Event Title
Toward an Ideal of Moral and Democratic Education: Afro-Creoles and Straight University in Reconstruction New Orleans, 1862-1896
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Start Date
17-9-2013 5:15 PM
Description
Straight University emerged as an integrated higher education institution in New Orleans in 1870 and promoted education and training for young men and women, irrespective of race, gender, or ethnicity. Such education represented an archetype to shape the future direction of Southern society in a meaningful and tangible way.
Afro-Creoles represented New Orleans' predominantly black Catholic and French-speaking community and maintained a philosophy of political radicalism, revolution, and social and political protest. This study traces the founding and development of Straight University in Reconstruction New Orleans and theorizes that the progressive Afro-Creole community in New Orleans influenced opportunities and access to higher education irrespective of race, age, gender, class, or ethnicity. This study also examines how a racial consciousness in New Orleans played a role in the formation of Afro-Creole culture and identity which transcended the development of Straight University. Through archival records and secondary source analysis, this historiographical inquiry reveals Straight University as a democratic space, free of racial standardization and disdain, where students could attain an education to become an educated and free citizenry.
Toward an Ideal of Moral and Democratic Education: Afro-Creoles and Straight University in Reconstruction New Orleans, 1862-1896
Straight University emerged as an integrated higher education institution in New Orleans in 1870 and promoted education and training for young men and women, irrespective of race, gender, or ethnicity. Such education represented an archetype to shape the future direction of Southern society in a meaningful and tangible way.
Afro-Creoles represented New Orleans' predominantly black Catholic and French-speaking community and maintained a philosophy of political radicalism, revolution, and social and political protest. This study traces the founding and development of Straight University in Reconstruction New Orleans and theorizes that the progressive Afro-Creole community in New Orleans influenced opportunities and access to higher education irrespective of race, age, gender, class, or ethnicity. This study also examines how a racial consciousness in New Orleans played a role in the formation of Afro-Creole culture and identity which transcended the development of Straight University. Through archival records and secondary source analysis, this historiographical inquiry reveals Straight University as a democratic space, free of racial standardization and disdain, where students could attain an education to become an educated and free citizenry.
Comments
Dana Hart is a PhD Candidate in Educational Leadership and Research from the Department of Educational Theory, Policy, and Practice at Louisiana State University. His research interests include the history of higher education, politics and policy in public higher education, educational leadership, and access, retention, and student success. Hart currently serves as the Assistant Director of Enrollment & Student Services for the Flores MBA program.
THIS LECTURE IS SUPPORTED BY:
THE GRADUATE EDUCATION RESEARCH ASSOCIATION (GERA)
THE SOUTHERN MISS EDUCATION LAW ASSOCIATION (SMELA)
THE HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENT AFFAIRS ASSOCIATION (HESAA)