Jeanes Teachers

The bulk of my experience with the Young People’s Black Pedagogical Activism Lab involved archival study of the Jeanes Teachers and the Rosenwald Schools of the early to mid 20th century. The Jeanes teachers were a group of Black teaching supervisors funded by a Quaker “philanthropist” named Anna T. Jeanes to improve Black public schools in the South. Using their strong ties to their communities, the Jeanes teachers established intersections between education and social justice. Outside of the classroom, Jeanes teachers advocated for social issues such as equal pay and equitable access to resources.

In my archival analysis, I reviewed the September 1939 issue of the Bulletin of the Florida State Teachers Association. The document was geared towards educators in the South to inform them on the state of public education and the activities of the Florida teachers’ union. While this document was not a direct publication from the Jeanes teachers, their influence is evident throughout the bulletin. For instance, the president’s address at the beginning of the bulletin advocates for equity and community-driven activism, ideals that are central to the Jeanes teachers’ mission. When arguing for equal wages, the teachers’ association asserts that equal and fair wages for teachers would benefit the South’s economy as a whole. Advocating for racial equality as a national issue rather than an issue for the Black community was one of the strategies used by the Jeanes teachers to gain support from White changemakers that might otherwise have not concerned themselves with social justice. This document demonstrates how the Jeanes teachers were able to proliferate their pedagogical activism ideology through the public education system and other sectors of American society.

While I was familiar with the issues that the Jeanes teachers advocated for such as equitable distribution of resources and equal pay for teachers, their methodology was new to me. The Jeanes Teachers formed their liberation movement around literacy amongst students and educators in the South. Through organizations such as the Florida Teachers Association, the Jeanes Teachers were able to collaborate with fellow educators in the South on issues regarding educations where they might have struggled to organize around issues regarding race. Additionally, outside of classroom the Jeanes teachers played a large role in their communities. They understood education as a means of cultivating civil and critical literacy that would mobilize their communities to advocate for social issues such as those discussed in the Bulletin of the Florida Teachers Association. In turn, they viewed education as a multifaceted initiative where community issues would need to be addressed in order for students to learn.

Grassroots organizing for political activism is crucial to social justice work as communities of working-class people are not only the primary beneficiaries but also the foundations for social movements. This fall, I had the opportunity to attend a talk by Chris Smalls on his role in organizing the Amazon strikes in 2020. Chris Smalls was able to mobilize a large, diverse population of amazon workers to address the labor issues that connected them. His work reminded me of the Jeanes teachers' methodology as each instance involved the use collective literacy to initiate change through civil advocacy.

Not only was it interesting to learn about the history of the public education system that has surrounded me my entire life, but much of the Jeanes teachers’ methodology and pedagogy remain relevant to today. Their emphasis on community and building personal relationships is fundamental to work in education as well as any initiative that involves the humanities. As a history major, this experience with the Black teachers' archives has encouraged me to shift my focus from studying large-scale events and movements to uncovering more personal histories that may have otherwise gone untold. For every extraordinary, impactful individual, there is a village of stories and teachings to be studied.