Prior to this activity, students should read the Educational Inequality Student Context, if they have not already done so. You should also share with students the following additional context and then engage them in a discussion using the discussion questions that appear below.

The first petition of many against the Smith School was presented to the Boston Grammar School Committee in 1840. Signatories included such noted White abolitionists as William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips. Later petitions were submitted in 1844, 1845, 1846, and 1849. In every case, the school committee refused to change its policy even though visiting committee members reported extensively on the Smith School’s weaknesses and failures. There were a couple of school committee members who agreed with the petitioners and published their own minority report on Boston’s segregated schools. 

Discussion Questions 

  • What does it mean to be well educated? How might a person’s life be affected by a good or an inadequate education? 
  • Who is responsible for making sure children are well educated? 

Then, share with students excerpts from two petitions from the 1840s initiated by African American parents as well as a response to a petition. Working in small groups, students should discuss the approaches taken by the parents and the response, answering the following questions: 

  • What tactics did they use to press their points? 
  • Which tactic does each group of students think would be most persuasive in getting the School Committee to give the parents what they wanted?
  • Was there validity in the response of the school committee to the petitions?

As a whole group, close by asking students to consider both at that time and in present day the following:

  • How else may a community ensure that their children’s educational needs are being met if petitions are not successful?

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