WOMEN WHO DARED: NORTHERN TEACHERS OF THE SOUTHERN FREEDMEN, 1862-1872.
Item
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Title
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WOMEN WHO DARED: NORTHERN TEACHERS OF THE SOUTHERN FREEDMEN, 1862-1872.
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Identifier
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AAI8222993
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identifier
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8222993
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Creator
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WOLFE, ALLIS.
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Contributor
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Herbert Gutman
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Date
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1982
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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History, United States
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Abstract
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This study is about Northern reformers who went south to teach Southern blacks during the Civil War and Reconstruction. When the freedmen's aid societies advertized for teachers to uplift the ex-slaves, mainly women applied for the job. Most of them were young, single evangelicals who were either active in or touched by the anti-slavery cause. This dissertation presents a group portrait of about 300 female freedmen's teachers and administrators who came from the Northeast and were stationed in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. It is based on extensive manuscript sources, including the teachers' letters and reports as well as their published memoirs and diaries.;The 'Yankee Schoolmarms' were recruited, screened, and paid for by Northern benevolent societies. This study deals with the two largest, the secular American Freedmen's Union Commission (AFUC) and the non-secular American Missionary Association (AMA). There were important differences in the positions held by women within the two societies, as well as the way in which their teachers were treated in the field.;The dynamics at play in the Northern women's relationships with black and white Southerners were a microcosm of the tensions affecting the entire American nation. Their main efforts centered on the freedmen. But many teachers did more than teach. They distributed clothing, administered medical care, wrote letters, and gave advice. They became intimately involved with black adults as well as children. This study also looks at the teachers' relationships with white Southerners, their quality of life in the South, and evaluates their work.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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History
