Gallery Walk on the History of Education in Mississippi Through the Lens of Race

Lesson by Julian Hipkins III and Deborah Menkart

Mt. Olive School in Jones County, Miss. in 1956. This was a segregated school serving African American students in grades 1–12. John Elon Phay Collection, Archives & Special Collections, University of Mississippi Libraries

Tutwiler Elementary School in Tallahatchie County, Miss. in 1955. This was a segregated school serving white children grades 1–6. John Elon Phay Collection, Archives & Special Collections, University of Mississippi Libraries

This gallery walk allows participants to explore the history of education and race in Mississippi. Using textbook excerpts, data, quotes, legislation, and images, the gallery walk begins pre-Mississippi in the ancient city of Timbuktu, moves through Reconstruction and Jim Crow, and carries on to present-day issues.

Gallery walks are often used to introduce participants to new content or delve deeper into information already covered. The activity calls for participants to walk around the given space and comment on images/text about the respective topic. Participants can be invited to add their own experiences.

A similar gallery walk could be created for any state.

Grade Level: High School

Time Required: One Class Period

General Instructions for Gallery Walks

• The teacher or facilitator first selects images and texts that tell a story about the respective topic. Once images/texts have been chosen, they are placed throughout the room evenly to avoid congestion in one area. They can be placed on walls on their own or attached to chart paper for participants to write on.

• When the images are ready, participants are instructed to either write com­ments on a Post-it note and place it next to the image/text, or write on a piece of chart paper under the image. A question can be posed at the beginning of the gallery walk to focus participants on a specific aspect of the content. For example,

  As you are walking around, think about present-day examples of segre­gation in education.

Participants are asked to walk around the space as though they were at an art gallery. There is no talking during the gallery walk. This gives participants a chance to reflect silently. Give participants 10–15 minutes to write down their thoughts. Allow more time if necessary.

• Once the group reconvenes, ask a few follow-up questions about the ex­perience and what was learned. One option is to have students talk in small groups about what they observed and wrote and to have each group share their findings.

Sample Gallery Walk Text

1899

For nearly a century, the State denied Black citizens the franchise and public education in furtherance of economic benefit and political control.

“In educating the Negro we implant in him all manner of aspirations and ambitions which we then refuse to allow him to gratify. . . . Yet people talk about elevating the race by education! It is not only folly, but it comes pretty nearly being criminal folly. The Negro isn’t permitted to advance and their education only spoils a good field hand and makes a shyster lawyer or a fourth-rate teacher. It is money thrown away.” James K. Vardaman, Greenwood Commonwealth, June 30, 1899)

Source: Deliberate Denial of Public Education by Rita L. Bender & William J. Bender

1900

A textbook published in 1900 outlined the necessity of slavery to Mississippi’s economic system and way of life. Slavery was not evil, as the so-called “ignorant” Northern abolitionists argued, but a positive good, because it benefitted everyone involved, especially the enslaved.

Source: The Three R’s — Reading, ’Riting, and Race: The Evolution of Race in Mississippi History Textbooks, 1900–1995 by Rebecca Miller Davis

1906

A Black teacher association organized in Mississippi.

Throughout the South, these organizations formed to facilitate the profes­sional development of teachers in Black schools and to lobby for better public funding of Black education.

Source: A Class of Their Own: Black Teachers in the Segregated South by Adam Fairclough

1939

Richard McLemore’s Mississippi History argued that the Klan provided a much-needed service to white people.

“The government of the state gave the citizens almost no protection. The white people therefore had to protect themselves without the help of sheriff or police.” The authors defended the Klan, admitting that their actions were illegal, but arguing that they had no choice because the Reconstruction governments were not enforcing the law. The Klan, according to McLemore, “helped the South at a difficult time.”

Source: The Three R’s — Reading, ’Riting, and Race: The Evolution of Race in Mississippi History Textbooks, 1900–1995 by Rebecca Miller Davis