This article examines the workings of Hampton Institute's external relations program to show how the school developed loyal supporters and donors. By 1900, Hampton was the wealthiest school for African Americans, and its philosophy--stressing vocational education and forsaking political equality--was at its most influential during this time,…

On this 50th-year anniversary of "Alexander v. Holmes Board of Education" (1969) nationally enforcing school desegregation in fall 1970, Mississippi is being sued for racial disparities in public education between Black students and White students in Williams et al. v. Bryant et al. (2017). Using quantitative and qualitative primary…

This paper studies the effect of oil wealth on the provision of education in the early 20th century United States. Using information on the location and discovery of major oil fields, I find that oil wealth increased local revenue and education spending. The quality of white teachers increased, and oil-rich counties were more likely to participate…

This issue of ETS Policy Notes provides highlights from the second in a planned series of conferences jointly convened by the National Urban League (NUL) and Educational Testing Service (ETS) to foster collaboration among, and further the mission of, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). On October 24-25, 2018, 65 presidents and…

The lion's share of writing about education improvement for the past two decades has focused on improving urban schools. Given the yawning gaps between the low-income and minority students that populate those schools and their suburban counterparts, this makes a great deal of sense. Unfortunately, this focus has neglected the tens of millions of…

Increasing diversity in the geosciences has remained a challenge, despite large investments made by federal agencies in minority-serving institutions (MSIs) and historically black universities and colleges (HBCUs). With increasing challenges associated with climate and environmental change and severe and frequent natural disasters that…

During the early 1920s, the question of who should control the schooling of African American children caused controversy in several Southern states, including Georgia. White educationists and bureaucrats were divided into two groups: the conservatives who called for educational needs to be determined and funded locally, and a growing reformist…

The former president of Morehouse College, Dr Benjamin E. Mays, once said, "Higher education for Blacks has always been in a precarious position. These institutions were founded on short grass financially, and they live today on short grass." Today, many public and private historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have found success in…

This paper examines the relationship between contemporary racial inequality of schooling and the black-white wage gap in the U.S. In particular I ask: what policies would be effective at reducing the black-white wage gap in the U.S.? In order to address this question, I develop a model of human capital accumulation in which agents differ by race.…

This article explores the roles of racism and Whiteness in the decentralized governance structure and practice of a weighted student formula funding policy in an urban, West Coast school district. Specifically, it examines the ways in which a racialized struggle for fiscal authority played out at one urban high school where the immense racial…

This study critically examines the influence of philanthropic foundations on the educational development of African Americans, especially from 1932 to 2007. Attention is given to the positive and negative motives of philanthropists as well as to the ways African Americans utilized funds and leveraged the provided opportunities. In addition, the…

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, northern philanthropic foundations played a significant role in the development of higher education for African Americans in the South. The General Education Board (1902-60), a Rockefeller philanthropy, expended $122 million on black education through a wide-ranging programmatic agenda. The…

This paper presents an historical study of the creation of the first publicly funded "colored school" in Marysville, California, in 1857, focusing on the community's efforts to open the school. The colored school was part of a dynamic Black community full of economic and social vitality, yet was in a time period in which Blacks still…

Contained herein is the biennial report on the Educational Boards and Foundations of the United States from 1928-1930. Reports of funding and grants invested are available from the following: (1) General Education Board; (2) Rockefeller Foundation; (3) Carnegie Corporation of New York; (4) Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; (5)…

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and their students played a pivotal part in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and early 1960s. Private HBCUs, in particular, provided foot soldiers, intellectual leadership, and safe places to meet and plan civil disobedience. Their economic and political autonomy from the state enabled the…