What Can We Learn from African American Teachers who taught in Jim Crow America?
The black educators of Jim Crow prepared generations of students to lead productive lives; and a number of their students rose to unprecedented national and international prominence. This remarkable social uplift occurred in spite of the seemlingly intractable burden imposed by the legal segregation that permeated virtually every aspect of black American life.
As an educator I have embraced the philosophy of those teachers whose legacies taught me to believe in myself against the odds. In an effort to apply lessons from the past to today's academic experience, this website will contrast these teachers' circumstances and achievements with today's education of disadvantaged students of color.
I Need Your Help
If you attended black segregated schools, then I would love to know your story and to share it here. Tell us about the teachers, administrators, and experiences that stood out and helped mould you. Let us learn together from our collective experiences in segregated public schools, for these are our oral histories to be honored and preserved.
Visit the 'Share Your Story' page to learn how to contribute your written experience in segegated schools.
Dr. Angela Cherry, Ph D.
I have worked as a community college professor for nearly twenty years. I have taught students who come from diverse backgrounds and most of them are socio-economically disadvangtaged. We, educators, find ourselves constantly challenged: How do we facilitate these students' academic achievement? How do we motivate them to stay in school so they can lead productive lives?
Intentions for This Website
- Allow former students of segregated Black public schools a space to share their experiences so that we may apply what allowed them to succeed to the dire issues facing today's students of color.
- Share my career as an educator
- Provide a point of connection between myself and my peers
- Schedule workshops and speaking engagements
In Loving Memory of Dr. Sondra Kathryn Wilson
This website is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Sondra Kathryn Wilson, who left us much too soon. Author, educator, student of history, and Executress of the James Weldon Johnson Estate.