Accumulation of knowledge: The education of African Americans in Southern New Jersey from 1920--1945

Research Question: What individuals, institutions and organizations were instrumental in the development of the educational philosophy for African Americans in Southern New Jersey from 1920-1945?;Methodology: This dissertation employed oral history in the qualitative tradition using video recording equipment. Data were gathered from twelve participants representing nine family groups and four southern New Jersey Counties. The data were coded and analyzed to determine common and distinct themes which influenced the participants' individual and collective educational experiences.;Findings: South Jersey, bordering Delaware, Maryland and Virginia inherited racial attitudes from their southern neighbors. These southern ideologies were reflected in the types of schools available to black children during that era. The findings were as follows. 1. The participants all attended public schools in South Jersey. The grammar schools were segregated; and those who attended high school attended integrated schools or The Manual Training and Industrial School for Colored Youth at Bordentown. 2. The participants' parents who had greater socio-economic status than their peers and/or had cultural and social capital were able to orchestrate their children's education. These parents chose an educational path for their children that included college attendance or attending the manual training school in Bordentown. Parents with capital were able to lay a foundation for success in an era that segregated and discriminated against blacks. 3. The participants, through their lenses as students, were very vocal and exacting about describing their studies, teachers, and events that occurred in the segregated schools, but were very reluctant to describe their high school experiences.;Significance: Black parents who held greater socio-economic status than their peers, and possessed cultural and social capital had great influence over their children's education. They chose schools that provided their children with a trade or profession.