Separate and Equal

About this book

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, African Americans debated what would constitute the best type of education for their children. Integrated versus segregated schooling became a point of discussion when the all-Black Harriet Beecher Stowe School was established, with Jennie Davis Porter as its driving force and first principal. Unlike other segregated schools, it had highly qualified teachers, resources, and a modern building. This experiment in Black education demonstrated how a nurturing segregated environment could be beneficial to African American students. As the first Black woman principal in the Cincinnati Public Schools and the first African American to earn a PhD from the University of Cincinnati, Porter opposed the concept of mixed-race schooling advocated by her peers. This book studies her educational philosophy, her leadership of the Harriet Beecher Stowe School, and her role in shaping the future of hundreds of Black Cincinnatians.