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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
School desk, bench and bell, c. 1870 School Bell, c. 1870 School desk and bench, c. 1870

School desk and bench and bell,
c. 1870
(The Valentine Museum)

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Crowded into ill-furnished classrooms, often without blackboards and chalk, African-American students and teachers nevertheless made do with whatever materials were available.

African-American children were hungry for an education. Classrooms often contained fifty or more children.
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