Abstract
Black civic voluntary organizations were essential in the fight for equality, social justice, and racial and economic advancement from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Given that African Americans were virtually excluded from mainstream political and public life during this time, they established a range and number of organizations to help provide services and programs for black communities, as well as offering literary and artistic outlets. Central to the mission of black civic organizations were education and the schooling of black youth. Almost universally, the associations developed programs in education for adults and youth, shaped the curriculum in segregated schools, and educated members and the wider community about American civic ideals and the need for social justice and political reform. Through membership, African Americans learned leadership skills and cultivated important national networks. This chapter spotlights the range of black voluntary organizations in civil society, examining their origins, purposes, and characteristics regarding education in knowledge, skills, sensibilities, and values.
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Woyshner, C. (2019). Black Civic Organizations in the History of Education. In: Fitzgerald, T. (eds) Handbook of Historical Studies in Education. Springer International Handbooks of Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0942-6_40-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0942-6_40-1
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