The Harris Brothers

Hard on the heels of the Union armies as they advanced into the South were the Yankeeschool teachers. Based upon official reports whose interpretation is subject to some uncertainty, the number of teachers in schools for freedmen rose from 972 in January, 1867, to a high of 9,502 in July, 1869.1 Although the latter figure is described as being composed of and colored teachers, there is no way by which the respective proportions can be fixed. Professor Swint's careful and interesting treatment of northern teachers in the South treats the entire group as if all were white. The only explicit reference to black teachers occurs in certain quotations documenting the qualifications and motives of teachers. Although certainly not intentional, the result is that the sole references to black teachers picture them as illiterate and conniving for money.2 While no correction of the neglect of black teachers is possible in statistical terms, the purpose of this paper is to ameliorate the picture somewhat by tracing the course of three northern black teachers who joined the trek to the South during Reconstruction. Although black contributions to the reconstruction of various states have been described, still it is impossible to determine the extent to which the Harris brothers were typical of northern black teachers who went South. We shall use Swint's portrayal of the northern white teachers as a framework within which to examine these black teachers

Geography · Mathematics education · History · Psychology · Race, History, and American Society