Not Your Ordinary Sunday School

After the Civil War, African Americans were determined to get an education. African Americans ran their own schools affiliated with their churches. Sabbath schools began to grow in the Black community, ran by the African Methodist Episcopal Church. In the reading of, "Going against the Gain", by 1885, the AME Church reported of having 200,000 children in Sunday schools for "moral and intellectual" instruction (Royster, 153). One thing that stuck out to me the most is that these "Sunday School" classes were not devoted to mostly Bible Study, but also Universal education.

I began to do more research on if the AME church still has a presence in today's higher education world. I was so surprised on what Institutions were founded by the AME Church. Part of the Atlanta University Center, Morris Brown College was founded by the AME Church in 1881. Also, HBCUs such as Allen University, Livingstone College, and Wilberforce University are just a few named institutions who were founded after the Civil War to educate Black people.

Large missionary groups were the backbone of educational enterprises for African Americans. The American Missionary Association (AMA), supported more than 5,000 teachers in the South between 1861 and 1873. Being a Spelman Woman, my institution of higher learning is surrounded by institutions founded by the Black church. As I began to read, “Going against the Gain”, I realized that Spelman College has a strong history on educating Black females based on a Christ-background.

From the Civil War, to the year of 2011, Black high learning Institutions still stand strong today. I am just grateful and honored to be able to attend a college whose history is based upon uplifting and inspiring young Black women to achieve the most high.