At the close of the Civil War the United States was forced to grapple with the tremendous challenge of what to do with the millions of newly freed men, women, and children who, for more than three centuries, had been denied basic human rights, including learning how to read and write. During Reconstruction, several educational institutions were…

The first Blacks in the Americas arrived before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. Blacks have contributed to the development of the United States in the fields of government, education, science, music, entertainment (comedy and drama), literature, art, and athletics. (AOS)

This paper provides a history and analysis of the career of black historian and educator John Hope Franklin. Franklin's early educational experiences are described and discussed in relation to the overall black educational situation in the 1930s. Also discussed are Franklin's books and his ideas and activities in the areas of civil rights. (APM)

The Black nationalist movement of the 1830s and 1840s evolved from the oppression suffered by Afro-Americans in the early 1800s. The ideological beginnings of Black nationalism reflected Black Americans' assessment of their political plight. Religion, racial unity, and cultural history were the ideological foundations of the movement. (BJV)

Charlotte Hawkins Brown, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Nannie Helen Burroughs were women with a mission. It was a mission that combined educational, social, and economic goals. Although different in their tactics and in their educational programs, these women, who founded schools in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, were united in their belief…

Examines the growth of several Black museums in the United States. Urges continued development for more independent cultural institutions as representatives and preservers of Black culture. (DA)

Mary Church Terrell (1863-1954) was a women's suffragist, organizer, and Black educator. She was the first Black woman member of any board of education and served as president of the National Association of Colored Women, the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the NAACP, and the Women's Republican League of Washington, D.C. (Author/GC)

Reviews Horace Mann Bond's doctoral dissertation and encourages contemporary readers to return to this original work. Briefly describes the personal and historiographical circumstances surrounding the book's publication. Concludes by comparing Bond's work to subsequent Reconstructionist history and the larger stream of work in Black History. (BR)

A study examined whether the authors of "The Brownies' Book," a magazine published in 1920-1921 for black children, achieved the seven goals they had set for themselves and whether the economic conditions of that period had an effect on the failure of the magazine. An analysis of the issues of the magazine reveals that the editors did…

The two most important Black children's magazines of the twentieth century, published in the 1920s and the 1970s, met with untimely ends, and the entire body of Black children's literature may be diminishing. This lack hampers Black children's adaptation to White society and thwarts White children's comprehension of Black experience. (AF)

Despite limited resources, educated Black women in Washington, D.C. often resembled their White female counterparts in the extent and level of their organizational involvement and in exclusivity of their club membership. Unlike White club women, however, Black teachers and other educated Black females worked for the advancement of the Black…

Interview with Alice Childress (born 1920), an actress, playwright, novelist, editor, and lecturer. Her "Gold through the Forest" (1952) was the first play by a Black woman to be produced professionally on the American stage. Her latest play, "Moms," was produced in New York City in 1987. (BJV)

Although the first black organization chartered in the United States, the Free African Society, was chartered in 1787, education for free blacks was largely a 19th-century phenomenon. By the time the Civil War broke out, black adults outside the South had established social structures that offered them education in civic, intellectual, and…

The pre-emancipation (1830-1865) black woman reformer was concerned with race "uplift," a sense of duty and obligation to her race. Black women in the North formed mutual aid societies for the economic survival of the destitute. Regardless of economic status, free blacks consistently sought to aid slaves in the South; the poor often saved for…

In spite of lack of support from white women, educated black women concentrated their efforts on better conditions for the uneducated and the poorer among them during the late 19th century. Their primary concerns were education and employment opportunities, suffrage, the defense of black female morality, and the condemnation of lynching. The…