History Conversations | Separate But Unequal: The History of School Segregation in Montgomery County

Education, denied to the enslaved, was one of the highest priorities of emancipated African Americans. But in Montgomery County, where slavery existed, public education was not extended to Black children until a decade after it was instituted for White children. Even then, the practice of “separate but equal” schools was anything but equal, and no Black high school was built until well into the 20th century. A surprising number of these African American schools used during segregation still exist in the county, including several erected through a partnership between Booker T. Washington and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald that helped improve Black education all over the South...

History Conversations | Separate But Unequal: The History of School Segregation in Montgomery County