Fifty Years of Segregation: Black Higher Education in Kentucky, 1904-1954 Contributor(s): Hardin, John A. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0813120241 ISBN-13: 9780813120249 Publisher: University Press of Kentucky OUR PRICE: $33.25 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: October 1997 Annotation: Kentucky was the last state in the South to introduce the practice of racially segregated schools. Yet, it was one of the first to break down racial barriers in higher education. What happened in the intervening live decades, during which the Commonwealth seemingly followed the typical southern patterns of separation? After the passage of the infamous Day Law in 1904, which forced segregation of the state's public and private schools, black educators accepted the belief of the state's white leaders that vocational education best served the needs of African Americans. In the late 1920s there began a shift toward liberal arts curricula, along with efforts to upgrade faculty credentials in black colleges, though black faculty were not allowed to attend in-state graduate and professional schools. The 1940s and early 1950s saw important challenges to the Day Law -- most notably, Lyman Johnson's suit for admission to the University of Kentucky's doctoral program in history -- and attacks on salary and funding discrimination based on race. Fifty Years of Segregation places Kentucky's experience within the context of regional and national struggles against segregated higher education. This well-written, carefully researched study of a crucial half-century in Kentucky's history will appeal to anyone with an interest in the Commonwealth. |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Education | Higher - History | United States - State & Local - General |
Dewey: 378.769 |
LCCN: 97018586 |
Physical Information: 0.8" H x 5.78" W x 8.76" (0.84 lbs) 192 pages |
Themes: - Ethnic Orientation - African American - Geographic Orientation - Kentucky |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Kentucky was the last state in the South to introduce racially segregated schools and one of the first to break down racial barriers in higher education. The passage of the infamous Day Law in 1904 forced Berea College to exclude 174 students because of their race. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s black faculty remained unable to attend in-state graduate and professional schools. Like black Americans everywhere who fought overseas during World War II, Kentucky's blacks were increasingly dissatisfied with their second-class educational opportunities. In 1948, they financed litigation to end segregation, and the following year Lyman Johnson sued the University of Kentucky for admission to its doctoral program in history. Civil racism indirectly defined the mission of black higher education through scarce fiscal appropriations from state government. It also promoted a dated 19th-century emphasis on agricultrual and vocational education for African Americans. John Hardin reveals how the history of segregated higher education was shaped by the state's inherent, though sometimes subtle, racism. |