and what did those responses mean
in a national context? Undoubtedly, the efforts of Black Kentuckians are little known, but when
unraveled, emphasizes the valuable understanding of race relations, educational opportunity, and
resistance in the post-bellum South. Blacks were integral partners in their success, using
education as a tool for their future. The U.S. educational landscape has been just as complicated
as it is had been exclusionary.
Before the Civil War, the variations in schooling for African Americans depended upon
their social status-free or enslaved. After the Civil War, the education of African Americans
began to evolve into both private and public schooling options. The shape of schooling for
Blacks after the Civil War included race/ethnic-specific and interracial/mixed schools in
occasional settings.6 Even beyond the students the interracial experience also included teachers,
administrators, funding sources and the classroom, in a few cases. This dissertation will also
analyze the nature of interracial education and its effect on segregation.
6
William Preston Vaughn, Schools for All, The Blacks & Public Education in the South, 1865-1877, (Lexington:
The University Press of Kentucky, 1974), xvi.
5
Literature Review:
Perhaps one of the most comprehensive summaries of Black educational experiences is
James Anderson’s, Black Education in the South (1988). His work provides a framework in this
dissertation for the process and strategies of Blacks in acquiring education by illuminating the
accomplishments and challenges of education for Blacks. Although it has shortcomings in
regards to its regional scope and its specificity, the book does provide an extensive educational
history of African Americans. More specifically Anderson’s writings provide opportunity for
critical examination of issues of access, finance, and support of Black educational institutions.
Anderson’s research informs understanding of the desire of African Americans to access
education after the Civil War and the limitations they faced. Thus Anderson provides evidence
for the argument that African Americans were not passively involved in their education, but,
were instead active in building their institutions.
A History of Negro Education in the South by Henry Bullock (1967), which is the
precursor to Anderson’s writings, also provides examples of African American involvement and
specifies the nature of education for Blacks. Written in 1967, it is a more specific history of
African Americans in education, but limited in its critical analysis of race relations. The major
points of this book record the sheer determination of Blacks to succeed in education and
facilitate understanding that education was not only for the present, but its connection to African
Americans’ future. He connects these early institutions for Negroes as the foundation for today’s
Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Bullock’s observations also offer a deeper
understanding of the connection amongst the slave codes, Black codes, and segregation. These
systems of oppression were articulated barriers to the education of African-Americans, and were
the forces that led to movements against and for integration.
Schools for All, The Blacks & Public Education in the South, 1865-1877 by William
Preston Vaughn (1974), contributes to my overview of education for Blacks, through the
addition of the public school dimension of schooling. In this book, Vaughn is systematic in
organizing how southern state legislatures developed educational policy. In addition, Vaughn
captures the underlying question of how African-Americans responded to the different
possibilities of equal, mixed, and/or separate schooling after the Civil War. Unlike other writings
which seem to focus more on the private schooling funded by the American Missionary Society
6
and other philanthropic funds, readers are reminded that there were dual possibilities for
schooling – public and private. The dual possibilities were not available to all, public schools in
many areas lagged in resources, while some areas barely had access to private schooling
provided by philanthropic organizations. In the midst of this clash over providing education,
there were more than enough African Americans who wanted either kind of education and
supported both.
Vaughn’s book illuminates that African Americans were interested in educational
opportunities before and after the Civil War. How African Americans were able to access
schooling differed according to region. Just as African Americans’ educational experience in the
North varied, so did their educational experience in the South. The disparity in experience was a
result of several origins, some based deeply in racism, economics, and access. The Southern
educational disparities when juxtaposed against northern states’ educational disparities are
observable. One area where the variation in education of African Americans was evidenced is
the Southern Appalachian region. Southern Appalachia is comprised of several parts of various
states including Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Kentucky. The Appalachian region was
comprised of both free and enslaved Blacks prior to the Civil War. To complicate matters, the
Southern Appalachian region historically contained some of the highest levels of poverty in the
United States. The politics of the region ranged from staunch abolitionist to pro-slavery factions.
The complexity of the region’s demographics established Southern Appalachia as a unique area.
For example, according to Barksdale Hamlett’s History of Education in Kentucky the means for
supporting public schools in the Commonwealth of Kentucky was legally established in 1838.7
In 1838, Kentucky was a predominately rural experience. These geographic demographics
converged to create interesting examples of schooling.
During the Antebellum era, the almost non-existent schooling experience of African
Americans in Appalachia was similar to other parts of the South. However, there is evidence that
the free population in most areas was interested in and laid the foundation for future schooling.
Robert P. Stuckert’s “Free Black Populations of the Southern Appalachian Mountains: 1860,”
informs the reader that out of the 11,179 Blacks living in Kentucky in 1860, 1,297 were free.
Numbers varied from state to state, but within each state their Black populations contributed to
7
Barksdale Hamlett, History of Education in Kentucky (Frankfort: Kentucky Department of Education, 1914), 7.
7
the fabric of the community. The free population was important in facilitating the formation of
life for Blacks after the Civil War.
Kentucky is the backdrop for this dissertation, not only because it provides remarkable
evidence for ascertaining resistance efforts of Blacks, but because it has unique instances of
interracial educational cooperation. In The History of Blacks in Kentucky Volumes I and II, by
Marion Brunson Lucas and George C. Wright (1992), the African American experiences in
Kentucky are highlighted as beginning before slavery. Their book presents specific events,
practices, and incidents surrounding African Americans living in Kentucky. The writing not only
examines general life for African American Kentuckians, but illuminates their desire to develop
a system of public schools. Furthermore, Volume I, introduces the U.S. Freedmen’s Bureau,
American Missionary Association, and other benevolent societies into Kentucky’s educational
history while simultaneously exploring the rise of schooling before and after the Civil War.
As African Americans organized for their future, southerners were also re-organizing and
re-establishing themselves for the New South. Unfortunately, they were revisiting their earlier
divisive ways. “The General Character and Extent of Separate Schools: The Origin and
Development of the Negro Separate School” by Ellis O. Knox (1947), describes the evolution of
separate schools for Blacks and Whites. It supports the basic tenets that schooling in the South,
including states of the Southern Appalachian region, was socially and legally influenced. The
article also sets the stage for the examination of the role of the Freedmen’s Bureau and other
Union forces in the development of separate schools for African Americans within Kentucky and
other southern states.
Appalachians and Race (2001) is a compilation of articles about race relations in
Appalachia edited by John Inscoe. These articles expound upon the racial composition of the
region in early Appalachian history and records examples of interactions between Blacks and
whites. One chapter in particular, “Slavery and Anti-Slavery in Appalachia” describes how the
Kentucky resident, white abolitionist Rev. John G. Fee established Berea College. This
institution was founded as a tuition-free school for both Appalachian whites and Blacks prior to
the Civil War. Berea College served as a point of resistance against social norms by encouraging
interracial education. 8 The Berea College experiment was instrumental in providing the
8
Richard Drake, “Slavery and Anti-Slavery in Appalachia” in Appalachians and Race: The Mountain South from
Slavery to Segregation, editor John C. Inscoe (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2001), 17-26.
8
formative training and education for Blacks in Kentucky, many of whom participated in efforts
to resist educational segregation.
In “Experiment in Interracial Education at Berea College, 1858-1908” by Paul David
Nelson (1974), the rise of Berea College and the institution’s segregation by the 1904 Day Law
is depicted. Through this Kentucky state law, Senator Carl Day successfully eradicated Berea
College’s interracial mission. For nearly fifty years, the law made it “unlawful for any person,
corporation or association of persons to maintain or operate any college, school, or institution
where persons of the White and Negro races are both received as pupils for instruction.”9 This
article is significant for this dissertation because it illuminates Blacks concerns of betrayal by
then Berea College President Frost, and various responses to Berea College’s Day Law
submission. One such response was the development of the Lincoln Institute for Blacks, formed
by Berea College fundraising and some members of the African American community.
The local Berea newspaper, the Berea Citizen, provides articles that supported the
hypothesis that African Americans resisted the dismissal of African Americans from Berea
College, after the Day Law (1904). The forms of resistance that the Berea Citizen reported
included letters to the newspaper and reports of “colored” public meetings. One report described
“a praise meeting for the progress made by President and Mrs. Frost toward the raising of the
$400,000 found for the colored school…attended by over 300 ‘colored’ people.”10 These
examples highlight the complexity of Black resistance to educational segregation in Kentucky.
African American resistance to the Day Law also is documented in the Berea Archives
through personal letters to then Berea College President Frost, and other documents from alumni
voicing their disappointment in the decision. One letter with over fifty signatures, indicated to be
from “colored” persons, outlines the principles of Berea College and why the segregation of the
institution was against its purpose. Other documents found in the Berea Archives confirm the
level of activity African Americans were engaged in as they responded to the impending
segregation of Berea College.
In Fifty Years of Segregation: Black Higher Education in Kentucky, 1904-1954, John A.
Hardin (1997), highlights that as a result of the Day Law’s efforts to segregate any school in
9
Andrew Baskin, “Berea College: A Commitment to Interracial Education within a Christian Context,”
Minorities and Evangelical Christian Colleges (Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 1991), 323.
10
“Colored Praise Meeting,” Berea Citizen, March 19, 1908. Vertical Files: Day Law II, 1902-1905, Berea College
Archives, Berea, KY.
9
Kentucky, Berea College assisted in developing Lincoln Institute for Blacks. However, African
Americans were not always supportive of the development of this institution that was meant to
serve as an alternative to the segregated Berea College. Some African Americans still
disappointed with the segregation of Berea College, resisted the efforts of Berea College officials
and Lincoln Institute supporters by not supporting it financially in its developmental stage.
Hardin describes the resistance fundraisers met in Black communities through walk-outs,
refusals to contribute funds, and ambivalence to the efforts.
The literature also provides other examples of these efforts of resistance. This is
particularly true for efforts found in the state of Kentucky. The University of Louisville Archives
Library is another resource that provides specific primary documents. The research found
outlines concerning the role of African American religious institutions such as the Louisville
Fifth Street Baptist Church (1842) educational activities. These records are inclusive of church
minutes and church calendars. The church historically was not only a spiritual and social
network, it served as a political organization. The information gathered provides the foundation
for understanding that churches were an intricate aspect of resistance to educational segregation
in Kentucky.
Secondly, the efforts of resistance that researchers articulate generally relate to Berea
College. To identify other Black resistance efforts I visited the archives at the Kentucky
Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives,
and University of Louisville. The purpose of this archival research was to establish the role of
churches, social organizations, and Black newspapers in facilitating efforts to resist educational
segregation. The Kentucky Colored State Teachers’ Association (Kentucky Negro Educational
Association) Journals, some of which are on-line at the Kentucky Virtual Library, allude to the
association’s activities. One such activity involves the association’s participation in the
development of today’s state-supported Kentucky State University.
Other documents that added to this research include the “Proceedings of the State
Colored Educational Convention” (1877), Papers of the Office of the President 1896-1986 of
Kentucky State University, and Fouse Family Papers in the Kentuckiana Digital Library.
Additionally, other resources that I explored include Black newspapers such as The AfroAmerican Spokesman, The Negro Citizen, The American Baptist, and Louisville Defender. All of
these documents offer Black perspectives and thus enhance this dissertation.
10
The social, economic, and political conditions that facilitated school segregation were
widely debated. The introduction and examination of these conditions will add to scholars’
understanding of African American roles in the development of educational segregation. This
dissertation seeks to document the struggles and resistance efforts of Black Kentuckians against
educational segregation, 1865-1910. The period of 1865-1910 captures three important
experiences in American and Black histories: emancipation, reconstruction, and segregation.
Research Question:
Scholars agree that during the period after the Civil War to the end of Reconstruction,
Blacks made gains in schooling.11 In examining the scholarship, African American activists,
school records, newspaper articles, and other documents, the evidence suggests that African
Americans responded to the impending segregation by creating new arrangements that continued
access for Blacks to education.
My research questions were sparked by the commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of
Brown vs. Board of Education. As we revisited the value of desegregation/integration, I
wondered what the original impetus to segregation was, and also wondered in what ways African
Americans responded to educational segregation. This question presumed two things, African
Americans wanted schooling, and that they perceived education as a means for equality. The
most pressing answers to my presumptions were found in the history of Berea College. Although
Berea College serves as a great example, it is only one example in Kentucky and has received
prior scholarly attention. Therefore, I have chosen to broaden the research area and explore the
state of Kentucky’s relationship of Black resistance to educational segregation, thus forming my
research questions.
Through my dissertation I seek to answer the following questions: How did African
Americans in Kentucky, 1865-1910, respond to educational segregation? What were the nature
and the results of their activities? And lastly, how did perceptions of race affect or deter the
possibility of equality through education?
11
David Tyack and Robert Lowe, “The Constitutional Moment: Reconstruction and Black Education in the South,”
American Journal of Education 94, no. 2 (February 1986): 236-256.
11
Methodology:
I have chosen the state of Kentucky as the unique backdrop for illuminating African
Americans resistance efforts to educational segregation, because of the activities of Blacks
during the period of 1865-1910 in the state. Through exploration of the materials of various
archives, I synthesized the information to identify efforts of resistance by Blacks. Next,
information that presented names, dates, and reports of activity helped to point to new
information. Through this process I was able to identify instances that corroborated Black
resistance to educational segregation. Sifting through this information illuminated many names
and examples, but I chose information relevant to the period of 1865-1910, Kentucky State
Colored Teachers’ Association, Berea College, Lincoln Institute, and Kentucky State University.
To establish the scope of African American resistance efforts in education, this
dissertation first asserts that the issue of public education for Blacks was a complex point for the
Kentucky government. Blacks, while simultaneously assisted by benevolent and missionary
organizations, were engaged in developing schools. The state’s initial contribution to education
for Blacks was almost non-existent, because “state legislators took the position that Blacks were
to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.”12 Secondly, Kentucky legislative policy did not
fully provide for white public schools until 1866, one year after the ending of the Civil War.
These KY state legislative and subsequent decisions created public schools for Blacks and
specified funding policy for these schools. However in 1868, the several KY state laws were
repealed and the taxes collected for Black schools, called the Black Tax, also were designated to
support paupers. Funds remaining after supporting the paupers then could be spent for Black
schools. As a result of this unfair distribution of taxes, some Blacks evaded taxes and many felt
cheated.13
It is the purpose of this dissertation to illuminate such circumstances and other examples
of African American Kentuckians’ resistance to educational segregation, through the review of
both primary and secondary sources. Utilizing the research gathered in archives, personal
collections, manuscripts, newspapers, and meeting proceedings, this dissertation employs various
theories to research and highlight information, including Revisionist Studies and Critical Race
12
Marion B. Lucas, A History of Blacks in Kentucky Volume I, (Kentucky: The Kentucky Historical Society, 1992),
232.
13
Ibid,, 231.
12
Theory. The re-examination of Kentucky school segregation activities from the perspective of
Blacks, who showed resistance to the process, provides new narratives from which to understand
this history. The first approach, Revisionism is based upon “cultural revisionist” Lawrence
Cremin and Bernard Bailyn’s philosophies; who in the late 1950’s and 1960’s described the
present through past historical knowledge. Within this historical movement, scholars began
asking questions about “the relationship of democracy to education, the role of schooling in
reproducing social class, and to some extent, the struggles of people of color over access to
schooling.”14 This framework encourages further examination of Kentucky’s African American
resistance in educational segregation.
Although some scholars like Diane Ravitch have dismissed Revisionist Studies, it is one
approach that attempts to accentuate the responsibilities of the historian to record all voices, as
difficult as that may be.15 In addition, revisionist history methods try “to recover and develop the
history of minorities,” sometimes illuminating the “patronizing or racist attitudes of white
historians of a period.”16 For this dissertation, I used this approach to ensure that the master
narrative includes the Black voice as center to further understanding the dynamics of educational
segregation in Kentucky, 1865-1910.
This dissertation begins with the question of how were Blacks involved in the process to
segregate schools after the period of Reconstruction. Initially, internal complications arose
regarding which term to use, “responded” or “resisted” to characterize Blacks’ reactions, but I
chose the latter term. Resistance behavior by Blacks has been consistently illuminated through
slave narratives, Black abolitionist biographies, court cases and other examples; in essence the
concept of resistance is at the heart of the Black freedom struggle. Resistance encompasses the
mode of Black behavior that rejects oppression from the white supremacist power structure,
whether one is pro-Black, liberal, or conservative.
Throughout the southern region of the U.S., Blacks made decisions regarding how to
shape their entry into life as a free people. Did freedom mean equality, or was education a means
for the facilitation for this equality? If so then there must have been some type of response to the
process when states began to shift from a spirit of reconstruction to segregation. I choose to use
14
Ruben Donato and Marvin Lazerson, “New Directions in American Educational History: Problems and
Prospects”, Educational Researcher 29, no. 8 (2000): 5.
15
Diane Ravitch, The Revisionists Revised. A Critique of the Radical Attack on the Schools (New York: Basic Books, 1978).
16
Anthony Brundage, Going to the Sources: A Guide to Historical Research and Writing (Illinois: Harlan Davidson,
Inc., 1997), 7.
13
the state of Kentucky as the laboratory for this discussion, because of three important factors:
Kentucky was a border state that later entered the Union, had interracial school(s), and
Kentucky’s establishment of schooling for Blacks prior to 1875.17 These characteristics are as
equally challenging as they are exciting. For example, since Kentucky remained in the Union
during the Civil War, they were not subjected to the same process of Federal Reconstruction as
their neighbor Tennessee had been. Equality within the state was not only a question for Blacks,
but also the Appalachians or mountain people who were often considered other (than white).18
All these variables within Kentucky educational history have intersected to provide location for
this inquiry.
Because the issue of resistance to educational segregation in Kentucky is complex, this
dissertation also employs methodology from Critical Race Theory (CRT). In the edited Critical
Race Theory: The Cutting Edge (2000), Richard Delgado summarizes the conception of CRT as
a result of Alan Freeman and Derrick Bell’s early work in the legal field. In an effort to provide
new approaches to facilitate “understanding of the more subtle, but just as deeply entrenched,
varieties of racism that characterized our times,” CRT was birthed.19 From their vantage point
they developed the theory because they felt that the civil rights movement of the 1960’s had
stalled, and that other gains were being rolled back.
CRT is applicable to the present, but also provides a lens for which to view the period
after the Civil War. The views of the theory assert many philosophies; first that “racism is
normal, not aberrant, in American society.”20 African Americans in Kentucky were up against
notions of their place in the social structure as a result of their new status as free. Racism, which
contributed to formalized inequality, impacted the decision to segregate schools and how
resources were distributed. Along with the other research frameworks, CRT is useful to this
dissertation in answering the research question concerning how perceptions of race affect or
deter the possibility of equality through education, because this framework assumes race is
central to the experience of Americans. For example using this theory lends exploration of why
African Americans pursued education in Kentucky early educational history, to solely better
17
The year 1875 signifies the shifts in the Black and white racial relations as signified by the Civil Rights Act of
1875.
18
William H. Turner, “Blacks in Appalachian America: Reflections on Biracial Education and Unionism,”
Phylon, XLIV, no.3 (1983).
19
Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic (eds.), The Cutting Edge Critical Race Theory: The Cutting Edge
(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000), xvi.
20
Ibid.
14
themselves or did they see it as a means to becoming equals to their white peers? Even in states
with conflicting views on slavery, the Black race, and universal education, hindsight provides
that racism was a part of the process and policymaking.
CRT challenges racial oppression and the status quo by “sometimes taking the form of
storytelling in which writers analyze the myths, presuppositions, and received wisdoms that
make up the common culture about race and invariably render Blacks and other minorities, onedown.”21 The transition of Blacks from the state of being enslaved to freedom is recorded by
historians as a period of prosperity with special recognition of white and northern
philanthropists’ roles. Authors and history-makers have been guilty of recording Blacks as “lazy,
shiftless, criminal, and hyper-sexual” or excluding them altogether from the narrative. A good
example of this troublesome narrative is the depiction of African Americans in the 1915 movie
“Birth of a Nation.”22 Thus by employing the spirit of CRT, I became hyper-aware of
perceptions that may be illuminated in the materials as truth, as opposed to stereotypes.
Additionally, progress that Blacks made during Reconstruction ended, rather abruptly.
According to C. Vann Woodward, progress ended because white supremacist sentiments were
coupled with the actions of the “redeemers” who (re-) gained office after the departure of the
Federal government in the South.23 Critical Race Theory, as interpreted by Derrick Bell offers an
explanation for this drastic change, “white elites tolerate or encourage racial advances for Blacks
only when such advances promote white self-interest.”24 In Kentucky, one example that seems to
support this assertion is again found in the interracial mission of Berea College, which changes
to a segregated institution under the Day Law and Berea College President Frost. To hold true to
John G. Fee’s mission of interracial education seemed to become less lucrative, as funding
sources shifted their attention from the needs of Blacks to white Appalachian students.25 The
ending of slavery altered the course of U.S. politics, educational policy, and race relations. The
years of 1865-1910, hosted new opportunities and setbacks for African Americans in relation to
social equality.
21
Ibid.
22
J. Hoberman, “Lightning, Camera, Action: As the Birth of a Nation Turns 90, Its Racism Is out of Bounds, but Its More
Enduring Impact Can Be Seen Just by Turning on the Television,” The American Prospect 16 (June 2005).
23
C. Vann Woodward, The Burden of Southern History, (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1993), 13.
Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic (eds.), Critical Race Theory: The Cutting Edge (Philadelphia: Temple
University Press, 2000), xvii.
25
Andrew Baskin, “Berea College: A Commitment to Interracial Education within a Christian Context,” from D.
John Lee (ed.) Ethnic Minorities and Evangelical Christian Colleges (Lanham, Maryland: University Press of
America, 1991), 320.
24
15
Lastly, the most illuminated philosophy this dissertation employs is from Paulo Freire’s
Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Education for Blacks served several purposes which included the
opportunity for equality and self-determination. Freire’s work highlights a disconnection
between the system and the oppressed. In addition, through this framework, I was able to rethink resistance as movement towards radical revolution, not just movement towards equality. It
is revolution that Freire suggests is the ideal way for the oppressed to gain self-determination.
Without revolution, the oppressed are limited to repeating the oppressive behavior. Within this
framework, Freire challenges us to think about why education is so important and what it can
mean to the oppressed. The Pedagogy of the Oppressed provides the template for analyzing the
resistance efforts and their impact on future efforts. Thus by utilizing Freire’s theory, I seek to
illuminate the various ways in which Black Kentuckians used education to create revolution. The
challenge was moving beyond a definition of revolution as a violent opposition, to recognizing
acts of non-violence as also revolutionary. In these cases, revolution included recognizing and
identifying the forms of oppression, establishing a response, acting to implement an alternative
that includes their self-determination, and unravels the system of oppression.
Research Organization:
My dissertation is divided into following areas:
Introduction
Chapter 1: How Free?
Chapter 2: A Theoretical Approach to Resistance
Chapter 3: Black Resistance to Declining Opportunity for Equal Schooling in Kentucky
Chapter 4: Strategies of Resistance
Chapter 5: Conclusion
The Introduction provided a summary of education in the South. The growth of public
and private schools in South was greatly influenced by the drive and desire of Blacks for
education.26 The results of schooling for Blacks also resulted in legislators addressing the need
for the education of Whites. As a widely debated topic, the nature of schooling for both Blacks
and Whites was an area of concern for both northern and southern Americans. Because schools
26
James Anderson, The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 1988), 12.
16
were directly related to status and began serving as a catalyst for Black Americans’ economic
and social equality, they were controlled.
Chapter 1 provides an overview of schooling for African Americans in Kentucky. The
question of equality in education did not begin in 1954, with the Brown v. Board of Education
decision; it began with the inception of schooling for African Americans. This chapter illustrates
that after the Civil War, equality through education was a central theme for Blacks, especially in
Kentucky. Therefore, as moments in history unfolded, Blacks who had been able to establish
educational communities tried to hold onto what they had already established and/or demand
similar resources and opportunities. It is within these demands that Blacks created systems of
resistance. These forms of resistance were in most cases reactions to the white supremacist and
racist structure that intended to deny their educational opportunities. Kentucky politics and
policy instituted much of this inequity.
Chapter 2 summarizes the efforts of Kentucky African Americans to resist educational
segregation, 1865-1910. This chapter explores various organized resistance efforts of Blacks,
such as those exhibited by the Kentucky Colored State Teachers’ Association, Berea College
Black alumnus, and such Louisville churches as Fifth Street Baptist Church and Lexington’s
First Street Baptist Church and Pleasant Green Baptist Church. Within this chapter, I explore the
evolution of Kentucky Colored State Teachers’ Association (KCSTA) advocacy group in
relation to educational segregation. Specifically tracing how the KCSTA’s efforts included the
founding of today’s Kentucky State University (1887), a public educational institution for
Blacks. The other example of resistance efforts this chapter explores are those exhibited by those
responding to the Berea College segregation of 1904. I highlight in this chapter the many ways
Black alumnus and friends of the college attempted to obstruct the impending segregation of
Berea College. Additionally, Chapter 2 illuminates’ the specific resistance of African American
individuals, who through various social and religious organizations, contributed to the resistance
of educational segregation in Kentucky.
Chapter 3 is the philosophical analysis of African American resistance in Kentucky. The
resistance efforts brought new educational policy, institutions, legislation and organizations. The
possibility of interracial schools and equality after the Civil War was not fantasy or even
unattainable. In fact there was an example of a private institution in the South who proceeded in
17
the interracial education experiment (Berea Institute 1855).27 The creation of mixed schooling
opportunities in the private sector provided promising models for public education. The models
continued until the re-emergence of powerful white supremacists, which succeeded in returning
the status of Blacks to conditions similar to the former enslavement period. The progress of
Blacks in schooling and the possibility of equality were challenged on all levels.
During the periods of 1874-1904, a legal and social battle took place to identify how
equality may be achieved through education.28 African Americans realized that there were no
guarantees to accessing and maintaining schools. Throughout the state, funds were garnered to
support public schools, but priority was not to improve public schools for Blacks or the
educational condition of Blacks. It is within this context that African Americans resisted their
potential educational demise, by advocating for new or other opportunities. These opportunities
included new legislation, funding sources, strategic plans and institutions. Some of Kentucky’s
“resistance” institutions include today’s Lincoln Institute and the Kentucky State University.
These institutions are just two of the fascinating testimonies of the strength, courage and the
efforts of African Americans in Kentucky.
Chapter 4 The opposition of Blacks to separate but equal doctrine that led to integration
is well documented and celebrated. In addition, the scholarship is growing that describes the
reaction and resistance of Blacks to desegregation after the Brown v. Board of Education
decision in 1954. The research suggests that African Americans were active and ever present in
every aspect of the discourse on education for Blacks. The behaviors of the freedmen that were
recorded prior to revisionist history lead to misleading views of Blacks and their contributions to
society. The contemporary view of Black participation in the building of U.S. policies is
increasingly being uncovered. As researchers establish that there were very few if any areas
where African Americans were not involved, we will better understand that the area of education
was no exception. As historians deconstruct the many ways African Americans contributed to
their own experience, we must pay closer attention to the period after the Civil War (1865) and
the Jim Crow Era (1886-1950) to expose the educational activities of Blacks. Thus far, findings
27
David Nelson, “Experiment in Interracial Education at Berea College,” Journal of Negro History 59 (January
1974): 13. See also Leon Litwack, North of Slavery: The Negro in the Free States, 1790-1860 (Chicago: The
University of Chicago Press, 1961), 113-141. Litwack offers examples of the diversity in schooling for blacks, and
also reviews the impact that Northern and Free states “mixed” schools had on Southern states.
28
This period signifies the shifts in KY educational history where school segregation was solidified through laws,
including the Day Law in 1904.
18
have confirmed that after the Civil War, African Americans made gains economically and
politically, but also educational gains after the Civil War in comparison to their previous state of
enslavement. This period is especially important in Kentucky educational history as the period of
1865 -1910 capture the many changes from the possibilities of mixed schools to the end of those
possibilities with the confirmation of school segregation. The challenge for Blacks would relate
to their ability to retain these gains under conditions of violence and white supremacy in the
United States.29 The gains made during this reconstructive period were treasured by Blacks, and
are the basis for some of today’s discussions pertaining to educational equality.
Chapter 5 will provide an analytical examination of educational resistance efforts in
Kentucky. The year 2004, marked the 50th Anniversary of Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education
legislation which ended legalized school segregation in the United States. As we celebrated the
end of this malicious period in U.S. history, it is befitting to reflect on the question of how
educational segregation happened. This dissertation utilizes Kentucky’s experience with the
segregation process to articulate new and strengthen old arguments. As the South rebuilt,
Kentucky’s African American residents challenged the status quo. In their efforts, they
established new institutions, and tested policies. As a group and as individuals, African
Americans in Kentucky were not willing to allow their educational efforts to be dismantled.
They did not always agree on the means for protecting their efforts, but they did not idly sit by
and watch either.
There have been many times throughout history when Blacks resisted their condition. As
within many southern states, Kentucky’s African American acts of resistance included
insurrections and achieving literacy. The tradition of resistance did not end with slavery. The
condition of freedom created new obstacles for African Americans, and similar techniques of
resistance were employed to insure their racial uplift.
African American Kentuckians were not completely protected by their state laws and had
to overcome new obstacles as freed persons. Their triumphs forged the path for some of the
progress in race relations we enjoy today. The events of the period of 1865-1910, served as
foundation for future historical moments; it is through the revisiting of these events, that we can
truly appreciate or understand the strides made today. More than anything else, this dissertation
29
V.P. Franklin, Black Self-Determination: A Cultural History of African-American Resistance (Brooklyn:
Lawrence Hill Books, 1984). See also Leon Litwack, How Free is Free: The Long Death of Jim Crow (Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 2009), 13-18.
19
seeks to remind scholars of the value of the African American educational experience. The
depictions of Blacks in history have sometimes been disempowering, but through such examples
found in the Kentucky African American experience we gain other views of the many
contributions to educational history.
Education became such an important privilege in the lives of those who could access it,
that it is highly unlikely that African Americans were not actively engaged in protecting it. The
period before the ending of Reconstruction allowed for several educational policies that favored
education for African Americans. These educational strides perhaps provided a level of comfort
for those proponents of education for African Americans. The progress was to be short-lived in
terms of equal education, but just as during the period of enslavement, Blacks resisted the
policies and efforts, and altered their course.
From this resistance many new educational opportunities were afforded, such as the
Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Although, they are not the only outcomes from the
resistance, their success summarizes the efforts of African Americans to resist efforts to unravel
their educational opportunity. This dissertation is dedicated to highlighting the contributions of
Kentucky’s African American residents in resisting educational segregation, 1865-1910.
20
CHAPTER 1
HOW FREE?
This dissertation focuses on African American responses to the segregation of public and
private education in Kentucky, 1865-1910. This dissertation relies upon historical scholarship
and philosophical underpinnings to explore conflicts that Blacks faced during the process of
segregating schools. The introduction of such prominent research as David Cecelski’s Along
Freedom Road Hyde County, North Carolina and the Fate of Black Schools in the South, shifts
the attention from white protests against desegregation to Black responses against desegregation
in their Hyde County school system as a key to Black advancement.30 The type of resistance
described in Cecelski’s book is often not the focal point of historical narratives about Black
people’s quest for equality in American education, but nonetheless it is an authentic aspect of
their journey. Cecelski’s Along Freedom Road, illuminates several questions about the nature of
schooling for Blacks, and whether there were Black communities resistant to desegregation.
Perhaps more importantly, Cecelski’s work illuminates the perceptions that either desegregation
was worse than Blacks’ current condition or the circumstances of segregation for Blacks
outweighed their impression of equality with whites. These series of questions shaped the
formation of this research for several reasons. First, Cecelski’s research implies that African
Americans were organized and utilized networks to resist any unfavorable interference in their
school systems. Why resist something necessary in rectifying the unconstitutional “separate but
equal” doctrine that had been the law of the land? Second, in what ways did Blacks create
exceptional outcomes out of the resources that they had acquired; Third, were those resources
more important because Blacks had fought for them or because the power structure provided the
resources? This series of questions led to the final query, if some Black people resisted
desegregation in the 1950’s what efforts were put forward to resist segregation in its earlier
implementation? This research will record the ways in which African Americans resisted
educational segregation in Kentucky, 1865-1910.
30
See David Cecelski, Along Freedom Road Hyde County, North Carolina and the Fate of Black Schools in the
South (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1994), 15; W.E.B. Dubois, “Does the Negro Need
Separate Schools?,” Journal of Negro Education 4, no. 3 (July 1935): 328-335.
21
The period of racial segregation in American society is called the Jim Crow Era. This
period falls between Reconstruction (1865-1877) and Desegregation (1950-1970), and after the
Redeemer/Redemptive (1877-1890) periods, respectively. These periods are significant for this
research because they signify the ending of the enslavement of Blacks and the Civil War (1865),
and the ushering in of a new social order for Blacks that included citizenship, education, and
economic opportunities. Education became an important component for the introduction of
Blacks into society as free citizens. The Black desire for education also helped to improve and
create schooling for whites. According to such scholars as James Anderson in The Education of
Blacks in the South, the emancipation of enslaved Blacks combined with the assistance of
philanthropists and organizations were essential to the evolution of Southern private and public
schooling.31 Within these educational efforts the contributions and changes included many
different efforts like the concept of superintendents, federal and local contributions to education,
and mixed or interracial schooling. Some individuals, such as abolitionist John G. Fee the
founder of Kentucky’s Berea College (1859), established the interracial educational experiment
as an opportunity for exploring equality and facilitating Black people’s entry into the new social
order. However, as the Reconstruction Era progressed, several roadblocks stopped this process
and other opportunities for equality. One such roadblock is characterized by the Plessy v.
Ferguson (1896) case which ruled that the blanket of “separate but equal” facilities found
throughout the United States were constitutional under U.S. law.32 The opportunity for equity
and equality in education later re-appeared with the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education ruling.
Thus it took almost sixty years for the U.S. Supreme Court to (re-)address the notion of equality
in education.
During these sixty years, the emphasis for many Blacks was placed on accessing
education. With the solidification of separate but equal as a reality in American education, I
pondered the following question, did Blacks try to resist the impending segregation that they
were about to face? As many civil rights leaders celebrated the fifty year anniversary of the U.S.
Supreme Court desegregation decision, scholar Gary Orfield reported that even with great strides
31
For an overview of the many contributions and experiences of Blacks’ quest to obtain education in the South
see James D. Anderson, The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935 (Chapel Hill: University of North
Carolina Press, 1988).
32
Rayford Logan, “The United States Supreme Court and the Segregation Issue,” The Annals of the American
Academy 304, no.1 (March 1956): 32.
22
in educational equality we may in fact be in the process of reverting to de facto segregation.33 As
Black activists collaborate to find solutions to these troubling findings, they are part of a tradition
of resistance whose efforts led to a glimpse of equal educational access and equity. Each state
had to grapple with various forms of Black resistance.
This dissertation continues with an overview of public and private education in
Kentucky. The concept of private and public schooling existed prior to the Civil War. In the
South, schooling prior to the Civil War was primarily for the wealthy, white, and male. Limited
private educational opportunities were more abundant in urban and heavily populated areas.
Additionally, urban areas offered more support for publically funded schools.34 After the Civil
War, schooling dramatically changed in the former slave states. Schooling received many
sponsors as a result of the freedom of slaves. The entry of the freedmen/women complicated the
already struggling southern public and quasi-public school systems. The complications were not
only fiscal in nature, but the effect of schooling had on their social status. After the Civil War,
the interdependence of Blacks and whites is demonstrated throughout the development of school
systems. Initially, instances of white & Black philanthropist efforts established rudimentary
schooling opportunity. According to James Anderson, the network of diverse contributors is
what provided the foundation. These contributions were in such forms as money, workforce, and
students. In essence, many schools formed immediately after the Civil War had some form of
interracial interdependence.
By the end of Reconstruction, the interdependence that Blacks and whites had
experienced became more strained, as segregation moved from a social to legalized norm. In The
Strange Career of Jim Crow, historian C. Vann Woodward describes the relationship between
the enslaved and their white masters as integrated. Those who were free or quasi-free
experienced a variation of segregation.35 Therefore, when the Civil War ended segregation was
not immediate. The transition from the periods of Reconstruction to Jim Crow changed race
relations in the United States. The opportunity to experiment with interracial public schools was
33
Gary Orfield, “Schools More Separate: Consequences of a Decade of Resegregation”, The Civil Rights Project,
http://www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/deseg/separate_schools01.php (accessed September 25, 2009).
34
Richard Altenbaugh, The American People and Their Education: A Social History (Upper Saddle River: New
Jersey, 2003), 88.
35
For an extensive description of the multifaceted connections and relationships between Blacks and whites in the
South prior to Jim Crow and a summary about segregation as a relatively new phenomenon and not the normal
experience of whites and Blacks in the South see C. Vann Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow: A
Commemorative Edition with William S. McFeely (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000).
23
short-lived in particularly in the South. States like Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, South
Carolina and Alabama introduced various legislative efforts against interracial/mixed
schooling.36 Other unsuccessful movements toward interracial public education included the
Civil Rights Law of 1875, when finally passed, “one of its most important provisions the call for
desegregation of public schools had been deleted.”37 In 1883 the U.S. Supreme Court declared
that the 1875 Civil Rights Law passed by the Radical Congress was unconstitutional.38 Thus a
two-tiered system of separate schools for whites and Blacks was the most feasible alternative to
none or limited schooling for Blacks. The experience of segregated schools was limiting by the
very nature of segregation which in many cases included separate and less funding sources for
Blacks, a limited supply of teachers, and differences in upkeep of buildings/schoolhouses.
Despite the obstacles placed before them, Blacks took advantage of schooling and in many cases
fought to maintain and improve their schooling experience. This dissertation’s focus includes the
exploration of the options available to Blacks during the years of 1865-1910 in the state of
Kentucky and their efforts to resist the effects of educational segregation. Their resistance efforts
were just as complex as the schooling options available for Black Kentuckians.
The history of Kentucky is situated in the national context. Albeit many outsiders do not
immediately connect the rich traditions, folklore, prominent authors, and historic figures of this
border state, it serves as a gateway to American history. For example, perhaps one of the most
recognizable periods of American History is named after a Louisville livery stable worker named
Jim Crow, who was imitated by a white stage performer Thomas Rice. From this mockery
developed the infamous minstrel shows, and the term Jim Crow later became associated with
conditions of imposed economic, social, political and educational segregation of Blacks in U.S.
History. 39 Author Harriet Beecher Stowe, almost exclusively used Kentucky slave experiences
as the backdrop for her famous book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Carter G. Woodson, the father of
Black History attended Kentucky’s interracial educational institution now known as Berea
College. Educationally, Kentucky was one of the few slave holding states that did not “expressly
prohibit” the literacy of Blacks, had some variation of quasi- public schooling, and is home to an
36
Truman Pierce, White and Negro Schools: An Analysis of Biracial Education (Englewood Cliff: Prentice Hall,
1955), 42
37
John Hope Franklin, Reconstruction: After the Civil War (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961), 201.
38
L.E. Murphy, “The Civil Rights Law of 1875,” The Journal of Negro History 12, no. 2 (April 1927): 125.
39
Clayton E. Jewett and John O. Allen, Slavery in the South: A State by State History (Westport: Greenwood Press,
2004), 110-111.
24
interracial educational institution founded prior to 1865. Kentucky was unique because of its
historical contributions, but especially in relationship to school formations for Blacks.
The process of educational segregation began at the end of the Reconstruction Era.
Reconstruction signified opportunities for Blacks and constraints on white southern native rule.
Although Reconstruction lasted approximately twelve years (1865- 1877), great attempts to
empower Blacks were made. The Reconstruction Era facilitated educational experimentation and
also created rigid lines of segregation. This era was both an example of the possibility of
equality, and a reminder of a difficult reality.
Despite the positive efforts of people in the Reconstruction Era, other southern loyalist
and their northern allies undermined these gains. Conservative forces in southern states
gradually began to reassert white supremacy. The period that preceded Jim Crow is coined as the
Redeemer/Redemption period (1877-1890).40 This period is characterized by the withdrawal of
Federal troops from the South and rise of state lawmakers who unraveled gains made by Blacks.
Redeemers, identified as “self-styled saviors of the South,” resorted to questionable practices as
undermining political efforts of Reconstruction.41 The Redeemer/Redemption period is
considered to have ushered in the Jim Crow Era, and ended Reconstruction (1865-1877).42
This era referred to as Jim Crow is characterized by the successful efforts of the
Redeemer/Redemption Era to nullify Black voting rights in many former slave states. Through
the successful disenfranchisement of Blacks, Whites effectively limited Black participation in
civic and political life. Jim Crow Era (1890-1950’s), signified legalized segregation through the
“separate but equal” doctrine of Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896). The complexity of the Era’s forced
segregation in every aspect of Black and white life from birth to the grave is documented in
historical scholarship.43 The edited historical analysis Remembering Jim Crow: African
Americans Tell About Life in the Segregated South summarizes that the constraints of
segregation also inadvertently facilitated the creation of Black social, economic, and spiritual
40
Eric Foner, A Short History of Reconstruction: 1863-1877 (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1988), 587-601.
John Hope Franklin, Reconstruction: After the Civil War (Chicago: The University of Chicago, 1961), 197.
42
Ibid.
43
Leon Litwack, How Free is Free: The Long Death of Jim Crow (Harvard University Press: Cambridge, 2009), 56.
41
25
networks.44 In the end the system of segregation created dual systems including separate systems
of education, one for whites and the other for Blacks.
The crisis of educational segregation that was experienced during Jim Crow sometimes
overshadows the movement toward segregation. Denying equitable and equal access to Blacks
derailed efforts of Blacks to participate as full citizens. Even before the Civil War had ended,
Blacks tried to position themselves for full participation as free persons through education. The
ending of the Civil War required an answer to the Negro question, what to do with four million
formerly enslaved Blacks. Schooling served as an appropriate response to the question. The role
of education not only became an exercise in knowledge transmittal, but also as a means for
equality. Many Blacks realized that the commodity of education provided leverage in a society
where education was not universally available even to whites. Coupled with this new advantage
and their political and economic power, the efforts of the formerly enslaved became a significant
venture.
The goal of equality may not have been the initial purpose of southern African American
endeavors, but it was a conversation among many politicians, activists, and educators. When it
became clear that educational opportunity for Blacks could facilitate interracial equality,
opponents and so-called sympathizers sought to stop efforts of social and educational equality
until the 1950s. The battle for segregation was ongoing and relentless. Even after Plessy vs.
Ferguson (1896), the efforts to enforce segregation did not end. For instance in 1904, a law to
segregate Blacks and whites in private higher education targeted at Kentucky’s only interracial
educational institution successfully segregated the educational institution.45
Black responses to the segregation of Berea College, is one topic that this dissertation
will analyze. Additionally, several examples of resistance efforts in Kentucky will be explored.
Southern Blacks engaged in resistance efforts to stop segregation. Institutions included in this
study represent elementary, secondary, and higher education. By exploring the history of
schooling for Blacks in Kentucky, from 1865 to the enforcement of the 1904 Day Law, this
research will illuminate the ways Blacks resisted educational segregation. Kentucky, a state that
44
William H. Chafe, Raymond Gaines and Robert Korstad et. al, editors, Remembering Jim Crow: African
Americans Tell About Life in the Segregated South (New York: New Press, 2001), 89-91.
45
Scott Blakeman, “Night Comes to Berea College: The Day Law and The African-American Reaction,” Filson
Club Quarterly 70, no. 1, (January 1996):1.
26
has extensive opportunity for research, offers another perspective on the resistance activities of
African Americans after the Civil War.
Early educational systems in the United States created different opportunities for
students. The experience of schooling for whites varied depended upon social class. Additionally
the types of schools varied depended on region, rural or urban and purpose.46 For Blacks, access
to education in many slave-holding states was legally prohibited by the 1830’s due to concerns
of increasing slave insurrections and fear that literacy would lead to resistance.47 Therefore,
before the Civil War variations in literacy for Blacks depended on their social status of free or
enslaved, and on both legal and social norms of the region.48 The prohibition of education for
Blacks during this time was enforced through slave codes in an attempt to curtail the
insurrections and other forms of resistance in which enslaved and free Blacks were participants
and leaders. These codes were also an attempt to control the literacy of the slaves and free
Blacks, acquisition of land and skills, participation in the political process, intermarriage, or
other experiences that could lead Blacks to overthrow the system.49 After the Civil War, the
education of African Americans evolved into both private and public schooling options such as
through the Freedmen’s Bureau and northern benevolent societies.50 The arrival of northern
benevolent organizations in the South provided models of northern education.
Prior to the Civil War, the educational experience of free Blacks in the North, provided
examples for both interracial/mixed and race/ethnic-specific schools for the South. For example,
the “Oneida Institute enrolled six Blacks in 1836, fourteen over the years of its existence and in
1834, the Noyes Academy in Canaan, New Hampshire registered at least fourteen Black
46
Carl F. Kaestle, Pillars of the Republic: Common Schools and American Society 1780-1860 (New York: Hill and
Wang Publishers, 1983), 3-8, 15.
47
John Kleber ed., The Kentucky Encyclopedia (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1992), 285,
See also J. Blaine Hudson, “The Establishment of Louisville Education: A Case Study in Racial Conflict and
Compromise,” Journal of Negro Education 64, no. 2 (1995) and Janet Duitsman Cornelius, When I Can Read My
Title Clear: Literacy, Slavery, and Religion in the Antebellum South (Columbia: University of South Carolina,
1991).
48
Truman Pierce, White and Negro Schools: An Analysis of Biracial Education (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall,
1955), 30.
49
John Hope Franklin, Reconstruction: After the Civil War (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1961), 4849.
50
William Preston Vaughn, Schools for All: The Blacks & Public Education in the South, 1865-1877 (Lexington:
University of Kentucky Press, 1974), xvi. See also Jacqueline Jones, Soldiers of Light of Love: Northern Teachers
and Georgia Blacks, 1865-1873 (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1980).
27
students, one of them female.”51 Before emancipation, Blacks in most Southern communities had
none or very limited access to schooling. Schooling may have existed, but structurally the
purposes and benefits differed from schooling for elite whites. For example, clandestine schools,
Sabbath schools, and other forms of educational resistance (such as tutoring) provided literacy of
the enslaved despite the consequences.52 Thomas D. Moore’s Southern Slavery and the Law:
1619-1860, explains that the laws “were more symbolic than significant” in their ability to
control enslaved and free Blacks.53 In addition, the want for education also encouraged Blacks to
resist their condition through legal battles. One such example was in the 1847 Sarah Roberts vs.
Boston case, which challenged school segregation in the northern city of Boston.54
By 1865, the importance of literacy and schooling was established in Black communities.
Union soldiers stumbled upon examples of these schools in the South. The Mary Peake School in
Virginia was established prior to the end of the Civil War. This school was established before
legalized schooling for African Americans in Virginia, and is one of many examples of the
ability of African Americans to organize, create, and access schooling.55 Such instances also
identify the value that many African Americans placed on education. The value of education in
the Black experience was tested as white sentiment against Blacks re-gained enough visibility
and power to stop African American educational progress. Such tests involved obstruction,
included terrorizing of participants in schooling for Blacks, and funding limitations for Black
schooling.
As the South was rebuilt, the escalating question of what to do with almost four million
formerly enslaved Blacks surfaced. This dilemma was coined as the Negro question.56 The
Negro question included concerns of how to include the formerly enslaved Blacks in the fabric
of the United States as free persons. Blacks answered the question and utilized literacy and
51
James Oliver Horton and Lois E. Horton, In Hope of Liberty: Culture, Community, and Protest among Northern
Free Blacks, 1700-1860 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 215.
52
Ralph Erickson, “The Laws of Ignorance Designed to Keep Slaves Illiterate and Powerless,” Education 118, no.
2, (1997): 206.
53
Thomas D. Morris, Southern Slavery and the Law, 1619-1860 (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina
Press, 1996), 347; Janet Duitsman Cornelius, When I Can Read My Title Clear: Literacy, Slavery, and Religion in
the Antebellum South (Columbia: The University of South Carolina Press, 1991).
54
Richard Altenbaugh, The American People and their Education A Social History (Upper Saddle River: Prentice
Hall, 2003), 97.
55
James D. Anderson, The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935 (Chapel Hill: The University of North
Carolina Press, 1988), 7. See also Heather Andrea Williams, Self-Taught: African American Education in Slavery
and Freedom (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2005).
56
Barbara J. Fields, “The Origins of the South and the Negro Question,” Journal of Southern History 67, (2001).
28
schooling as their tools of liberation.57 Inadvertently, Black efforts to obtain schooling assisted in
the rise of universal education in the South. According to scholar James Anderson’s research, the
success of schooling for Blacks, contributed to the idea of universal education in southern state’s
constitutional law.58
Author Noralee Frankel in “Breaking Chains 1860-1880,” summarizes accounts of
African Americans supporting and funding schools after emancipation as significant. However,
the assistance of Northern whites through philanthropic organizations and the Federal
Freedmen’s Bureau also proved necessary to create long-standing institutions of education.59
Some of these institutions for Blacks that were founded in the period 1865-1910, later became
designated as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). Today, there are over 100
institutions dedicated to the education of Blacks, Kentucky is home to one, Kentucky State
University.60 The HBCU was a result of segregation and efforts of Blacks and whites to ensure
education of Blacks. These institutions’ early beginnings provide examples of Blacks and white
sympathizers attempts to achieve equality through interracial education settings. The early
institutions for Blacks were experiments where such schooling elements as white and Black
teachers, funding sources, and pupils existed. The implications of these efforts also provide
findings that interracial/mixed schools were occurring in different forms and were possible prior
to the 1950’s desegregation legislation. Interracial schooling during Reconstruction is believed
to have met several economic and social needs. One example includes the Berea Literary
Institute in Kentucky (Berea College), which sought to educate poor Appalachian whites and
formerly enslaved Blacks.61 There were many responses to this type of interaction, which
included resistance and acceptance. Both Black and whites had opinions regarding schooling for
Blacks that sometimes evoked a spirit of racism, submissiveness, and confusion. The desire to
undermine schooling for Blacks by destroying efforts of teachers, decreasing school funding, and
eradicating the possibility of interracial classrooms, affected the Black community. The South
57
Eric Foner, Forever Free: The Story of Emancipation and Reconstruction (New York: Random House, 2005), 8889.
58
James D. Anderson, The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935 (Chapel Hill: The University of North
Carolina Press, 1988), 19.
59
Noralee Frankel, “Breaking the Chains 1860-1880” in Robin D. G. Kelley and Earl Lewis (eds.) To Make Our
World Anew: A History of African Americans (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 243.
60
A.L. Evans, A.M. Evans and V. Evans, “Historically Black Colleges and Universities,”
Education 123, no. 1 (2002): 3.
61
David Nelson, “Experiment in Interracial Education at Berea College, 1858-1908,” Journal of Negro History 59,
no.1 (January 1974): 13-19.
29
was the main stage for this discussion during this period in U.S. history, and later for intense and
violent struggles for desegregation and integration during the Civil Rights period. Black desire
for education shaped the development of schools in the United States. Although, segregation
policies were found in other parts of the United States, the South will forever have the legacy of
Jim Crow and thus the full effects of segregated schools.62
The changes in the South after the Civil War (1865-1876), appeared to be moving
southerners towards goals of equality. By the early 1900s, the state governments of Florida,
Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Tennessee, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia,
Kentucky and the district government of Washington D.C. were clear on their school segregation
educational policy. Although most states implemented separate school systems for Blacks and
whites, Louisiana, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama attempted to host interracial
schools. These states were unsuccessful in maintaining their mixed race schools after
Reconstruction, but these efforts provide important insight about the possibility of interracial
schools during that time.63
In the state of Kentucky, school laws that advanced segregation were passed in 1874
(respectively), and again in 1904.64 By the turn of the century, Kentucky and other states were in
the midst of the Jim Crow segregation. The role of education as a means of “emancipation” for
African Americans was stalled by the new “Redemptive” governmental efforts.65 Answering the
earlier explained Negro question through education was no longer a prospect, because of the
events after the 1877 Tilden-Hayes Presidential Compromise.66 This compromise facilitated the
impetus for such events as the withdrawal of the Union troops, economic resources for southern
coffers and the destabilization of Black social gains. The compromise also facilitated
62
Davison M. Douglas, Jim Crow Moves North: The Battle Over Northern School Segregation, 1865-1954 (New
York: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 12- 62. See also Leon Litwack, How Free is Free: The Long Death of
Jim Crow (Harvard University Press, Cambridge: 2009), 6.
63
William Preston Vaughn, Schools for All: The Blacks & Public Education in the South, 1865- 1877 (Kentucky,
1974). The 1874 act was the final in a series of laws that provided a comprehensive approach to funding of Black
schools, the 1904 Day Law made it illegal to educate Blacks and whites together in both public and/or private
institutions.
64
Marion B. Lucas, A History of Blacks in Kentucky Volume 1 From Slavery to Segregation, 1760-1891 (The
Kentucky Historical Society, 1992), 254-255.
65
John Hope Franklin, Reconstruction: After the Civil War (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1961), 222225.
66
William H. Chafe et.al (editors.) Remembering Jim Crow: African Americans Tell About Life in Segregated South,
(New York: New Press, 2001), xxv.
30
competition for precious resources. African Americans faced new challenges and struggles for
equality in the “Redemptive” period (1877-1890) and their participation in government declined.
The Commonwealth of Kentucky also faced similar challenges, although not federally
ordered to undergo Reconstruction as a border state that remained in the Union; they did receive
assistance from the Freedmen’s Bureau and private philanthropic organizations. Kentucky’s
educational history is also a setting for Blacks seeking equality. Throughout the educational
history of Kentucky, individuals grappled with questions about interracial education and
segregation, thus making the Commonwealth a unique component in answering the Negro
question.
The following chapters of this dissertation summarize the rationale of Kentucky African
Americans to resist educational segregation, 1865-1910. Beginning in chapter two an exploration
of the various Black organized resistance efforts to segregation is provided. Specifically the
resistance efforts this chapter explores relates to the theoretical framework known as the
Pedagogy of the Oppressed, by Paulo Freire. I will highlight in chapter two, the many ways
Blacks must work to manage and revolutionize their systems of oppression, in order to create
radical change. Chapter three continues the historical analysis of African American resistance to
educational segregation in Kentucky. The resistance efforts brought new educational policy,
institutions, legislation and organizations. Resistance was a viable response to the daily
onslaught of white supremacy blacks faced. Resistance through economic, educational, and
political achievements challenged the perceptions of Black inferiority. However, successful
resistance also shaped white supremacists opinion of Blacks and their societal roles. These
negative opinions helped to diminish many successful models of interracial harmony with the reemergence of powerful white supremacists at the end of Reconstruction. The emergence of
power of white supremacist placed Blacks in a quasi-free condition, similar to conditions
experienced during the period of enslavement. As a result, the progress of Blacks in day-to-day
life including schooling and the possibility of equality were challenged on all levels.67
During the period of 1874-1904, a legal and social battle took place to identify how
equality might be achieved through education. African Americans realized that there were no
guarantees to accessing and maintaining schools. Therefore, African Americans observed what
the state and local governments sought to provide was not adequate, as shall be shown.
67
Leon Litwack, How Free is Free: The Long Death of Jim Crow (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009), 6.
31
Throughout Kentucky, funds were garnered to support public schools, but incomparable
attention was given to public schools for Blacks. It is within this context that African Americans
resisted their potential educational demise, by advocating for new or other opportunities. These
opportunities included new legislation, funding sources, strategic plans and institutions. Some of
Kentucky’s “resistance” institutions included Lincoln Institute and Kentucky State University.
These institutions are just two of the fascinating testimonies of the strength, courage and efforts
of African Americans in Kentucky.
Also illuminated in the following chapters is the evolution of schooling in Kentucky,
1865-1910. The nature of this dissertation is based upon current scholarship and primary sources
that reveals the conditions from which school segregation evolved and the actions of Blacks in
responding to these circumstances. The process of school segregation took several years after the
emancipation of the enslaved Africans, but not before its profound impact shaped schooling for
both Blacks and whites. Before the emergence of legally segregated schools a foundation for
schooling of Blacks was formed according to scholar James Anderson who describes the
emancipation of enslaved Blacks, combined with the assistance of philanthropist organizations as
essential to the evolution of private and public schooling in the southern region of the United
States.68 This foundation allowed for a dual system of education in the U.S., and also ensured
second class citizenship through limiting equal access. The idea of segregation in schooling was
a product of the time, as segregation was an aspect of Black life from birth to death, especially
after the Civil War. Although enslaved Blacks lived separate lives from whites, they were in
much closer physical proximity then after slavery ended. The notion of segregation is far more
than living proximity, but the reality that an individual was sub-human in both the law and social
reality. Thus African Americans interacted with whites, and so forth, not as equals, but as
“second class citizens.”69 So this chapter continues by conveying the account of how schools
began their descent into the culture of segregation.
68
James D. Anderson, The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935 (Chapel Hill: The University of North
Carolina Press, 1988).
69
C. Vann Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow: A Commemorative Edition with a new Afterword
with William S. McFeely (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 12.
32
1.1 Establishing a Culture of Educational Segregation
In 1904, Kentucky Senator Carl Day from Breathitt County successfully established a bill
to prohibit white and colored persons from attending the same school. This bill was passed and
isolated the following behaviors as unlawful:
“To maintain or operate any college, school or institution where persons of the white and
negro races are both received as pupils for instruction…; That any instructor who shall
teach in any school, college, or institution, where members of said two races are received
as pupils for instruction, shall be guilty of operating and maintaining same and fined as
provided in the first section hereof...”70
Failure for individuals and institutions to abide by this new law or the Day Law, as it is now
commonly referred to, meant fines. The Day Law alluded to several important areas of
discussion in educational history. The forced segregation of schools is commonly assumed to
have happened immediately after the Civil War. Coincidently, the rationale for segregation was
far more sinister than simply wanting to separate the races. One theoretical framework suggests
that the Day Law and other segregationist philosophies were steeped in the belief that Blacks
were inferior and therefore a need to keep the white race pure. According to segregation
proponents, the education of Blacks and whites together not only led to the possibility of
intermarriage but the inferiority of the academic experience.71 The Day Law (1904-1910)
provided basis for the argument that school segregation was a gradual and legalistic process.
Although this chapter is not dedicated to the Day Law, it is important to understand the dual
nature of this chapter as it begins with the Day Law (1904) and travels in reverse chronological
order. The rationale for beginning with most recent history first, ensures that the reader can gain
an understanding of the gradual process of school segregation in the Commonwealth of
Kentucky.
The Day Law was not the first segregation decree, many states had formalized their
segregation policy, perhaps what is so incredulous about the Law, is that it took root almost 40
years after the enslavement of Africans ends in the United States. By 1904, research suggests
that there was not an abundance of interracial/mixed schooling in Kentucky or the South for that
70
Supreme Court of the United States, no. 12- October term, Berea College The Plaintiff in Error vs. The
Commonwealth of Kentucky (November 9, 1908), Williams Goodell Frost Papers, Box 23, Day Law, c. 1904-1910,
RG 3.03, Berea College Archives, Berea, KY.
71
Herbert Hovenkamp, “Social Science & Segregation before Brown,” Critical White Studies: Looking behind the
Mirror (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1997): 201-208.
33
matter. States that may have had any outliers, had successfully developed laws to eradicate
mixed schooling. For example, Tennessee’s Maryville College was the target of segregation laws
in 1901.72 Other states like Florida continued to grapple with levels of segregation beyond school
segregation by also legislating that schools had to have separate textbooks for Blacks and whites
and that no white instructors could teach in Black institutions.73 One caveat is that Berea
College, a private institution, boasts the title of one of the first interracial schools in the South.74
Berea College, was one of the major influences in Black education in Kentucky, and provided a
resource of both Black and white educated persons to serve their communities during the period
of Reconstruction. Although this institution provided future contributors to education in
Kentucky, it is just one aspect of schooling in Kentucky. Think of the Berea College experience
as a fragment of the spectrum of education in Kentucky. By 1904, there was a considerable
increase in public schooling for both Blacks and whites in Kentucky. By the Day Law, school
systems included schoolhouses, superintendent of schools, school commissioners, curriculum,
and a dual system for whites and Blacks.
A variation of public schools was established in many southern states before the Civil
War.75 The systems resembled components of northern school ideology. Even with a foundation
for public education, after the Civil War education was not as important as survival for many
southerners.76 The systems of schooling in Kentucky were also affected by a series of events
which include Emancipation and the ending of Reconstruction. Kentucky schooling is complex,
but in many ways its evolution of schooling mimicked many other states. These developmental
elements included a system with a State Superintendent, tax based, and private, public, rural and
urban dynamics. In addition, in the early stages of Kentucky private schools and instances in
public institutions, the quest for interracial education and educational equality, became one of the
focal points for the state’s educational politics. Every southern state affected by “congressional
reconstruction” had provided for through its new constitution, universal education for whites and
72
Jacqueline Burnside, “Lessons and Legacies: The Meaning of Berea’s 19th Century Interracial Education in the
21st Century, Slavery,” Abolition and Social Justice 1490-2007, www.slavery.amdigital.co.uk (accessed September
25, 2009).
73
Pauli Murray, State’s Laws on Race and Color; Studies in the Legal History of the South (Athens: University of
Georgia Press, 1997), 82.
74
Berea College, formerly named Berea Institute, later evolved to provide college level courses.
75
Edgar Wallace Knight, Public Education in the South (Boston: Ginn & Company, 1922), 302.
76
Truman Pierce, White and Negro Schools: An Analysis of Biracial Education (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall,
1995), 39. Public education that had been established in some southern states was affected after the Civil War by
loss of school funds, individuals dealing with poverty, legality issues, and the uncertainty of the times.
34
Blacks. This accomplishment was tied to the development of state’s constitutions under
Reconstruction.77
A decade of Reconstruction provided an unimaginable amount of growth and opportunity
for both whites and Blacks. The arrival of the end of Civil War (1865) introduced Black people
en masse into systems of schooling. Schools were such a developing phenomenon, that Black
and white pupils attending school together was not outlawed initially, but was against social
norms. The newness of the situation provided a momentary opportunity for the interracial
education experiment, “with the advent of systems of universal free education for all children
came the issue of mixed schools.”78 The window of opportunity was one in which Blacks
participated. Examples of efforts for these mixed schools included financial resources, teacher
resources, and the attempt to develop mixed race classrooms. The five state governments that
actually attempted interracial education failed or their efforts were short-lived. However, these
efforts did generate a barrage of questions surrounding the viability of Blacks achieving equality
through interracial or separate race education. A few Blacks did argue that the climate made
interracial education impossible while others understood that separate would never be equal.79
Nevertheless, the close of the Reconstruction Era solidly disrupted the opportunity for true
equality among Blacks and whites in schooling. In Kentucky, the sentiment of Reconstruction
facilitated segregated schools.80 By 1904, the attacks on interracial education were complete in
Kentucky. The efforts to dismantle education for Blacks were in many ways successful, but they
were not without some opposition. This opposition, and other forms we will explore in future
chapters help to inform these accounts of Black resistance. In the years prior to 1904, the
formation of the school systems in Kentucky shaped the outcomes for the future struggle of
desegregation.
77
John Hope Franklin, Reconstruction after the Civil War (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1994), 107111.
78
Pierce, Truman; White and Negro Schools: An Analysis of Biracial Education (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall,
1995), 42.
79
Ibid., 48. Blacks were not as concerned with the development of mixed or interracial schools as much as they
were to having access to education. The attempts were made to develop equal educational situations, but due to the
sentiment segregated schools became the social norm.
80
The Commonwealth of Kentucky was not a state that was subject to Reconstruction terms since KY remained in
the Union during the Civil War, although a slaveholding state.
35
1.2 Early Educational History of Kentucky
The earliest recorded endeavor to utilize semi-public funding sources in Kentucky to
form school system was in 1821. Unfortunately, this attempt which went all the way to
Kentucky’s General Assembly was unsuccessful.81 The earliest governmental provision for
supporting public schools statewide in Kentucky was through a “grant from the undivided
surplus in the federal treasury” on February 16, 1838.82 Kentucky officials did not seem
interested in a universal educational system, or compelled to implement uniformity. In fact the
lack of formation facilitated no taxation revenue, standardized curriculum, teacher standards, or
textbook uniformity. The earliest public attempt was decidedly administrative and not studentfocused.83 Despite the primitive nature of the early public school system, Kentuckians
participated in establishing and developing schools for their white citizens.84 Prior to the
opportunity of public education in Kentucky, the wealthy could attend Academies, like those in
the North. The academy system received some public funding in 1798 and “enacted the county
land-grant law to apply to all existing counties and to new counties to be formed in the future.
Under the terms of the act, a grant of 6,000 acres of public land was deemed sufficient to finance
the establishment of a school and maintain it for a short time.”85 The statewide grant was a
means to securing funding for public education, however, the funds were used for other purposes
during the period 1838-1847 and left the newly established school system with inadequate
resources. Since the General Assembly primarily provided for the administration and the
distribution of the surplus funds, other revenue sources were needed. Through an act concerning
the common school system, the federal provisions for public education additions were made with
the implementation of a taxation system.86 The expansion of Pre-Civil War public education was
slow and discouraging. However slow the process, there were some gains in enrollment and
stronger development of the role of superintendent of public instruction.87 In 1847,
81
Thomas D. Clark, “Education,” in Our Kentucky: A Study of the Bluegrass, ed. John Klotter (Lexington: The
University Press of Kentucky, 2000), 299.
82
R. B. Atwood, “Financing Schools for Negro Children from State School Funds in Kentucky,” The Journal of
Negro Education 8, no. 4 (October 1939): 659-665.
83
Thomas D. Clark, “Education,” in Our Kentucky: A Study of the Bluegrass, ed. John Klotter (Lexington: The
University Press of Kentucky, 2000), 301.
84
Thomas D. Clark, “Education,” in Our Kentucky: A Study of the Bluegrass, ed. John Klotter (Lexington: The
University Press of Kentucky, 2000), 299.
85
Ibid., 300.
86
Hamlett Barksdale, History of Education in Kentucky (Frankfort: Kentucky Department of Education, 1914).
87
Ibid.
36
Superintendent of Public Instruction Robert Jefferson Breckenridge reported common school
attendance at 12,220 children in 174 districts, by 1859 common school attendance had increased
to 155,772 in 4,516 districts. The common school attendance experienced great growth; white
school aged children, in theory had a place to receive instruction.88
Common schools in the South did not always resemble their northern counterparts. Many
factors shaped common schools depending on the region. Significantly, common schools were
not always embraced by the general population. The common school development in many
southern states was contingent on the economy, philosophical ideologies, and population.
Philosophically, the argument to provide education for the masses was not only about slave
literacy, but about maintaining the class system. In Pillars of the Republic, Carl F. Kaestle
asserts schooling as a political and economic enterprise. He highlights the various arguments
found during that time (1850s) by those with aristocratic leanings and conservatives. One such
example Kaestle presents was from the De Bow’s Review (1856) which asserts “that although the
state should provide some education for all whites, ‘beyond that it must educate the wealthy in
order to maintain their position as members of the white, privileged class of our society’.”89
Although in the South, common school organizers had to respond to this and the sentiments of
such beliefs. Thus the idea of common schools in the South did not immediately grow at a rate
that was expected.
Perhaps one of the most important roles in the advancement of the Kentucky public
school system was the Superintendent of Public Instruction. In the early history of Kentucky
public schooling from 1837-1865 there were eight Superintendents of Public Instruction. Their
tenure provided the leadership for the evolution of a statewide public school system. These
superintendents’ vision included the development of strong common schools, normal schools,
state certification board, a taxation system, and many other important factors. First, the idea of
statewide schooling had to gain support from various Kentuckians, therefore, the first
superintendent of Kentucky public schools, James Bullock, worked to develop public interest.
He reported that in all his travels he “witnessed few indications of hostility to the scheme; the
discouraging symptoms were coldness, indifference, and ignorance of the subject…but their
88
Ibid., 12.
Carl F. Kaestle, Pillars of the Republic: Common Schools and American Society 1780-1860 (New York: Hill and
Wang, 1983), 207.
89
37
prejudice was frequently changed into friendliness when they came to understand it.”90 Other
problems that Superintendent Bullock reports in organizing the system include challenges with
not having enough teachers, increasing the significance of the Office of Superintendent, and
funding the schools. However, the issue of funding was a different dilemma. Although, funds
were appropriated through the federal grant, this money could not support public education
alone. The sixth SPI was Dr. Robert Jefferson Breckenridge (1847- 1853) of Louisville, KY. His
efforts were considered to be visionary, with the introduction of a plan to develop a school fund.
This plan included the incorporation of the taxation of Kentucky residents for the maintenance of
a school fund.91 The establishment of a taxation system solely for the purpose of supporting the
public school system was noteworthy.
Once such issues as funding and oversight were firmly in place, the organization of the
public system was addressed. Schools were generally governed through the support of local
bodies. Commissioners assisted schools in accessing funding, meeting state educational
requirements, and reporting school records. For the most part schools were left to the local level
for implementation and resources. This model allowed for decentralized governance, it also
contributed to disparities and inequalities in the school systems. Each superintendent of the
Kentucky public schools assisted in the progression of the system. Under each superintendent,
there were new additions to the structure of statewide schooling. Trial by fire can summarize the
success of their efforts, as there were few educational models for Kentucky superintendents.
Despite their efforts even fifteen years after its inception the public school system was still
primitive and disjointed. The superintendent’s chore was not only to develop the system, but to
encourage enthusiasm for the struggling systems. Public schooling efforts continued to grow
until the beginning of the Civil War. From 1860-1865, school districts “to the number of seven
hundred and twelve had been discontinued.”92 The turmoil preceding the war and after affected
Kentucky’s teaching supply, school donations, and morale. The already struggling system was
90
John Kleber ed., The Encyclopedia of Louisville (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2001), 471.
See also Hamlett, Barksdale, History of Education in Kentucky (Frankfort: Kentucky Department of Education,
1914).
91
Robert J. Breckenridge, Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to the General Assembly of Kentucky
for the year 1850 (Frankfort: Kentucky Department of Education, 1850).
92
Zachariah Frederick Smith, The History of Kentucky: From Its Earliest Discovery and Settlement, to the Present
Date ... Its Military Events and Achievements, and Biographic Mention of Its Historic Characters (Louisville:
Courier-Journal Job Printing Company Publishers, 1886), 725, www.googlebooks.com (accessed September 21,
2009).
38
subject to the politics of the time. Similar to other border states in the Union, Kentucky’s future
educational endeavors would have to wait.
By 1880, Reconstruction had encouraged the strengthening of public education systems;
as well as involving new participants in southern public educational history. Blacks no longer
enslaved exited their bondage with aspirations of schooling and some white northerners and
southerners were yearning to give it to them in addition to Black’s aims for self-determination.
The next section examines the earliest educational efforts of Blacks in Kentucky, and alludes to
the orchestration of education for Blacks.
1.3 Blacks and Schooling prior to the Civil War:
“The diffusion of knowledge and learning of men being essential to the preservation of
liberty and free government, and the promotion of human virtue and happiness, it shall be the
duty of the general assembly to establish within three years after the adoption of this constitution,
and forever thereafter keep in existence, an efficient system of common schools throughout this
commonwealth, which shall equally be open to all white children thereof,” was the first section
of the education committees report that was submitted to the 1849 Kentucky Constitution
Convention.93 Although this legislation did not make it into Kentucky’s constitution at that time,
Blacks, free or enslaved, were excluded from early schooling efforts. Prior to the Civil War
access to literacy and schooling for free Blacks and the enslaved, was generally through churches
and private establishments. Yet a culture of learning was not unlikely, since the Commonwealth
of Kentucky did not expressly prohibit Black access to literacy, like other states. African
Americans were free to create educational opportunities through social and church
organizations.94
Urban areas of Kentucky, like Louisville and Lexington, utilized enslaved Blacks in such
roles as shopkeepers, skilled labor, and in households. These types of free labor positions
afforded some Blacks access to literacy.95 Religious instruction was a primary source of literacy
for African Americans. Interestingly, church functions were also sometimes the only places that
93
Thomas D. Clark, “Education,” in Our Kentucky: A Study of the Bluegrass, ed. John Klotter (Lexington: The
University Press of Kentucky, 2000), 307.
94
Marion Lucas, A History of Blacks in Kentucky: From Slavery to Segregation, 1760- 1891(Frankfort: The
Kentucky Historical Society, 1992), 120-141.
95
Ibid., 140-141.
39
interaction between whites, free Blacks, and the enslaved were not considered suspicious. These
religious interactions were occasional examples of “interracial education.” 96 Considering
Louisville was the largest city in Kentucky it served as the site of the state’s largest Black school
system. The earliest recorded organized schools were short-lived and often established by white
abolitionists, as early as 1827 in Louisville, and 1839 in Lexington, KY. The first school
established by Blacks was Louisville’s Fifth Street Baptist Church’s Adams’s School in 1841.97
The ending of the Civil War provided the conditions needed to create educational
opportunities for Blacks. Although, some free Blacks in Kentucky were enrolled in private
schools and had access to literacy before the end of the Civil War, the year 1865 also signified
the possibility of universal education for all Blacks in Kentucky.98 Religious instruction coupled
with the absence of laws prohibiting the education of Blacks ensured that at the very least some
formal education for Blacks was established before the Civil War.99 Much of Kentucky’s early
school history is connected to religious institutions. Coupled with some white denominations
advocacy of Black literacy for humanitarian and religious reasons, and the desire of numerous
slaves for self-improvement, religious institutions supported schools.100 However, according to
Myrtle R. Phillips in The Origin, Development & Present Status of Secondary Education for
Negroes in Kentucky, some church supported efforts were described as “predominately, unorganized, unsystematic, fragmented , elementary, haphazard, sporadic…”101 Initially schooling
was limited for both Blacks and whites, due to economics, location, and in the case of Blacks,
status as slave or free.
According to my research, some of the earliest recorded institutions where Blacks
received schooling were at the First African Baptist Church (Louisville), Pleasant Green Street
Baptist (Lexington), Quinn Chapel (Louisville), St. Mark’s Episcopal Church (Louisville) and
The Ladies Hall School, The Fourth Street School, and The Corrall Street School.102 Reverend
96
Marion B. Lucas, A History of Blacks in Kentucky: From Slavery to Segregation, 1760- 1891(Frankfort: The
Kentucky Historical Society, 1992), 120.
97
John Kleber ed., The Kentucky Encyclopedia (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1992), 258.
98
Marion B. Lucas, A History of Blacks in Kentucky: From Slavery to Segregation, 1760-1891 (Frankfort: Kentucky
Historical Society, 1992).
99
Ibid.
100
Ibid,. 140.
101
Myrtle R. Phillips, "The Origin, Development, and Present Status of Public Secondary Education for Negroes in
Kentucky," Journal of Negro Education (1932): 414-423.
102
Robert Peter, History of Fayette County City of Lexington: The Colored People of Lexington (Chicago: O. L.
Baskin & Co. Historical Publishers, 1882), 475. See also John Kleber ed., The Encyclopedia of Louisville
40
Henry Adams one of the most notable Kentucky leaders began the operation of a Black school at
First African Baptist Church in Louisville in 1841.103 The church organized schools were often
short-lived, only a few are reported to have lasted through the Civil War in their original form.
The Black struggle to access education included the acquisition of resources. Since the
majority of Blacks were enslaved prior to the Civil War, and in most states not allowed to
receive schooling, when the opportunity to obtain education existed there were not enough
teachers to teach Blacks in schools. The social norms of the day exacerbated this challenge, as
restrictions were placed upon Black interactions with whites, and especially white women. Prior
to the Civil War, many of those Blacks who were “learned” were pastors or had been educated
outside of the U.S. or in Northern enclaves of freedom. Thus the early connection of schools to
religious institutions, was both out of necessity (a source of literate persons), and out of religious
need (to save souls). Examples of Sunday school instruction were also provided by accounts of
the former Kentucky slave Henry Bibb, who is reported to have convinced a white girl to hold
Sunday school for the former slaves in his area. This school was later dismantled by white
patrols.104
However, the changes in the status of Blacks from bondsman to free definitely impacted
the number of schools needed in Kentucky. Meanwhile, the architects of Kentucky public
education grappled with issues of how to build a system in rural and urban areas, after 1865 a
new question arose about what to do with the Negro. The Negro question, as the issue of what to
do with Black people during that period was referred to, now entered the Kentucky public school
discourse. Challenges facing Blacks in accessing Kentucky public schools ranged from overt
racism to ill-defined policies. African Americans experienced the positive residuals of the
Thirteenth Amendment and the presence of the Freedmen’s Bureau after the Civil War.105
(Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2001), 285; Marion B. Lucas, A History of Blacks in Kentucky:
From Slavery to Segregation, 1790-1891 (Frankfort: Kentucky Historical Society, 1992).
103
J. Blaine Hudson, “The Establishment of Louisville Municipal College: A Case Study in Racial Conflict and
Compromise,” The Journal of Negro Education 64, no. 2 (Spring 1995): 113.
104
Henry Bibb, Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, an American Slave (New York: 1850), 21,
www.googlebooks.com (accessed September 21, 2009).
105
“Kentucky stubbornly refused to ratify the 13th Amendment. After it became part of the United States, slavery
was legally abolished in Kentucky and the Legislature found it necessary to repeal the slave codes. Victor B.
Howard, “The Struggle for Equal Education in Kentucky, 1866-1884,” The Journal of Negro Education, 46, no. 3
(Summer 1977), 305-328. See also George D. Wilson, A Century of Negro Education in Louisville, Kentucky
(Louisville: University of Louisville Press, 1986), 19.
41
The earliest record of Kentucky providing any type of legislative policy for the schooling
of Blacks was in 1866. This act, in addition to other things, provided that all revenue generated
from the tax collection of Blacks would be set aside for the support of Black paupers, and go to
the development of schools.106 The law was amended in 1867. One remarkable aspect relating to
this process of collecting funds for Black schools was African American resistance to the tax. In
part the legislation was unable to raise adequate funds through this taxation, because Blacks
avoided paying it. Black’s refusal to pay taxes was in response to the funds also being used for
both the Black pauper’s fund and the establishment of public schools.107
The taxation issue was one component of the dilemma of schooling for Blacks. The
question of governance became central to the discussion. Additionally, public schools for Blacks
struggled and were subject to violence from white mobs. Struggling for survival, Blacks
continued to support their new schools more so than the state legislature.108 The Freedmen’s
Bureau officials in the 1868 Circular No. 8 reported that despite the decrease in funds and
difficulties, “The educational department will continue until such time as the State of Kentucky
shall by law provide for the education of her people.”109 In 1869, another educational convention
was held by Blacks. This convention called for petitioning “Congress for further appropriations
and to petition the state legislature to make funds available.” 110 The convention was the
sounding board for an important organizing tool that later served to “fight” on behalf of “Negro
educational matters.”111
As the general challenges to the growing school system were overcome, the more specific
challenge of educating Black and white students together had not yet been resolved. The
evidence suggests that although Blacks had limited access to schooling in Kentucky, which
included public and private opportunities, the developing social norms of segregation would
prevail. In fact a controversy was brewing not about whether Blacks should be educated, but
whether whites and Blacks could be educated together. Schooling for Blacks in Kentucky was
106
Kentucky General Assembly Acts of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, passed at the
adjourned session of 1865-1866 (Frankfort, 1866), 51; Victor B. Howard, “The Struggle for Equal Education in
Kentucky, 1866-1884,” The Journal of Negro Education, 46, no. 3 (Summer 1977), 309-310.
107
Moses E. Lignon, “A History of Public Education in Kentucky,” Bulletin of the Bureau of School Service XIV,
no. 4 (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1942), 247.
108
Ibid.
109
Ibid., 22.
110
Ibid., 26.
111
Ibid., 28.
42
affected by the Civil Rights Act of 1875, because of the possible mixed schools clause.112
Superintendent H.A.M. Henderson articulated the sentiments of associated with the mixed
schools clause, and education for Blacks as the earlier forms of the bill sought to enact. He
argued that if the bill should become law with the provision “to place the whites and Blacks upon
an equality in the public schools ‘that it would be a fatal blow’.”113
As educational opportunities for equal education dissipated, Blacks continued to utilize
the system. As they challenged the legality of segregation, they also participated in the resources.
By the end of 1881, the number of school districts reporting “colored schools” was one hundred
and ten, and four hundred and nineteen school houses for “colored” use.114 These schools were
distributed in both counties and cities, but more buildings were concentrated in counties. 115 The
question of distribution of funds continued as resources grew.
To complicate matters further, Superintendent of Instruction Pickett called for the
equalization of school funds. Earlier (1868), Blacks resisted the taxation for Black schools citing
whites were not taxed equally for maintaining their schools. The 1874 act repealed the earlier
KY state legislation, but still did not equalize distribution. In 1882, the provisions were accepted
by Kentuckians,
“(1) To create one common school fund, to be distributed to white and colored school
children in the same proportions; (2) school ages of colored children were fixed between
six and twenty years, the same as for white children; (3) separate schools were to be
maintained for white and colored children…” 116
The 1882 provision served to finally equalize educational funds in Kentucky, but could
not fully equalize the Black and white experience. Working towards educational opportunity and
equality was hard work for its proponents. Blacks toiled to gain all resources necessary for
adequate schooling in Kentucky, but their system grew. Similar to schools for whites, the
practice of a county commissioner was employed to provide local oversight. In 1884, county
commissioners reported to the superintendent of public instruction concerning the conditions,
112
John Hope Franklin, Reconstruction: After the Civil War, (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1961), 201.
H.A.M. Henderson, Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of Kentucky, for the School Year
Ending June 30, 1874 (Frankfort: Kentucky Department of Education, 1874), 30-32.
114
Joseph Desha Pickett, Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, with
Summaries of Statistics from the School-year Ending June 30th, 1881 to the School-year 1886 (Frankfort: Kentucky
Department of Education, 1886), 147.
115
Ibid., 26.
116
Moses E. Lignon, “A History of Public Education in Kentucky,” Bulletin of the Bureau of School Service, XIV,
no. 4 (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1942), 252.
113
43
progress and prospects of the colored common schools of Kentucky. The report shared a variety
of observations about the ways in which Blacks embraced the common school. The reports
varied from county to county, but some acknowledged the eagerness and commitment of Blacks
to education. In addition, the reports overwhelmingly described the conditions of most county
common schools lacking qualified teachers, school-houses, and other adequate resources.117
Interestingly, county commissioners’ troubling views were also unintentionally offered. For
example, a Bath County commissioner shared “To a certain point, colored children learn very
rapidly, after which, the labor is tedious, and advancement slow. Those with an admixture of
white blood are most precocious, and reach higher attainment.”118
The 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson Supreme Court Ruling solidified the social segregation,
by making it the law of the land. The reality is that before this legislation was enacted,
segregation had already taken hold in Kentucky. The Commonwealth of Kentucky’s General
Assembly had ruled in 1874 that new funding provisions for a separate system of education for
Blacks should be developed. Then again in 1891, the Kentucky Courts ruled that there should be
further provisions made for African American education. African Americans in Kentucky and
across the country geared up to save what schooling structures they had and to push for what
schooling they were legally entitled to receive. The school system for Blacks in Kentucky was
based upon taxation and therefore, should theoretically have been equal. Unfortunately, like
other states, Kentucky school systems were already financially struggling to maintain white
schools, and now schools for Blacks would also suffer.
In addition, African Americans were taxed and funding such services as schooling, but
had limited or social access. Also, as a result of the social norms, African Americans were
expected to pay taxes and support separate schools. Many Blacks resisted these measures, and
opted to not pay taxes, or worked to develop schools. The structure of schools was governed by a
superintendent of public schools. This superintendent oversaw both white and colored public
schools.
The issue of equity in funding was always a major aspect of protest. In the early
development of colored schools, KY Superintendent Henderson, prescribed that funds should not
117
Ibid.
Joseph Desha Pickett, Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, with
Summaries of Statistics from the School-year Ending June 30th, 1881 to the School-year, 1886 (Frankfort: Kentucky
Department of Education, 1886), 26.
118
44
be taken away from whites to pay for “colored” schools, instead the taxes from colored people
should go to support their schools. Although this sentiment was addressed with the equalizing of
funds, the division between Black and whites in society became more rigid. Despite the moral
and fiscal implications of creating two educational systems, opposition to interracial educational
grew, limiting educational opportunities for poor whites and Blacks.119
Providing schooling for Blacks was not part of the initial concern of the educational
framers prior to antebellum, therefore exclusion of Blacks has left a mark on the system. The
expulsion and lack of attention is visible in the evolution in Kentucky schooling. By tracing the
development of schools for whites and Blacks in Kentucky, I uncovered the challenges,
contradictions and areas of opportunity that were characteristic of these dual and competing
school systems. By providing an overview of early recorded public schools and private schools,
the role of the public schooling structures, and challenges of Black education provide the
rationale for why there were resistance efforts to educational segregation in Kentucky.
As a result, the development of two systems was a long and arduous process, in which
Blacks had to be intentional and strategic about their opportunities. In the chapters that follow,
the process in which these opportunities were secured is the focus. The next chapter embarks on
the framework for defining the nature of Black resistance. In the next chapter, I will introduce
The Pedagogy of the Oppressed as the basis for understanding the efforts of prominent Blacks
and organizations who worked to resist educational segregation in Kentucky.
119
By opposing interracial education, two separate school systems had to be established and maintained. This
separate but equal educational structure was costly. One school system would have not placed such a burden on the
already limited resources of state and local government educational funds as two systems. Thus those who were with
the least resources (poor whites) experienced the system much like Blacks, because they had limited educational
opportunities.
45
CHAPTER 2:
A THEORETICAL APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING
RESISTANCE
“Son, after I’m gone I want you to keep up the good fight. I never told you, but our life is
a war and I have been a traitor all my born days, a spy in the enemy’s country ever since I give
my gun back in the Reconstruction.” – Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man120
With all of the advances in providing equal and equitable access to education in the 20th
century, scholar Gary Orfield reported in 2001 that, “even with great strides in educational
equality we may in fact be reverting to de facto segregation.”121 Troubling as these findings are,
they have brought forth a cadre of questions for potential discussion about the nature of
segregation. The segregating of whites and Blacks did not happen overnight. Life for Blacks and
whites shifted from a variation of integrated and interdependent experiences to forced
segregation through state and federal regulations, terrorism, and surrender.122 Initially after the
Civil War, Blacks engaged in the process of freedom full-heartedly. Great gains were made for
Blacks by and on the behalf of Blacks. The interdependent lifestyle that had been normative
during slavery evolved to include Blacks in the political process and as prominent citizens of the
community. Perhaps the greatest question of integration was at the educational level. Southern
Black schools before the Civil War were rare, but the gates for educating Blacks opened as they
were freed. In addition, education for whites was also limited. Seemingly, with these limitations,
educational settings would have been ripe for the interracial experiment.
The question of interracial or mixed schools was presented in many states after the Civil
War, especially in relationship to the Civil Rights Act of 1875.123 The implications of mixed or
120
121
Leon Litwack, How Free is Free? The Long Death of Jim Crow (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009), 7.
Gary Orfield, “Schools More Separate: Consequences of a Decade of Resegregation”, The Civil Rights Project,
http://www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/deseg/separate_schools01.php (accessed September 25, 2009).
122
C. Vann Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow: A Commemorative Edition with William S. McFeely (New
York: Oxford Press, 2000). Terrorism describes the efforts of such white supremacist groups as the Ku Klux Klan
and others who used violence to terrorize Blacks and sympathetic whites into submission.
123
Truman Pierce, White and Negro Schools: An Analysis of Biracial Education (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall,
1995); John Hope Franklin, Reconstruction after the Civil War (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994);
H.A.M. Henderson, Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of Kentucky for the School Year
Ending June 30, 1874 (Frankfort: Kentucky Department of Education, 1874).
46
interracial schooling include an opportunity to equalize public education funds and access.
Unfortunately, the idea of comprehensive interracial schooling would have to wait for almost a
generation. On the one hand being able to equally participate in schooling was appealing, but on
the other hand there was doubt as to what participation would mean. Nevertheless, Black
consensus regarded access to education as more important than being in schools with whites.124
The consequences of Black exclusion as whole and full persons from society would be a part of
the U.S. fabric for generations to come. As a result of this systematic exclusion, access to
schooling for Blacks can be viewed through the lens of resistance. For many, the history of
schooling will always be an example of the legacy of resistance that Blacks embraced to procure
access and justice.
At the close of the Civil War, the education of Blacks may not have been at the forefront
of most Americans minds, however, education like slavery beforehand, became a point of
contention for Blacks in America. Upon arriving in some states during the Civil War, soldiers
found Blacks being schooled in organized experiences.125 The not yet freed slaves were
exercising their hope for freedom through this often consequence laden act of resistance, also
known as schooling. The opportunity to learn in organized ways could be as dangerous as
organizing an uprising because in most southern states it was illegal or against the social norm to
teach enslaved and/or free Blacks to read or write.126 Learning to read or write for the slave and
free Black was in and of itself a form of resistance. Reading or writing was associated with
rebellions, uprisings, and the understanding of freedom. Resistance for the enslaved and free
Black had become a way of life in the Western Hemisphere that would transcend even the
institution of slavery.
Resistance “as a way of life” disturbed the status quo and provided opportunities for
Blacks to be radical transformers. However, it is important to note, resistance efforts were not
always embraced by all or even the majority of Blacks. Resistance, although an alternative for
124
Ibid., 42.
Heather Andrea Williams, Self-taught: African American Education in Slavery and Freedom (Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 2006), 39.
126
The legality of teaching enslaved or free Blacks to read in Southern states varied upon the state. Some states did
not explicitly prohibit the behavior such as Kentucky, while other state/local governments created laws against the
relationship between literacy and Blacks. In addition, the punishment for such infractions varied.
see Heather Williams, Self-taught: African American Education in Slavery and Freedom (Chapel Hill: University of
North Carolina Press, 2006), 216; Manning Marable and Leith Mullins, Let Nobody Turn Us Around: Voices of
Reform, Resistance, and Renewal (Lanham: Rowan & Littlefield Publishers, 2003), 41.
125
47
many Blacks throughout the Western Hemisphere due to their condition of enslavement, could
not be assumed as a pervasive reaction. The alternative reaction of resistance was multifaceted
and included calculated and intentional approaches from individuals and groups. The result of
successful responses to resistance in the U.S., included the organized development of schools
and educational resources, the lessening of the impact of segregation and the development of
dual school systems which includes today’s Historically Black Colleges & Universities.
Resistance efforts were diverse, ranging from calculated and indirect responses and/or organized
actions to resist the white supremacist power structure. These actions of resistance were
dangerous for the performers not only in the physical sense, but in relationship to limiting their
fiscal and social opportunities. The balancing act of establishing and maintaining any semblance
of school control for Blacks, while simultaneously experiencing the risk of losing any support
because of their opposition, was a burgeoning colossal threat to educational opportunities for
Blacks.
The concept of resistance is complex. Many people have resisted oppression throughout
history. Perhaps the most consistent group to systematically use resistance as a tool against
oppression was the Africans in the Western Hemisphere. By enslaving Blacks, a system of
oppression was created, in which Blacks were under domination by white supremacists.127 In
other words, those who chose to enslave and benefit by the institutionalizing of humans in the
U.S., created a system of exclusion that intentionally left out and devalued those of African
ancestry. As a product of this behavior, the system of oppression was pervasive in Americans’
daily life, particularly in the Southern slave states. The unraveling of this system could be
eradicated only through those who would and did challenge it. Resistance was the tool for
liberation, without resistance there could be no liberation. Resistance for this writing is defined
as any act, in which one resists.128 Resistance after enslavement challenges our notion of
resistance as inextricably tied to violence, instead as historian Leon Litwack best captures
127
“When race emerged in human history, it formed a social structure (a racialized social system) that awarded
systematic privileges to Europeans (the peoples who became “white”) over non-Europeans (the people who became
‘non-white’)”- see Eduardo Bonilla-Silva ed., “Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of
Racial Inequality in the United States,” Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Race and Ethnicity (Dubuque: McGrawHill, 2008), 176-179.
128
Oxford English Dictionary, http://www.oed.com/ (accessed September 21, 2009). “The act, on the part of
persons, of resisting, opposing, or withstanding.”
48
resistance is “defined not so much by spectacular feats and insurrections as by day-to- day acts,
employing various forms of expression, often subtle and individual.”129
The world of Black resistance is sometimes associated with slavery and Black ability to
develop mechanisms of change. These mechanisms include the most complex and extreme, such
as poisoning their masters, clandestine schools, to the simplistic such as slowing the pace of
production.130 The efforts of Black resistance were often feared, such as in the cases of slave
rebellions. The dichotomy of resistance involved both the individual and the group. In examples
of U.S. enslaved resistance, these efforts did not stop once slavery ended. Instead, resistance
built the foundation for fighting future societal inequality.
After legalized slavery ended, the use of resistance remained necessary. However,
violent forms of resistance became less necessary, while intellectual, social, religious, and
economic forms of resistance became more sustainable. The tension which produced schools
resembled the complex relationship with former masters and demands of equality. To summarize
this tension I pose the following question, do the formerly enslaved Africans follow their own
path of self-determination towards freedom, or do they adhere to the ubiquitous restraints of the
white supremacist power structure? For some, developing their own path and thus upsetting the
stability of the former system was their choice. Those who employed a framework of resistance
worked to become architects of their own educational opportunity.
There were several reasons why Blacks requested and demanded access to schooling after
the Civil War. Scholars have summarized that the relationship between Blacks and schooling
included hope for first-class citizenship, practical reasons, and liberation from their current
condition, in other words “racial advancement.”131 Education for African Americans is
inextricably tied to liberation, and the belief that power could be found through education. The
act of obtaining schooling or educational opportunity can be considered an act of resistance.
When considering this idea of resistance within the context of oppression, we must be
aware of the ways in which literacy was used by the oppressor. In the complex world of
antebellum slavery, literacy/education was used as a tool of resistance by enslaved Africans.
Acquisition of information, forging documents for freedom, and galvanizing the masses, served
129
Leon Litwack, How Free is Free: The Long Death of Jim Crow (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009), 6.
131
William H. Watkins, The White Architects of Black Education: Ideology and Power in America, 1865-1954 (New
York: Teachers College Press, 2001), 15.
49
as a few examples of how oppressed Blacks used their literacy. By white supremacists or the
oppressor, literacy was used to Christianize and to create skilled slaves. These purposes were
very different, and often conflicting. Many states regulated Blacks’ interactions with education.
In some states local groups reinforced or enforced who could access informal or formal
education. In fact schooling was seen as a gentlemen’s activity, out of reach for poor whites and
former bondsmen.132 In essence, keeping literacy unattainable ensured an air of mystery around
the educational process. Thus the mystique surrounding the educational process would have to be
overcome by Blacks.
The educational history of one former slave holding state in the Union, Kentucky,
provides a canvass of opportunities to explore how resistance was performed. The mystification
of formal schooling or literacy for Blacks was intentional. To create individuals who would not
test their current condition, keeping the enslaved ignorant, is steeped in domination and control.
Those who benefited from this system of oppression knew that educating a slave could lead to
both physical and mental liberation. The elements of liberation also include consciousness of
oppression and agent and target relationships. Oppression serves as an impetus for participation
in resistance efforts. In the development of educational segregation, oppression was performed
by the agent on the target in a variety of ways.133
These performances during the early formation of schooling for Blacks were acted out
through a complex network of philanthropic organizations, governmental agencies, racist
propagandist, missionaries, and advocates for a “corporate-industrial state.”134 This atmosphere
was one in which many southern Blacks encountered as they were emancipated. In addition,
enslaved Blacks contributed to this country’s prosperity because of their status as free labor. To
be sure, education was one way that Blacks were going to achieve liberation. Schooling was a
means to facilitating their self-determination and the development of a vision outside the
parameters of the white supremacists, missionaries, philanthropists, and capitalists of that time.
The motives for education of Blacks or Black education were competing and conflicting. These
motivations and visions clashed all over the South, the state of Kentucky provided no exception.
132
Horace Mann Bond, “Education in the South,” Journal of Educational Sociology 12, no. 5(January 1939): 264274.
133
Maurianne Adams, Readings for Diversity and Social Justice: An Anthology on Racism, Sexism, Anti-Semitism,
Heterosexism, Classism and Ableism (New York: Routledge, 2000), 5-8. This introduction provides a brief
discussion about the types of oppression and their role in the human experience.
134
William H. Watkins, The White Architects of Black Education: Ideology and Power in America, 1865-1954 (New
York: Teachers College Press, 2001), 3-23.
50
2.1 A Theoretical Framework of Oppression
A system of oppression is facilitated through many mechanisms. The role of education in
facilitating, and maintaining oppression in early Black educational formation is tied to many
forces. One example of such educational forces relies on the ideology that education was
inextricably connected to state politics and the labor market.135 For example, the argument of
liberal education vs. industrial education entered the debate. Educational history illuminates that
industrial education fulfilled the objectives of those who wanted an orderly South. Industrial
education although practical, was often associated with “accommodationism” or a mentality to
“accept the world as it was.” 136
The truth is that Blacks acquired their education through a combination of
accommodation and resistance. The gift of education from benevolent societies came with
sacrifice. This expense was created and supported by a fully developed system of oppression.
Systems of oppression are complicated phenomenon, but basic details include an oppressor/agent
who has unearned power over the target (oppressed). These agents are able to form and maintain
a system based upon their own needs without accepting input or concern of the target group. As a
result of excluding the target group, exclusion emerges and the system of oppression is
strengthened. In the system of oppression against Blacks, white supremacists created not only
exclusionary systems they also instituted a system that placed one group superior (whites) to
another (Blacks).137 In the United States, the exclusion of Africans (Blacks) from life as full and
whole humans is the very way in which this system of oppression was able to be formed and
evolve. The system which excluded Blacks for over two hundred years, had established social
norms that were legalized and de facto. The freeing or releasing of four million plus people from
human bondage did not mean that the ideology and turpitude that allowed for over 200 years of
slavery dissipated. The ideology followed and continued well into freedom movements.
These details provide examples of the factors that shaped education for Blacks. In
addition, to understand why educational resistance became necessary is to recognize the caveat
135
William H. Watkins, The White Architects of Black Education: Ideology and Power in America, 1865-1954 (New
York: Teachers College Press, 2001), 9-21.
136
Ibid., 23.
137
Additionally other groups such as Native Americans, Latinos, and the Chinese were also excluded. It is important
to note that the writer understands that their experience was also harrowing and does not subscribe to a hierarchy of
oppression.
51
that education can be both oppressive and liberating. Education as a method for oppression
possesses well-defined characteristics. Educational oppression maintains the hierarchy,
reproduces the system, and ensures that the dynamics of power and powerlessness remain intact.
Educational oppression does facilitate a social order allowing for small or even large victories.
This oppression on the surface may resemble the opportunity for equality like “separate but
equal” in U.S. educational history.138 However, the tension between the wants and needs of the
target and the agent ensure incompatible outcomes. This tension translated into the differences
between education for Blacks and Black education. White benevolent societies were concerned
about the welfare of Blacks, but Blacks also wanted to control their future. While Blacks
embraced the opportunity for schooling from the benevolent societies and individuals, they also
recognized the importance of developing their own opportunities to learn.139 Kentucky Blacks
were no different in their desire to learn. For example, educated Blacks such as Reverend Adams
established Louisville Fifth Street Baptist Church Adam’s School in 1861. His learned status not
only afforded him the opportunity to pastor, but also to assist in establishing the first Black
sponsored school in Louisville, Kentucky.140
The presence of benevolent societies in the formation of schools for Blacks was
welcomed. It served both Blacks and whites to have funding and structural resources, and
philanthropists to socially engineer educational opportunity. The conditions were ripe for
philanthropists to create a workforce that was literate as the industrial age evolved.141 Mass
schooling for Blacks was a new experiment, as it was for whites in the South. The experiment
had to be a delicate mixture of ingredients, in order to work. However, the experiment failed as
the budding architecture of Black education began to crumble or come to a halt. The design of
Black schooling was simple and basic. In fact, what did Blacks have to compare it to? Prior to
the war, Blacks had few if any opportunities. So the early formation of schools was a welcome
opportunity. However, a shift from education for Blacks to Black education illuminates the ongoing tension associated with self-determination.
138
William H. Chafe, Remembering Jim Crow: African Americans tell About Life in the Segregated South (New
York: New Press, 2001), 152-155.
139
James D. Anderson, The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935 (Chapel Hill: The North Carolina Press,
1988), 16; Jacqueline Jones, Soldiers of Light and Love: Northern Teachers and Georgia Blacks 1865-1873 (Chapel
Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1992), 111.
140
John Kleber ed., The Kentucky Encyclopedia (Lexington: The University of Kentucky, 1992), 385.
141
William H. Watkins, The White Architects of Black Education: Ideology and Power in America, 1865-1954 (New
York: Teachers College Press, 2001), 14.
52
First, Black education is very different than education for Blacks. Black education
implies that a certain control will be asserted by the people for whom the education is designed
to affect; education for Blacks implies that it is controlled by others, primarily for their purposes.
Education for Blacks was what was provided for African Americans, by other contributors. The
diverse contributors varied from the wealthiest philanthropists to the committed missionaries and
benevolent societies.
Second, since education is both political and tied to the labor market, the fueling of
schools for Blacks provided profits and maintained order for the status quo. Here is where the
two aforementioned educational ideologies conflict. For some industrial education was a
reasonable opportunity, Booker T. Washington’s writings illuminate this perspective. However,
some Blacks were decidedly against this form of schooling and felt it reinforced subservient
roles and limited Black participation as full citizens in a capitalistic society.142
Finally, although the opportunity for schooling grew through the assistance of various
groups, public educational opportunities were unequal. In addition, funding from private sources
began to recede. For example, decisions were made to change the course in educating Blacks and
focusing on other groups such as White Appalachians as was the case at Berea College.143
Opportunities for the education of Blacks were also at risk as the Reconstruction Era came to an
end. The Federal agencies and troops left the South, the accommodations that were made for
Blacks under the guise of Reconstruction, soon dissipated.144
Initially, when the foundation of schools for Blacks was being poured, who could have
complained? What reason would there have been to complain? This opportunity on the surface
was a godsend. But as the relations that were held together by outside entities in the South began
to deteriorate, so did the enthusiasm for schools for Blacks. Take into account the following:
Education is controlling and not about liberation or freedom at all, but coercion. Educational
opportunity as a medium for social and intellectual freedom came with many costs. In fact, Paulo
Freire surmises that “freedom is acquired by conquest, not by gift.”145
142
E. Franklin Frazier, Black Bourgeoisie: The Book that Brought the Shock of Self- Revelation to Middle-Class
Blacks in America (New York: Free Press, 1997), 63- 70.
143
Andrew Baskin, “Berea College: A Commitment to Interracial Education within a Christian Context,”
Minorities and Evangelical Christian Colleges (Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 1991), 315-341.
144
C. Vann Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow: A Commemorative Edition with William S. McFeely (New
York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 6.
145
Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed: 30th Anniversary translated by Donald P. Maceado (New York:
Continuum Press, 2000), 47.
53
In some ways the transition from enslaved to freedmen to citizen met the cheers and jeers
of the larger society. How does a human move from commodity, to a proponent and example of
self-determination? And how does someone act on their freedom when the only thing that has
changed is their legal status, not society’s perceptions? For Blacks across the country,
particularly in Kentucky, could schooling provide the breakthrough in the system of oppression?
Could Blacks change perceptions, participate fully as whole human beings in American society,
and determine their own destinies in a racist and oppressive society? Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of
the Oppressed, notes that it would not be enough to be educated or schooled, but that there must
be a consciousness that arises on the part of the oppressed in order for there to be the
revolutionary action of resistance. In other words, history would tell us, that the wrong education
was just as damaging as no education. Carter G. Woodson’s Mis-education of the Negro sheds
light on the issues associated with education that replicates the oppression.146
The system of oppression that developed in the U.S. was based upon the myth of Black
inferiority and white supremacy. For hundreds of years the practice of Black enslavement existed
because white supremacy propagated that Blacks were better off as slaves, were not human or
Christians, and that Blacks were a workforce with no or limited intellectual abilities. There were
so many justifications for enslaving Blacks, and those justifications developed into a set of
norms or way of life.147 The beliefs about the African in Diaspora did not suddenly change as a
result of enslavement ending. In fact, this is an example of why the system of oppression does
not simply disappear without a radical revolution.
2.2 Maintaining a System of the Oppressed The Civil War hosted some of the bloodiest battles in U.S. war history. At the center of
the War was a complex battle for freedom. Unfortunately, the freedom of the enslaved and their
human rights was not the initial impetus for the War. It later became a crucial motivation in the
complex War Between the States.148 In fact, in order for the system of oppression to be undone,
the oppressed, would have to lead, create and carry out the revolutionary actions to change the
146
Carter G. Woodson, The Mis-Education of the Negro (Trenton: Africa World Press, 2006), 26-37.
Winthrop Jordan, White Over Black: American Attitudes Toward the Negro, 1550-1812, (Chapel Hill: University
of North Carolina Press, 1968), 91-98.
148
James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988),
vi-vii.
147
54
system. The eradication of a system of oppression must be led and include the target as the
revolutionary, or it is still within the context of the system and thus a manifestation of the
system. Although Blacks fought in the Civil War in both the Confederate and Union Armies,
they were not the leadership for the War. Thus the system did not change because Blacks were
no longer enslaved. The dueling desires of the “freedmen” for self-determination and the white
supremacists desire to control are what encouraged some Blacks to resist. The right to selfdetermination through education could undermine the system of oppression. To undermine the
system meant that Blacks had to first recognize the system, defy its parameters, radically
overturn the system, and then replace it with another that would be more inclusive. This radical
process was and is ever evolving, and according to Freire is the ultimate goal. For example,
Black resistance efforts included the simultaneous process of accepting the oppressor’s
assistance, and devising opportunities for self-determination, thus combining Freire’s approach
to liberation. Education for Blacks met many basic needs and was different than Black education.
Education for Blacks can be characterized by control by whites, through religious and industrial
components. To understand fully the dynamics of Black education prior to segregation, this
chapter categorizes Black self-determination into two parts: emancipation and economic
stability.
After emancipation came the challenge of Black self-sufficiency. How Blacks entered a
capitalistic society as paid labor versus exploited labor and what tools they would need in order
to effectively change their condition, was a core question of the era called the Negro question.
Slavery and literacy were not mutually exclusive, but legal and social norms made slave literacy
a luxury and dangerous. Literacy to the enslaved meant a liberation that their illiterate
counterparts could not access. Often the literate enslaved and free Black persons became the
conduit of information for illiterate enslaved persons. There was a source of power in literacy
and for whites a source of fear. The clandestine nature of accessing literacy for Blacks probably
added to Black’s desire to become literate after the Civil War. Slaves had been exposed to the
wealthy and privileged as the literate; in the end these images probably shaped their view of
citizenship. Ironically, access to schooling was not for everyone, including impoverished white
people. The reality is that by the end of the Civil War schooling in the South was not a priority
55
even for whites.149 However, slave codes and literacy laws did not exist for whites as a barrier to
educational learning in the same way as they did for enslaved and free Blacks.
When the enslaved were freed, resources available for schooling were limited. In some
places Black clandestine and church schools were in existence before the Civil War and were
able to continue even after the War. Literacy became a necessity in Blacks quest for equality and
economic and political power.150 These schools often focused on literacy and had various age
groups. Schooling for Blacks also included non-Black forces that often have been credited as
engineering Black education. Obtaining literacy and formalized education became the hope of
the freed Black. In essence education as a principle meant entry into a world that had previously
excluded Blacks. Education also inadvertently meant the ability to determine their collective
destiny. For example, they could utilize their formal knowledge to re-create their economic,
social, and political standing. In essence, educated Blacks could access the system and be almost
a full member of society. Education was thought to “civilize the Indian” but the great dilemma
for whites was could it civilize Blacks.151 In the long run, education for Blacks took on the image
of pseudo slavery, with white organizations and power structures controlling the educational
opportunities for Blacks. Education was established as a central tool for Black liberation;
however, ensuring that Black self-determination could exist through education would be a great
test for Blacks.
This test came as Blacks seemed to make strides in education. Almost simultaneously
they were also being left behind. Questions arose about how education would be obtained. The
public funds were controlled by the white-dominated government, and its legislative rulings.
Therefore, Blacks were at the whim of the lawmakers. These lawmakers created laws that
ensured Blacks would be slow to obtain interracial and/or equal educational opportunities. In the
private sector, educational opportunities controlled by white resources limited the choices for
Blacks. They too were at the whim of the white supremacist power structure. Relying on funding
from benevolent societies came with a cost. The cost included policies that shaped the nature of
Black schooling, often leading to substandard conditions or expectations. Additionally, schooling
149
Truman Pierce, White and Negro Schools: An Analysis of Biracial Education (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall,
1955), 39.
150
Heather Williams, “‘Clothing Themselves in Intelligence’: The Freedpeople, Schooling, and Northern Teachers
1861-1871,” The Journal of African American History, vol. 87, (Autumn 2002): 372.
151
Wilma King, “Multicultural Education at the Hampton Institute: The Shawnees A Case Study from 1900-1923,”
Journal of Negro Education 57, no. 4 (1988); Jon Allan Reyhner and Jeanne M. Oyawin Eder, American Indian
Education: A History (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2006), 143.
56
for Blacks by whites sometimes fueled a tenuous relationship. The relationship endured as long
as the power remained with the white supremacists and in line with the agendas of the
benevolent associations and philanthropists. When cadres of Blacks began to push against the
system, to demand their right to self-determination and equality, the system pushed back with
formalized segregation. Reinforcing the system of oppression with legalized segregation not only
halted African American’s access to equal education, it also added to the mounting reasons why
Blacks would need to use resistance.
2.3 Unraveling the Pedagogy of the Oppressed
To truly understand why African Americans resisted the segregation of their academic
experiences, we must also examine the notion of segregation as a form of oppression. We have
thus far examined the formation of education for Blacks and its relationship to rationales for
resistance. Segregation was the behavior that solidified the system of oppression, but it was also
the final act before the revolution. Segregating Blacks and whites before the 1896 Plessy vs.
Ferguson U.S. Supreme Court decision, was part of the legacy of slavery. The characteristics of
segregation after the Civil War were very complex. Segregation under the slavery period
differed although slave codes facilitated a form of segregation. However, life for enslaved and
free Blacks was intertwined with the lives of whites for many reasons. One reason, Blacks lived
in close proximity to whites in slave cabins or amongst the masters’ quarters.152 Segregation in
the Reconstruction Era was both contradictory and a continuation of conditions under slavery.
The contradiction was that although legal segregation did not exist, the social norms facilitated a
de facto slavery.
Many whites were opposed to the education of Blacks; whites in Kentucky were no
exception. For example, schools for Blacks were often targets of violence by white mobs.153 The
Kentucky legislature passed two sets of laws, one in 1869 and in 1874, to facilitate public
education for Blacks.154 These laws secured public education for Blacks and codified segregation
in the public sphere. The course for a separate school system with segregated schoolhouses,
152
C. Vann Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow: A Commemorative Edition with William S. McFeely (New
York: Oxford University Press, 200012.
153
George C. Wright, Racial Violence in Kentucky, 1865-1940:Lynchings, Mob Rule and “Legal
Lynchings,” (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1990), 190.
154
Theodore H.H. Harris, “Creating Windows of Opportunity: Isaac E. Black and the African American Experience,
1848-1914,” Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, 98 (Spring 2000): 159.
57
administrators, teachers, and supplies was set, and became a focal point of Black resistance.155
The complications of oppression that Blacks experienced as a result of slavery encased their
efforts. From this oppression the desire for “free” life through education was one request by the
formerly enslaved. In droves, Blacks accessed education and collaborated to create schooling
opportunities. The desire for education by Blacks was in and of itself an act of resistance. What
Blacks did by resisting the conditions they were placed in, is to provide an answer for the
question, “How can the oppressed, as divided, unauthentic beings participate in developing the
pedagogy of their liberation?”156
The development of one’s own pedagogy of liberation means that one at the very least
recognizes their right to self-determination, a right to make decisions for themselves or their
group without the unfair interference of the oppressor. The goal in essence is not to become or to
be like the oppressor. This then leads to the question- what then must one become, if the only
examples are from the oppressor? Does one accept the oppressors’ reality, or does one demand
the right to create one’s own reality? Black resistance to educational segregation was a way in
which they attempted to overcome their domination by white supremacists.
Carter G. Woodson’s The Mis-education of the Negro provides one response to this
dilemma, education has to be different for those who are oppressed, than it is for the oppressor is
a central theme. One interpretation of these phrases alludes to the link between education and
self-determination. If she or he cannot determine the self, then are they truly free beings or are
still pseudo slaves? Can education provide the opportunity to develop self-determination? Who
determines a free self but the individual, and what must happen for the individual who seeks selfdetermination in systems that enslave. Can one be free even if enslaved? Can the person who
resists their enslavement actually be a free person? Self determination is at the core of freedom.
Therefore the right to determine self must be protected and unobstructed. This may be why
Blacks throughout history have fought and in essence resisted to ensure their self-determination.
Oppression is a symptom of the system. It has shaped the ways in which Blacks and whites
interacted throughout U.S. history. This oppression did not become undone naturally, and it
seeped into the core of relations after enslavement, which was perhaps the most comprehensive
155
Ibid.; See Lowell H. Harrison and James C. Klotter, A New History of Kentucky (Lexington: University of
Lexington Press, 1997), 380.
156
Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed: 30th Anniversary translated by Donald P. Macedo(New York:
Continuum Press, 2000), 48.
58
form of oppression upon Blacks in American history. This oppressor/oppressed relationship did
not immediately dissipate due to the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 or the Civil Rights Act
of 1964. The creation of laws alone cannot dissolve the oppressor/oppressed relationship, in
some instances laws only makes the situation more manageable for the oppressed.
Laws do not often illustrate equality or fairness; consequently the roles of oppressor and
oppressed carry into the new relationship, even when the law facilitates equality or a new
opportunity. Therefore, the request for education from the oppressed to the oppressor continues
the cycle of oppression. To break the cycle of oppression, Blacks must procure knowledge of
self, beyond their formerly enslaved or freeperson status, then education as it was, could not be a
means to self-determination, unless they controlled it. Schooling had the potential to continue to
control the four million formerly enslaved Blacks, if so desired. Schools were more than just
buildings; they were transmitters of some knowledge –but what types of knowledge? The school
is more than the transmitter of letters and numbers according to Paulo Freire.
The elements of schooling are the key to understanding this argument. Schooling for
Blacks resembled the structure of white schools. But the constant demand from Blacks for
improvements and equality were in and of itself symbols of inequality. How does one sort out
who is a covert/overt oppressor, and their efforts to do what is believed as good, even if it has
negative consequences for Blacks. The covert oppressor is not as transparent, but the overt
oppressor is obvious, his/her behavior perpetuates the system and in essence ensures a caste
system. The two types of oppressive behaviors led to the development of schools- some out of
fear and others out of being a benevolent patriarchy who believed they knew what was best for
Blacks. To believe and then act on behaviors that place or keep groups subordinate is the role of
an oppressor. Oppressors do not often articulate their roles or view themselves as the oppressor,
and yet they are often successful in maintaining and creating status quo. Oppression played out
on an educational stage as segregation. During the struggle for equality in education (18651965), the fight for education was not only about resources or lack of, but a question of who was
dispensable. To create equitable situations, and thus ensure no one’s education was
indispensable, meant more than equitable funding. In fact, funding for some school systems for
Blacks varied and in some cases more monies were spent per capita on Black students than
whites. 157 Furthermore, educational equality could never come to fruition with dual educational
157
Horace Mann Bond, Education in the American Social Order (New York: Octagon Books, 1970), 231.
59
systems, which strained resources and inherently facilitated inequality, regardless of the opinion
of Plessy vs. Ferguson.158
To fund schools was indeed a benevolent action, but also an oppressive one because it
sometimes maintained the status quo of social segregation. This is an example of how the good
intentions of the benevolent societies, was part of the system of oppression. To create “separate”
schools for Blacks is in and of itself continuing the pedagogy of the oppressed. To summarize,
on one level, Paulo Freire’s articulation of schools as a conduit for reinforcing the oppressive
behavior of the oppressor is what African Americans faced as schooling was developed for them
and by them. It is important to note Freire’s observation that the oppressed often facilitate their
own oppression or are active participants in behaviors that were reserved for the Oppressor.
Finally, the transmittal of knowledge within the classroom is a valuable process and not merely
about literacy and numeracy but all the aspects of the classroom such as the teacher’s training or
lack of, the subject matter shared, the school building conditions and grade placement are
political. These are all aspects of how oppression as a lifestyle is maintained in a system of
oppression.
The role of the oppressed then becomes either a continuation of their oppression in the
oppressive system, or a system of a resistance evolves that works towards undoing or
overthrowing the system. According to Freire, the resistor will rise out of the system. This is the
purpose of this dissertation, to illuminate just those resistors, their attempts to overcome their
status as oppressed, and to chronicle the outcomes of their efforts.159 In the following chapters, I
will chronicle how African Americans’ resistance efforts to educational segregation in Kentucky
were shaped by the oppression that they faced. This oppression for those who chose to resist it
was their own private revolution, as the stakes were high for those who did resist. Bear in mind,
that the targets resisted the hegemony of the agents by exposing the hypocrisy, inequality, and
iniquitous system that had become schooling for Blacks in Kentucky. The people that resisted
158
John Hardin, Fifty Years of Segregation: Black Higher Education in Kentucky, 1904- 1954 (Lexington: The
University Press of Kentucky, 1997), 35. Hardin illuminates the difficulties of adequate funding for Blacks and the
consequences of demanding equitable funding from white power structure.
159
“As individuals or as peoples, by fighting for the restoration of their humanity they will be attempting the
restoration of true generosity. Who are better prepared than the oppressed to understand the terrible significance of
an oppressive society? Who suffer the effects of oppression more than the oppressed? Who can better understand the
necessity of liberation? They will not gain this liberation by chance but through the praxis of their quest for it,
through their recognition of the necessity to fight for it.” Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed: 30th Anniversary
translated by Donald P. Macedo (New York: Continuum, 2000), 45 and 47.
60
this type of education, had reason to resist. In the next chapters, such resistors as Black alumni
of Berea College, Kentucky State Colored Teachers’ Association (Kentucky Negro Educational
Association), and other individual’s reasons for resistance will be discussed. Their reasons are
often attributed to the commonalities of being oppressed, but the outcomes of their efforts varied,
as did the risk. The next chapter will identify a few key agents of educational resistance in the
state of Kentucky, and their struggle for the revolutionary act of controlling their education.
Following Chapter 3, Chapter 4 will delve into the products of African Americans’ struggle that
included the development of a Kentucky State University, and Lincoln Institute. The final
chapter will provide the analysis, in which, I will explore how their efforts have or have not
served Kentucky well in the present.
61
CHAPTER 3:
BLACK RESISTANCE TO DECLINING OPPORTUNITY FOR
EQUAL SCHOOLING IN KENTUCKY
Schooling was a hope for some of the newly freed and free Blacks. The obtainment of
schooling by Blacks was considered a move towards racial advancement. With schooling there
were ideas that Blacks would be viewed as human beings beyond their current condition.
Literacy could facilitate their participation in both economic and personal development. To be a
literate person also lessened the possibility of being taken advantage of by dishonest people. The
ability to read and write could open doors for the Blacks; therefore plans were conceived to
smooth the process of African re- entry into American society. Learning to read and write had
already been a clandestine process for the formerly enslaved. The network of learning that was a
luxury for some, now needed to become a formal process for others. The schoolhouse was the
structure that individuals gathered in to obtain knowledge. The schoolhouse became a symbolic
place of power and control. Those who controlled the schoolhouse (and all of the elements
associated with it), controlled the future- thus creating the race to educate.
The past in the United States and other parts of the Americas is tainted with the history of
slavery. The Black experience in the Americas became synonymous with the slave experience.
Africans in the U.S. had long struggled for independence and freedom; after obtaining freedom
Blacks continued in their tradition of resistance. The resistance that took place at the schoolhouse
steps became an important chapter in the resistance chronicles of Blacks. The very place
(schoolhouse) that could facilitate an equal future was also controlled by their former masters
and enslavers.160 This perhaps created the greatest dilemma for Blacks: who could they trust?
The white northerners who sent assistance both financially and through human resources was
different than the white southerner with whom they may have been the most familiar. The
conditions that had maintained slavery for over 250 years did not immediately dissolve after the
160
Masters and enslavers is not a literal accusation. I am considering those who had slaves and those who engaged
in the system, by not overthrowing it. Therefore, even though an individual did not have slaves, they still could have
engaged in the system of slavery through their belief system of Black inferiority.
62
Civil War. In fact, the shift in the balance of power among the planter class and poor whites and
Blacks made their relationships uncertain.
The balance of power shifted for Blacks during Reconstruction. As Blacks were able to
make gains in the government, education, and business, they also made gains economically and
socially. Southern states could boast Black state representatives, senators, and local government
officials. Not only was Reconstruction considered to have the greatest number of Black elected
officials, the participation of Blacks in professional fields also seemed more prominent. By
contrast, not all Blacks were as prosperous. Some Blacks did not gain prosperity and became
symbols of the “negro problem.”161 All over the South, African Americans ranged in their ability
to access the new opportunities, this deepened an already evident class division.
The divisions among Blacks were not limited to class, but also location in the South.
Experiences of Blacks were different, even before emancipation. For example Blacks in such
states as Kentucky, were not subjected to laws against literacy as Blacks were in most other parts
of the South. Life in Kentucky for Blacks was in stark contrast to their peers in other parts of the
South. The Kentucky experience was different for several reasons. Kentucky was a border state
and a slave state that entered on the side of the Union. To complicate matters further the state is a
combination of Appalachian and Bluegrass culture, urban and rural, mountain and flat lands. The
cultures of these areas contribute to varying degrees of race relations. In Appalachia (which
includes the southeastern part of Kentucky), plantation slave culture was not as prominent.
Blacks first came to the region as explorers with the Spanish explorers, and others were
connected with the Cherokee nations of the region. Slavery existed, but the contempt that some
Appalachians felt toward the institution of slavery contributed to a smaller percentage of
enslaved people in Appalachian parts of certain states. 162 The relationship of Appalachian
Kentucky whites and enslaved Blacks exhibited similar patterns. Slavery did not take hold in
some of the Appalachian parts.163 Many communities were active with abolitionist activities. For
example the abolitionists John G. Fee and Cassius Clay began a school (Berea College) in 1855
for Blacks and whites to engage in interracial education. On the other hand, there was
considerable violence against Blacks in this formally loyal state after the Civil War. The fact that
161
Barbara J. Fields, “The Origins of the South and the Negro Question,” Journal of Southern History 67, (2001).
Steven R. Jackson, “Peoples of Appalachia: Cultural Diversity Within The Mountain Region,” A Handbook to
Appalachia: An Introduction to the Region (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2006), 37.
163
Darrel E. Bigham, On Jordan’s Banks: Emancipation and its Aftermath in the Ohio River Valley (Lexington,
University Press of Kentucky, 2006), 15.
162
63
Reconstruction was not imposed by the federal government, coupled with the return of Kentucky
Confederate soldiers, and white Kentuckians concern with equal rights for Blacks, ensured
violence and fear in Blacks and white sympathizers.164 This fear was a result of witnessing and
understanding the extent of racial violence’s effects on Blacks. This violence included
“numerous attacks on returning Black soldiers who had fought for the Union cause, the forced
removal of Afro-Americans from many rural communities, attacks by white mobs on Black
churches and especially on the freedmen schools, and the deaths of countless numbers of Blacks
at the hands of white mobs.”165 To confuse matters further, the Thirteenth Amendment was not
passed in Kentucky until December of 1865, thus keeping Blacks in bondage until then.166 In
some counties Black soldiers returned to their former masters where their family members were
still in bondage and attempted to free their families. Freedmen’s Bureau agent John S. Graham
after a tour of Northern Kentucky in May, 1866, reported that a number of Blacks “remained in
bondage in Boone County.”167
The racial violence exhibited after the Civil War, did not deter Blacks from establishing
and demanding their civil rights, which included the right to publicly funded schooling. As the
violence escalated, pressure was also being placed to rectify the conflicts between Kentucky laws
and U.S. laws. For example the Civil Rights Act of 1866 gave Blacks several rights, including the
right to testify in court against whites. Blacks did not participate in this right to testify until the
early 1870s.168 Mob violence was a way of life in Kentucky. It interfered with opportunities for
Blacks. Mob violence received state attention in 1871, but there was also great speculation from
the Democrat Governor Leslie and others that the mob violence of Kentucky was embellished by
Republicans.169
The violence, even if not perpetrated by the majority of white Kentuckians, was directed
at Blacks who made gains in economic, educational, and legal arenas. In some ways the violence
was viewed as a “spontaneous retribution” against Black gains and domination of whites.170 The
164
George C. Wright, Racial Violence in Kentucky, 1865-1948; Lynchings, Mob Rule, and “Legal Lynchings”
(Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1990), 19, www.netlibrary.com (accessed September 21, 2009).
165
Ibid., 19.
166
Ibid., 20.
167
Ibid.
168
Ibid., 22.
169
George C. Wright, Racial Violence in Kentucky, 1865-1948; Lynchings, Mob Rule, and “Legal Lynchings”
(Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1990), 31, www.netlibrary.com (accessed September 21, 2009).
170
Ibid., 34.
64
violence also became a part of life towards advocates for the developing educational system for
Blacks. Wherever Blacks were accessing education, they had feared the mob violence that could
ensue. Schools had been attacked and violence used to intimidate educators and pupils alike.
Between the years of 1867 and 1873, pressure was placed on Kentucky courts to prosecute
culprits who had destroyed schools through bombings, and chased teachers out of town through
physical intimidation. White sentiment against the equalization of Blacks made violence against
the system of schooling for Blacks acceptable. Mob violence against schools was also seen as
necessary because schooling was an attempt to equalize the races.171
Blacks sought to resist the violence, while simultaneously enduring it. In daily life they
organized by bringing attention to their plight through sending letters or protesting to state and
federal leaders.172 In other instances, just the presence of schooling was an act of resistance by
Blacks in many communities. The environment of reconstructing Kentucky facilitated the need
to resist and a cadre of individuals who would resist.173 The premise of resistance rests on an
understanding of something beyond the current situation, in this case the possibility of equality,
as possible and obtainable. Resistance also rests on the premise that individuals organize to
effect or agitate a situation that changes their current condition. Kentucky’s Black populations of
slave and free lived distinctly differently than those in other slave holding states, especially in the
city of Louisville. The lifestyles of the enslaved, living in close quarters with their masters as
opposed to slave quarters, being able to live out or hire out their time and intermingle with freed
people contributed to a noticeable Black community in the city of Louisville.174 Blacks had
established communities within the larger community that later aided their educational resistance
efforts against segregation.
3.1 Educational Opportunity for Some The birthplace of Abraham Lincoln is the perfect backdrop for exploring the complexity
of educational segregation. Lincoln considered to be by some the “Great Emancipator,” was born
171
Ibid.
Ibid.
173
Reconstructing is intentionally not capitalized to ensure the reader understands this is not a reference to the
federally mandated Reconstruction imposed after the Civil War for many Southern states.
174
Darrel E. Bigham, On Jordan’s Banks: Emancipation and its Aftermath in the Ohio River Valley (Lexington:
University Press of Kentucky, 2006), 16.
172
65
in Kentucky. The relationship between Blacks and white in Kentucky had always been complex,
because of the interesting associations with religious organizations and intersections between
Black, white, and mountain people.
In perspective, the gains made by Blacks despite their condition of enslavement before
and after the Civil War were substantial. Free and enslaved Blacks were able to develop a small
network of instructional opportunities that addressed some of their spiritual and literacy needs. In
Kentucky, the church was the earliest and most continuous institution that facilitated schooling
for Blacks.175 Schooling for Blacks through churches included the reported Sunday and Sabbath
schools, to the less explored traditional schools or those schools that focused on the reading,
writing and arithmetic. Prior to the Civil War, such successful educational opportunities were
found across the Bluegrass State. Larger cities like Louisville, Covington, Lexington, and
Frankfort could boast of schools established before 1865.176 These private schooling efforts were
also joined by less prominent schools in less populated and rural areas.
Kentucky received funding provisions for common schools in 1837.177 However by 1849,
it was evident that the early funding distributions were inadequate.178 Colored schools for
Blacks were first provided for by the state on February 14, 1867. This act called for schools for
the education of Blacks. Several other acts were passed in 1868 and 1871 that were related to
schooling for Blacks. In between the 1868 and 1871 acts, Superintendent Smith acknowledged
that there was a problem in equality of the funding for Black schools when he reflected on the
resistance of Blacks to the taxation without equal representation. In this report Smith stated “The
colored people have come to understand the operations of this prejudicial legislation, and avoid
by every possible subterfuge, the payment of tax, and it now amounts to little.”179 This effort of
resistance was a real example of the early endeavors of Blacks to usurp a system that aimed to
segregate. Black opposition to taxation challenged and finally pressured the system. After a very
175
James D. Anderson, The Education of Blacks in the South, 186-1935 (Chapel Hill: The University of North
Carolina Press, 1988), 13.
176
J. Blaine Hudson, “The Establishment of Louisville Municipal College: A Case Study in Racial Conflict and
Compromise” Journal of Negro Education 64, no. 2 (1995).
177
Thomas D. Clark, Our Kentucky: A Study of the Bluegrass, “Education” (Lexington: The University Press of
Kentucky, 2000), 301.
Federal surplus funds were distributed to the treasury to develop a permanent school fund. The first superintendent
Joseph J. Bullock became responsible for the $850,000.00.
178
Ibid., 304, “Early educational provisions had little or no impact on what actually happened in the one-teacher,
one-room, three month, impoverished district schools in individual counties.”
179
Moses Edward Ligon, A History of Public Education in Kentucky, vol. xiv, no. 4 (June 1942): 247.
66
difficult start, the law was repealed and an 1874 act finally established a system of colored
schools and a funding source.180 This law provided an additional public structure for Black
educational opportunity, at least in theory. The state legislature, in passing such a provision
suggests that there was demand for publically funded schools, and a culture of learning among
Blacks. A culture of learning had been established even before emancipation due to Kentucky
not prohibiting literacy of Blacks (free or enslaved). Blacks took advantage of this ambiguity and
became literate. Those who were literate contributed to the building of a literate class by opening
schools and teaching.
Paulo Freire’s the Pedagogy of the Oppressed illuminates that education can be a
replication or transmission of the oppression that the oppressed have endured. Schooling,
particularly in its early formation for Blacks, became an extension of the oppression that they
were already enduring. Even when Blacks attempted to devise strategies to eradicate social and
economic oppression through education, they were hindered. Point in case, colored schools prior
to the act of 1874 maintained an educational system supported by Black property taxes. This
system was ripe with potential inequalities in school funding, as Blacks owned little property at
that time and the funds also supported paupers.181 Later this law would be repealed and a new act
provided to equalize funding. In addition, the state, although requiring each school for Blacks to
have a “Negro trustee,” was in most other ways similar to white schools.182 The next sections
are a conversation regarding the manner in which this educational oppression was demonstrated.
As we have discussed in earlier chapters, the relationship between Blacks and whites
continued to be complex after enslavement and well after Reconstruction of the South. The
patterns of Black and white interaction prior to the Civil War were interracial out of necessity.
Post Civil War politics provided a glimmer of Black leadership opportunities, but also
complicated the reality of which race to educate. Education in the U. S. was often a reflection of
the country’s economic landscape. For example, the common school was expected to address
poverty and inequality. Schools according to Horace Mann “did not create equality, but they did
provide equal educational opportunity.”183 The dual school systems that emerged after the Civil
180
Reid E. Jackson, “The Development and Present Status of Secondary Education for Negroes in Kentucky,” The
Journal of Negro Education 4, no. 2 (April 1935): 185-186.
181
Ibid.
182
Ibid.
183
Richard J. Altenbaugh, The American People and Their Education: A Social History (New Jersey: Merrill
Prentice Hall, 2003), 81.
67
War are one of the most illuminating examples of the Mann’s view of equality in American
schooling. This duality imposed a hierarchal and unequal approach to the distribution of funds
and resources within the school systems. Although, there were dual systems, they were under the
jurisdiction of one governing body. Even prior to the legalization of dual school systems, white
supremacy was imbedded in education for Blacks. For example, the belief that improvement
through social control and acculturation could address the inferiority of Blacks was common.
The question of equality had been a part of the recipe for Black success however, “even the
appearance of equality between whites and free African Americans, it was thought, would
undermine white supremacy, and draw into question white rule.”184
Kentucky was a site for the Freedmen’s Bureau input and leadership. From the beginning
in Kentucky, missionary associations and philanthropic organization were heavily involved in
providing the resources for the establishment of schools. Precariously, Blacks were encouraged
to obtain an education, while simultaneously being violently discouraged from schooling. When
schooling could be obtained by Blacks the limitations were immense. Three major problems
afflicted schooling opportunities for Blacks in Kentucky, lack of Black teachers, control, and
indifference. The quest for education in the overall analysis did not appear to be just about the
type of education (liberal vs. industrial), but about achieving literacy. In some ways as time
progressed, the primitive needs of literacy acquisition from kindergarten to higher education also
fueled the need for resistance by Blacks.
Organized resistance can be traced throughout Kentucky history, thus setting a precedent
for the resistance that would occur in the educational arena. For example, in 1866 when the
Kentucky Legislature did not consent to equal rights, Blacks in Lexington called for a
convention. The meeting assembled and insisted that the members pledge to “labor to the utmost
of their ability to ‘infuse into the minds of the Blacks’ of Kentucky the necessity of educating
their children.”185 Such activism asserts that not only were Black Kentuckians engaged in
obtaining education, they would organize to facilitate access. Schooling was a complex
endeavor. On the one hand, the historical inequalities pertaining to funding were a part of the
184
David Freedman, “African-American Schooling in the South Prior to 1861,” The Journal of Negro History 84,
no.1 (Winter 1999): 22.
185
Victor B. Howard, “The Struggle for Equal Education,” Journal of Negro Education 46, (Summer 1977):307.
68
fabric of schooling; but on the other hand laws were later enacted to equalize funding sources for
Black and white schools.186
The next section illuminates the types of resistance exhibited by Blacks to educational
segregation. What their efforts highlight is the relationship between the growing need and
increasing resistance efforts needed to produce outcomes. Throughout Kentucky various
individuals and organizations influenced substantial change in Kentucky educational history; the
following discussion primarily highlights individuals and organizations that had a broader reach
in affecting change. Resistors such as Henry Adams, Elisha Green, Isaac Black, Frank L.
Williams, and organizations such as the Kentucky State Colored Teachers’ Association (KNEA)
and Berea College provide us with a glimpse of the educational resistance activity in the state
from 1865- 1910.
3.2 Out of One Many… Reverend Henry Adams, Elisha Green and
the State Convention of Colored Baptists in Kentucky
Possibly the most mentioned pre-Civil War black school in Kentucky was founded by
Reverend Henry Adams in Louisville. The school was opened in the early 1840’s at the First
African Colored Baptist Church of Louisville. The church was formed in 1842 out of the white
First Baptist Church with 475 charter members.187 This church and Rev. Adams proved to be
significant contributors to educational opportunity for Blacks in Louisville. Rev. Adams later
became one of Louisville’s most prominent activists. Reverend Adams himself a literate man,
pastor and key organizer of the General Association of Colored Baptists is credited with
influencing several other Black leaders in KY educational history.
Reverend Adams served as the pastor of the First Baptist Church “colored branch.” The
school was formed a year prior to their formation of the Black (First African Colored Baptist)
church and is reported to have educated 288 individuals during the year 1850. Adams’s school
was a beacon of hope in Louisville before the Civil War; however, his efforts transcended the
Civil War with the formation of Kentucky Normal and Theological Institute (State Colored
Baptist University and later Simmons University 1879), which provided another educational
186
Reid E. Jackson, “The Development and Present Status of Secondary Education for Negroes in Kentucky,” The
Journal of Negro Education 4, no. 2 (April 1935): 185.
187
Darrel E. Bigham, On Jordan’s Banks: Emancipation and its Aftermath in the Ohio River Valley (Lexington:
University Press of Kentucky, 2006), 28.
69
opportunity for Blacks from Kentucky. Henry Adams, by virtue of his efforts, was part of the
Black resistance movement. To organize, separate, establish, and implement schooling options
for Blacks was a feat in and of itself, but for those institutions to be successful and still exist in
some form today is remarkable.188 Henry Adams was a pioneer whose example facilitated other
resistance efforts. His legacy is important to note, because several others will address the white
supremacy they found in Kentucky education through agitation in the General Association of
State Baptists. This powerful Baptist organization supported various schools and colleges in
Kentucky like Simmons University (formerly named State Colored Baptist University). Elisha
Green’s autobiography helps to explore the efforts of Rev. Henry Adams contributions to
educational history.
Individuals like Rev. Elisha W. Green who also helped to form the State Colored Baptist
University (Simmons University) provided unique contributions in obviously hostile
environments. Reverend Green was the pastor of a church in Maysville and also the pastor of
First African Baptist Church in Paris in 1855.189 Their churches were unique because of its
perceived autonomy and Green’s membership in a white church.190 The immediate sense may be
that the white church was progressive and allowed for Black governance of the First African
Baptist Church. However, as Mr. Green illuminates they “were a slave to the white church.”191
Perhaps this early interaction helped him develop the skills necessary to navigate the future
educational landscape. Reverend Green would become pastor of other churches within
Kentucky. He rose to prominence in the Baptist Convention and assisted in strengthening the
argument for Blacks in education.
Reverend Green and Reverend Henry Adams and several other “colored” Baptist
ministers organized the State Convention of Colored Baptists (also recorded as the Convention
of Colored Baptist Ministers of the State of Kentucky) in 1865.192 Establishing a ministers’
organization was important, but what evolved out of the 1865 Convention was significant in the
Lawrence Williams, Black Higher Education in Kentucky, 1879-1930: A History of Simmons University (New York: Edwin Mellon Press, 1987), 43-44.
Reverend Adams is described as quarrelling with the Long Run District Association over rights of representation for
his church. He expressed in a speech before the association in 1843, “associational membership was worthless
without the right of personal representation. The association refused to honor his request.”
189
Elisha W. Green, Life of the Elisha W. Green, (Maysville: The Republican Printing Office, 1888), 12.
190
Ibid., 30.
191
Ibid.
192
Ibid., 26.
188
70
educational movement of Kentucky. The Convention agreed to purchase property in Frankfort,
KY, in order to establish “a college in order to educate our people and get a competent and well
educated ministry.”193 The institution that was later completed became known as Simmons
University and moved to Louisville, KY. Simmons University was established through monies
from the Black Baptist congregations throughout the state. Reverend Green’s work as a Baptist
minister brought him into the world of education. He was not a well- educated man, but is an
example of efforts to ensure Blacks received education.
Although State Colored Baptist University (Simmons) focused on seminary instruction, it
provided an educational resource for Blacks in Kentucky which also included a law department
(1890-1941) and a medical department (1888-1912).194 The efforts of Rev. Adams, Rev. Green
and others in the Convention seemed to happen without any real labor pains. In fact, the
interracial co-operation that was exhibited during this time probably confused the situation. On
the one hand, Rev. Adams had some autonomy as the pastor of the colored branch; however the
reality is that he and others were always at the mercy of whites. Case in point, Black
congregations like Adams’s church often held membership in white associations. In spite of this
interracial interaction, Rev. Adams disputed with the Long Run Baptist Association because of
issues of representation. As a result Rev. Adams no longer attended the LRBA convention, but
sent a letter instead. His refusal to attend was an act of resistance, at risk was Adams’s school
and other efforts for schooling. Nevertheless, he was still able to continue advocating until his
death in 1872. Ironically, despite his activism against the Association and his illumination of
white supremacy, his funeral was an interracial affair and a feat in “post-bellum cordiality.”195
Adams’s life provided a template for post-bellum interaction and collaboration. However, his
efforts did not eclipse the challenges that he had instituting schools. Unfortunately, the tension
between whites and Blacks would increase. The endeavors that Adams participated in became
less available. The interracial relationship already strained and complex became further unstable
as Blacks pressured for equality.
193
Elisha W. Green, Life of the Elisha W. Green, (Maysville: The Republican Printing Office, 1888), 26.
Ibid., 36.
195
Lawrence Williams, Black Higher Education in Kentucky, 1879-1930: A History of Simmons University
(New York: Edwin Mellon Press, 1987), 53.
194
71
3.3 Isaac E. Black
Isaac E. Black served as one of the delegates representing Covington, Kentucky at the
1869 Kentucky State Colored Educational Convention in Louisville. Mr. Black, a lawyer served
as one of the agitators for the development of public schools in Covington, KY. He worked with
other activists to pressure the city and Freedmen’s Bureau (federal government) to develop
schools for Blacks. The battle for public education did not alter the attempts to grow private
schools. Activists in Covington, Kentucky pressured city officials for public schools, but also
strengthened such important schools founded at the Bremen Street Baptist Church (1866).196
Also significant is Mr. Black’s role in saving two Black schools in 1871, when funding from the
private organizations dissolved. Throughout his life he worked diligently to challenge the system
that was designed ensured successful schools for Blacks. At the very least he was successful in
resisting the system of exclusion and segregation.
A further arrangement of efforts occurred through organized resistance. As a means to an
end, organized resistance was also an effective pressure on segregation. These groups banded
together both formally and informally. The formal groups would take on many titles and were
located throughout Kentucky. The use of conventions as a tool of resistance was facilitated by
the gathering of individuals from all over the state. The Kentucky State Educational Convention
(also recorded as the Freedmen’s Bureau for Education Convention) held during the week of
July 7, 1869 in Louisville, KY, hosted over 250 delegates from around the State. The
Convention, which was “called to order” by the Freedmen’s Bureau General Runkle (white),
concluded with a list of resolutions.197 What is significant about this convention is the list of
resolutions including a “demand in the name of justice, equal taxation and equal education for
the colored youth over the state.”198 The courage to assert their needs inspired several in
attendance, but in particular Isaac E. Black. When Mr. Black returned to Covington, he and
several delegates began organizing a “board of trustees for the city’s Black schools.” 199
Additionally, Mr. Black’s efforts also included involvement in pressuring the city officials to
196
Theodore H. Harris, “Creating Windows of Opportunity: Isaac E. Black and the African American Experience in
Kentucky, 1848-1914,” Register of the Historical Society, 98 (Spring 2000): 159-161.
197
Ibid., 160. Bvt. Col. Benjamin P. Runkle was the bureau chief for Kentucky’s Freedmen’s Bureau.
198
“Kentucky Negroes; Their Educational Convention in Louisville,” New York Times, July 17, 1869, Berea College
Archives, Berea, KY.
199
Theodore H. Harris, “Creating Windows of Opportunity: Isaac E. Black and the African American Experience in
Kentucky, 1848-1914,” Register of the Historical Society 98 (Spring 2000): 160.
72
create a public school for Blacks and to divide the school funds and revenue sources for Black
schools.200 Mr. Black continued to campaign for free schools for Blacks in Covington, Kentucky.
Many times over he had to assert his disdain for the obvious derailment of efforts to educate
Blacks by white supremacists. He used his positions as a board of trustees’ members to demand
the use of a vacant white school by resigning from the board in protest when the white school
board opted to sell the school instead. He later rescinded his resignation when the school board
withdrew its decision to sell the school and allowed the school to be used for Black education.
Mr. Black was still practicing law up until his death in 1914.201 The opposition that Mr. Black
displayed also provided some rewards. Throughout his career he was able to earn an appointment
as an educational delegate, proponent of equal school privileges, and successful activist. Mr.
Black’s legacy impacted the race to educate, at a minimum by accelerating some public school
access for Covington students, and the navigation of political structures to pressure the system.
Indeed, Mr. Black was able to create windows of opportunity through resisting white
supremacist actions of segregation.
3.4 Kentucky State Colored Teachers’ Association
One of the most influential organized groups was a conglomerate of educators from
around the state who made up the body of the Kentucky State Colored Teachers’ Association
(Kentucky Negro Educational Association). Their efforts as an organized group which began in
1877 proved equally as important as individual agitators. Later we will find that the association
was an organized force in illuminating the concerns of Blacks regarding education. As a leader in
the Kentucky State Colored Teachers’ Association in Kentucky, Mr. Frank Williams was an
outspoken opponent about many issues. He, along with other Berea College alumni, Dr. Maria
Britton, A.W. Titus, and J.C. Jackson, directly confronted the actions of Berea College’s
President Frost’s implementation of the school’s segregation in a scathing pamphlet published in
1907. Professor Williams’ pointed comments on behalf of the Association were part of other
sentiments about the decision of Berea College to educate whites vs. Blacks.
Acts of resistance also included organized efforts to distort or at the very least insert
themselves into the decision making process. In contemporary society the teacher’s union is
200
201
Ibid., 162.
Ibid., 163.
73
considered a powerful organization with great control over the benefits afforded teachers.
Therefore, it should be of no surprise that a teachers’ association in 1877 was able to garner
some semblance of power in affairs of colored teachers. This colored teacher association would
go on to significantly influence the system of schooling for Blacks. Interestingly, the founders of
this association would be linked to other attempts to ensure schooling for Blacks. On August 22,
1877, “pursuant to a call made by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, quite a number
of leading colored educators from various parts” met in Frankfort. 202 The intention of the
gathering according to records was “to organize, under Common School Laws, an ‘Educational
Association’ that should be perfectly free from all sectarian and political influences, and whose
aim should be to secure an improvement of the teachers by union of effort, and also to ascertain
the real wants of the colored citizens.”203 The meeting was called to order by the Superintendent
of Public Instruction Dr. H.A.M. Henderson (white). The creation of the Association included
many prominent individuals such as J.H. Jackson, Berea Graduate and Principal in Lexington,
Professor J.M. Maxwell, Rev. G.W. Dupee and C.C. Vaughn, to name a few who were in
attendance. These men and women would contribute greatly to the Association and to other
affairs of the Black communities. The sentiment from these recorded proceedings also suggested
that Black leadership was well aware of a tension between white funding and Black schooling. In
addition perhaps the most important realization was stated by J.M. Maxwell that an Association
“will constitute a power that will wield an influence in molding public sentiment in our favor,
and develop a faith on the part of the white population which will create that conviction of which
I have spoken…a final result.”204 To convince the white public seemed to be a major purpose,
but another phrase perhaps more directly speaks to the covert reasoning for such an Association.
In his exchange of ideas Maxwell shares the biblical reference of Poor Lazarus, “We should not
be passive recipients, continually feasting upon thoughts of others; we should be authors of
original thought, and eat of the food prepared by our own hands.”205 This Association was an
influential decision maker in schooling for Blacks. The Association continued to battle for the
education of Blacks and continued to meet. J.M. Maxwell summed up the need for such an
202
“Proceedings of the State Colored Educational Convention held at Frankfort, KY, August 22, 1877,” (Frankfort:
Kentucky Historical Society, 1877), Kentucky Historical Society Archives, Frankfort, KY.
203
Ibid.
204
Ibid., 8.
205
Ibid., 9.
74
association and what they hoped to accomplish. These remarks disclose the sentiment of the
Association in the following quote:
“And first, I advocate it because of the importance of the great work of educating the
people of this Commonwealth, with whom I am identified nationally and socially; and
because such an organization would, in my judgment, diffuse a spirit of sympathy and cooperation which would render more efficient and thorough the progress of education
among the colored people in our State.”206
The Association became very outspoken and increasingly alarmed at white supremacists efforts.
Later in KY educational history the Association would respond to the increasing attempts at
Berea College “to eliminate practically from its walls students of color.”207
W.E.B. Dubois describes the nature of education as a peculiar evolution.208 In his
pamphlet The College-Bred Negro, Dubois asserts that the questions about educating all whites
in 1912 are the same questions that must be asked about Negro education, that there are different
classes of man and therefore different types of education must be afforded Blacks. His argument
summarized the issue particularly pertaining to the lack of higher education (high school and
college) opportunities for Blacks. By the 1880’s the types of educational opportunities available
to some Blacks included primary and secondary schools, industrial programs and Bible colleges.
As with other states, Kentucky offered limited opportunities for learning above primary school
both from private and public systems. The lack of offerings limited the economic opportunities
of Blacks according to Dubois, therefore a variety of educational opportunities were necessary.
This sentiment was felt by the agitators for the future Historically Black University named
Kentucky State University. The trouble with segregation as established is two-fold, lack of
control and inferior resources. However, a curious thing happened as Blacks in Kentucky
realized that there was a need for a state funded institution of higher education for Blacks.
The State Colored Teachers’ Association “urged” the Kentucky legislature to establish a
state normal school for Blacks “to train teachers.”209 The Commonwealth already had several
institutions for whites including the flagship institution the University of Kentucky which was
206
“Proceedings of the State Colored Educational Convention held at Frankfort, KY, August 22, 1877,” (Frankfort:
Kentucky Historical Society, 1877), 6. Kentucky Historical Society Archives, Frankfort, KY.
207
“Resolutions of Kentucky Colored Teachers’ Association,” Berea Citizen 1890’s, Vertical Files RG 1307 18361894, Berea College Archives, Berea, KY.
208 W.E.B. Dubois, The College-Bred Negro: Report Of A Social Study Made Under The Direction Of Atlanta
University (1900).
209
Harvey C. Russell, The Kentucky Negro Education Association 1877-1946 (Virginia: Guide Quality Press, 1946),
Kentucky State University Special Collections, 371.974 R963.
75
founded in 1865. On May 6, 1886, the Kentucky legislature voted to establish the school. On
October 11, 1887, the school opened as State Normal School for Colored Persons, later to
become Kentucky State University.210 The State Colored Teachers’ Association as a body was
successful in many of their endeavors. Successfully petitioning for KSU facilitated the possible
growth of a teacher pool for Black schools. The KSCTA successfully garnered legislative
support for a normal school for Blacks. Ironically, this institution struggled to meet its purpose in
the climate.
3.5 Alma Mater: From Interracial to all-White Institution
Perhaps the most compelling and corroborated Kentucky story of Black resistance to
educational segregation is revealed in the case of Commonwealth of Kentucky vs. Berea College.
Berea College, a small non-sectarian, co-educational, and interracial college in Madison County,
Kentucky became the target of Senator Carl Day from Breathitt County. Carl Day and his
associates were successful in ensuring that Berea College, a private institution and the only
interracial educational institution in Kentucky, segregated in 1904, almost thirty-nine years after
Emancipation. Carl Day successfully targeted the institution, founded by Abolitionist John G.
Fee in 1855 and re-opened after the Civil War in 1866.211 Carl Day’s success in the legislature
regarding Berea College was not surprising for that time. What is more intriguing was the
response of then President Frost, who on behalf of Berea College chose to educate whites, even
though the law stated that an institution could choose to educate one race or the other but not
together. Additionally, Black response to this choice illuminated a network of individuals who
organized quickly to resist this segregation. The Berea College experience as founded by John G.
Fee was meant to be an institution for both Blacks and whites, with Blacks outnumbering whites
during many of its earliest years (1866-1894 with the exception of 1877).212 The Berea story
began with John G. Fee’s vision of an end to slavery and opportunities for education for the less
fortunate, however, his vision of an interracial education would be abruptly deterred and like
other institutions find itself desegregating in the mid- 1950’s.
210
Ibid.
Shannon H. Wilson, Berea College: An Illustrated History, (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 2006), 21.
See also Paul David Nelson, “Experiment in Interracial Education at Berea College, 1858-1908,” Journal of Negro
History 59 no. 1, (January 1974): 13-16.
212
Paul David Nelson, “Experiment in Interracial Education at Berea College, 1858-1908,” Journal of Negro
History 59 no. 1, (January 1974): 19.
211
76
As the rumblings of the Day Law began, there was a concerted effort among Black
students, alumni and supporters also resisting the situation. The situation included not only
addressing the validity of the Day Law through appeals, but those who were also against
interracial education. This section is an account of the events and efforts to resist segregation at
Berea College. Through newspaper articles and correspondences to then President Frost, I
reconstructed some of their argumentation against segregating Berea College. The segregation of
Berea College impacted the region greatly, perhaps because it was the last institution of
interracial education in Kentucky or the sudden nature of Carl Day’s disdain for Berea College.
The earliest beginnings of Berea College began humbly. The institution was founded in 1855 and
whose founding is credited to abolitionist Reverend John G. Fee. The college was founded on
several principles which included non-sectarianism, anti-slavery, anti-caste, and Christian
experience.213 The radical efforts of John G. Fee and others associated with the institution
troubled some Madison County residents. The residents were alarmed as Fee and other
institution officials became more radical in their views on slavery. Tensions were already high
throughout the country due to the various slave revolts like John Brown’s Raid at Harper’s Ferry.
Rev. Fee in a speech at Henry Ward Beecher’s church in Brooklyn, NY called for more John
Browns, and thus alarming many slaveholders especially in his hometown and nearby Richmond,
KY. Vigilantes threatened violence and actively used intimidation to force the Berea supporters
and families from the area. The institution due to these valid threats and the beginning of the
Civil War closed. After the Civil War in 1866 the institution re-opened as the Berea Literary
Institute and continued to espouse its former mission including interracial education.214 The
institution from its earliest moments educated Blacks despite its placement at the foothills of the
mountains and ardent opposition. Colonel Ben P. Runkle, Assistant Commissioner for Kentucky
to General O.O. Howard noted that Berea College would be “of vast importance and benefit to
the colored people of Kentucky.”215 The contributions of this institution to the Black community
through the production of leaders, proved to be tremendous.
Attending Berea College was resistance in and of itself. There was a legal battle by the
trustees and President Frost to combat the Day Law. However, little attention will be given to
213
Shannon H. Wilson, Berea College: An Illustrated History, (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 2006).
Ibid., 21.
215
“Berea College, KY Extract from Report of Colonel Ben. F. Runkle, Assistant Commissioner for Kentucky, to
Gen. O. O. Howard,” Berea Citizen, 1868, Vertical Files, Record Group 13.7, Folder I: Blacks 1836-1894, Berea
College Archives, Berea, KY.
214
77
this battle, but more so to the battle of the Blacks to maintain entry into this institution and to
identify educational opportunities for the Blacks who were attending the institution. Even before
the Day Law was in effect there was some question to President Frost’s loyalty to the education
of Blacks. In a letter from far away Tuskegee, Alabama even the controversial Booker T.
Washington writes a letter to President Frost, encouraging Frost not to buckle under the pressure
and stop educating Blacks.216 Washington’s alarming note to President Frost summarizes both
sides of the issue, the desire for and against the education of Blacks.
In many memories the efforts of Berea College are well chronicled, however, one aspect
needs further attention, African Americans involvement. As Berea was being segregated great
commotion surrounded the decisions. In 1905 Supplement to the Richmond Climax Newspaper
which restated Judge Benton’s Opinion from the case, the newspaper highlights the crux of the
school segregation dilemma:
“While the legislature is thus constantly evincing a spirit of sympathy with, and giving
substantial aid for the education of the colored youth of the state, it should not be said
that that body was prompted by other than the purest and best motives in the enactment
of this Day Bill.”217
The Day Law which prompted the segregation of Berea College according to Benton was not an
act of prejudice, but a way to keep the peace. Whatever the articulated reasons, Blacks
galvanized to mitigate the possible results. By 1908, Blacks were well aware of the schooling
models under separate but equal law. The Day Law thrust Black Berea students into a menagerie
of experiences including being sent to other institutions outside of the state.218 Most interestingly
perhaps were the plans to build a new institution for Blacks outside of Louisville. In this
planning, a group of “colored” graduates met as reported by the April 9, 1908 Berea Citizen
Newspaper, to “adopt resolutions urging that their people be given the chance to help in new
college…”219 The group which included Rev. Geo W. Bell of Middlesborough, KY, Professor
Bates of Danville, KY, Rev. Dr. James Bond of Nashville, TN and Professor Russell of
Lexington, KY gathered with others in the library of Berea College. During the meeting
216
Letter from Booker T. Washington to Frost , February 12, 1903, Record Group 3.03 Box 6 Presidents, Folder 6-4
Frost Correspondence- 1903 (L-Z), Berea College Archives, Berea, KY.
217
Supplement to the Richmond Climax, February 22, 1905, RC 7 Box 13.6, Folder: Day Law I, Berea College
Archives, Berea, KY.
218
Ibid.
219
“Colored Graduates Meet to Adopt Resolutions Urging That Their People Be Given the Chance to Help in New
Enthusiastic and Harmonious Meeting,” Berea Citizen, April 9, 1908. Vertical Files Day Law II, 1902-1905, Berea
College Archives, Berea, KY.
78
President Frost described the “adjustment fund in which the College is undertaking to raise in
order that it may continue its good work for both races.”220 The participants of the conference did
not pass a resolution, but adopted several important actions, including a whole hearted
affirmation of their faith in President Frost, and articulation of deep gratitude to Mr. Carnegie for
a $200,000 pledge to the adjustment fund. Those actions seemed to be almost one of
accommodation, but the following actions showcase their efforts of resistance.
Within their conference they also laid out a recommendation that the:
“Trustees [sic] committee on Colored School [sic] formulate a plan by which the colored
people of the state shall be given an opportunity to subscribe to the funds needed. We
believe that with proper methods and sufficient energy at least $50,000.00 could be raised
among our people.”221
The call for Black participation in the establishment of an alternative school for Blacks
becomes significant not only because the funds would contribute to the institution, but because it
reasserts that Blacks were actively involved in developing Black institutions. Contrary to some
beliefs, Blacks did not receive handouts, but instead were active members both intellectually and
fiscally in their future schooling endeavors. Prior to this 1908 meeting a series of other
significant events happened. These events built a foundation of resistance for the 1908 efforts. In
addition, the efforts that preceded the meeting provide perspective of just what was at stake for
Berea College’s Black students.
A letter was sent on July 30, 1904, to the Honorable Guy Ward Mallon, Berea College
general counsel, advising of a rumor that “some twenty of the colored people mean to apply for
admission at the beginning of the term and require Berea College to show cause [sic] why they
shall not be admitted rather than whites.”222 The ratio of Black to white students at Berea College
dropped from a time when Black students were the majority to only a startling 157 Black
students to 804 white students by 1903.223 With the passing of the 1904 Day Law, Black
enrollment had significantly dropped under President Frost’s leadership. Frost changed his focus
to the education of White Appalachians. So the race to educate already had been established
220
Ibid.
Ibid.
222
Hon. Guy Ward Mallon Letter to President Frost, July 30, 1904, RG 13.7 Blacks- Berea Education of 1877,
Berea College Archives, Berea, KY.
223
Paul David Nelson, “Experiment in Interracial Education at Berea College, 1858-1908,” Journal of Negro
History, 59 no. 1, (January 1974), 19.
221
79
before the Day Law, but no one could have conceived that John G. Fee’s dream was ending.
Some of the students who attended Berea College tried to voice their consternation about the
situation to President Frost. A letter sent to President Frost dated March 28, 1904 stated the
following:
“We the undersigned after due thought and careful consideration have reached the
following conclusions, inasmuch as Berea College was founded upon these
principles, opposition to sectarianism, slave holding castes, and every other wrong
institution or practice we believe - (a) That the college should be run on these principles,
(b) That any form of separation whatsoever will be fostering and encouraging those
principles against which this institution was established. Therefore we cannot
conscientiously lend our support to any action which oppose [sic] these aforesaid
principles.”224
This letter was signed by some fifty persons, several of whom were Black students. This letter
stated their concern about the situation and directed the administration to a different resolution.
The writing of a letter in and of itself may not seem controversial, but consider that these
students attended the institution at the will of administration. Students used forms of petition
well before the Black power movement of the 1960s as seen in this instance.
By September 1904, the Day Law battle was raging as illustrated by A. W. Titus and
Josie Woodford who spoke against the exclusion of Blacks on campus. They met in Lexington
to voice their opinions in five points directed at Berea College and President Frost. Others who
later followed and spoke against the segregation and proposed plans for the development of an
alternative school were such alumni such as John T. Robinson, Frank L. Williams, John H.
Jackson, and J.W. Hughes.
Frank L. Williams later in his life was a celebrated alumnus of Berea College. His efforts
as an educator led him to several significant posts. His final position was in St. Louis, but his
most noteworthy form of activism was as a principal high school in Covington. Mr. Williams
became an outspoken critic of Frost’s policies that excluded Blacks from the campus. In a letter
to President Frost, he retorted that “he was only interested in the Berea experience as it relates to
the colored race.”225 As intentional as this statement was Mr. Williams and several of his
224
Letter from colored students to President Frost, March 28, 1904, William Goodell Frost Papers, Box 23, Day
Law c. 1904, RG 3.03 Box 23/6, Berea College Archives, Berea, KY.
225
Frank L. Williams et. al, “President Frosts Betrayal of the Colored People in his Administration of Berea
College,” Vertical Files: Day Law III, 1902-1905, Berea College Archives, Berea, KY.
80
colleagues passed a resolution at the Kentucky State Teachers’ Association in 1907, “President
Frost’s Betrayal of the Colored People in his Administration of Berea College.”226
While the resistance efforts were on-going, the former Black students who should have
been graduating with their class were at other institutions like Fisk University. Although
scholarships were provided to the Black students attending other institutions, the issue still stands
that they were forced to attend another institution for no other reason than the color of their skin.
The graduation ceremony for the first segregated class of Berea College in 1905 could not even
share the honor of commencement with Black students as the law forbade it. However, despite
these stipulations several students for whom Berea College would have been their alma mater
had it not been for the Day Law, returned to receive an “ad eundem” (after the date of what
would have been their graduation) degree and to deliver addresses one of which was titled “What
the Negro Promises and What He Asks.”227 Blacks tried to get around the law and the
segregation of Berea College, but it still stood. Prior to such events, another group met at a praise
meeting. According to the Berea Citizen Newspaper, another attempt to resist segregation ended
with a mixture of support and contention for the efforts of Berea College. Notably, responses
included support of Berea College’s efforts to concede to the law, while others felt that the law
should be fought and Berea College stay true to its foundation of educating all.
The “Praise Meeting” as described in the February 20, 1908, Berea Citizen was another
opportunity for Blacks to vocalize their concerns.228 In addition to the general pleasantries and
gratitude for the efforts of the situation, one person Alfred Titus sought to revive issues that the
group had put aside. Ironically, Mr. Titus was “hissed” and “called down” by members of his
own race as reported by the Berea Citizen.229 Mr. Titus was also the lone individual who did not
show enthusiasm during a group vote for a resolution of thanks to Mr. Frost and others. Despite
this sentiment from the seemingly vocal Mr. Titus, other accounts allude to similar concerns. The
race to educate was secured by white supremacists. However, these examples of Black resistance
at least attempted to slow the injustice. Race and education became intertwined. Being Black in
Kentucky meant that you were to be separated from others, not worthy of being educated
226
Ibid.
“What the Negro Promises and What He Asks,” New York Tribune, February 2, 1906, Berea College Archives,
Berea, KY.
228
Praise meetings were a gathering of individuals to provide a report, in this case about the fundraising efforts for
the new school.
229
“Praise Meeting: Colored Friends of Berea College Meet to Give Thanks for Carnegie’s Gift of $200,000.00,”
The Berea Citizen, February20, 1908, (vol. IX, no.3).
227
81
alongside white human beings. The battle for learning went on, despite the circumstances. Yet
some questions arose, why the resistance, why fight when compensation was promised. What did
they see as a reason to fight when these concessions were being made for their success? As one
resistor noted, it was the time for Blacks to do for themselves. Unfortunately, something else
about segregation that Blacks could understand was its inequality. By 1904, Blacks had been
exposed to the ups and downs of second class citizenship. They had seen the system of
segregation at its worst and in Kentucky, understood the implications. The truth is that
segregation led to inferior structures, unfair taxation, limited teacher resources, and a dichotomy
of second class citizenship. To fight segregation, meant that even if they could not be equal, that
they could at least try to control the circumstances of it. The results of this particular resistance
are noted in the following chapter where I will illuminate the outcomes associated with these
types of resistance efforts. More specifically, the following chapter provides the discourse about
the founding of Lincoln Institute and Kentucky State University as two distinctly different
outcomes of resistance efforts.
82
CHAPTER 4:
STRATEGIES OF RESISTANCE
In 1996, Kentuckians went to the polls to vote on the removal from the state’s
constitution a ban on racially integrated education. Two-thirds of the electorate voted to
successfully amend the constitution and formally remove the segregation provision.230 Although,
Brown vs. Board of Education overturned segregation in schools almost forty-two years earlier,
the amendment was a reminder of Kentucky’s educational past. Also interesting was not just the
votes for the provision, but the almost thirty-three percent that voted against removal of the
provision. Throughout this dissertation, I have grappled with the variety of views on race and
race relations among the Kentucky population. Although the provision passed with an
overwhelming majority, the opposition to the provision was also noteworthy. Of note is how this
electorate’s vote on this issue was representative of the diverse views of Kentuckians on the
subject of integration and interracial interaction.
By the time famed educational and social leader Booker T. Washington wrote a letter to
Berea College’s President William Frost on February 12, 1903, segregation was no longer
looming, it was firmly planted in the U.S. foundation. In Kentucky, there was one educational
community holding out against segregation, Berea College. Berea College, a private educational
institution, became the target of segregationists. Mr. Washington’s letter sought clarification on
President Frost’s position on education for Blacks and on segregation. Mr. Washington, a
powerful African American leader, in this letter to Frost was unexpectedly direct in his concern
with Frost’s misquoted statement in a newspaper, that “the white man should be educated before
the Negro is educated.”231 This statement illuminated growing sentiment white supremacists, but
for Frost as the president of an interracial educational institution facing segregationists, this type
of statement created a clear and present danger for Blacks. Therefore, Mr. Washington in his
letter to Frost contended that a “more statesman-like thing to say is that both races should be
230
“No More White Racism in America?”, Black Issues in Higher Education 45 (Autumn 2004): 18.
Booker T. Washington’s Letter to President Frost, February12, 1903, Record Group 3.03, Box 6, Presidents,
Folder: 6-4 Frost Correspondence 1903 (L-Z), Berea College Archives, Berea, KY.
231
83
educated.”232 The opinion described in Mr. Washington’s letter illuminates the growing shift
from inclusion of Black educational opportunity to a primary focus on white educational
opportunity. Economic and social changes affected Berea College’s admissions policy. In fact,
even before Berea College was forced to act, Frost had shifted his focus to white mountaineer
education to garner more financial support from a shrinking pool of donors.233
Targeting Berea College for segregation affected the reality of Blacks at Berea who were
aware of their diminishing opportunities. Educational priorities facilitated a shift in Black
people’s reality, shaping their reactions. No longer were they protected by the fervor of
philanthropists, and once this protection waned Blacks responses shifted from successfully
obtaining resources to invoking strategies for protecting their established resources. Berea
College is an example of this tension that Blacks faced which included whether to cling to
resources and/or develop strategies to survive segregated life. Black education at Berea College
supplied a successful model for interracial education particularly in the South. Great strides had
been made after the Civil War to educate Blacks. The Berea College administrative choice to
educate whites over Blacks solidified educational segregation in Kentucky, but not before Blacks
organized to resist.
Separate schools were a part of the U.S. educational fabric. The threads represented the
different experiences of Black, Whites, Latinos, Native Americans and Asian Americans; these
threads are all independent and unique, but reliant on each other for completion of the fabric.
Kentucky schooling is an aspect of this fabric. Throughout Kentucky separate schools were
established against the wishes of anti-segregationists. The reasons varied for separate schools,
but perhaps Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts captured the real issue, when he stated
“race separation cannot fail to have a depressing effect on the mind of colored children, fostering
the idea in them and others that they are not as good as other children.”234 Sumner also presented
an important point about the nature of segregation and the idea best represented as “separate but
equal,” in essence, “Equality is found only in Equality.”235 Blacks throughout Kentucky felt the
disconnection between themselves and the whites while living under segregation. Equalizing
232
Ibid.
Baskin, Andrew. “Berea College: A Commitment to Interracial Education within a Christian Context”. In Ethnic
Minorities and Evangelical Christian Colleges. (Maryland: University Press, 1991): 112.
234
Betram Wyatt- Brown, “The Civil Rights Act,” The Western Political Quarterly 18 no. 4, (December 1965): 764,
http: www.jstor.org/stable/445883.775 (accessed September 21, 2009).
235
Ibid.
233
84
schooling was not a focal point until after the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement. Instead, the
opportunity to shape schooling that resembled the democratic principles of a nation which
professed “All Men are Created Equal” slipped away. Educational segregation provided no place
for the philosophy of equality between the races. Instead segregation only served to reinforce the
master plan.
This chapter is about the complexity of oppression and the duality of resistance as seen in
the segregation of Berea College and the creation of Kentucky State University. African
American educational success in Kentucky was formed by various social components. Selfreliance was one such component and continued to emerge as a part of the formula for Black
educational resistance. In the examples presented in this chapter, self-reliance is a central theme.
Self-reliance as a strategy to combat segregation was one way Blacks chose to address the
government’s policy of oppression under “separate but equal.” This legal permission of
separation placed an unfair burden on Blacks, in the end it was they who had to serve as the
voice for equality.236
4.1 The Demand for Resources
With the end of Reconstruction, Black hopes for equality diminished. A response to this
situation was the action of resistance by Blacks. There were several ways Blacks tried to mitigate
the effects of segregationist practices. One way that transformed Black educational opportunity
was the demanding of resources; this type of resistance is the central theme that will be
illuminated in this chapter. The demand for resources was sometimes filled with triumphs and
failures. Regardless, these demands profoundly re-directed the race to educate. Developments
including the establishment of school infrastructure to school growth categorize the period from
1865- 1880. Secondary and collegiate level opportunities were now needed to educate the Black
population. High illiteracy, a lack of teachers, structures, and philanthropic resources
characterize the early beginnings of Black education in Kentucky. Similarly, the entire South
struggled with these characteristics of education for Blacks. The demand for education by Blacks
contributed to lowering illiteracy rates. However, there were still difficulties in the configuration
of schools for Blacks. Although gains were made in developing a teaching pool, there were no
236
Ibid.,764.
85
public teacher training schools for Blacks prior to 1887 in Kentucky. The demand for schools
and education outgrew the structure of teacher training of Blacks. A group of teachers and
activists organized to address the teacher shortage issue through the Kentucky State Colored
Teachers’ Association. Kentucky’s educational system for Blacks was at risk of dissolution
without an on-going cadre of trained teachers.237
As I began to understand segregation as a movement beyond just the separation of the
white and Black races, and recognize it as a movement to destroy any opportunities for Black
educational equality, only then could I effectively assess the value of Black resistance efforts.
The fight for education included not only school buildings but individuals who were qualified
and willing to teach in them. The efforts of KCTSA to ensure that the Kentucky school system
had a cadre of educational structures, was an important effort to ensure that there were teachers
to teach in them.
The State Normal School for Colored Persons (Kentucky Normal and Industrial Institute,
now Kentucky State University) opened on October 11, 1887. The institution was headed by a
Black alumnus of Berea College John H. Jackson as its first president.238 Ironically, John H.
Jackson had also earlier led the association in its request for this teacher training institution. The
institution itself was of great significance, but the way in which KSU was initiated confirms the
level of Black resistance activity in Kentucky. To address the shortage of black teachers in
Kentucky, African Americans needed a place to train Black teachers. The Kentucky Colored
Teachers’ State Association set an agenda to establish a teacher training institution at their initial
meeting on August 7, 1878. The KCTSA instigated the development of Kentucky State
University on January 26, 1886. The records indicate that there were no state supported normal
schools for Blacks, until the establishment of this institution. However, there were six private
normal black schools, one of which was State Colored Baptist University (Simmons
University).239 Additionally important is that of the private normal schools existing in 1877 only
State Colored Baptist University has survived to the present as Simmons University. Developing
an agenda for demanding a public normal school was an act of resistance. By requesting a new
source for training black teachers, they were able to usurp the possible derailment of the
237
John Hardin, Onward and Upward: A Centennial History of Kentucky State University, 1886-1986 (Lexington:
The University Press of Kentucky, 1997), 1.
238
Ibid.
239
Ibid.
86
educational progress of Black Kentuckians. By demanding teacher training, the KCTSA
established itself as a group of concerned educators who were willing to go against the status quo
and obtain what was needed to educate Blacks. Additionally, requesting a state-supported normal
school for Blacks appeared to serve as an educational equalizer; whites had state-supported
teacher training programs at such institutions as the state’s flagship institution, University of
Kentucky. Members of the KCTSA had organized and used the state-authorized Black teachers’
association to rally for new opportunities for Blacks. Condoning resistance probably wasn’t an
intention of the General Assembly when they provided for the organizing of the Black state
association. Although this action by the state could suggest that education for Blacks welcomed
Black input, there were instances of white dominance through force and lack of support. Despite
these obstacles, this organization proved to be successful.
When the Association convened for its first regular session in 1878, James Maxwell and
John H. Jackson (elected president) served as the first leaders and speakers in creating the
agenda. The Association responded to the crisis of the shortage of Black teachers in the state. For
example, if the perspective was that Black people were inferior, any proposal had to gain
significant faith from the white supremacist power structure. In addition, the request had to
perform a delicate dance, so as not to offend the white supremacist power structure nor appear
uppity. The establishment of schools was a step in the right direction for educational equality,
but when compared to white educational opportunity the lack of Black teachers and segregation
challenged opportunities for Black educational growth.
A committee was organized and charged with creating a report at the first KCTSA
meeting. The Memorial Committee submitted recommendations and included “a special appeal
for the establishment of a state normal school.”240 The committee submitted the report to the
State Legislature after a preliminary conference.241 Additionally, the Association also
encouraged people to contact their legislators to petition for a state normal school for Blacks.
William J. Simmons of State Colored Baptist University (Simmons University) petitioned in
front of the Kentucky House of Representatives and urged for the creation of a state supported
normal school. Dr. Simmons, despite the president of a private institution, led this petition on the
240
Harvey C. Russell, The Kentucky Negro Educational Association 1877-1946 (Norfolk: Guide Quality Press,
1946), 8, Pamphlet 371.974 R963, Kentucky State University Archives, Frankfort, KY.
241
John Hardin, Onward and Upward: A Centennial History of Kentucky State University, 1886-1986 (Lexington:
The University Press of Kentucky, 1997), 1.
87
House of Representatives floor. Later, his success in helping to secure a publically supported
normal school for Blacks challenged the existence of his important institution. President
Simmons provided an electrifying speech that represented the delicate balance of statesman and
advocate that Black activists mastered. A glimpse of this speech “in obedience to the demands
of our constituents, we venture to lay before you in a manly, honorable way, the complaints of as
true hearted Kentuckians as ever came from the loins of the bravest, truest and most honored
women, sired by the most distinguished fathers,” illuminates the tone of Dr. Simmons speech.242
Fourteen black teachers from the petitioning KCTSA committee accompanied Dr. Simmons and
asked for approval of a “state normal school to train black teachers for Kentucky’s raciallysegregated black schools.”243
On May 18, 1886, former Confederate officer Governor J. Knott approved Chapter 1297
Acts of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. 244 With the approval of this
Act, Kentucky established a public institution for Black teacher training. This victory was the
fruit of almost seven years of resistance work by the KCTSA from 1876-1886. These efforts
moved towards correcting the lack of Black teacher supply, thus uplifting the school system for
Blacks. Kentucky had provided educational opportunities but often failed to provide the
resources to maintain the opportunity. The significance of this institution which is still a viable
higher education institution today, addressed several issues that Blacks faced in Kentucky. First,
it attempted to provide an opportunity to eradicate the Black teacher shortage. The lack of
teachers had made educating Blacks extremely difficult. Without Black teachers, schooling for
Blacks would lag behind their white counterparts, because there were not enough white teachers
to serve in white and black schools.
The shortage in the teaching supply was a focal point for KSU, and through this
institution a stronger base for school administrators could be developed. Second, the State
Normal School for Colored Persons is a Historically Black University which began with a Black
president. Although the first president for the institution was Black, having an African American
in this role did not automatically provide autonomy for the Black institution. The relationships
between the Black presidents and white powerbrokers was often tumultuous at best, but again,
242
Ibid.
Ibid.
244
Ibid.
243
88
the Black presidency ensured, at least in theory, an agenda that a white president may not have
promoted.
KSU as an institution with site governance by Blacks for Blacks serves as an example of
success for Black education in Kentucky at that time. The institution was established out of need,
and through Black resistance efforts. They had a choice to continue in their current condition
which was hindered due to the teacher shortage, or to agitate through whatever means to gain
additional resources. More was on the line besides just another school; this institution was
needed to provide a strong base for Black school growth. Finally the establishment of KSU also
points to another institution of importance in Kentucky education, Berea College. KSU evolved
with the input of many individuals who were graduates of Berea College. This is an important
link that cannot be simply dismissed as coincidence. Instead it points to a loosely knit network of
individuals who often had commonalities outside of their resistance efforts.
4.2 Resistance as a Response to Segregation at Berea College It is ironic that the very institution that was a target of Black resistance, Berea College,
formerly served as a training ground for several Black agitators in Kentucky educational history.
The treacherous relationship that describes white and Black relations, where Blacks stayed in a
position of subservience, subsided in some ways at Berea College by virtue of the interracial
nature of the institution. Therefore, when Berea College’s almost forty years of interracial
educational tradition ended in 1904, it should be of no surprise that even though Berea College
alumni were not successful in blocking segregation, they did try to mitigate its affects. Berea
College Black alumni and friends did this in several ways including outspoken attacks on
President Frost’s administration, fundraising for a new institution, and attending other schools as
efforts to resist segregation. Even prior to the dismantling of Berea College’s mission through
the Day Law, Blacks were vocal about their stake in Berea College affairs and the education of
Blacks.
Resolutions passed by the Kentucky Colored State Teachers’ Association describe the
expectations of Berea College anti-segregationists. In these resolutions the Association
highlighted that they were alarmed at the “constant and successful attempt in the past years, to so
89
direct affairs at Berea College as to eliminate practically from its walls students of color.”245 In
addition, their final resolution surfaced concerns about the difference in curricula for Black and
white students. In the resolution the KCTSA insisted upon the same curricula for Black children
and white children in schools. This issue of curriculum becomes an ongoing theme in the
education of Blacks.
The outspokenness of Blacks in Kentucky’s educational affairs did not stop the
segregation of Berea College. When the Day Law was enacted there were Black students at
Berea College. The question of what happened to these students who were already attending
Berea College in 1904 when the Day Law was enacted has not been researched sufficiently.
Research generally illuminates the Frost Administration and/or the Day Law; few illuminate how
the African American population responded to this atrocity.
Segments of the Black population continued to resist the push to move them out of Berea
College and segregate the institution. First it is important to note that at stake for Blacks was
access to the only institution in Kentucky committed to interracial education. Additionally, the
presence of Black Berea alumni in so many arenas speaks to the breadth of Berea College’s
statewide impact. In letters encouraging resistance to the Day Law, Blacks articulated their love
of Berea and their appreciation for its support of Black education in Kentucky. Berea College
alumni and supporters understood the limitations if Berea College could not be accessed by
Blacks. This limitation came into fruition when the first class after the Day Law was all-white.246
The participation of the Black alumni at Berea College before and prior to segregation is
distinct. Despite the institution serving white and Black populations, it was governed by whites.
Black participation was at the mercy of whites, who had the power to decide their place in the
institution. Perhaps the utopia of equality created by the college’s founder John G. Fee facilitated
a false sense of reality. There are many suggestions for why Blacks engaged in the affairs of
Berea College. These factors include an early history of Black students as the majority and
Blacks as a part of the landscape of the college. At Berea College, the racism that had infiltrated
other institutions where white and Blacks interacted did not always raise its ugly head. Of course
there was racism and the remnants of the domination found within white and Black race
245
Resolutions of Kentucky Colored Teachers’ Association, Berea Citizen circa 1890, Vertical Files RG 1307 Blacks
1836-1894, Box 1 of 1, Berea College Archives, Berea, KY.
246
Scott Blakeman, “Night Comes To Berea College: The Day Law and The African-American Reaction,” The
Filson Club History Quarterly 7 no. 1 (January 1996): 11.
90
relations, but the utopia created a false sense of reality. The reality of overt racism may not have
been strongly intertwined in the day to day life of Berea College, but the function of racism from
outside and infiltrated the college with the Day Law.
As a consequence, the Berea College administration made a decision which catapulted
underlying beliefs about race, racism, and race relations to the forefront. The case of Berea
College and the Day Law did not create racism, but instead illuminated inconsistencies in the life
of Blacks. It was a reminder that no matter how successful Blacks became they were still at the
whim of white supremacists. As a result, the experiment of interracial education was placed on
hold and the formerly enrolled Blacks were barred from the institution. A number of those
students opted to attend various HBCUs on scholarships from Berea College. Consider that the
expulsion of Black students from Berea College provided undue hardships, since some BC
students often paid for their tuition in diverse ways such as the campus labor program, and Black
students left their homes in the local community. Therefore, when students had to make
decisions to continue schooling after the expulsion, there was much more at stake than just which
school to attend.
Prior to the dismissal of Blacks from Berea College, different students and community
members sent letters and attempted to vocalize against this decision of segregation. On February
4, 1904, a letter was submitted to the Educational Committee of the House of Representatives,
Commonwealth of Kentucky by white citizens from the community testifying that “Fearing that
erroneous and unjust impressions have been made upon you to an extent unknown to us, by
private representations since partially published, we, undersigned white citizens, long-time
residents of Berea and vicinity, wish to testify to you that we know the Faculty and Trustees of
Berea College to be honorable and upright people, eminently qualified for their work, and
devoted to it with the highest spirit of conscientiousness and patriotism.”247 Furthermore, this
letter also uplifts a core issue that prompted the introduction of the Day Law, interracial
interactions. The white citizens testified that the faculty and trustees had “been devoted and
watchful regarding the manners and morals of all young people under their charge, and
eminently successful not only in guarding against any improprieties and misconduct, but also
247
White Citizens against the Day Law To the Educational Committee of the House of Representatives,
Commonwealth of Kentucky, February 4, 1904, William Goodell Frost Papers, Box 23, Day Law, c. 1904-1910, RG
3.03, Box 23/6, Berea College Archives, Berea, KY.
91
instilling in their pupils the principles of honor and the spirit of true religion.”248 This
information countered some perceptions of white and Black interactions in Berea, but it did
nothing to alter the Day Law decision.
Some Black students vocalized their concerns while still at Berea College. Thirty-one
students (colored) on March 28, 1904, in a letter to President Frost requested Berea College to
hold true to its roots and “that any form of separation whatsoever will be fostering and
encouraging those principles against which the institution was established.”249 Unfortunately,
Berea did go against these principles and followed through with the provisions of the Day Law.
The plans moved forward for the segregated Berea College. The next set of events included
communications about the fate of the Blacks enrolled. By June 11, 1904, the newly created BC
Committee of the Board of Trustees (William G. Frost, Walter E. C. Wright, James Bond
(Black), J.R. Rogers, and William E. Barton) had issued a letter confirming the inevitable. In this
letter, they underlined a four point plan. In this plan, the provisions for Black students were
conveyed and included assisting “in the general improvement of the public colored school of
Berea.”250 This provision was targeted towards those Black students from families that lived in
Berea, KY, some of whom had relocated to Berea so they may obtain an education at Berea
College. The other provisions called for the creation of agreements with Fisk University and for
those who could not attend Fisk University, inquiry into other institutions that might be closer to
the Black students’ homes. Black students who were interested in the committee making
arrangements were encouraged to contact the Secretary of the College, Mr. Will C. Gamble.251
When Berea College provided scholarships for Black students to enroll at other
educational institutions, it was one way to facilitate the education of Blacks. Conversely Berea
College’s plan to aid Blacks in attending other schools may have inadvertently ensured the
stronghold of segregated schools. There were several students who took advantage of the plan
and went to such institutions as Fisk, Tuskegee, Howard University and Knoxville College.252
They attended these schools due to a partnership with Berea College as an appeasement for their
removal.
248
Ibid.
Colored students Petition to Frost, March 28, 1904, William Goodell Frost Papers, Box 23, Day Law c. 1904, RG
3.03 Box 23/6, Berea College Archives, Berea, KY.
250
“Safety of Berea Students: Committee from the Board of Trustees,” Berea Citizen, V no. 52 (June 16, 1904).
251
Ibid.
252
Students dropped from list of Colored Students, June 4, 1906, RG 137 A, 1874-1906, Berea College Archives,
Berea, KY.
249
92
Although the students may not officially have demanded this opportunity they did take
advantage of it. By agreeing to attend these institutions, they did not lose completely to the
segregationists. This form of resistance ensured that at the very least they had another
educational opportunity. It also reminded Blacks of their vulnerability, that even with such a
liberal institution as Berea College, they were still at the whim of the white power structure. As
over fifty Black former Berea College students attended HBCUs at the pleasure of the Frost
Administration, they were not able to return to Berea College even for graduation.253 Instead they
sometimes sent word back to the institution, thanking them for their scholarships and sending
greetings. In a letter of response, the Berea College students at Fisk “resolved more firmly to use
every opportunity which makes for usefulness and good citizenship.”254 These alumni, E.W.
Gentry, Sophia Overstreet, and A.B. Jones did not take lightly this opportunity. Perhaps the
letters of greetings and updates were for the white friends that they had to leave behind. The
submission of these letters to the Berea College community can also be seen as a final act of
resistance. In sending these letters they may have been vocalizing their determination while
engaging in the politics of appeasement so they would continue to receive support. Meanwhile,
as those who were sent to HBCU’s were maintaining, other groups of Blacks were seeking ways
to resist the segregation by placing demands on Berea College to develop another institution for
Blacks and for the administration to fight the segregation. By making provisions for students to
attend other institutions, separate but equal was fully formed. Berea College policy resembled
some Southern states’ costly policy of sending black students to other states for graduate study.
255
By the end of this chapter in Berea College history, around $18,000 had been given to Black
students in financial aid to attend other institutions between the years 1904 and 1912.256
It seemed that Black alumni vocalized both against and for submission to Berea
College’s decision to segregate. Alumni were not always pleased with the decision. A small
army of opponents which included members of the Kentucky Colored Teachers’ State
Association were very vocal against the segregation of Berea College. One member provided a
great deal of agitation to the efforts of the College. However, their resistance was organic. For
253
“The College and the Colored People,” Berea Citizen, July 27, 1905, Vol. VI, number 23
“Our Friends at Fisk,” Berea Citizen, November 24, 1904, William Goodell Frost Papers, Box 23, Day Law, c.
1904-1910, RG 3.03, Box 23/7, Berea College Archives, Berea, KY.
255
Richard Kluger, Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America’s Struggle for
Equality (Vintage Books: New York, 1975), 137.
256
Report to A. Eugene Thompson from Mr. Thos. J. Osborne, May 18, 1912, Lincoln Institute Correspondence,
1909- 1917, Berea College Archives, Berea, KY.
254
93
example, The Berea Citizen reported that a meeting of colored graduates on October 22, 1904
was led by Mr. A.W. Titus seeking opinions about Berea College efforts. Mr. Titus attempted to
gain support for his desire to resist the Berea College segregation and equalize the funds. Some
highlights of the meeting included questions about whether “colored students should seek
admissions at Berea College” even since segregation, “whether attempts should be made to tie up
the funds of the college... whether to call at once for division of funds,” and ascertaining the
level of responsibility of President Frost in the matter of the segregation of Berea College.257 The
questions placed on the agenda were voted against by the majority in attendance. Those in
attendance who initially voted against the possible protests, Frank Williams and J.C. Jackson,
later became loud voices of resistance against Berea College. The attendees voted that they had
confidence in the Board, and formed a committee which included Mr. A. W. Titus at his own
request.258 Mr. Titus and Frank Williams later became resistance partners; Titus a resistor from
the beginning of the segregation of Berea College, Williams later as Berea College plans
unfolded. This meeting was a peek into the resistance that Titus continued until the establishment
of the promised Black school, Lincoln Institute (1912). Consequently, the meeting which may
not initially have created a successful cadre of resistance efforts highlighted the concerns of
some Blacks in regards to Berea College’s efforts and the need to confront them. Despite Titus’
failure in his October 22, 1904 effort, he was persistent. Titus did not retreat. In fact, Titus was a
subject of conversation for many years as the work of the College continued. The reports to build
a new institution for Blacks did not quench the abandonment felt by some Black BC alumni.
The building of a new institution (Lincoln Institute) was a consolation prize that did not
please several Blacks. In fact, several Blacks could not overcome their concern that this was a
plot by the Frost Administration to appease white segregationist and thus strengthen their
commitment to white, mountain youth.259 Under such a climate, the new institution was paved
with a great amount of difficulty. The institution could have been developed out of funds from
the Berea College endowment. Some questioned why this was not an option, as the funding was
for both Black and white students. However, the consensus became that the funds were to remain
separate and new funds were to be raised for the new institution.
257
“College Items: Here and There,” Berea Citizen VI no. 14 (September 22, 1904).
Ibid.
259
Paul David Nelson, “Experiment in Interracial Education at Berea College, 1858-1908,”
Journal of Negro History 59, no. 1, (January 1974): 62.
258
94
When it was determined that the new institution was to have separate funds, and in
essence a separate entity, several issues seemed prohibitive to the establishment of this
institution. First, there needed to be funding for this endeavor. A board of trustee’s member and
Black alumni named James Bond, set out on a mission to raise the endowment for this
institution. The idea that Blacks would contribute to this new institution was at the foundation of
the fundraising. However, Bond and the Frost administration did not anticipate that the efforts of
Blacks who were dissatisfied could or would derail their efforts to fundraise. Second, the
location for this institution became a political minefield. The final issue, concerned whether this
new institution could be created with a speed that responded to the urgency of the matter.
Opponents such as Alfred Titus and Frank Williams worked to undermine efforts to
fundraise the almost $400,000.00 needed to create this new school. They facilitated distrust in
the fundraising efforts for the institution and President Frost. The opponents successful
undermining did not go unnoticed by the lead fundraiser James Bond. Throughout Bond’s efforts
to raise funds he communicates with the Berea College administration the nature of these
oppositional efforts. Bond highlights several dilemmas with the attempt to raise funds. First,
Bond is well aware that some Black alumni were not accepting of the Day Law and its forcing of
the institution to segregate. These powerful alumni served as a roadblock in efforts to raise
money for the Adjustment Fund. This fund was for the development of the new institution for
Blacks. Instead those alums believe the only way for Berea College to stay true to its mission
was to resist the Day Law. In fact, Bond notes about the opposition “I wonder what WilliamsTitus and company will do now” as he and Frost continue to correspond about what must happen
for the Black students of Berea College.260
Second, Bond is also aware of the influential alums who oppose the building of the
school and their ability to shape BC efforts to fundraise. He believed that he could utilize Black
churches and individuals, and recognizes one important aspect of the dilemma, if funds are not
raised there will not be an alternative school and the matter reaches an impasse. Despite the
tension, fundraising is clearly not only going to serve as an opportunity for a new school, but
also is important according to Bond for Blacks to show their support of this effort and education.
260
Letter to President Frost from James Bond, January 29, 1908, William Goodell Frost Papers, Box 9, Series II,
Correspondence, 1906-08, RG3.03, Berea College Archives, Berea, KY.
95
Finally, and perhaps the most compelling is that no matter which of these interests were
accomplished, both parties needed to understand the repercussions of their decisions.
In short, Bond’s actions as primary fundraiser for the Adjustment Fund were to facilitate
the development of a new educational opportunity for Blacks. He was aware that even with this
possibility there were those who had articulated that Berea College should have no or limited
part in developing a new school for Blacks.261 Despite this quandary, Bond’s efforts present
another problem in the pedagogy of resistance, resistance at odds with other resistance efforts.
According to Historian John Hardin, the struggle for Lincoln Institute highlighted competing
tensions, the campaign against the ideological struggles of white dominance over Black life and
the internal battle among Black leaders.262 Bond can be viewed by some as a traitor or as a sell
out or any other word to describe a person who sides with the oppressor, but a greater question
must be posed- were Bond’s efforts another form of resistance? The agitators of Bond and Frost
(BC representatives) at the core wanted educational opportunity for Blacks. However, one group
felt that Berea College was the entity to fight the ongoing injustice and the other felt that new
opportunities must be developed to have ownership.
These camps were both very vocal. For example, in April 1908 some former students of
Berea College met in Lexington and recommended that sympathy be exhibited for the efforts of
the Frost Administration. Additionally, they encouraged the Trustees’ committee to continue
moving forward with establishing a colored school. In moving forward they also noted that
Blacks should be included in the fundraising efforts and that $50,000.00 could be raised among
Blacks. Finally, they also reaffirmed their “loyalty to the principles upon which Berea of the past
was founded”, and that the “approval of the colored department in any degree renounce these
principles, but we believe that in this new field of labor we shall best subserve them and thus
hasten the day of realization.”263 In some ways they were both right, Bond’s identification of
261
Guy W. Mallon letter to Frost, November 21, 1905, RG 3.03 Box 8, Record Group Presidents, Folder 8-4
Frost Correspondence 1904 (M-Z), Berea College Archives, Berea, KY.
262
John Hardin, Fifty Years of Segregation: Black Higher Education in Kentucky, 1904- 1954 (Lexington: The
University Press of Kentucky, 1997), 22
263
“Colored Graduates Meet: Adopt Resolutions Urging That Their People Be Given Chance to Help New CollegeEnthusiastic and Harmonious Meeting,” Berea Citizen IX, no. 41 (April 9, 1908).
Participants at conference Joshua Crenshaw, Patti Crenshaw, J.W. Hughes, Dr. Henry Clay, Barbara Robinson
Courtney, W.H. Humphrey, J.O. Whittaker, A.R. Cobb, Henry R. Bond, Green P. Russell, J.D.M Russell, Dixon M.
Flack, Dr. A.B. Deany, N.W. Magowan, Rev. Dr. James Bond, Rev. George Bell, Prof. John W. Bates, Jas. A.
White, and D. B. Russell.
96
funding for an institution that would possibly be governed by Blacks was an opportunity for selfdetermination.
James Bond continued with much success in raising monies for the Adjustment Fund.
Bond, the son of a formerly enslaved Black woman and her white master, articulated his
understanding of the value of education in a letter to President Frost. From this letter one is left
with little doubt that Bond grappled with how best to ensure Blacks obtained education,
particularly from Berea College. He recounts the prompts in his life that sent him to Berea
College and how important that particular educational institution was to his success. In this
recollection he shares that not long ago he was like his mother, poor and unlettered and how
Berea College changed his status. 264 In addition, it seems that Bond also understood the
tightrope that he as a “colored person” had to walk. The pain that he expresses when Berea
College is forced to segregate provides for the rationale for his endeavors. By 1904 there were
institutions for Blacks. Perhaps it was that Bond felt he would force Berea to continue their
commitment to Blacks. Even if we are not sure of his reasons, Berea College is symbolic of a
more prolific problem that Blacks almost 40 years after slavery could still rest in the hands of the
white supremacist structure.
As Bond continued to grapple with the duality of resistance, oppositional efforts to the
Adjustment Fund continued to move forward. The onslaught of resistance seemed unable to
subside. Perhaps the most important resistance efforts evolved from the powerful KCTSA. This
organization prompted by the state legislature as an educational leadership organization for
Blacks, organized many successful efforts to educate Blacks. Perhaps as we have already
understood, the most far-reaching was the institutionalization of a public normal school for
Blacks, Kentucky State University. The KCTSA was also very vocal in their concern and
opposition to the segregation of Berea College. Their opposition was presented in the form of a
resolution titled President Frost’s Betrayal of the Colored People in Administration and Berea
College. At the 1907 Danville, KY meeting the resolution was adopted unanimously. The
resolution summarized the feelings of betrayal as Berea College segregated and fundraising for
the new institution commenced. Perhaps the most significant characteristic of this resolution was
it authors, A.W. Titus (Berea resident), Frank L Williams (BC Alum), J.C. Jackson (former BC
trustee) and Dr. Mary Britton (BC alum). A.W. Titus had already been involved in a campaign
264
Rev. James Bond letter to Frost, January 8, 1904, Berea College Archives, Berea, KY.
97
against the segregation of Berea College, but Frank Williams as president of the KCTSA
spearheaded the efforts against Berea College. All of these individuals continued to vocalize
resistance to Berea College’s efforts on this matter. However, their presentation of this resolution
illuminates the systematic and organized resistance efforts of Blacks in Kentucky. The nature of
the KCTSA provided a foundation and facilitation of resolutions to problems facing Blacks in
regards to education. The Association also often provided fuel for continuing individual
resistance efforts. For example, A.W. Titus who utilized the Association to organize against
Berea College partnered with President Frank Williams to create a KCTSA resolution for Berea
College. Furthermore, the KCTSA embodies the principles of advocacy and activism, deciding
to vocalize the complex nature of segregation and its impact on Blacks.
Possibly with KCTSA support, Titus continued to agitate against Berea College’s efforts.
Bond continues to chronicle Titus’ (and Williams’) actions in correspondence with BC
administrators. Again, Titus uses the very fundraising meetings designed to raise money for the
new institution, to provide a platform against the school. Bond reports to BC Treasurer T.J.
Osborne on October 3, 1908, that there is a rumor that Titus will break up the meeting.265
In his letter to the treasurer, Bond seems confident that it will be of no consequence. However,
he must swallow this confidence as he reports in the next sets of correspondence that indeed
Titus broke up the meeting and negatively affects the amounts of funds raised.266
As fundraising efforts continued, so did the opposition. On December 27, 1908, Bond
writes that “President Frost, Rev. A.E. Thompson and myself think it is very important to control
the Teachers’ Association which meets in Winchester, Kentucky, December 29-31st. Williams,
Titus and Co. will make their last stand.” 267 Titus was not the only agitator reported as
undermining the Lincoln Institute efforts. Another fund raiser also reported that he was
experiencing difficulty in acquiring an audience in Winchester, KY. Fundraising agent J.C.
Browne reports on July 26, 1909 that “someone here is poisoning the minds of the people against
the school.”268 Browne suspects that the opposition is from a local Black newspaper writer, and
requests counter resistance measures to deter any further damage. The fundraising efforts for
265
Correspondence between James Bond and T.J. Osborne regarding Adjustment Fund Pledges, October 3, 1908,
Record Group 13.29 Box 1 Associated Items Lincoln Institute, Berea College Archives, Berea, KY.
266
Ibid.
267
Letter from Bond to Osborne about Titus, Williams, and Company, December 27, 1908, Record Group 13.29
Box 1 Associated Items Lincoln Institute, Berea College Archives, Berea, KY.
268
Letter from J.C. Browne to T.J. Osborne, July 26, 1909, Record Group 13.29 Box 1 Associated Items Lincoln
Institute, Berea College Archives, Berea, KY.
98
Lincoln Institute were not a joyous or simple endeavor. So much opposition from sources that
could have served as allies affected not only relationships but the bottom line of the fundraising.
Finally in a letter to Mr. T. Osborne the feud between Frank Williams and James Bond
was in the closing stages. To the surprise of James Bond who reported about his sharing the same
platform with Mr. Williams was cordially greeted by Mr. Williams. Bond writes about Williams’
new attitude towards him, one that is “not attacking us. He is very kind and attentive to me
personally.”269 The event was also an important breakthrough in Bond’s fervor to raise funds.
Bond eagerly sends word that pledges will be sent, since he was able to quell rumors and
suspicions. In this letter he reflects on the opposition faced during their fundraising efforts, and
believes that it is merely their ignorance that caused individuals to not donate. Bond continues
with his efforts of fundraising.
By the close of the Adjustment Fundraising, over $400,000.00 was raised through
donations, almost half from a pledge from Andrew Carnegie.270 What a glorious effort for Bond
and supporters. The funds were raised and the institution could be developed. The next dilemma
for Bond and supporters of this new institution was what type of school, who would govern the
school, and where the school would be located. The school, to be later named Lincoln Institute,
was to be a beacon of hope. The resistance Bond put forth was not over with his obtaining the
funds. The battle for the race to educate took on a new phase in resistance efforts.
Despite the delays Bond was successful in raising funds for the institution. In another
correspondence with Frost, Bond reported that almost $400,000.00 was raised. As predicted
African Americans gave to the adjustment fund and supported the development of the school to
the tune of $20,000.00.271 This amount was not considered substantial in the grand scheme of the
fundraising, but it is representative of those Black proponents. Even after the collection of funds
the resistance continued. Individuals began to question the location, governance, and curriculum
choices for Lincoln Institute.
269
Letter to Mr. T.J. Osborne from James Bond, July 30, 1909, Record Group 13.29 Box 1 Associated Items
Lincoln Institute, Berea College Archives, Berea, KY.
270
“Colored Graduates Meet: Adopt Resolutions Urging That Their People Be Given Chance to Help in New
College- Enthusiastic and Harmonious Meeting,” Berea Citizen IX, no.41. (April 9, 1908).
271
“2100 Added to Lincoln Institute Fund,” Louisville Courier-Journal, Thursday, February 11, 1909. Lincoln
Institute Collection, Berea College Archives, Berea, KY.
99
Their concerns were warranted. Lincoln Institute was not to be a model of liberal arts for
Blacks, but instead to be based upon the Tuskegee Model.272 The notion of industrial education
had become a central theme in the education of Blacks. The intense debates on the matter
engaged individuals concerned about the education of Blacks to take sides. One understanding of
industrial education, probably best associated with W.E.B. Dubois juxtaposed the liberal arts
experience as necessary to uplift Blacks vs. the technical/vocational educational experience
associated with Booker T. Washington. Therefore, when the Lincoln Institute administration
planned for industrial education as its curricular focus, advocates of both positions provided
many salient arguments for and against this type of education. In the Lincoln Institute Worker
article “Industrial Education: What Lincoln Institute Can Do for the People of Kentucky,”
decisions about the model are re- articulated from the Frost’s presentation at a 1908 conference
in Louisville, KY. Key highlights of his rationale included President Frost’s defense of industrial
education for Lincoln Institute based upon that they “tried to make the institute one which would
be of the largest possible benefit to all the colored people of the state.”273
In justifying industrial education Frost contemplates that Samuel Armstrong founder of
Hampton Institute managed “with these industries he combined enough book-studies so that the
Hampton graduates were fit to teach school.”274 Additionally, in an effort to establish the value
of industrial education for Blacks the article points to the fact that whites were also using this
type of education, and that some wealthy trustees from New York City, “really wished their own
children could have the advantages which the colored boys and girls were getting at
Hampton.”275 By the 1900’s, industrial education had evolved. The Hampton University that
Frost praised was in the past. At its peak, Hampton indeed graduated most of their students with
normal school training. Hampton and Tuskegee University’s model of industrial education were
not based on trade or agricultural training, but according to scholar James Anderson in The
Education of Blacks in the South, it was based on the training of teachers. In fact if this was
indeed the model for Lincoln Institute then its success could contribute to curbing the teacher
shortage. However, there were several elements of industrial education that were not centered on
272
“Lincoln Institute Selected as Name,” Louisville Herald, February 6, 1909; “Workers for Department of Berea
College for Negroes arrive in City to begin Campaign,” Lexington Herald, February 5, 1909. Lincoln Institute
Collection, Berea College Archives, Berea, KY.
273
“Industrial Education. What Lincoln Institute Can Do for the People of Kentucky.” The Lincoln Institute Worker,
vol. I, No. I (March 1909), 4. Lincoln Institute Collection, Berea College Archives, Berea, KY.
274
Ibid.
275
Ibid.,5.
100
teacher training. Post-Civil War industrial education did not include a focus on teacher training.
There were three layers of industrial education, schools of applied science and technology, trade
schools, and academic curriculum supplemented by manual instruction in industry, thrift and
morality.276 Perhaps the uproar about industrial education was in the confusion around the
hybrid models that were found both at Hampton and Tuskegee University.277 In final defense of
the planned industrial education at Lincoln Institute, Booker T. Washington is touted as an
example of a successful recipient of industrial education. Washington, who was invited to serve
on Berea College’s Board of Trustees prior to the passing of the Day Law, was considered a
successful example of how President Frost had hoped that this type of education would help
Blacks be more prosperous. Lincoln Institute’s curriculum did become a boarding school which
focused on an industrial education. However, with all of the questions about industrial education,
the article also highlights “that the Lincoln Institute while beginning with industrial education
does not propose to stop there. Its training of teachers will be a great feature from the start, and
other things will be added as a means and needs appear.”278
Julia Young, editor of the Black newspaper Kentucky Standard summarized the conflict
between industrial education and liberal arts education. In an article by Ms. Young, she asks the
obvious question of why the new institution could not provide “academic, normal, and college
training as well as toting the wood and digging the soil.”279 Even as the venture was near
completion, opponents still voiced their distaste. After many discussions, Berea College decided
to locate the school outside of Louisville in the town of Shelbyville. Even this location was
contentious. In order for them to purchase the land for the institution the community had to
provide permission. The establishment of Lincoln Institute was so close, but yet other elements
had to be overcome.
In the final analysis, the fight for education by Blacks was definitely for those who could
persevere. Berea College and its associates’ attempt to create an educational opportunity for
Blacks spanned for almost eight years, from 1904-1912. On October 1, 1912, when Lincoln
University finally opened its doors to Black students in Simpsonville, Shelby County, it was to
276
James Anderson, The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 1988), 35.
277
Ibid., 34
278
Ibid., 6.
279
John Hardin, Fifty Years of Segregation: Black Higher Education in Kentucky, 1904- 1954 (Lexington: The
University Press of Kentucky, 1997), 23.
101
serve as a boarding school with an emphasis on industrial education.280 When Lincoln Institute
finally opened in Shelby County, it had endured a battle over curriculum and resistance by white
community members regarding its location. The identification of the location for Lincoln
Institute was not announced until after all funds were gathered.281 Simpsonville, KY was not the
original proposed site, Anchorage, Kentucky was the first option, but white citizens resisted this
proposition and successfully deterred the establishment of the institute. Simpsonville was
decided as a viable site because of its twenty-two mile distance from the “center of the black
population of the state,” Louisville, KY.282 Additionally, this rural town was about 90 miles
north of Berea, KY. George C. Wright in “The Founding of Lincoln Institute,” states that
“Obtaining a site for the institution was a primary problem, since no community approached
wanted a Negro school near their residential areas.”283 In fact, a group of Shelby County white
leaders organized a mass meeting to deter the sale of lands to the representatives of the Lincoln
Institute efforts. Even after information was presented that locating the institution in
Simpsonville would raise the “Negro population” and impact the economic situation, this group
and others vocalized their desire to not have Lincoln Institute in their community. Interestingly,
the rationales for their opposition included concerns that an educational institution for Blacks
may bring Black vagrants and thus be a detriment to the town. In addition those in opposition to
the institution threatened violence, published a resolution and passed the Holland Law. The
Holland Law was an effort by John Holland a state legislator representing Simpsonville and
Shelbyville. The bill made it “mandatory for three-fourths of the voters of the county to approve
the location of any school in the county.”284 Akin to the Day Law the Holland Law sought to
hinder education of Blacks. However, this law was vetoed by Kentucky Governor A. G. Willson
and declared unconstitutional by the state appellate court on June 6, 1910. The Institute could be
located in Simpsonville.
Although Lincoln Institute was successfully opened in 1912 the climate from which it
arose was very tenuous. Despite these instances of hostility the Lincoln Institute, named after
280
John Kleber ed., The Kentucky Encyclopedia (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1992), 558.
“Meeting Of The Trustees: The Colored School Discussed.- Decided to Build New Hospital.- College to Have
Charge of the Construction of Side Walks,” Berea Citizen vol. IX, no. 51 (June 18, 1908).
282
George C. Wright, “The Founding of Lincoln Institute,” The Filson Club Historical Quarterly, Vol. 49 (1975):
63.
283
Ibid., 62.
284
Ibid., 63.
281
102
Abraham Lincoln, served as beacon of hope against the hegemony. In fact the naming of Lincoln
Institute served as both a symbol of the efforts for freedom exhibited by Abraham Lincoln, and a
view into the future as Blacks tried to move forward in gaining their objectives. The Lincoln
Institute although an addition to the limited educational opportunities, was not a replacement of
the interracial experiment at Berea College. The trustees were formed with mostly white
members and two Black members Rev. James Bond and Charles Parrish. However, unlike
Kentucky State University, Lincoln Institute did not begin with Black leadership. It was
distinctly different because of the controversy surrounding its existence and the demographics of
the board and leadership. Lincoln Institute did meet an important need in the Kentucky
educational landscape by providing another educational opportunity for Blacks. The Berea
College influence of student labor was evident as students had to work to pay for the tuition. The
Lincoln Institute also attempted to maintain a spirit of self- reliance not only for the students but
by employing Blacks. For example, Black architects from the firm Tandy and Foster of New
York were commissioned to design the buildings. Building contracts were awarded to a
Louisville firm, that later resigned fearing mob violence. Even after overcoming all of these
obstacles, developing a spirit of Black self-reliance was still difficult in this negative racial
climate.
103
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION:
RACISM, PATERNALISM, OPPRESSION AND
DETERMINATION AS ELEMENTS OF EDUCATION FOR
BLACKS IN KENTUCKY
The establishment of Berea College in 1865 (respectively) and Lincoln Institute in 1912
encompasses a span of resistance of over 50 years in Kentucky. Throughout these years
Kentucky Blacks were consistently and successfully involved in the establishment and growth of
their educational opportunities. There is no rationale for arguing that only whites provided
significant leadership in the education of Blacks in Kentucky. In fact, we find that it is through
the types of resistance efforts described in this dissertation, that we come to better understand
how Blacks agitated both overtly and covertly for educational opportunities. Throughout this
research, resistance has been examined as a complex and often competing effort. These efforts
often provided some types of opportunity, and yet sometimes served to undermine future
endeavors. This competition between Blacks is often an embedded reality in African American
history. In almost all efforts of significant Black leadership within the Black community there
have been efforts to undermine values and approaches. Under the authority of white supremacy,
divide and conquer is a real tenet. Nevertheless, the difficulty for educational historians is to
decipher if the educational resistance efforts were indeed as a result of some white supremacist
puppeteer or a conglomeration of efforts to affect change. The tension either brings about
change, or destroys the efforts of resistance.
Kentucky educational history does provide those instances of thwarted resistance efforts.
There is no formula for resistance, therefore when they compete they can damage efforts or
provide an array of opportunities. The confrontation against Berea College highlights that
competing resistance efforts sometimes do provide viable outcomes. If Frank Williams did not
push for Berea College to fight against the Day Law, would there have been the energy and
commitment to the development of the Lincoln Institute by Frost? The research suggests that
there would have as Bond and others pressured him to jumpstart the efforts. And yet there is a
lingering question about how these types of resistance efforts set into motion other efforts.
104
Although this is a difficult question to answer, one can deduct that it did influence some aspects
of the decision-making process for Bond and Frost, because they referred to it in their
correspondence. When Berea College had made their decision, should Williams and other
opponents have spent their time helping in the efforts of building a new institution? Having only
contributed about $20,000.00 to the Adjustment Fund does not change that Blacks had a greater
stake in the institution. In the end the institution was built and had students. On the other hand,
what if Bond used his efforts and collaborated with Williams, Titus, et al., and demanded that
they fight against the segregation? What would have been the implications for the future of the
Lincoln Institute if Bond took such a position on segregation? This is the unstable position
Blacks found themselves in consistently during this period. This unstable position often provided
an either or option, no middle ground or alternative, this is how white paternalism was successful
and was woven into the daily lives of Blacks.
At the close of the 19th century, slavery no longer existed in the Western Hemisphere,
but segregation was the normal reality of many Americans. The formative years of segregation
were a complex experience for Blacks. In Kentucky the completion of legal segregation was
indicated by the implementation of the Day Law. The movement toward segregation should be
characterized beyond simply the separation of Blacks and whites; but a systematic way of life for
Blacks that included daily resistance and survival. Historians describe the formative years of
segregation as a violent and chaotic time for Blacks. The formative years of segregation teetered
on dual lifestyles for Blacks, one free and one pseudo free. Throughout those years Blacks were
simultaneously attempting to live out their freedom and defend it. These two states of being can’t
co-exist, one eventually will win. In this case, Blacks lost their freedom until the reversal of
segregation (at least in theory). The freedom struggle for Blacks both pushed the system to
provide the opportunities it had promised, but also meant that they could not live as other
citizens. Living without full citizenship meant a lifestyle of resistance. Always a battle for their
basic survival, the acts of resistance could not be a widespread labor for Blacks. Even more
important, the opportunities generated from resistance efforts continued into the 20th and 21st
centuries.
Paulo Freire’s notion of resistance presents itself as a movement of revolution. In the end
a revolution always has winners and losers. Unfortunately Kentucky Blacks were not the winners
in this educational revolution. First, the efforts of Black Kentuckians to change the system of
105
oppression were both effective and ineffective. The dichotomy of white supremacy did not
“allow” Blacks to enter into American life as truly free. The societal gains were earned, not
given by American society. While whites because of the color of their skin, were able to access
certain governmental benefits. However, because Blacks had to struggle for basic human rights,
this disproportionately placed Blacks at a disadvantage. The hardship placed on Blacks
genuinely affected both their morale and their ability to engage in the system. Therefore, the
expectation that Blacks demand equality, in and of itself speaks to the inequality of the system. If
indeed the United States is a government for the people and recognizes that all people are created
equal, why then must one group petition for inclusion, when another group is afforded certain
rights by virtue of their skin color? No matter what Blacks did, they were burdened beyond their
white counterparts.
The discussion about the education of Blacks is not limited to equal educational
experiences, but as citizens, Blacks should have been able to participate, lead, communicate, and
engage without being encumbered by violence and intimidation. Therefore, no matter the efforts
of Blacks during this period of 1865-1910 short of radical revolution, in Kentucky their efforts
could only facilitate the system of oppression, not create a new system. Unfortunately, Blacks
were not able to revolutionize the system in ways that Paulo Freire’s work suggests is vital to
undoing oppression, glimpses of that revolution came later in the 1950s and 60s. However, the
efforts of Kentuckian Blacks did lay the foundation for this future revolution. Additionally,
Blacks in Kentucky education also provided a model for future endeavors and a reflection of a
possible past.
Key elements to consider when analyzing the educational history of Kentucky include the
state’s participation in the Civil War as part of the Union, the enfranchisement of Blacks early
after the Civil War, and finally an interracial and co-educational institution of learning which
facilitated Black teachers and leaders. These core elements led to a different atmosphere of
opportunity for Blacks in Kentucky, almost like a chain of events. For example, the opportunity
to attend Berea Institute/College provided Blacks with an education, thus contributions to an
educated Black class in Kentucky, who in turn provided teachers and other professionals to
affect the Black masses, and continue to develop the “Talented Tenth.”
This example summarizes many other efforts that developed a cadre of professionals in
Kentucky. What Blacks were able to accomplish in Kentucky educational history is astounding.
106
Although the resistance efforts of Blacks to segregation was another aspect on the continuum of
unraveling oppression and creating the revolution, the results still affect educational policy in the
present.
After the 1954 ruling to desegregate the Kentucky educational system, the constraints of
legal segregation were lifted. The Day Law was overturned and individuals could return to
interracial education; except, the educational separation of Blacks and whites created a new
dilemma, desegregation. The former goal of equality through interracial experiences, could not
undo the decades of segregated life. From segregated life the establishment of separate systems
was beyond living in dual worlds. In fact, from this segregation came culture, businesses, judicial
systems, churches, and educational institutions that were distinctly different than their white
counterpart. What Blacks could not predict was with desegregation the threat for dismantling
Black institutions was real. As the dismantling of the distinct Black experience simultaneously
occurred, Blacks were being “allowed” access to white institutions. In many minds, this was the
ideal of equality. In fact, this access to white institutions was lauded as the purpose of the earlier
Black educational resistance movements. At this point in history we must ask the important
question, were the educational resistance efforts in Kentucky a precursor for what type of
educational framework we have in the present?
The landscape of education in Kentucky from 1910- present evolved. The institutions that
survived over time teach us that no revolution was able to take place by Blacks. Their efforts did
not lead to a system for the people by the people, but rather a continuance of the system of
oppression. Determining success is always convoluted, but using the works of Freire we can
determine, that no outcome included full control, but rather a replication of already established
practices.
In regards to the development of Kentucky State University, the same system of
domination occurred. KSU in some ways was unlike other HBCUs, as it had a Black president
from its inception. Even with a Black president, which was remarkable for any Black institution
at that time, the domination of whites did not subside. In Reading, ‘Riting, and Reconstruction,
author Robert Morris summarizes this treacherous relationship as sometimes beneficial and
“dangerously mimicked old slave routines.”285 The Black college presidents understood this
285
Robert Morris, Reading, ‘Riting, and Reconstruction: The Education of Freedmen in the South (Chicago, 1981),
11-14.
107
routine as administrations came and went according to political affiliations and demands for
KSU growth. The Black president puppet show at KSU did not end until the 1929 when
President Rufus B. Atwood refused to campaign for the governor.286 KSU was established as a
normal school for teacher training, but turned away from teacher education and towards
industrial education.287 The battle of resistance did not end because this important Black
educational opportunity was created. In fact, the nature of resistance suggests that resistance in
Kentucky was an on-going process.
At the core of resistance is the need for change. Resistance can be both temporary and
permanent. In the case of Lincoln Institute, there was always a reality that it would cease to exist
because of funding or lack of students. Indeed it did cease to exist as a school in the late
1970s.288 Likewise Kentucky State University, considered a Historically Black College and
University, has an increasing white student body. What then do we make of the resistance when
it seems to only temporarily address the needs of the oppressed? Was desegregation the ultimate
goal of these early resistors or was equality and self-governance the foundation for their motives.
It is difficult to determine success of African American resistance to educational segregation in
Kentucky, but it is clear that at every turn Blacks were active in their attempts to prohibit,
mitigate, and unravel segregation as a means to equality.
As we reveal the efforts of Black resistance in Kentucky, it is difficult to analyze the
effectiveness of their labors. What history of education facilitates is an opportunity to reflect on
the moments in educational history that have affected our systems of education today. Race
relations are an integral part of the schooling in the U.S. In fact, the desegregation movement
overshadows the many other movements in educational history, thus limiting our opportunity to
understand the other factors that have influenced schooling. Desegregation of course is an
important component of schooling history, but it is incomplete without a fuller understanding of
the period prior to segregation. Additionally, the context for writing about desegregation often
uses the Deep South as a backdrop for this complex conversation. In this dissertation the reader
is led on an important journey through the trials and tribulation of Blacks to obtain equality in
the border state of Kentucky.
286
Lawrence H. Williams, Black Higher Education in Kentucky 1879-1930 (New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 1987),
144.
287
Ibid.,144
288
Alice Dunnigan, The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians: Their Heritage and Traditions (Washington, D.C.:
Associated Publishers, Inc., 1982), 181-182.
108
Approaching education for Blacks outside of the paradigm of the southern locale and
before desegregation efforts provides a vast set of additional themes to consider. The institutions
and structures which became the educational foundations for African Americans are a product of
this period, not the desegregation period. The past is always full of opportunities to reflect, but
what if individuals in KY had not the purpose of mind to influence schooling for Blacks. What if
Kentuckians had not had a Berea Institute (Berea College) to provide a model for interracial
education or a forward thinker like Reverend Henry Adams to develop a pre-emancipation
school for Blacks? A greater question is what would education for Blacks have entailed without
the types of resistance shared throughout this dissertation? Of course there is no way to know for
sure, but we can speculate that the educational landscape would be vastly different.
In fact, what the research has illuminated about the race to educate in Kentucky is that
resistance methods were effective in various ways. A summary of the effectiveness of Black
resistance include the establishment of laws providing access to and funding for public
education, the development of institutions of learning, and finally, power to engage the white
supremacist structure. Consequently, the most compelling indicator of successful resistance
relates to our aforementioned theoretical framework. Resistance was not only about an individual
opportunity, but a greater purpose. In this case the resistance not only facilitated new schools, but
there were revolutionary acts that provided new ways of knowing, institutions, and historical
occurrences. Out of Kentucky’s quest for early equal educational access we learned that Blacks
were ever present in the leading and regulating educational opportunity for Blacks.
In the Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Freire describes that to unravel oppression the
oppressed must know they are oppressed and not replicate the system of oppression. This is the
difficulty with resistance, even if one overcomes oppression, can they truly be free from
replicating the system that oppressed them. If this is the indicator of success for educational
resistance efforts in Kentucky, than one can argue that these efforts were unsuccessful. The
institutions that resistors were able to advocate for were replications of their white counterpart’s
schools. These institutions resembled the very institutions that oppression was learned. Schools
can be facilitators of oppression. They can serve a purpose in transmitting knowledge of the
majority. However, Freire viewed education as a possibility of liberation. Blacks after slavery
used schooling to engage in the liberation process. However, liberation as Freire has established
is not given but must be taken.
109
The process for Kentuckian resistance to educational segregation did not lead to a total
liberation in most cases, as Blacks did not have pure governance of these institutions.
Educational institutions both private and public seemed to always have a white supremacist
presence, thus ensuring that total liberation could not happen. In Kentucky, racism, racial
politics, white supremacy, and schooling were almost impossible to decipher. Every step of the
way the push for control was pushed back by the more powerful. The obstacles were immense,
but the resistance continued well into the 1990’s as the process for desegregation continued.
Therefore it is important to think about resistance to educational segregation in Kentucky
as an on-going process. What resistors were able to accomplish in the 19th century provided a
foundation for 20th century and so on. What we must then acknowledge is resistance is a series of
acts that create a process for liberation. Meaning, liberation is not solely a heroic act of
resistance, but an on-going culmination of these acts. The efforts of resistance is not a single
process, in fact when we reflect on resistance as part of the lives of Africans in the New World, it
reveals the on-going culture of resistance. In addition, it points to a more problematic theory that
as formerly enslaved people that the culture of resistance will not dissipate, just as the system of
oppression can’t simply go away. Basically, U.S. education doesn’t liberate Blacks, because it is
the product of the system of oppression. It replicates the system and thus creates a façade of give
and take when really all it may do was steal hope from the oppressed. In these Kentucky cases it
stole energy, faith, and liberation.
In the example of Berea College/Lincoln Institute those who resisted saw the school rise
and serve Blacks. However, there was a personal and professional toll for all those involved in
resistance. The impact of those resistors was far reaching and their names not completely
forgotten. Frank Williams, who was actively involved in the resistance efforts against the
dismissal of Berea College’s lone Black professor James Hathaway and the acceptance of
segregation at Berea College, continued on as a major resistor to educational segregation.
Although he used his position as KCSTA president to provide voice against various injustices, he
did not end his efforts even when it seemed that there was no defeating segregation. Williams
continued to identify and address educational injustice in Kentucky and beyond. He served as a
principal of Sumner High School during which was named the number one high school for
110
Negro students in nation by the Phelps Stokes Foundation. Mr. Williams also played a significant
role in the founding of two high schools in St. Louis.289
The lives of the resistor continued after their contributions. Rev. James Bond continued
to serve the Black community in a variety of ways. However, he should best be remembered for
his extensive efforts supporting Lincoln Institute and Berea College. In his efforts to raise funds
for the establishment of Lincoln Institute, one has to wonder if Bond ever questioned the motives
of Frost. Was Bond really an accommodationist or was he the ultimate resistor? In a 1962
correspondence with Berea College from Mr. Horace M. Bond (son of James Bond and
prominent HBCU president/educator/historian and father to a former Georgia State
Representative and Chairman of the NAACP, Julian Bond), H.M. Bond inquires about his
father’s activities at Berea College. In the letter H.M. Bond sheds light on Bond’s feelings on the
way in which Berea College responded to the Day Law, “Papa always believed Frost was quite
happy when Negroes were excluded; and that he had been working on a quota system for some
time before it did happen.”290 This little tidbit seems to be in contrast with the work of Bond in
developing the Lincoln Institute. One of the challenges in the resistance model is the competition
of resistance efforts. In chapter 4, I described Bond’s efforts and Titus, Williams and et al, as
appearing to conflict. It also presented Bond as a possible loyalist to Frost and Berea College,
even as a race traitor by not siding with resistance efforts to force Berea College to maintain their
interracial education commitment. The son’s revelation about Bond’s feelings if true, doesn’t
change the dynamics or the value of his resistance, but challenges us to diversify our
understanding of resistance beyond the either/or paradigm. Bond and Williams’ goals were
similar in that they both wanted outcomes which included educational access for Blacks, their
solutions seemed different.
The legacy of resistance exhibited by Kentucky Blacks facilitated so many educational
opportunities that it is difficult to gather the extensiveness of their efforts. There is no area of
Kentucky where there was Black schooling that Blacks did not engage in their development.
Additionally, the network of agitators was organized and effective. How ironic the very
organization founded by the state government, Kentucky Colored Teachers’ State Association,
was so impressive in the agitation against the system. There seemed to be a spirit in this
289
“An American Family VIII,” The Educational World, August 1946, Berea College Archives
Letter from Horace Mann Bond to Fredrick L. Brownlee, February 12, 1962, RG 9, Box 6 Record Group
Faculty/Staff, Folder: James Bond 1891-1972, Berea College Archives, Berea, KY.
290
111
organization that surpassed the infighting that many other organizations experienced. Sometimes
the white supremacy did not have to do much to stifle the efforts of Blacks in Kentucky. In fact,
in-fighting and backbiting has been used to discuss why Blacks were ineffective in their equality
efforts in education and other components of life. On the one hand the dissension within groups
is natural, but in overturning a system, solidarity is important.
The Kentucky Colored State Teachers’ Association changed its name to the Kentucky
Negro Educational Association in 1913. The association continued to advocate for educational
opportunity and equality. The K.N.E.A. continued to set an agenda for addressing segregation in
KY and grew membership from 28 members (1878) to 1380 (1942, respectively).291 Despite this
growth which represented expansion and challenges in educational opportunity for Kentucky’s
Blacks, the K.N.E.A. ceased to exist and merged with the white association to form the Kentucky
Teachers Association when schools desegregated in KY. The merger signaled the major dilemma
of desegregation, whether there is still a need for Black organizations.
When Kentucky Blacks were able to gain institutions as a result of their resistance efforts
it was not a clean transfer of power. Always at core of Black and white relations was the
undefeatable belief that Blacks were inferior, and thus incapable of governing themselves. Over
and over again this ideology penetrated white Kentuckians psyche. This argument was even used
to advocate for desegregation, that somehow Black educational opportunities were inferior. This
idea of inferiority is never really explored further, how can an institution which is constantly
concerned about equality of funding, white mobs, and racist governance, be equal. By nature of
these problems there will always be inferiority because they began as substandard and as
separate. The race to educate did not end because Blacks fought for equality or even when they
were afforded elements of equality. Economic resources can only cover the psychological and
ideological damage of racism, not eradicate the damage. In many ways this is what the BC alum
and famous educator/historian Carter G. Woodson was describing in The Mis-Education of the
Negro, equality to whites is a myth that facilitates our demise in the present system. The burden
is placed on Black Kentuckians to vie for equality, but it is always the powerful who determine
the parameters for equality, unless there is radical revolution of some sort.
291
Harvey C. Russell, The Kentucky Negro Education Association, 1877-1946, (Guide Quality Press: Norfolk,
1946), 43, Pamphlet 371.974 R963, Kentucky State University Archives, Frankfort, KY.
112
Even the radical 1950’s and 1960’s Civil Rights Movement did not provide the radical
revolution needed for overthrowing the notion of segregation. Schools were one place that
Blacks believed they could transcend their second-class citizenship. The battle did not end just
because the white supremacist structure allowed controlled access, glimpses of self-governance
and even equality. However, this was not equality, because there always had to be permission
granted by the structure. Unfortunately this is the other issue with the resistance efforts success,
many of the efforts and outcomes were not sustainable over time.
During 1865- 1910, the goal was for equal access to education through institution
building. From what I have gathered, resistors’ goals were to provide access for Kentucky’s
Blacks to educational opportunities including basic learning, liberal arts education, industrial and
normal school training. After obtaining these institutions the next phase of resistance included
Black autonomy and keeping the doors open. Unfortunately many were not successful in these
two areas. Very few organizations survived into the present. In fact, many have merely left traces
of their existence, which is why they were not explored in this dissertation. Institutions like
Lincoln Institute, Kentucky State University both exist in some form today. KSU still is
considered a HBCU but has a large Caucasian student and faculty body. Lincoln Institute is now
a site for Job Corps, but maintains its commitment to the education of Blacks through the
Lincoln Foundation’s college access programs housed in Louisville. William J. Simmons had
been so eager to assist in the formation of Kentucky State University, later to the demise of his
own institution Simmons University (State College).
Simmons University, after the expulsion of Blacks from Berea College was the only
institution in the state that provided liberal arts education to Blacks.292 Simmons University was
one of the best institutions in Kentucky for Black education. They primarily were sustained by
Black and white support in its early creation. Its demise was a combination of factors, the Great
Depression, financial instability, white paternalism, and disfavor of the ministry. Simmons
University became a part of the University of Louisville in 1930 as a branch called the Louisville
Municipal College for the Colored. The demise of Simmons University for some may have
seemed inevitable, but it signaled a greater problem, that Blacks still were at the mercy of the
292
Lawrence H. Williams, Black Higher Education in Kentucky 1879-1930 (Lewiston: The Edwin Mellen Press,
1987), 144.
113
white supremacist structure. If Simmons University was labeled as one of the most outstanding
in Kentucky could close, then were earlier resistance efforts successful?
After 1910, resistance continued in the race to educate. The race was up and down and
full of failures. In 1920 Louisville’s Black community successfully defeated a bond issue relating
to the whites only University of Louisville. The bond issue failed due to the concerns of Blacks
who would have their taxes raised for an institution that they could not attend due to
segregation.293 In response to this issue, Blacks used their enfranchisement to affect the law.
What was remarkable was that even under the restrictions of segregation, that Louisville Blacks
were not afraid to utilize their political power to block unequal educational projects, but were
able to resist to the point of receiving other educational compensation when desegregation was
impossible. The remuneration for Blacks included the development of Louisville Municipal
College for Negroes (December 1930). The formation of the LMC was an example of the
previous culminating efforts to create a public higher education institution for Blacks. The
securing of the public higher education institution LMC was a feat not to be overlooked. For
Blacks gaining this institution represented the decades of opposition to white domination that
feted very little if any great educational achievements for Blacks. In context we must remember
that for every significant victory, there were hundreds of lost battles. In Kentucky, like the rest
of the country, desegregation movements were materializing. In the 1950’s as Blacks were
fighting for entry into public institutions, Berea College desegregated. Jesse H. Lawrence the
only Black Kentucky State Representative provided an amendment to the Day Law. Public and
private higher educational institutions were opened for admission to Black students in Kentucky
on March 2, 1950. In June of 1951, LMC closed.294Desegregation in Kentucky was well on its
way, before the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling required its demise. Perhaps resistance had
been successful, and the integration that the country was experiencing was akin to equality?
Unfortunately, Kentuckians learned like the rest of America that desegregated education did not
mean equality.
The implications of the African American Educational Resistance in Kentucky 18651910 are profound. First, without resistance Black Kentuckians would have been exponentially
behind their white counterparts. Although the inequality of the situation directly slowed full
293
Ibid., 151.
James Blaine Hudson, “The History of Louisville Municipal College: Events Leading to the Desegregation of the
University of Louisville,” (Dissertation, The University of Kentucky, 1981), 82.
294
114
access to educational opportunity for Black Kentuckians, there were at least limited
opportunities. The institutions of public and private, kindergarten-twelfth grade and higher
education were strengthened by these watchdog efforts. Even with the up and down nature of
outcomes from resistance efforts, the success was educational opportunities for Blacks that may
have not existed. Next, African American resistance in Kentucky illustrated the power of African
Americans when organized. Throughout the history of Black resistance, there has been an
underlying problem of dissension, Uncle Toms and “selling out.” Resistance is only as effective
as the weakest link, and when the weakest link succumbs to embracing the white supremacist,
the efforts can fail. We are usually provided with models of failed resistance and/or the
limitations of individual resistance, but these episodes in Kentucky educational history such as
the Kentucky Colored Teachers’ State Association (KNEA) illuminated the power of Black
cooperation. Efforts of the Association moreover provided an on-going plan for addressing the
disparities of segregation. The Association provided the blueprint for not only how to eradicate
segregation, but also the possibilities of positive Black and white relationships. The final
implication of this work provides the foundation for unraveling the system of oppression. This
resistance in Kentucky is the link for the process of revolution needed to unravel the system of
oppression found in U.S. schooling.
115
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126
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
TASHIA LEVANGA BRADLEY
Tashia Bradley was born in Orlando, Florida and is a graduate of Florida A&M University and
the University of Kansas. Currently, she serves as the Director for the Black Cultural Center at
Berea College in Berea, KY.
There are moments in time when we must either choose to go forward or turn back;
this is for those of us who choose to always go forward...
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