Introduction | Literature Review | Data & Analysis | Conclusion | Sources

Schooling in the U.S. South in the early 20th century was an extremely unequal pair of systems. One system was for those who were in an elite class of Southerners, and the other was for those who were left behind by the Southern elites for fear that educating them would lead to a change from the status quo of segregation, Jim Crow laws, and economic subjugation. The dividing line between these communities was first and foremost race, with white populations attempting to subdue and subjugate a black underclass through educational and economic disadvantage.

This was achieved through explicit means like diverting tax dollars away from black communities and segregation of schools. As well as implicit means like favoring education in Southern cities rather than the rural countryside where many black communities were located. This also adversely affected impoverished white communities in the rural South.

However, many black communities were not deterred and pressed on in the pursuit of education despite the efforts of Southern elites. The establishment of private institutions like Rosenwald Schools allowed for greater educational attainment in black student populations, eventually closing the attendance gap by the late 1930s. However this would come at great economic cost to an already impoverished area of the country, having to shoulder double taxation in the fight for learning.

Future projects centered more on the geography of specifically rural schooling in the wider United States would be very interesting. Asking questions about physical geography, natural and man-made, and how it related to things such as curriculum and attendance in different parts of the country could yield very interesting results. This could even be taken further to ask if different school curriculums had an affect on how children thought of social concepts like American Identity.