CSJ, VOL. 7 (2019)

LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR RESEARCH ON AFRICAN AMERICAN EDUCATION IN

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VIRGINIA : AN INTERVIEW WITH LARRY ROEDER

Larry Roeder, M.S. and Lucy Townsend, Ph.D., 1-6

“Paper gathering” is a term many researchers use to communicate the processes they use in small and larger research projects. Two kinds of narrative construction are useful in paper gathering: historiography and library science methodologies. Both forms of knowledge are useful to those participating in the Edwin Washington Project— collecting, organizing, editing, and analyzing the objects they find in an exhaustive search for truth. The narratives they tell are stories surrounding the sources they uncover. The following interview explains how Larry Roeder, principal investigator of the Edwin Washington Project, and a group of volunteers are using the lessons of paper gathering to assist them in laying a foundation for research on African American education in Loudoun County, Virginia.

Key words: accredited secondary education, NAACP, racism, higher branch offerings, freedman, Quaker files, training center, inequality, school superintendent, all-white school board, integration, transportation, Loudoun County Public Schools, petitions

THE AFRICAN AMERICAN STRUGGLE FOR HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION

IN LOUDOUN COUNTY, VIRGINIA 1865 TO 1941

Larry Roeder, 7- 37

Throughout our nation’s history, Americans have experimented with institutions designed to provide children with a quality education. Among these institutions are one-room schools, middle schools, junior high schools, high schools, alternative schools, and many more. Only limited scholarship has focused on segregated schools for people of color. In some cases, remnants of segregated schools have been destroyed because they were not considered valuable sources of knowledge. In the following paper, Larry Roeder, M.S., principal investigator of the Edwin Washington Project, along with interested volunteers, has unearthed a large body of documents related to the educational experiences of African Americans in Loudoun County, Virginia, between the 1830s and 1941. These papers—collected, organized, and analyzed—contribute significantly to a growing body of research on African Americans’ educational experiences.

Key words: accredited secondary education, NAACP, racism, higher branch offerings, freedman, Quaker files, training center, inequality, school superintendent, all-white school board, integration, transportation, Loudoun County Public Schools, petitions

TWENTIETH CENTURY VISUAL EDUCATION: EARLY AMERICAN SCHOOLS AND THE STEREOPTICON

Veronica I. Ent, 38-57

Before the marketing of stereopticons, a teacher who wanted to illustrate a lesson usually used printed images, blackboards, or objects. Dramatic instructional change occurred when the stereopticon made its appearance. This machine enabled a group of people to view the same content on a screen. Professor Veronica I. Ent argues that although software (i.e., Microsoft PowerPoint) is different in some ways from the stereopticon, its instructional methodology is the same. That is, it enables a group to view the same content at the same time. Thus, there is no significant difference between viewing a stereopticon lecture or a PowerPoint presentation. The instructional strategies paired with the stereopticon opened doors for both photographic and teacher/student-created images to enhance learning.

Key words: stereopticon, blackboards, screen, dramatic instructional change, teacher or student prepared presentations, magic lanterns, oil lights, limelight, adult education, museum education, Chautauqua, Farmers’ Institute, glass stereograph, lantern slide

IMPROVEMENT OF DISTRICT SCHOOL BUILDINGS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

James L. Garvin, 58- 77

Most historians recognize the importance of New England in laying the groundwork for the construction of hundreds of thousands of tax-supported schools throughout the nation. Many visitors from other states are eager to celebrate the survival of numerous of New Hampshire’s one-room schoolhouses. Historian James L. Garvin delves deeply into the various means by which the people of New Hampshire built, bought, maintained, and improved rural school buildings. Each generation sought to establish standards for its schoolhouses, and they often engaged in strident criticisms of the poor conditions of these schools. The physical record of their educational efforts may be regarded as humble expressions of the desire to improve the spaces in which the children were educated.

Key words: legislation, tax-supported schools, aspirations, limited resources, schoolhouse design, district school buildings, school funding, systems of schools, school reform, state commissions of common schools, defects of schoolhouses, model school building

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