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Section 2: Building the Black Community: The Family Section 2: Building the Black Community: The Church Section 2: Building the Black Community: The School Section 2: Quest for Economic Autonomy and Equal Rights Section 2: Memory and Mourning Section 2: Violence


Interior of a freedman's school, c. 1870

Colored School at Anthoston.
Henderson County, Kentucky.
Photograph by Lewis W. Hine.
Dated 1916 September 13.
(Library of Congress)

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During reconstruction, the Freedman's Bureau, missionary societies, and blacks themselves established over 3,000 schools in the South, laying the foundation for public education in the region.

Many young men and women who attended freedman's schools became teachers who instructed the next generation.
Copyright 2003
A New Birth of Freedom: Reconstruction During the Civil War The Meaning of Freedom: Black and White Responses to Slavery From Free Labor to Slave Labor Rights and Power: The Politics of Reconstruction Introduction The Ending of Reconstruction Epilogue Additional Resources Credits for this Exhibit