African-American Teachers in the South, 1890–1940: Growth, Feminization, and Salary Discrimination

Abstract

The intent of this article is twofold: (1) to analyze data on demographic trends in the growth of the African-American teaching force in the South from 1890 to 1940, highlighting, in particular, the significant feminization of the black teaching corps that took place over this period; and (2) to investigate the complex topic of discriminatory salaries for African-American teachers, and to illuminate the African-American perspective on the interrelated issues involved. The history of African-American teachers in the South has been a neglected area of American educational history, and consequently the feminization of the black teaching cadre has seldom been systematically examined. Likewise, paltry, discriminatory salaries were a linchpin in the South's system of segregated schooling, but their pervasive influence on a number of aspects of the African-American educational experience, and the arguments crafted by African-American educators, has not been fully considered. The broader intent, of course, is to begin to lay the groundwork for a rich and dynamic consideration of the problems and the achievements, the possibilities and the limitations, of African-American teachers in the era of de jure segregation.