Honors Theses
Date of Award
2007
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Political Science
First Advisor
John Winkle
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
In 1954, the Supreme Court decided that a young girl named Linda Brown could attend her neighborhood school, despite the color of her skin. This facially simple ruling sent shock waves throughout the entire nation, but none were as strong as in Mississippi. Over the next twenty-five years, integration with “all deliberate speed became more and of a reality as private, segregated schools began to arise all over the state. This thesis will examine the actual effect that the private school revolution had not only on public education but also on education in general within Mississippi. The effect will be examined through many lenses, including student attendance, community support, and racial demographics. Educational statistics of towns with similar characteristics (population, racial proportions, and income levels) but different responses to integration will be examined. Many different mediums of study have been used in this endeavor, including government documents (encompassing Sovereignty Commission files), interviews, educational statistics, and other educational studies. The goal of the research is to examine a dark time in Mississippi’s history and determine the best way to forward. The fourth chapter will study possible solutions to the failing Mississippi public educational system and the still-lingering effects of a segregation no longer decried by law but instead by distinctions of “public” and “private.”
Recommended Citation
Fletcher, Milton Oliver, "An Educational Divide: The Effect of the Private School Movement on Mississippi Public Schools" (2007). Honors Theses. 2326.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/2326
Accessibility Status
Searchable text