The Politics of Public Education in Black Chicago, 1910-1941

Abstract

Southern Blacks moved North during and after World War I primarily for promise of better economic opportunity. Improved schooling, however, was a major by-product of migration. In rural South, formal education was often brief, uncertain, and inadequate. Many black children encountered dilapidated buildings and insufficient supplies. State appropriations for black pupils were but a fraction of those for whites. By contrast, urban North offered longer school terms, compulsory attendance, and higher standards of facilities and instruction. The black press enticed newcomers by comparing the splendid unrestricted system of learning in northern cities with southern classrooms, where Jim-Crowism is to be first lesson taught.'1 Once settled in North, Blacks altered their perspective. No longer judging their lot by standards previously known in Dixie, southern migrants now compared schooling they received with that of white neighborhoods in same city. With this shift in focus, commentary on public education gradually changed from celebration to complaint. The schools had become a civic issue in which Blacks tested their strength in urban political arena. The politics of public education in black Chicago from before mass migration of World War I to eve of World War II explores values and dynamics of ghetto civic life during these years. What goals concerned black Chicagoans active in school matters? What methods did community employ in pursuit of its goals? Which interest groups in ghetto were involved in educational affairs? Answers to these questions not only analyze community activity but also illuminate previously neglected history of black education in North. Blacks in Chicago contended for three main goals from