History / Sociology / African American Studies THE FIELDS SCHOOL - An African American School Without FailuresA Case Study of a School in Rural Alabama whichserved a Community of African American Childrenfrom 1933-1949 Today, when many schools are failing young people and when the drop-out and failure rates of African Americans are twice that of Caucasians, reading this book will give insight into the reasons for this and what can be done to eliminate this inequity and have schools without failures. Over three-quarters of the students who attended the Fields School, some of them for eight years, completed a bachelor's degree. Of these, over half had completed some graduate work, including nearly a third had master's degrees, one a law degree and one an earned doctorate. The researcher's concluding statement: "The overwhelming success of the Fields School, despite the limitations of the physical setting, furnishings, and available materials and books represents a triumph of this unusual family over difficult circumstances. The story of the school while interesting and informative is really the story of the Fields family since the school was an extension of the family's commitment to its children. The story of the family is yet to be written."

The Fields School

An African American School Without Failures Located in Rural Alabama 1933-1949By Uriah J. Fields

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2009 Uriah J. Fields
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4490-0438-5

Contents

Preface.............................................................................................................................ixChoosing a Sabbatical Project.......................................................................................................xiiThe Fields School...................................................................................................................1Introduction........................................................................................................................1The Purpose of this Study...........................................................................................................3Research Questions Addressed in this Study..........................................................................................4Method..............................................................................................................................5Subjects............................................................................................................................5Data Collection Measures Used.......................................................................................................5Fields Family Tree and Fields School students (Listings from left to right and top to bottom by order of birth).....................6Procedures..........................................................................................................................9Summary of Findings of the Study....................................................................................................12Interview Data from Former Fields School Students & Teachers........................................................................12The Establishing of the Fields School...............................................................................................14Fields School Teachers..............................................................................................................18Fields School Teachers and their individual Terms of Service*.......................................................................18Students' Impressions of Teachers...................................................................................................20Typical Guidance & Discipline used by Teachers......................................................................................21Descriptions of the Physical Setting of the School..................................................................................23Responses Indicating What was in Abundance at School................................................................................24Things in Short Supply at School....................................................................................................25What they would Change about the School.............................................................................................26Fields School Curriculum............................................................................................................27How Learning and Work were Combined at School.......................................................................................30Important Lessons Learned at Fields School..........................................................................................31LifeValues Leaned at the Fields School..............................................................................................32Most Stirring Memory of School......................................................................................................33What would want for Young Children today to Experience of Fields School.............................................................34Background Information on Former Fields School Students.............................................................................36Current Residence of Subjects.......................................................................................................36Current Patterns of Residence.......................................................................................................37Education Completed by Subjects.....................................................................................................37Education Completed by Gender.......................................................................................................38Occupations/Careers by Gender.......................................................................................................39Highest Income Earned by Subjects...................................................................................................39Highest Income Earned by Gender.....................................................................................................40Discussion of Research Questions....................................................................................................40Student Responses (=26) to What the World Should Know about the Fields School.......................................................41Conclusions.........................................................................................................................50References Cited....................................................................................................................54Other References....................................................................................................................56Appendix............................................................................................................................57Acknowledgments.....................................................................................................................67About the Author....................................................................................................................69

Chapter One

The Fields School

A Case Study of a School in Rural Alabama which served a Community of African American children from 1933-1949.

Sabbatical Leave Report Compiled by Malathi K. Sandhu, Ph.D. and Edited with Commentary by Uriah J. Fields

... a mass movement among African-Americans must be credited as primarily responsible for the creation of public school systems in the South in the aftermath of the Civil War. (Fultz, 1996; p. 145).

... it was during the period 1870-1885 that segregated, dual systems of education were formally established in former slaveholding states. (Fultz, 1996; p. 146)."

Beginning in the later 1880s, however, and continuing on a virtually uninterrupted upward slope into the 1940s separate education in those southern states that maintained de jure segregation became maliciously un- equal. (Fultz, 1996; p. 146)."

Introduction

Many small, segregated schools which served African American children existed in the rural south during the period of the two decades from the early 1930s through the later 1940s. The Fields School, which was the object of this case study, was just such a small school. It came into being through the efforts of the then elder Fields family members. Recognizing the need for a school in close proximity to the Fields community, they requested available funds from the Washington County Superintendent of Education to support this endeavor. At the time, the only available funding for schools for blacks in the area was in the form of payment of teacher salaries, and some private funding for oversight of these schools. As Anderson (1988) points out when speaking of public education in rural Alabama in the late 1920s, "... rural black southerners, living in a cash-short economy and virtually disenfranchised by the public school authorities, paid from their limited resources a tremendous private cost for their 'public' educations. (p. 161).

The building and its furniture and furnishings, books, and teaching materials, with a few exceptions, had to be supplied by the local community or the group requesting county or state support for a school.... African American families have a long-standing commitment to the education of their children. The testimony of former slaves reveals such a strong desire for literacy and book learning that they learned to read, write, and spell through subterfuge.

Following the Civil War, African American families saw education as the key to literacy, which they hoped would in turn assure African American children a life of freedom and prosperity. Fearless in the face of poverty and discrimination and sustained by a distinctive orientation toward learning, during Reconstruction African American parents in the South (at times in cooperation with the Freedman's Bureau) built a free school system. (McCready, 1996; pp. 163-164).

In the mid-1930s, African American educator and historian Carter G. Woodson coined the term 'miseducation' to describe the existing educational theories, practices, and their outcomes pertaining to the education of African Americans. He argued that Africa Americans were being socialized to absorb and value an European knowledge base, beliefs, attitudes, customs, and behaviors. He proposed improvement in the quality of education for blacks, but did not really suggest different educations for blacks and whites. He did propose that ... a true education for African Americans would not be controlled by others or teach them to serve the oppressors. Instead, it would be controlled by African Americans and would accomplish the following: it would equip African Americans to earn a living; it would allow them to manifest activities their authentic selves shaped by their traditional African cultures and histories and the social, political and economic conditions in the United States; finally, it would help African Americans develop into valuable contributing members of the community who will be empowered to shape its positive development. (Okazawa-Rey, 1996; pp. 297-298).

Whether or not the patriarchs and matriarchs of the various branches of the Fields family were aware of Woodson's proposals, their efforts certainly moved them in directions advocated by his work, as the findings of this study will show. They were aware that literacy was a tool for social change and provided protection against economic exploitation, and that education as a tool for attaining economic power and engendering a sense of personal significance and self-worth. They were confident that sending their children to an African American and community-controlled school would serve their children well.

The purpose of this study

The qualitative research study was undertaken so as to profile the Fields School, a public elementary school which existed in the rural hamlet of Sunflower in Washington County, Alabama, between 1933 and 1949 and served a community of African Americans. An attempt was made by the researcher to identify the efforts that brought the school into being, to study the physical environment of the school, the curriculum taught, the teachers who served and their teaching methods and qualifications, the students who attended and their subsequent achievements and successes in coping with life in the world at large.

Research Questions Addressed In this Study

1) Did students/teachers who attended the Fields School regard their experiences as largely positive and successful?

2) What was the success rate for identified former students in terms of completing high school, college, entering professions and careers, etc.?

3) How did the school experiences of the Fields family members support the family's expectations and vice versa, how did nuclear family units support the school's operation?

4) What parts, if any, of the Fields School experience could be described as negative or weak, and why were they viewed in this way?

5) What agency and/or individuals provided administrative oversight for the operation for the school?

6) Under what circumstances was the school phased out?

Method

Subjects

Of a group of about 35 students who had attended the Fields School, 26 former students were interviewed in person by the researcher. The 26 students interviewed had attended the school from a minimum of one academic year to up to eight academic years (for the eight grades, one through eight, which the school offered).

Of the four teachers who taught at the Fields School, two former teachers were interviewed who had taught at the school during its last three years of existence.

All former students and the two teachers who were interviewed belonged to the Fields family. These family connections over three generations are depicted in Table 1 in a modified 'family tree' format.

This depiction includes only the male children of Benjamin Fields, Sr., and their offspring who resided in the hamlet of Sunflower, Alabama, where the Fields School itself was located.

Data Collection Measures Used

Two interview protocols were developed with a view to addressing the research questions formulated above. Twenty-one questions were developed as part of the interview protocol for former students of the Fields School. It was estimated in the pre-testing of this interview protocol, that it would take approximately one hour to administer.

The teachers interview consisted of twenty-two questions, and it was estimated that this instrument would take approximately an hour and a half to administer.

A background information sheet, to be completed by former students, was also developed to provide information including the subjects' dates of birth, years of school attendance, education and degrees earned, occupations, and careers pursued.

Procedures

Each potential participant in the study was initially contacted by mail, indicating the researcher's interest in conducting this project, asking the cooperation of each subject, and soliciting by mail the participant's written permission and available times for a face-to-face interview. A second letter was sent to each potential subject informing each of the interviewer's scheduled time in the local community of each individual. The third contact with each subject was made by phone to set up the actual time for the personal interview. In some cases, more phone calls were necessary to confirm or modify as scheduled interview time.

Written communication with each potential subject was initiated in Spring 1998. Personal interviews were conducted between June 16 and October 13, 1998.

Each interview was conducted in person by the researcher with individual subjects typically in each subject's home in any available quiet area. Interview locations included living and dining areas, kitchens, and studies in homes. Four interview locations were other than in subjects homes. In one case, a subject was interviewed in the living room of her cousin's home (her cousin also being a participant in the study), as this was the most convenient location identified by the subject who was traveling daily to another distant location.

In another case, an interview was conducted in the office of the subject, again, at her request.

In two other instances, interviews were conducted in the hotel room of the researcher who had traveled to a conference in Louisiana expressly for the purpose of interviewing these two subjects.

In all cases, the interviewer and the subject were the only individuals present during the interview. The researcher asked for and, in all cases, was given permission to use a tape recorder during the interview. The researcher also kept detailed notes during each interview which, in review, were a very accurate record of the audiotape version of each interview. Following completion of each interview each subjects was asked to complete the background interview questionnaire which typically took each individual about five to ten minutes to complete.

Interviews were conducted by the researcher in seven states, Alabama, Arizona, California, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, and newYork.

When the researcher visited Chatom Alabama, the county seat of Washington County, she visited the Board of Education offices and asked permission to study and copy available records pertaining to the Fields Schools and other schools in the county. She was able to examine and copy all relevant material from the Board of Education record of board meeting minutes for the time period extended from 1933 through 1949. These minutes, while very brief in most cases, included such information as the names of Negro teachers on the county/state payroll, the differential pay status of white and negro teachers, the initially different school terms for white and negro students, and the name of the appointed supervisor for the negro schools in the county. The information so gathered from the Board of Education minutes served to confirm and verify data provided by individual subjects during interviews conducted by the researcher, and information contained in the literature about education in the rural south during the 1930s and 1940s. Individual participants in the research study provided the researcher with treasured artifacts such as photographs of teachers and former students of the Fields School, a copy of family birth listings, and a grade report of one of the students. Copies of these were made and the originals returned to their owners.

The interviewer transcribed each taped interview before conducting an analysis of responses given.

Transcription of the audiotaped interviews took approximately five hours for each interview to be completed, and thus involved up to 150 hours of the researches time.

Summary of Findings Of the Study

Interview Data from Former Fields School Students & Teachers

The data presented in this section were gathered from interviews conducted with 26 former students of the Fields School and two of their former teachers, Sarah Hester Colvin (later Fields), and Pearlie Mae Fields (Holcombe). See Table 2 for a listing of subjects interviewed by birth Table 2

Subjects attending the Fields School by Birth Year Categories, Years of Attendance, and Teachers year categories supplied by each individual, the years that each attended the school and their teachers during that time. In some cases exact dates of school attendance were provided but in other cases, these could not be provided by some subjects. In these instances, the researcher resorted to questioning these subjects about who had attended school with the individual, who had finished school with them, or started school just before the individual in question started. Such probing did often trigger memories of approximate dates of attendance, and were also pegged to teachers who had taught individual students.

The Establishing of the Fields School

The Fields School started operating on September 21, 1933, initiated by the efforts of Benjamin Fields, Sr. and Alex Fields, grandfathers to many of the students who attended, and the parents of many of the students, Henry, Benjamin, and George Fields.

The school came into being because there were many young children in the family who needed to be educated and the nearest public school for African American children in Sunflower was located 3 to 4 miles distant from the Fields community. There was no busing available for black children at the time. Transportation to the nearest black school called Red Hill or Sunflower #2 would have been difficult for the families to arrange for the large number of Fields children who would be attending. In fact, one of the older students who later attended the Fields School spoke of having to walk the many miles to Red Hill School. Another subject stated that her father would not allow her to attend Red Hill as it was too far a distance to walk.

The County Superintendent of Education, Mr. T. J. Pearson, was approached by the older members of the Fields family and apparently gave consent for the Fields School to be established. The minutes of the County Board of Education do not acknowledge the establishing of the school, but in the Board meeting minutes of November 28, 1933, Clara Fields, the first teacher at the Fields School, is listed among the negro teachers "elected" by the Board for the 1933-34 session

Students Attending Fields School.

Table 1 shows that all of the subjects, that is former students, attending the Fields School were members of the Fields families, most being first and second cousins to each other. While most of the subjects interviewed had started school at age five, one student stated that she had started at age three years, and there were some who had started at age seven or even later (as was the case of those who had started when the school first started).

In discussing their impressions of fellow students at the Fields School, a majority of responses focused on the fact that they were all related by blood, and were family members (n=11). More than a third of the responses pertained to how well they got along together and how much fun they had together (n=9). An equal number of responses (n=9 focused on the fact that fellow students were striving to improve themselves and learn. These findings are presented in Table 3.

Over half the subjects (n=14) interviewed graduated from 8th. grade at the Fields School.

Three former students completed 7th. grade at the school. Eight students were unable to complete the eight grade of schooling offered at the Fields school because the school was closed in 1949 due to lack of minimum enrollment required by the County Board of Education. One of the older students who attended the school for only three years, upon completing 7th. grade, went to work as she needed to do this, and obtained her GED many years later.

Most of the students (n=19) who attended the Fields School attended and graduated from McIntosh Union High School, located about 8 miles from Sunflower, Alabama.

Four students attended Prestwick High School (about 12 miles from Sunflower, Alabama) after leaving the Fields School, and three attended a boarding school, Presbyterian Boarding School in another county (Wilcox) and graduated from there.

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