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More Than Mrs Robinson: Citizenship Schools in Lowcountry South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia, 1957-1970

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More Than Mrs Robinson: Citizenship Schools in Lowcountry South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia, 1957-1970 More Than Mrs Robinson: Citizenship Schools in Lowcountry South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia, 1957-1970 (A Dissertation submitted in requirement for the Degree of Doctor in Philosophy, The University of Nottingham, October 2009) Clare Russell 1 Abstract The first ―citizenship school‖ (a literacy class that taught adults to read and write in order that they could register to vote) was established by Highlander Folk School of Monteagle, Tennessee on Johns Island, South Carolina in 1957. Within three years, the schools were extended across the neighboring Sea Islands, to mainland Charleston and to Savannah, Georgia. In 1961, after Highlander faced legal challenges to its future, it transferred the schools to the fledgling Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), who extended the program across the South. Historians have made far-reaching claims for the successes and benefits of the schools. For example, they claim that they recruited inexperienced but committed people and raised them to the status of community leaders; that they encouraged civic cooperation and political activism and formed the ―foundation on which the civil rights movement‖ was built and they argue that the schools were an unprecedented opportunity for women to develop as activists and as leaders. Yet, they base these claims on certain myths about the schools: that the first teacher Bernice Robinson was an inexperienced and uneducated teacher, that her class was a blueprint for similar ones and that Highlander bequeathed its educational philosophy to the SCLC program. They make claims about female participation without analyzing the gender composition of classes. This dissertation challenges these assumptions by comparing and contrasting programs established in Lowcountry South Carolina and in Savannah. It argues that not only was Robinson more skilled and better educated than historians have assumed, but that she was not typical of early teachers. On the Sea Islands, teachers tended to be established community leaders, such as ministers. In Savannah, they were young college students involved in direct action spaces. It analyzes the gender composition of classes, the gendered nature of the spaces in 2 which classes were taught, and the different models of black masculinity (based on class, location and generational identity) that the schools emulated. It argues that while Robinson may have been influenced by Highlander philosophy, the educational materials used in classes indicate that the schools drew more on Septima Clark‘s experience of African American educational history than on Highlander‘s ethos of education for social change. Local variations, including gender, class, location and age, also shaped teaching curricula. Finally, it examines the reasons for the schools‘ failure in the mid to late 1960s. Far from fading away because they became superfluous after the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the schools failed both because of factors at the administrative level (disorganization, mismanagement and gender conflict) and at the local (conflict between generations and local groups.) 3 Contents Clare Russell .................................................................................................................................................. 1 Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... 2 Table of Illustrations ..................................................................................................................................... 6 Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................................................... 7 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 10 Chapter One ................................................................................................................................................ 21 Roots of the Citizenship Schools: The “Early Civil Rights Movement” in Charleston and Savannah .......... 21 Chapter Two ................................................................................................................................................ 67 From Johns Island to Savannah: Building the Citizenship Schools, 1954-1960 .......................................... 67 Chapter 3 ................................................................................................................................................... 124 “A Vital Movement for Mass Action”: SCLC, Highlander Folk School and the Politics of transferring citizenship schools in Savannah and Lowcountry South Carolina, 1960-4 ............................................... 124 “We’re all going to learn together:” Highlander Folk School, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the curricula of the Citizenship Education Program ...................................................... 166 Conflict and Community: The Disintegration of Citizenship Schools, 1964-1970 .................................... 221 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................. 277 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................. 297 4 5 Table of Illustrations Figure 1 Bernice Robinson teaching a class on Johns Island ....................................................................... 72 Figure 2 “Success,” West Broad Street ..................................................................................................... 107 Figure 3 “Big Lester” captivates ............................................................................................................... 107 Figure 4 “Big Lester” and “Trash” Recruiting Longshoremen, Longshoremen’s Hall ............................... 109 Figure 5 Hosea Williams preaching voter registration, Longshoremen's Hall .......................................... 110 Figure 6 Big Lester persuades the patrons, West Broad Street ................................................................ 111 Figure 7 No one Escapes Big Lester .......................................................................................................... 112 Figure 8 Bernice Robinson teaching teenage girls to sew ........................................................................ 177 Figure 9 Excerpt from a sample handwriting template ........................................................................... 178 Figure 10 Writing Exercise from "My Citizenship Booklet" ...................................................................... 186 Figure 11 Sound Chart from "My Citizenship Booklet" ............................................................................. 188 Figure 12 Etiquette Sections from "My Citizenship Workbook" ............................................................... 190 Figure 13 Bernice Robinson teaching adults in the Progressive Club ....................................................... 191 Figure 14 Excerpt from "My Citizenship Booklet" .................................................................................... 193 Figure 15 Mugshot of Lester Hankerson, following his arrest in Grenada, Mississippi, 1966 .................. 286 6 Acknowledgments Like many students in the credit crunch generation, I have accumulated debts- financial, scholarly and personal during the preparations for and the researching and writing of this dissertation. First and foremost, financial support from The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) made this project, and the far-flung research required for it, possible. This is a project about teachers who devoted their time to make a difference to their students‘ lives. I have benefited from the guidance, support, challenging questions and inspiration of teachers throughout my life. I have been extremely fortunate to have a Peter Ling as a supervisor who believed in the value of this project from the outset; who has guided me through the daunting job of researching and writing it; and who has challenged me with questions, discussion and feedback, which I have come to enjoy rather than dread. As ―second,‖ but by no means lesser, supervisors, Vivien Miller and Richard King helped me to write better and to both think and read more widely and I am extremely grateful to both of them. Throughout my university career, I have been inspired and guided by excellent teachers and I am particularly indebted to Dr. Alan Day, Dr. Frank Cogliano and Professor Thomas Sugrue. Veronica Hickox taught me to love history over a decade ago now and I will always be grateful to her for it. I have received much needed feedback, intellectual stimulation and inspiration from fellow scholars at conferences, seminars and discussion groups. Every participant at the 2009 7 Heidelberg Spring Academy inspired me at a time when my commitment and interest to this project was flagging. Staff and fellow PhD students at weekly Work in Progress sessions at Nottingham gave helpful comments and feedback. Other particularly memorable and helpful events were the 1968 conference at Oxford, Backing Dr King at Nottingham and the Graduate Association for African American History meeting in Memphis, Tennessee. I would like to thank Stephen Tuck and Joe Street for feedback, research recommendations
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