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MIAMI UNIVERSITY The Graduate School Certificate for Approving the Dissertation We hereby approve the Dissertation of David Jason Childs Candidate for the Degree: Doctor of Philosophy ______________________________________ Director (Dr. Kate Rousmaniere) ______________________________________ Reader (Dr. Mark Giles) ______________________________________ Reader (Dr. Kathleen Knight-Abowitz) ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Graduate School Representative (Dr. Carla Pestana) ABSTRACT The Black Church and African American Education: The African Methodist Episcopal Church Educating for Liberation, 1816-1893 By David J. Childs Many Americans in the nineteenth century argued for limited education for blacks –or no education at all for African Americans in the south. As a result, black churches took up the role and pushed for education as a means to liberate African Americans.1 The African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church stands as a good exemplar for a black denomination that explicitly expressed in their policies that they understood the connection of education to African American liberation. This study is a historical analysis of the AME Church’s advocacy of African American empowerment through education from 1816 to 1893. In the AME Church’s nineteenth century doctrinal statements and publications the leaders explicitly stated that education was a necessary component for black liberation. In this dissertation I argue that, although there were other organizations that pushed for African American education in the nineteenth century, the African Methodist Episcopal Church stood at the fore in advocating for education and connecting it to African American liberation. My primary question is: How did the AME Church connect their advocacy for black education to liberation for African Americans in the nineteenth century? The dissertation will explore two aspects of liberation in the nineteenth century. During the first half of the nineteenth century–from the AME Church’s founding in 1816 through the end of the Civil war in 18652–the Church worked toward a liberation that was 1 Elliot, G.M. “We Must Educate”. AME Church Review. (April 1885): 330-34. 2 Chapter Three begins in 1816 with the founding of the AME Church and ends in 1865 the end of the Civil War. 1865 is also significant because slavery was officially abolished in December of the same year with the passing of the 13th Amendment. focused on the abolition of slavery and overcoming racial oppression. In the latter half of the nineteenth century from 1865 to 1893 –with the death of Bishop Payne– the AME Church focused on a liberation that was geared toward the notions of uplift and self- agency within the black community, namely black social, economic, and political advancement. The last chapter will examine how this historical analysis has implications for transforming African American education in present times. The text will examine the black church and its ability to empower the African American community through education, focusing on research that has been done on the role of the contemporary black church in African American education. THE BLACK CHURCH AND AFRICAN AMERICAN EDUCATION: THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH EDUCATING FOR LIBERATION, 1816-1893 A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Educational Leadership by David Childs Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2009 Dissertation Director: Kate Rousmaniere © David Childs 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT………………………………………...………………………………...……. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.……………………………………..…………….………….v DEDICATION…………….……………………………………..…………….………..viii CHAPTER I. “A CHOSEN GENERATION, A PECULIAR PEOPLE” THE BLACK CHURCH IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY………………………….….…..1 The Author’s Autobiographical Statement…………………………………….….2 Opening Narrative: Discrimination against Black Methodist Episcopal Members ……………...…………………………………………………………….……….5 Introduction………………………………………………………………….…….6 Scope of the Dissertation………………………………………………………….8 Implications of Dissertation………………………………………………..……..9 Definition of Key Terms and Concepts………………………………………….10 Historiography of the Black Church Prior to the Twentieth Century……………21 Historiography of the African Methodist Episcopal Church Prior to the Twentieth Century…………………………………………………………………………...28 Historiography of the Black Church and Education Prior to the Twentieth Century ……………………………………………………………………………………31 Chapter Outline……………………………………………………………….….40 II. “MY PEOPLE ARE DESTROYED FOR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE”: AFRICAN AMERICAN EDUCATION IN THE NINTEENTH CENTURY……………………………………………………….…………..…..42 Narrative of the First School Owned by African Americans……….…………....44 ii Introduction………………………………………………………………………45 Black Education Prior to the Twentieth Century………………………………...46 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….....66 III. “WHERE THERE IS NO VISION THE PEOPLE PERISH”: THE AME CHURCH AND EDUCATION FOR LIBERATION, 1816-1865……………....67 Opening Narrative of the Life of AME Bishop Richard Allen………..…………69 Introduction…………………………………………………………...………….71 The AME Founding and the Church’s Position on Slavery……...…....………...72 The Antebellum AME Church Educating for Liberation………………..………77 AME and Education in the Antebellum South…………………………..………81 Richard Allen and Antebellum Black Education………………………………...83 Conclusion……………………………………………………………...….…….90 IV“THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF KNOWLEDGE”: THE AME CHURCH AND EDUCATION FOR LIBERATION, 1865-1893…………………………………………………...…………….…......91 Educational Biography of AME Bishop Payne…………………...……………..93 Introduction…………………………………………………………...……….....94 Black Education after the Civil War……………………….………….………....98 The AME Church and Liberal Education …………………….…..……..……..103 The AME Church Establishing Institutions of Higher Education for Liberation…………………………………………………………….…..……..104 The AME Church Educating for Liberation after the Civil War……………….110 Conclusion……………………………………………………………...………124 V. “THE CONCLUSION OF THE WHOLE MATTER”: HISTORIC BLACK CHURCH VALUES TRANSFORMING CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN AMERICAN EDUCATION………………………….…………………….…..126 iii The State of Contemporary African American Education and the Black Church’s Ability to Transform it…………..…………….…………...…..…...…..………128 The Role of the Black Church in Contemporary Education………….………...132 African American Liberation and Education…………………………….……..145 Summary and Conclusion of Dissertation……………………………...………146 VI. BIBLIOGRAPHY………………..………..………………………….…….153 iv Acknowledgements A good educational program goes beyond the standard, traditional, prescribed course of study and compels one to think critically about the world and teaches one to grow as a human being. It offers a journey and experience that is life changing. My experience as a doctoral student at Miami University has provided me with such a rich education. This particular journey I have traveled has been wrought with pain, struggle, joy and exhilaration. But I would not have been able to come to the end of this season of my life without the very special people who have helped me along the way. I would first like to acknowledge Jesus Christ my Lord and savior, who has given me the strength to overcome such a heavy burden called a Ph.D. program. I have grown closer in my relationship with him. Theorizing, pondering life, praying and meditating on God’s word for the last four years has helped me grow spiritually. I still remember being that kid lost in second grade in an inner city classroom, struggling with this notion of academics. God has given me the strength and wisdom today, to overcome those struggles, to use education as a tool to empower others who are like me. I would like to give special thanks to my wife Alundra Childs. She is a woman of God, with seemingly endless patience. During the many years that I have been in graduate school, she has stood by me, supported me, loved me, and prayed for me. Alundra, you are beautiful on the inside and out. I share this Ph.D. with you. Thanks to my wonderful children who are very near and dear to me. I don’t know where I would be without them. My daughter Symone is very special, she is the little intellectual who troubled and challenged me with questions for which I often did not have the answers. David is my only begotten son. He is smart, quiet, creative, inventive, and thoughtful. He kept me grounded throughout this process. Little, sweet Hannah, my baby daughter, made me laugh, when I was so stressed out from the dissertation that I could scream. I also reserve special thanks for Granny (Susie Jordan) who is no longer with us, but I leaned on her many times during this process. I am sincerely grateful to my doctoral committee at Miami University. Thank you for your honesty, patience, frankness, intelligence and reasonableness. Dr. Kate Rousmaniere (my dissertation chair and doctoral advisor), is an impressive scholar and v first rate historian, who balances many different tasks at once, but still makes one feel special and gives them the utmost personal attention. That attribute is one of the things that I have always liked about her, and has gotten me through my doctoral studies. Dr. Mark Giles is an excellent scholar, and shared a tremendous wealth of knowledge on African American studies and history with me; thanks. Dr. Kathleen Knight-Abowitz, is one of the hardest workers I know. I have great respect for her attention to detail,