Date of Award
12-2020
Type
Thesis
Major
Master of Art in History
Degree Type
MA
Department
History and Geography
First Advisor
Sarah Bowman
Second Advisor
Ryan J. Lynch
Third Advisor
Gary Sprayberry
Abstract
Despite local histories that have been published on the history of Columbus, Georgia, and its school system, very little has been written about Columbus’s freedmen schools created after the U.S. Civil War. As a result, a comprehensive history of Columbus’s freedmen does not exist, and those written are fragmented. The focus of this study is to document the beginnings of Columbus’s freedmen school efforts in the post-emancipation era, through those African Americans’ own historical voices and experiences. Though an analysis of archived unpublished letters, local and religious newspapers, census data, government documents, and meeting minutes, this study recovers the authentic perspective of Columbus’s freedmen as they embarked upon securing an education as well as exploring the limits of their freedom. This study is part of both the historiography of black education and of African Americans in the immediate post-Civil War Era.
Recommended Citation
Thomas, William Dwayne, "“They Know Too Much Already:” Black Education in Post-Emancipation Era Columbus, GA, 1866-1876" (2020). Theses and Dissertations. 420.
https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/theses_dissertations/420
