Black students were not allowed to enroll in Missouri public schools until 1866. During the fugitive school era (prior to 1863), keeping Black children and youth safe from white terrorists committed not only to disrupting nascent learning but burying Black bodies became priority one for clandestine school leaders (Williamson 2005). Later, when…

In the early twentieth century St. Louis' public schools for Black children enjoyed a robust reputation, perhaps second only to those in the nation's capital. Herman H. Dreer, a "public school man," provided direction for those institutions similarly called to lead various segments and forces within the larger Black community…

The "Brown" v. Board of Education ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court brought hopes of long-denied freedom to Black communities and their inhabitants. However, implementation of Brown ushered in more misery than a mandate for equality. The "Brown" v. Board of Education ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court brought hopes of long-denied…

At the end of August 2005, Hurricane Katrina laid bare a wide swath of the U.S. Gulf Coast. The devastation left in the wake of this natural disaster and the all-too-slow governmental response to it shocked the nation. Hidden even deeper in the media aftermath of Katrina were the stories of the particularly harsh fury that the hurricane had…

John D. Rockefeller and a group of friends and advisors established the General Education Board a century ago. They established the Board, among other endeavors, with the intention that it improve the education of African Americans in the American South. Over its sixty-two year history, the Board far outdistanced the other "Northern"…