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| African Americans viewed education as a means of self- determination and liberation. |
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| SELF-HELP Denied access to formal education under the nation's chattel slave system, African Americans placed a high value on literacy and schooling. SEGREGATION BANNED IN MASSACHUSETTS |
 Phillis Wheatley (1753?-1784), achieved renown as a poet. Courtesy Schomburg Library of Nineteenth Century Black Women Writers. |
 Frederick Douglass (1817?-1895), self-taught under slavery, became the nation's leading abolitionist. Courtesy Amistad Research Center. |
 Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806) excelled in science. His annual almanac was popular in American households. Courtesy Amistad Research Center. |
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| SCHOOLS SPREAD TO THE SOUTH - After the Civil War in 1865, African Americans built, financed, and staffed schools for their communities. Newly elected black legislators voted for tax support of schools for blacks and whites. Churches and the United States government also established schools. |
Charles Sumner's legal brief for desegregation in 1849 anticipated the 1954 United States Supreme Court on desegregation. Courtesy Library of Congress. |
Abraham Lincoln School of New Orleans, Louisiana was one of the largest of the 4,000 schools established in the South by the Freedman's Bureau. Harper's Weekly, April 21, 1866. Courtesy Library of Congress. |
The Zion School of Charleston, South Carolina had 13 teachers and 850 pupils by 1866. Courtesy Library of Congress. |
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