Martha Schofield and the Re-Education of the South, 1839-1916

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Year:
Pages:328
ISBN:0-88946-525-8
978-0-88946-525-1
Price:$219.95 + shipping
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Martha Schofield, a courageous young Philadelphia Quaker and abolitionist, has been known chiefly as the founder and head of the Schofield Norman and Industrial School in Aiken, South Carolina. Until its Incorporation into the public school system, it was one of the most successful schools for blacks in the south, winning wide recognition for its emphasis on vocational training and character education. The extensive collection of Schofield’s letters and journals released by her family, show her to have been much more than an educator of note. Her articles in the northern press publicizing violations of black political rights in 1876 and again in 1880, resulted in determined efforts to drive her from the south. She not only remained but became one of Aiken’s most noted citizens.

Reviews

". . . provides unique insights into the structure and successes of early African American education. The detail contained in this work contributes to an understanding of African American life in the post-civil War South. This book also succeeds in dispelling the too-frequent "carpetbagger" stereotype by showing the concern and long-term commitment by Schofield and others . . . . Smedley's work advances the fields of African American, women's, and educational history." - History of Education Quarterly

For those interested in women's issues and the development of education for blacks in the South, this book is recommended." - Friends Journal "Schofield's advocacy of sexual equality was much more consistent than her support of racial equality. . . . an interesting profile of a northern teacher in the South Carolina piedmont . . . ." - South Carolina Historical Magazine

". . . endeavors to resurrect Martha Schofield's story . . . [and] succeeds in rescuing Martha Schofield from historical oblivion . . . ." - Journal of Southern History

". . . tracks Schofield's reform trajectory from its Quaker antislavery roots in Pennsylvania, through education reform in the postbellum South (especially in Aiken, SC, where her Schofield School became an important example of "industrial education" for blacks), to women's rights and the organization of farmers' conferences in the South. . . . a careful biography of a Philadelphia Quaker . . . who embraced her abolitionist culture and devoted her long life to teaching South Carolina blacks. . . . [Recommended for] public, community college, and undergraduate libraries." - Religious Studies Review

". . . rescues a worthy and productive person from obscurity and in the process makes a modest contribution to the history of the Society of Friends as well as to the history of women, education, black history, race relations, and the South. . . . Like he

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