The Journal of Negro History, Volume 5, 1920

The opening pages trace the tangled beginnings of Black education in America, showing how colonial powers each shaped the issue. French and Spanish settlements, guided by the Code Noir and a tradition of mixed‑heritage families, allowed modest literacy for enslaved people, while English colonies largely barred schooling, fearing that Christian conversion would challenge slavery itself. Early missionary and charitable efforts—such as Elias Neau’s school in New York (1704) and Anthony Benezet’s evening classes in Philadelphia—hint at a growing, though fragmented, desire to teach.

The narrative then follows a wave of privately funded schools and church‑run academies that sprouted across the North and Midwest, from St. Frances Academy for girls in Baltimore to the pioneering Wilberforce University in Ohio. It also details the fierce resistance these institutions faced, from mob attacks on Prudence Crandall’s school to restrictive laws in Southern states. Despite legal hurdles and limited resources, a network of “clandestine” schools persisted, laying the groundwork for the broader educational advances that would follow.