Jeanes Teachers

Between 1907 and 1957, 2,448 Jeanes teachers labored to support rural black schools in the era of legally sanctioned separate but unequal schools. These black women took their title from the one million dollar bequest Quaker philanthropist, Anna T. Jeanes, gave to Booker T. Washington. This book weaves together the fifty year history of the Jeanes Fund in 15 southern states and in Virginia, home of those most responsible for its conception and implementation. It is a sympathetic yet critical portrayal of the women and their white patrons. The role of Jeanes teachers and the women themselves changed over time. Once purveyors of handicrafts, they focused on improving academic instruction. Once models of community self-help, they sought greater status as professional educators. Still, they could never shirk their position as accommodators of Jim Crow. Jeanes teachers and their white supporters became irrelevant when racially separate schools became illegal.