Black Women Teachers’ Reaction to Brown and the Civil Rights Movement in Nashville, 1954-1971.

INDIVIDUAL SUBMISSION ABSTRACT FOR 89TH ANNUAL ASALH CONFERENCE BLACK WOMEN TEACHERS’ REACTION TO BROWN AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT IN NASHVILLE, 1954-1971 In an effort to hinder integration after the Brown decision, Nashville, Tennessee’s school board allocated more funding for African American schools, which included new school construction, increased access to materials, and more teacher hires. Although gross funding inequities remained between the city’s black and white schools, African American teachers celebrated the positive changes by creating a rich culture for their students and the surrounding community while continuing to challenge the board to remedy existing problems. Consequently, the Brown decision, with its declaration that segregated schools were inherently unequal and therefore unconstitutional, did not have a major impact upon most of Nashville’s black children and African American educators until the early 1970s when the federal government forced the Nashville schools to implement a wide-scale desegregation plan. This presentation analyzes the powerful impact of African American female teachers on their students’ educational experiences, their fellow colleagues, and the black community in an effort to better understand why some black Nashvillians simultaneously worked to maintain equalized educational facilities, retain their black schools and teachers, in addition to fighting for school desegregation. This presentation will also discuss the experiences of African American female teachers during the civil rights movement in Nashville. These educators watched with an array of emotions from disdain to anxious pride as some of their students took to the streets to implement new strategies for freedom. Although teachers who were fearful of job repercussions and concerned about the safety of the activists simply watched from the sidelines, other teachers served pivotal roles as drivers, financial supporters, and meeting organizers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]