African American Children and Missionary Nuns and Priests in Mississippi
Achievement against Jim Crow Odds
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Currently there is much in the news regarding how the educational systems in America are failing our children, in particular African American and Latino. It may be worthwhile to examine some of the models that were effective when African American were restricted to segregated schools in the American south.
One such school, considered here, is St. Joseph's School that existed in Meridian, Mississippi and served African American children between 1910 -1975.
The educational experience at St. Joseph's was quite successful because there was a personal relationship between the parents and the school, complete with the students having a desire to be there, the parents having chosen the school, and the nuns and lay teachers seeing their work as a calling and not a job. This combination of variables is part of what made academic achievement at St. Joseph's successful.
The last high school graduating class from St. Joseph's was fairly representative of many classes. The class of 1961 had ten students of which nine attended college and seven graduated. Of the seven who graduated from college, five attained graduate degrees at the master's level and two completed doctoral degrees.
The success of St. Joseph's school was based on the fact that the nuns came with an attitude that African American (Negro) children could learn; they taught; they set high standards and they had the total support of the parents. This combination lays the ground work for schools to produce achievers in any school setting.
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About the Book
This book is about the unique educational experience of an African American segregated Catholic school in Mississippi from 1910 -1975. The school was founded and administered by nuns and priests from religious orders founded in Germany. This account focuses on the period between the 1940s to the 1960s which included a description and historical perspective of how despite the American apartheid system in operation in Mississippi at that time, one Catholic school with committed teachers and dedicated parents was successful in educating African American children. The story recounted here is not about the despair of growing up in Mississippi but about how a quality educational experience yields great outcomes when the goals of parents, teachers and the educational programs are intertwined. The significance of this book can be found in the power of integrating sound teaching, high expectations and strong parental support. Lessons learned from this educational experience has implications for the effective education of today's African American children as well as a model of success for broader and more heterogeneous student populations.
About the Author
Both authors, Drs. Ethel Young and Jerome Wilson were born in Meridian, Mississippi and started school at St. Joseph's kindergarten and graduated from the high school in 1960 and 1961, respectively. Ethel E. Young, Ph.D. is an educator with extensive teaching and administrative experience at the elementary, secondary, university, and graduate levels. Her research and publications focus on literacy instruction and teacher education. She is Professor in the Special Education and Literacy Department at Kean University in Union, New Jersey. Dr. Jerome Wilson is a retired cancer epidemiologist and biomedical scientist. His career has spanned over four decades in the fields of oncology, immunology , cancer epidemiology, graduate medical education and pharmaceutical drug development. He has published a number of articles and book chapters on various biomedical subjects. Dr. Wilson lives in Rockville, MD.