Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1989 Race Relations and Community Development: The ducE ation of Blacks in New Orleans, 1862-1960. Donald E. Devore Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Devore, Donald E., "Race Relations and Community Development: The ducaE tion of Blacks in New Orleans, 1862-1960." (1989). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 4839. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/4839 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS The most advanced technology has been used to photo­ graph and reproduce this manuscript from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are re­ produced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. These are also available as one exposure on a standard 35mm slide or as a 17" x 23" black and white photographic print for an additional charge. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Order Number 9025300 Race relations and community development: The education of blacks in New Orleans, 1862-1960 DeVore, Donald E., Ph.D. The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical CoL, 1989 UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Race Relations and Community Development: the Education of Blacks in New Orleans, 1862-1960 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural a uu Mg chanical College in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of History by Donald E. DeVore B. A., Southern University at New Orleans, 1974 M. A., University of New Orleans, 1983 December 1989 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Acknowledgements I would like to express special thanks to my dissertation advisor, Gaines M. Foster, for providing scholarly guidance, timely suggestions, and critical analysis throughout the research and writing of this dissertation. His assistance, good cheer, and expressions of encouragement helped immeasurably, without which I could not have commpleted this task. I am also grateful to members of my committee— Robert Becker, Mark Carleton, Thomas Durant, and Burl Noggle— for their important analytical and interpretive suggestions, and Robert Becker for also editing an earlier draft. Raphael Cassimere, Jr. and Joseph Logsdon of the University of New Orleans gave me valuable suggestions and shared with me their knowledge of black New Orleans. I owe both a debt of gratitude. Over the past several years I have received assistance from numerous archivists and librarians at the University of New Orleans, New Orleans Public Library, Tulane University, Louisiana State University, Dillard University, Xavier University, and Amistad Research Center. Beatrice Owsley and Clive Hardy of the Archives and Manuscripts/Special Collections Department at the University of New Orleans, however, deserve special mention for their assistance. In writing this dissertation I have also benefited from the kindness and consideration of many friends and colleagues. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. I am also indebted to Karl Roider for providing me with an opportunity to complete my dissertation. As always, however, my greatest indebtedness is to my family. My wife, Joyce, has been a source of encouragement and has performed countless tasks, including proofreading every draft. My son, Toure Rashad, was a source of help and inspiration, and along with Joyce created a home environment conducive to reflection and writing. In addition, my mother and siblings have given me emotional and spiritual support throughout my educational pursuits. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table of Contents Acknowledgements.................................. ii Abstract ....................................... v Introduction ................................. vii Chapter I: Education and the Politics of Race, 1862-1877 ....................................... 1 Chapter IX: Education and the Struggle for Blacks' Proper Place, 1877-1900 53 Chapter III: Education and the Making of a Protest Tradition, 1900-1945 93 Chapter IV: Education During the Jim Crow Era, 1900-1945 ..................................... 129 Chapter V: Education and the Pursuit of the Golden Fleece, 1945-1960 ..................................... 181 C o n c l u s i o n ................................... 240 E n d n o t e s ..................................... 246 Bibliography .................................. 281 Vita ....................................... 291 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Abstract Throughout the history of the United States individuals and groups have used education as a means to improve their status in America— economically, politically, and socially. When slaves gained their freedom between 1862 and 1865, they, too, looked to education as a way to ameliorate the harmful effects of over two hundred years of slavery. In New Orleans freedmen and those free before the war viewed education almost as a panacea to the many problems within the black community. Black New Orleanians realized, of course, that the gains derived from education would take time to filter throughout the entire community. During the antebellum period New Orleans' free blacks had accumulated a certain degree of wealth and supported educational attainment for its members, and beginning in Reconstruction, led in the struggle for improved education for the entire black population. During Reconstruction blacks won inclusion into the public school system, and for several years many blacks attended desegregated schools. The end of Reconstruction, however, brought eventual disfranchisement and the triumph of a racial ideology that sought to impose on blacks the status of second class citizenship. This view found expression in the type of education whites thought blacks should receive. This study suggests that many blacks in New Orleans refused to accept the permanency of limited education or v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. white supremacy. Devoid of political power, however, blacks used a strategy of petition and protest to school officials to gain educational improvements for the black community. Between 1900 and 1945 that strategy produced improvements, but by the end of World War II, black education still lagged behind the educational opportunities given ;.*hites. In 1948 black leaders abandoned the strategy of protest and petition and decided to use the federal courts to gain educational parity within a separate school system. Their goals shifted again in 1952, and they filed suit to end school desegregation in New Orleans. The legal assault to desegregate the schools was part of the larger black effort for racial equality. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Introduction With the growth of cities during the first half of the nineteenth century, public education assumed a greater degree of importance in America. From its origins in New England, the idea of public education spread west and south. Massachusetts, with its eminent educator Horace Mann, led the way and sent many educators to distant cities