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Edgar Joseph Edmunds (1851 – 1887)

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Edgar Joseph Edmunds (1851 – 1887) EDGAR JOSEPH EDMUNDS (1851 – 1887), MATHEMATICS TEACHER AT THE CENTER OF NEW ORLEANS’ POST-CIVIL WAR FIGHT OVER SCHOOL INTEGRATION SiAn Zelbo Submitted in partiAl fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the Executive Committee of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2020 © 2020 SiAn Zelbo All Rights Reserved Abstract EDGAR JOSEPH EDMUNDS (1851 – 1887), MATHEMATICS TEACHER AT THE CENTER OF NEW ORLEANS’ POST-CIVIL WAR FIGHT OVER SCHOOL INTEGRATION SiAn Zelbo This dissertAtion is a historicAl study of A nineteenth-century teAcher of mAthemAtics of AfricAn descent, Edgar Joseph Edmunds (“E. J. Edmunds”). The study traces the life and cAreer of Edmunds, which spanned a period of sociAl upheAVAl in the South – from the pre-Civil WAr era, through Reconstruction, and into the Jim Crow era of segregation. Edmunds’ cAreer as a teAcher of mAthemAtics wAs, in some sense, unremArkable. He did not produce original mAthemAtics and never held a position in a prestigious college or university. Edmunds is significAnt, however, in two respects. Edmunds wAs among the few known nineteenth-century AmericAn mAthemAticAl personages of AfricAn descent who, in spite of the legal restrictions and sociAl obstAcles endured by people of color, mAnaged to achieve the highest level of mAthemAticAl educAtion aVAilAble at the time. As such, Edmunds serves as a historicAl example of both the hardships and the fleeting opportunities in nineteenth-century AfricAn-AmericAn communities. Edmunds’ life is instructive Also becAuse it intersected with institutions and events that are significAnt to the history of mAthemAtics educAtion and to the history of educAtion generally. Edmunds tested into and attended the École Polytechnique in PAris, the vanguard of mAthemAtics educAtion at the time and the subject of much reseArch in the history of mAthemAtics educAtion. When Edmunds returned to New OrleAns to teAch, he becAme the central figure in the city’s fight over raciAl integration in schools. By examining Edmunds’ life as a threAd that connects institutions, events, and communities, we see these subjects from a different perspective And gain new insight. This study collects and analyzes documents from various government and ArchiVAl sources to understAnd the facts and circumstAnces of Edmunds’ unusual life, but also to view the mAthemAtics educAtion of various nineteenth-century communities (French and AmericAn, blAck and white) though the lens of a mAn whose educAtional and cAreer path took him though all of them. Table of Contents List of TAbles ............................................................................................................................... iii List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................................... iv Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: LiterAture Review ......................................................................................................... 8 1.1 History of Free People of Color in New OrleAns ................................................................. 8 1.2 Race and New OrleAns Public Schools during Reconstruction ......................................... 12 1.3 Overview of Nineteenth-Century AmericAn MAthemAtics EducAtion ............................... 21 1.4 The ScholArship on E. J. Edmunds .................................................................................... 27 Chapter 2: Methodology .............................................................................................................. 30 Chapter 3: E. J. Edmunds’ FAmily and EArly Life ....................................................................... 35 3.1 The Edmunds’ Neighborhood ............................................................................................ 36 3.2 E. J. Edmunds’ FAmily Background .................................................................................. 40 Chapter 4: The Pre-College EducAtion of E. J. Edmunds ............................................................ 56 4.1 School Attendance in New OrleAns Before the WAr ......................................................... 56 4.2 Schooling and Free People of Color Before the WAr ........................................................ 60 4.3 Evidence of E. J. Edmunds’ EArly Schooling in Pre-WAr New OrleAns ........................... 63 4.4 The Edmunds Siblings Enroll in Public School as Integration Quietly Begins ................. 64 4.5 School Integration FormAlly Begins as Edmunds LeAves for PAris ................................... 71 4.6 MAthemAtics EducAtion in New OrleAns’ Public Schools in 1871 .................................... 73 i Chapter 5: E. J. Edmunds at the École Polytechnique (1871 – 1873) ......................................... 80 5.1 The École Polytechnique ................................................................................................... 80 5.2 The Entrance Exam ............................................................................................................ 85 5.3 E. J. Edmunds’ Preparation and PerformAnce on the Entrance Exam ............................... 93 5.4 E. J. Edmunds’ French EducAtion as Both TypicAl and AnomAlous ................................. 95 5.5 E. J. Edmunds’ Time in Europe ......................................................................................... 97 Chapter 6: The Appointment of E. J. Edmunds ......................................................................... 103 6.1 The Conservative Press and the Events of December 1874 Preceding Edmunds’ Appointment .......................................................................................................................... 104 6.2 The Events of E. J. Edmunds’ Appointment .................................................................... 108 Chapter 7: E. J. Edmunds’ Career as a TeAcher of MAthemAtics under Segregation ................ 114 Chapter 8: E. J. Edmunds’ Contributions to AcAdemic Journals ............................................... 127 Chapter 9: Conclusions and Recommendations ........................................................................ 134 9.1 ReseArch Questions Answered ......................................................................................... 134 9.2 LimitAtions of the Study ................................................................................................... 145 9.3 Recommendations for Further Study ............................................................................... 146 9.4 Final RemArks .................................................................................................................. 149 References .................................................................................................................................. 150 ii List of Tables Table Page 1 SAmple List of Books in the Library of Prosper Foy, 1830 ……………………….48 2 A SAmpling of Advertisements for and for PriVAte FAmily Tutors in New OrleAns Newspapers, 1860 – 1861…………………………………………... 58 3 Entrance Exam Topics for the École Polytechnique in 1871………………………87 4 Topics on the 1871 Exam to Enter the École Polytechnique That Were Not TAught in New OrleAns Public Schools…………………………….…..91 5 Results of E. J. Edmunds’ Entrance Exam at the École Polytechnique, translAted from the Concours d’Admission en 1871………………94 6 TAble of the End-of-YeAr Scores of E. J. Edmunds in His 1871-1872 ClAsses at the École Polytechnique…………………………………………….….99 7 E. J. Edmunds' Final Exam Scores for the School YeAr 1871 – 1872…………….100 List of Figures Figure Page 1 Color-Coded MAp of New OrleAns’ French-SpeAking Neighborhoods……………….. 37 2 FAmily Tree of E. J. Edmunds ………………………………………………………… 40 3 Entrance Examination for New OrleAns High Schools, 1870 ………………………….73 4 E. J. Edmunds at the École Polytechnique……………………………………………...81 iii Acknowledgments Above all, I would like to thank Alexander KArp, my advisor, who encouraged me to return to TeAchers College to pursue my Ph.D. and who has been a greAt source of support at every step since then. I would not be here without that support. I would also like to thank Henry Pinkham, Philip Smith, Cally WAite, and EricA WAlker for their participation in my dissertAtion committee. Thank you also to all of the other professors at TeAchers College, who have changed the wAy I think about mAthemAtics and and have mAde me a better teAcher. I would also like to thank the librariAns and archivists at the University of New OrleAns, At TulAne University in New OrleAns, and at the École Polytechnique in Palaiseau, France, who were generous to me with their time and expertise. Thank you especiAlly to Olivier AzzolA of the Centre de Ressources Historiques At the École Polytechnique for his help in finding Edmunds’ school records, including a wonderful photograph of Edmunds with his clAssmAtes, And also for helping me to understAnd the context of those documents. Carol Mills wAs also a greAt help to me, and I am grateful for her correspondence over the yeAr. I met Carol Mills on a geneAlogicAl website when I sAw that she wAs also reseArching Edmunds’ extended family. She is currently writing a book on Edmunds’ grandmother, Zélie
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