ABSTRACT Title of thesis: “THE VERY MESSENGERS OF GOD”: THE TEACHERS OF ALABAMA’S FREEDPEOPLE, 1865- 1870 Sylvia Alyssa Jordan, Master of Arts, 2017 Thesis directed by: Associate Professor Leslie S. Rowland Department of History Using Freedmen’s Bureau records, the papers of the American Missionary Association, and other materials, the author identified 585 individuals who taught ex- slaves in Alabama between 1865 and 1870. The thesis describes their sex, race, and geographical origins, their motives for teaching, the high rate of turnover, and a growing number of black teachers. It examines the teachers’ work in the classroom and the many challenges they faced. It argues that the schools survived only because of the ex-slaves’ own commitment to education and the lengths to which the teachers went in order to keep their schools in operation. Finally, the thesis explores the teachers’ interactions with their surrounding communities. While some white Alabamians were supportive, others expressed hostility through social ostracism, physical assault, arson, and even murder. Especially in the face of such white opposition, the teachers relied heavily upon freedpeople to help build, maintain, and protect the schools. “THE VERY MESSENGERS OF GOD”: THE TEACHERS OF ALABAMA’S FREEDPEOPLE, 1865-1870 by Sylvia Alyssa Jordan Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts 2017 Advisory Committee: Associate Professor Leslie S. Rowland, Chair Associate Professor Holly Brewer Professor Michael Ross ©Copyright by Sylvia Alyssa Jordan 2017 To Janet Heard ii Acknowledgments Without the generosity of the United States Navy, this work would not have been possible. The Navy not only released me from my duties for a year to complete an M.A. degree, but also funded the endeavor. As an organization, the Navy has been committed to my academic and professional development, and I continue to be grateful for all it has done for me. I owe a debt of gratitude to the editors of the Freedmen and Southern Society Project at the University of Maryland for allowing me to work in the project’s document collection, sometimes late at night or even on the weekends, and for assisting me throughout my research. This project began there, and I have benefited greatly from its many sources and resources. I am also grateful to staff members at the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C., who, on more than one occasion, taught this Millennial how to use microfilm and helped me navigate my way through the records. In the University of Maryland’s History Department, I was fortunate to be surrounded by a host of gracious colleagues. Judith Aaron, Dusty Marie Dye, Allison Gunn, Lucien Holness, Holly Hynson, Michael and Dr. Ellen Krampner, Katie Labor, Stan Maxson, Julie McVey, Megan Moyette, Jane Polcen, Kyle Pruitt, Brian Sarginger, Kerry Tanner, and the rest of the History Graduate Student Association members cheered me on and showed me the ropes of research methods and thesis writing. Steadfast sources of support and advice outside the University of Maryland were Adam and Nicole Bibber, Heather Foxton, Dr. Theo Greenblatt, Marci Herster-Dudley, Allie Estell, Jeanette and Nicholas Machen, Gary and Pat Millett, Sara Moseley, Isabella Noonan, iii Rick and Michelle Pepersack, Sara Sanchez-Maldonado, Naoko Yamaguchi Schneider, Myrian Smith, Karen and Captain Jeff Ward, Katie Weisbacher, and Claire and Jeremy Wilson. Meredith McDonough and Mark Palmer at the Alabama Department of Archives helped me search for various images. Ryan Becker at the Equal Justice Initiative and Angela Redmond Debro and Mary Hawthorne at Alabama A&M University fielded questions about two images and granted me permission to use them. As I began this project, Kay Campbell, Kelly Kazek, and Charlotte Fulton held me captivated with their knowledge of Trinity School in Athens and were kind enough to share some of their findings and sources. Mrs. Fulton was always willing to answer my questions—even if I called during a University of Alabama football game—and never failed to steer me in the right direction. Jacqueline Black generously contributed two photos of her great-great- great grandfather, Pasquale Vassetti, and helped me to better understand his life outside of the classroom. Lee Freeman at the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library introduced me to a wealth of local primary sources and has proved invaluable throughout my research and writing. Dr. Michael Ross and Dr. Holly Brewer, who served on my thesis committee, encouraged me and helped me to hone my work. Dr. Sarah Dziennik and Dr. Matthew Dziennik at the United States Naval Academy read and critiqued a draft of the thesis and reassured me when I needed it most. Dr. Mary DeCredico at the United States Naval Academy also read a draft and provided valuable suggestions for improvement. Throughout my undergraduate education, my Naval career, my time in graduate school, and the writing of this thesis, she has been a constant source of reassurance and direction iv (as well as mimosas and brunch). I am honored to call her not only my professor, but also my mentor and my friend. Kelsey Garmon, Stan and Ann Maxson, Kyle Pruitt, and Brian Sarginger not only helped move me into my house so I could focus on writing this thesis, but also sustained me with their friendship and amazed me with their intelligence. From Alabama, Breann Alcaraz kept my spirits high with an onslaught of care packages and, when all else failed, fielded my frantic phone calls, texts, and emails. She is the best friend I have ever had, and I thank her for all the joy she, Brent, and Beckett gave me as I braved this journey. My “meemaw,” Shirley, is the first Yankee invader of Alabama I ever knew. Her advice from one writer to another has been invaluable, and I am filled with love, admiration, and appreciation for her. To my mother and father, Mark and Jana, I owe a very special debt of gratitude. As I began writing this thesis, my father worked from dawn until dusk to help me paint my house so that I could focus on writing. My mother spent weeks cooking and freezing nutritious meals so that I would not be relegated to my usual writing diet of coffee and gummy bears. My parents are my sounding board and my champions, and I would be nothing without their love, patience, and support. Before I met Dr. Leslie Rowland, I did not know that there were schools for freedpeople, much less schools for freedpeople in my home state of Alabama. While my unending supply of Alabama trivia, anecdotes, and merchandise may have caused her to regret that introduction, she has been, more than anyone else, committed to this work and to my success as a graduate student. Never have I encountered someone more intelligent, dedicated, diligent, patient, thoughtful, and helpful. I could neither ask for, nor imagine, v a better guide and mentor during my graduate education. I am at a loss for words to fully convey how deeply I appreciate all she has done for me, and so a grossly inadequate “thank-you” will have to suffice. For the past decade, Janet Heard has, without fail, anticipated my needs and wants before they even crossed my mind. When I first started writing, her house was my hospital and she was my nurse as I recovered from a bout of illness and a knee injury. Her gifts of meals and snacks, as well as trips to the grocery store, saved me time that I could not spare. Many a day and night I sat at her kitchen table over cups of coffee and rambled on about this work. She listened without complaint and then gently gave her input and encouragement. Every page of this thesis bears her mark, and for this reason, I dedicate it to her. vi Contents List of Tables viii List of Figures ix List of Abbreviations x Introduction 1 Chapter 1. The Teachers 21 Chapter 2. In the Classroom 62 Chapter 3. Beyond the Classroom 104 Bibliography 148 vii Tables 1.1 Geographical Origins of Freedmen’s Teachers in Alabama, 1865-1870 27 1.2 African-American Teachers in Alabama, 1865-1870 33 1.3 Number of Years Teachers Worked, 1865-1870 54 3.1 Schools in Alabama Reported by the Freedmen’s Bureau as Sustained Wholly or in Part by Freedpeople, 1867-1870 138 viii Figures Map of Alabama, 1866 xi 0.1 Total number of teachers in each county between 1865 and 1870 20 1.1 Pasquale Vassetti, teacher in Greene County, Alabama 24 1.2 Mary Wells, superintendent of Trinity School in Athens, Alabama 28 2.1 Downtown Montgomery, Alabama, ca. 1850 63 2.2 William Hooper Councill’s school in Averyville, Alabama 66 2.3 Desk maker’s diagram 70 ix Abbreviations Used in Footnotes AMA American Missionary Association Archives (microfilm, McKeldin Library, University of Maryland, College Park) FSSP Freedmen and Southern Society Project, University of Maryland, College Park (followed by the project’s document control number) NARA National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC RG 105 Record Group 105: Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands x Source: “State of Alabama, October 2nd, 1866,” Library of Congress, accessed April 3, 2017, http://www .loc.gov/item/98688440/. xi Introduction “Yankee schoolma’am.” “Modern Gideon’s Band.” “Horsefaced, bespectacled, and spare of frame.” “Soldiers of light and love.” “The very messengers of God.”1 These are but some of the terms that have been used to describe the men and women who taught the ex-slaves in the wake of emancipation.