A Contested Terrain by Annemarie Brosnan

A Contested Terrain by Annemarie Brosnan

A testament to the resilience and determination of Black North Carolinians to achieve educational equality
This book examines the educational experiences of Black North Carolinians during the American Civil War and Reconstruction period, 1861–1877. By highlighting the collaborative efforts that led to the growing network of schools for the formerly enslaved people, it argues that schooling the Freedpeople was a contested terrain, fraught with conflicting visions of Black freedom and the role education should play. Although Black men and women emerged as the driving force behind the educational endeavors of this period, their work was facilitated by Northern aid and missionary societies, the federally-mandated Freedmen's Bureau, and over 1,400 teachers from various regional and racial backgrounds. Yet the educational landscape was far from uniform, and the individuals and organizations involved had their distinct visions regarding the nature and purpose of Freedpeople's education.
Through the use of qualitative and quantitative research methods, this book offers new insights into the reasons why Black and white Northerners and Southerners elected to become teachers. By examining their diverse motivations and experiences, it argues that attitudes toward Freedpeople's education were complex and fluid, defying neat characterization.
Despite mounting obstacles and opposition to their work, Black North Carolinians' unrelenting quest for education ultimately gave rise to free public schooling for both races, the professionalization of Black teachers, and an extensive network of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

AnneMarie Brosnan is Associate Professor in the History of Education at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, Ireland. Her research interests include African American history in the US South, the Civil War and Reconstruction period, and race and ethnicity in the nineteenth century.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781531509293
ISBN 10	1531509290
Title	A Contested Terrain
Author	Annemarie Brosnan
Series	Reconstructing America
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Fordham University Press
Year published	2025-03-04
Number of pages	224
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.