Created in 1964 as part of the Mississippi Freedom Summer, the Mississippi Freedom Schools were launched by educators and activists to provide an alternative education for African American students that would facilitate student activism and participatory democracy. The schools, as Jon N. Hale demonstrates, had a crucial role in the civil rights movement and a major impact on the development of progressive education throughout the nation. Designed and run by African American and white educators and activists, the Freedom Schools counteracted segregationist policies that inhibited opportunities for black youth. Providing high-quality, progressive education that addressed issues of social justice, the schools prepared African American students to fight for freedom on all fronts. Forming a political network, the Freedom Schools taught students how, when, and where to engage politically, shaping activists who trained others to challenge inequality. Based on dozens of first-time interviews with former Freedom School students and teachers and on rich archival materials, this remarkable social history of the Mississippi Freedom Schools is told from the perspective of those frequently left out of civil rights narratives that focus on national leadership or college protestors. Hale reveals the role that school-age students played in the civil rights movement and the crucial contribution made by grassroots activists on the local level. He also examines the challenges confronted by Freedom School activists and teachers, such as intimidation by racist Mississippians and race relations between blacks and whites within the schools. In tracing the stories of Freedom School students into adulthood, this book reveals the ways in which these individuals turned training into decades of activism. Former students and teachers speak eloquently about the principles that informed their practice and the influence that the Freedom School curriculum has had on education. They also offer key strategies for further integrating the American school system and politically engaging today's youth.

Conducting dozens of interviews and consulting rich archival materials, Jon N. Hale weaves a social history of the Mississippi Freedom Schools from the perspective of former students and teachers. Having turned their training into decades of activism, these individuals speak invaluably on the ideologies that informed their practice and the effectiveness of their locally organized, widely transmitted curriculum. They also offer key strategies for further integrating the American school system and politically engaging today's youth.

About the Author
Jon N. Hale is an assistant professor of educational history and civil rights at the College of Charleston. He is a coauthor of To Write in the Light of Freedom: The Newspapers of the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Schools (2015).

Reviews
Jon N. Hale's work hits the mark! It is accurate and timely in refocusing our attention on the profound power of African American youth and education. The activists and young learners who made the Freedom Schools possible have greatly gone unsung. In the midst of imminent danger, they learned and experienced democracy while illustrating the efficacy of community participation in education. Hale rightly places them at the forefront of the struggle for freedom. His book reminds us of those who saved the nation's soul. -- Stefan M. Bradley, author of Harlem vs. Columbia University: Black Student Power in the Late 1960s Hale's groundbreaking examination of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee's tireless efforts to provide free educational opportunities for Mississippi's African American children is an often overlooked yet instrumental component of the Mississippi Freedom Summer. The Freedom Schools offers a greater understanding of the schools' lasting legacy and the profound impact of the Freedom Schools on Mississippi's black students as they later engaged in boycotts and school walkouts, influencing public school desegregation efforts and the civil rights movement. -- Sonya Ramsey, author of Reading, Writing, and Segregation: A Century of Black Women Teachers in Nashville Hale's impressive study will make a major contribution to civil rights historiography. It provides a very realistic view of Freedom Schools with great detail and precision and astutely illustrates the significant role of education in the civil rights movement. -- Derrick Alridge, University of Virginia The narrative reads smoothly and leaves the reader with a greater sense of the hopes, desires, and goals of the [Mississippi Civil Rights] movement. CounterPunch Hale's well-documented chronicle sharply reminds readers that there are still miles to go in obliterating racism, and that there are still stories to be told. Highly recommended. Choice


Awards
Joint winner of New Scholars Book Award 2017 and Critics' Choice Book Award, American Educational Studies Association 2018.



Book Information
ISBN 9780231175685
Author Jon Hale
Format Hardback
Page Count 320
Imprint Columbia University Press
Publisher Columbia University Press