This Week in Reconstruction, January 9-15, 1868

This Week in Reconstruction, January 9-15, 1868

Black children attending school? Word of a "negro" school has emerged. The "school-house at the foot of the brick steps, corner Franklin and Twenty-third streets, has been rented by the Freedmen's Bureau." The Bureau plans to open a school in that very spot in the next week with the help of the New York Society and Friends. A "negro" school is remarkable to say the least and could mean many things. Perhaps, black citizens and their children are finally beginning to be recognized as citizens who have a right to education. No matter the reason the important fact here is that black children will be educated. Educating these young black citizens provides hope that these children will grow up to be more successful and surely have better lives than their formerly enslaved parents. Education is the first step to improving these freedmen's standards of living. These children may grow up to become politicians, skilled laborers, or even better. Whatever they become, their success may be traced back to the beginning of their education in the school-house on the corner of Franklin and Twenty-third street.

January 9-15, 1868

Mallory Haskins

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