African American Education in Delaware: A History through Photographs, 1865-1930

The history of African Americans is one of the most underdeveloped topiscs in historical scholarship. African American history in Delaware is even more neglected with only two published books both written in 1997 covering the period before the Civil War. This book covers the rich history of African American struggle in the post-Civil War era through the beginning of the Great Economic Depression in 1930. It follows the story of African Americans who struggled to provide an education for their children telling that story through photographs and a narrative to illustrate this struggle. The post-Civil War era in Delaware saw the establishment of public education for African Americans. While the country reconstructed the southern states that seceded from the Union, white and black Delawareans struggled to build a public school system. They hoped to begin the process of assimilation of African Americans providing them with the skills to become good citizens of the state and country. In 1875 the state of Delaware passed legislation allowing African Americans to tax themselves for the support of their schools. By the end of the nineteenth century, Delaware integrated the African American schools into a state public school system while formally segregating education in the state constitution in 1897. At the beginning of the twentieth century, many Delawareans recognized that "separate but equal" did not reflect the reality of the segregated public school system that existed in the state. African American schools were in a deplorable condition and in need of rehabilitation. Alice Dunbar Nelson along with industrialist Pierre S. duPont led the movement to upgrade the public education system in Delaware. They helped convince the state legislature to pass the New School Code in 1919 allowing school districts to increase their tax support for public education. The catch was these school districts had to equally divide the public revenue between the white and black schools. Knowing that white voters would not support raising their taxes if half would go to black schools, duPont decided to pay for the building of schools for African Americans. By the end of the 1920s, duPont rebuilt the entire school system for African Americans. He did this after he resigned his position as the head of General Motors and curtailed his direct involvement with the duPont Company. During his tenure on the Delaware State Education Board, duPont pushed for equal funding for African American schools. In the 1930s, the state actually expended one penny more per black student than for white student. This book tells this story of public education for African Americans. To this day, African Americans in the state take pride in those little "Colored" schools that they, their friends, or their relatives attended. The education provided in those "Colored" schools produced many of the leaders in the state and nation. This book is their story.