ABSTRACT
In the 1930s there emerged an initiative to teach black history and culture to white students, which pre-dates more widespread efforts of the post-Second World War era. This article analyses student work – considering sight, sound and text – and investigates what white students learned about African-American history and culture. Curriculum history has generally relied on textbook analysis, while this study examines non-traditional teaching materials and student work. It is argued that, while most of the student work reveals the reification of stereotypes of blacks as lazy and in need of white oversight, the school work of white students reveals an eagerness to understand African-Americans. However, white students could only understand African-Americans in relation to themselves and could not remove themselves from the centre of their study of black history and culture. Such attempts at learning an inclusive history from the learners’ viewpoints are rarely documented in the history of education.
