Mellon Scholars 2026: Shaney Cadet – The Library Company of Philadelphia

Mellon Scholars Summer Program – Subject Guides

The Hidden Architects of Public Education – Black Educators during the Activities of the Freedmen’s Bureau

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Overview:

The origins of the public education system can be traced to 17th century Massachusetts, where by unanimous vote, taxes funded the first public school in the country. While this was monumental to the history of education, it didn’t proliferate across the country much at all. This changed following the American Civil War.

A call to educate the newly freed population rang clearly, much like a church bell, across the nation. Free Afro-Americans were not new to the cause of education, and had formed several institutions and communities across the country dedicated to teaching enslaved and newly free Black people how to read and write, viewing it as the key to freedom and self-determination. These institutions were run and supported by anti-slavery societies that comprised mostly Northern white abolitionists. The Society of Friends, a Quaker organization, was one of the most prominent organizations helping to fund and support these institutions.

The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, colloquially known as the Freedmen’s Bureau, was established as a government agency following the end of the war, serving as a means of providing relief to newly freed individuals and refugees. The Hidden Architects of Public Education explores the activities of Black educators who chose both to work independently from the Freedmen’s Bureau like Rufus Perry, superintendent of the schools of the African Civilization Society, and those who decided to lend their talents with the National Freedmen’s Relief Associations, not only helping teach at these new Freedmen’s schools, but contributing to the education philosophies as they were being built, like Mary Smith Peake. Education was a realm in which there was a lot of intellectual real estate for free Afro-Americans to make a lasting imprint on. With the brief presence of the Freedmen’s Bureau from 1865 to 1872, it is interesting to examine how Black educators navigated both the private and public spaces in which education practices for freedmen were being shaped all while the social fabric of the United States was being rewoven.

About the Author:

Shaney Cadet is a junior at Rutgers University pursuing a degree in Sociology with minors in Africana Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She has aspirations of pursuing a master’s degree in Library Sciences due to their passion for public history and education, and hopes to aid in building digital infrastructures that make the internet more people centered. In their free time, they enjoy dancing, singing, and reading.

Keywords

Contributors:

Catto, Octavius V, 1839-1871
Child, Lydia M, 1802-1880
Perry, Rufus L, 1834 – 1895
Institute for Colored Youth – Pennsylvania
Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church – Pennsylvania

Subject Headings:

Post-Civil War Reconstruction — Legislation — Freedmen’s Bureau
African Americans — Emancipation — Education — Teaching
Christianity — Protestant Denominations — Quakers
Philosophy — Education — Public Schools
Afro-American writers — Philadelphia
Antislavery Movements — Pennsylvania
Abolitionists — Pennsylvania — Societies, etc.
Education — Teachers — Writing
Slaves — Emancipation — Reconstruction
Teaching — Training — Normal Schools

Access Terms:

Speeches
Reports
Religious Texts
Short Stories
Hymns

Annotated Bibliography

Resources at LCP:

Lydia Maria Child, The Freedmen’s Book (Boston, 1865)

White abolitionist and feminist writer, Lydia Maria Child wrote this book to be distributed to newly freedmen. Of the 54 total passages included in the book, 18 of them were authored by Black people. Her abhorrence for violence reflected in her coverage of Toussaint L’Ouverture’s story, emphasizing on his hesitance to shed white blood to make him sound sensible compared to his more violent revolutionary peers.

Rufus L. Perry, Annual Report of General Superintendent of African Civilization Society (Washington D.C. 1866)

In this annual report, Rufus Perry discusses the state of a number of the schools created by the African Civilization Society, of which he was the superintendent. He emphasized how important it was for Black individuals to attain an education on how to provide for themselves rather than just receiving aid.

Institute for Colored Youth, Objects of the Institute for Colored Youth, with a list of The Officers and Students, and the Annual Report of the Board of Managers for the year[s] of [1865-1872] (Philadelphia, 1865-1872)

In this series of annual reports ranging from 1865 to 1872, the activities and conditions of the Institute for Colored Youth are documented. These reports provided a counter narrative of the activities of the Freedmen’s Bureau. Emphasis is placed on religious and moral education for students, and most graduates went on to become teachers themselves year after year- including one Octavius V. Catto.

African Methodist Episcopal Church, The African Methodist Episcopal Church hymn book : being a collection of hymns designed to supersede all others hitherto made use of in that church. Selected from various authors. (Philadelphia, 1856).

A book of small size, it was meant to be some of the most primary reading material for Afro-Americans at the time.

Octavius V. Catto, Our alma mater : An address delivered at Concert Hall on the occasion of the twelfth annual commencement of the Institute for Colored Youth, May 10th, 1864 (Philadelphia, 1864)
In this commencement speech, Catto, who was a graduate and would become elected as the principal of the male department in 1869 until his death in 1871, spoke of the importance of an education system constructed for and by the people. He also warned about the danger of white teachers being blinded by their prejudice so much so that they disregard the best interests and well-being of the people they claim to help. Catto would also mention that with the Civil War continuing to rage on, education for freed people is of the utmost importance- even before the Freedmen’s Bureau was established.

Local Resources:

African Methodist Episcopal Church, Hymns for the Sabbath School of the Fifth St. M.E. Church, property of Richard Allen Museum of Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church Philadelphia, PA (1853)

Depicted is a hymn book that was commonly used by members of the church. Members would engage in “lining the hymns”, where those who knew how to read would recite hymns and have those who couldn’t repeat. This was a method for folks to learn how to read.

Reference Books:

Robert Francis Engs, Educating the Disfranchised and Disinherited: Samuel Chapman Armstrong and Hampton Institute 1839-1893 (Knoxville, 1999)

This biography details Samuel Chapman Armstrong’s life. He acted as the superintendent of the Freedmen’s Bureau after serving in the Union Army during the Civil War. His education philosophy of self sufficiency through industrious work and abstaining from politics was highly influential in early Black pedagogy, having directly impacted Booker T. Washington who was his protege. Having grown up with missionary parents, white man’s burden seemed to be much of his motivation to be involved with the education of newly freed Afro-Americans and Native Americans.

Lewis C. Lockwood & Charlotte Forten Grimké, Two Black teachers during the Civil War : Mary S. Peake the colored teacher at Fortress Monroe / Lewis C. Lockwood. Life on the Sea Islands / Charlotte Forten. (New York, 1969)

This book chronicles the experiences of Mary S. Peake, an educator known for secretly teaching enslaved children and adults when it wasn’t legal. She then became the first Black teacher to work for the American Missionary Association at Fort Monroe during the Civil War. She also taught at the first facility of Hampton University. She was known for her righteousness and unorthodox teaching that included more emphasis on applied reflection on the material she would cover in her classes rather than simple memorization.

Ronald E. Butchart, Educating for Freedom: Ideological Origins of Black Education in the South (New York, 1975)

This report was a historical investigation on the foundations of Black education. Butchart argues that the Freedmen’s Bureau’s attempts at school reform ended up positioning the newly freed Black student population to aspire to middle class whiteness, effectively blocking them and insulating the white liberal bourgeois class who funded these efforts from facing what it would actually take to reach true liberation and equality.

Mary Maillard, Whispers of Cruel Wrongs: the correspondence of Louisa Jacobs and her circle, 1879-1911 (Madison, 2017)

This book covers the letters shared between Louisa Jacobs, daughter of the author of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriette Jacobs, and her close circle, who were all active in antislavery and abolitionist activism. Louisa worked as a teacher at the Freedmen’s Schools of the South as well as at Howard University as a matron. She and her mother founded 2 Freedmen’s Schools down South.