University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Respectable from their intelligence: the education of Louisiana's gens de couleur libres, 1800 to 1860

Johnson, Alisha D.

Content Files
JOHNSON-DISSERTATION-2017.pdf

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/97584

Description

Title
Respectable from their intelligence: the education of Louisiana's gens de couleur libres, 1800 to 1860
Author(s)
Johnson, Alisha D.
Issue Date
2017-04-19
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Span, Christopher M.
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Span, Christopher M.
Committee Member(s)
  • Anderson, James D.
  • Beadie, Nancy
  • Pak, Yoon K.
  • Sanders, Katrina
Department of Study
Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp
Discipline
Educational Policy Studies
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Date of Ingest
2017-08-10T19:52:03Z
Keyword(s)
  • Black education
  • Southern education
  • Antebellum education
  • Black achievement
  • Race
  • Class
  • Educational opportunity
Abstract
This study provides a historical analysis of the socioeconomic and cultural conditions that influenced the unprecedented educational attainment of Louisiana’s gens de couleur libres (free people of color) from colonization to the dawn of the American Civil War. Many in this community came to possess notable wealth – to the extent that they have been esteemed as the wealthiest group of free blacks in the nation in the nineteenth century. Moreover, libres were able to attain the highest levels of education: private schools were created, pupils were sent north for schooling, tutors were hired, and many finished their schooling in France. Given that this community, on the whole, achieved substantially higher levels of wealth and education than any of their North American counterparts, this work relies on archival research methods to answer the central question: What enabled an entire community of color to find scholarly success in an overtly racially oppressive society?
Graduation Semester
2017-05
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/97584
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2017 Alisha Johnson

Owning Collections

Graduate Dissertations and Theses at Illinois PRIMARY
Graduate Theses and Dissertations at Illinois
Dissertations and Theses - Education
Dissertations and Theses from the College of Education