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Historians of urban education have concentrated their attention on the cities of the Northeast, leaving a major gap in the historiography of American schooling. This work, the first to focus on southern cities, makes an important contribution to the field. It presents case studies of growth and change in the public school systems of six cities in the deep South, together with several essays that place the southern experience in a comparative historical and historiographical context.
Plank and Ginsberg examine the impact of conditions that have shaped public education in the urban South from the antebellum era to the present time, including racism, segregation, evangelical Protestantism, poverty, ruralism, and the slow pace of industrialization. Among the issues explored are struggles over progressive school reforms in both curriculum and administration, continuing battles for financial support and organizational autonomy, the impact of city politics, and the politics of black education. This book opens a new area of historical research and provides fresh perspectives on political and racial issues that continue to challenge American educators.
List of contents
Introduction
Why Study the South?
The Origins of Urban Public School SystemsAntebellum School Reform in the Port Cities of the Deep South
Public Education in the New South: A School System for Atlanta, 1868-1879
The Origins of Urban Schools in Comparative Perspective
The Politics of Southern School ReformsThe Politics of Memphis School Reform, 1883-1927
Boss Behrman Reforms the Schools: The 1912 New Orleans School Reform
Educational Reform and Organizational Change: Atlanta in the Progressive Era
Progressive School Reform in Comparative Perspective
Issues in Black School PoliticsBlack School Politics in Atlanta, Georgia, 1869-1943
The Politics of Black Education in Memphis, Tennessee, 1868-1881
Two Worlds of Race? Urban Blacks and the Public Schools, North and South, 1865-1940
Bibliographic Essay
Index
About the author
DAVID N. PLANK is Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh. His previous publications on southern educational history have appeared in journals including
History of Education Quarterly,
American Journal of Education, and
Journal of Urban History.
RICK GINSBERG is Associate Professor in the College of Education at the University of South Carolina. His historical work on urban education and school reform has appeared in journals including
Issues in Education, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, and
Midwest Journal of Educational History.
