Abstract of

Literacy at Calhoun Colored School 1892–1945

Arlette Ingram Willis

This article examines the historical experiences and struggles of African Americans seeking literacy access during the Post Reconstruction era and, in so doing, adds to what is known about the literacy histories of marginalized groups, here African Americans living in Calhoun, Alabama, from 1892–1945. Then, as now, literacy was represented to subjugated people as the acquisition of skills with the hope that said skills would lead to liberation. Applying a Foucaultian genealogical analysis to documents from Calhoun Colored School reveals interconnections of power/knowledge relations and discursive practices of the Hampton-Tuskegee model of education that shaped literacy access and opportunity. Moreover, these discursive practices framed the school's literacy program and delimitated literacy access and opportunities.

Abstract from Willis, A. (2002). Literacy at Calhoun Colored School 1892–1945. Reading Research Quarterly, 37(1), 8–44. doi: 10.1598/RRQ.37.1.1