Smedley, Katherine

Martha Schofield and the Re-Education of the South, 1839-1916

1987 0-88946-525-8
Martha Schofield, a courageous young Philadelphia Quaker and abolitionist, has been known chiefly as the founder and head of the Schofield Norman and Industrial School in Aiken, South Carolina. Until its Incorporation into the public school system, it was one of the most successful schools for blacks in the south, winning wide recognition for its emphasis on vocational training and character education. The extensive collection of Schofield’s letters and journals released by her family, show her to have been much more than an educator of note. Her articles in the northern press publicizing violations of black political rights in 1876 and again in 1880, resulted in determined efforts to drive her from the south. She not only remained but became one of Aiken’s most noted citizens.