Avery+-+Shaw+Diary

Shaw University- the first few years

July 8th, 1873

Diary,

As I’ve written before, I never believed that the institution of slavery was a just one, under any circumstance. Now that the war has been over for sometime and the dust is settling down south and up here in New York, I’ve grown restless. Life in the family home, though charming, has become almost unbearable to me. The monotony of each day, the same routine...I am thankful for the summer months now that school is no longer in session and I am not bothered by incessant children failing miserably at English composition and rhetoric. I only graduated teacher’s college a few years ago, and I know that I shouldn’t be so weary of it already, but I can’t help it. My heart longs for a different landscape, a new adventure. My family desires me to find a suitable husband and insists that a successful one would mean that I would no longer suffer behind my desk at school, but that does not make me complete either. I enjoy teaching, and the children, but I just need to break away from home for a bit…

Yours, Sarah Anne

July 17th, 1873

Diary, Things have been changing rapidly in my home and in my life. My oldest sister’s husband has passed away unexpectedly and she has returned home with her three children to live so my parents can support her. They hardly even notice I’m around, which is how I stumbled upon a most amazing opportunity. I have heard that the university established for negroes in North Carolina has been open for almost ten years and is seeking out English professors—but we needn’t be any more proficient than my qualifications already. The college centers around teaching freed slaves—both men and women. It even has a dormitory on campus just for women! How wonderful. I have never even been outside of New England and would so love to see what the south has to offer. The information I discovered about the position says that they will provide additional training to desirable candidates. I shall send a letter to the president, Henry Tupper, in the next few days.

Best, Sarah Anne

July 30th, 1973 Diary,

I am surprised I can even write to you without the sweat beading off of my forehead and smearing the ink on my pages here—the heat here in Raleigh is sweltering. Since my last correspondence, I accepted a job as an English teacher to first-year students here at the college and moved to North Carolina on my own. Mother and father didn’t get as upset as I had anticipated, but I know it pained them to see me pack up my things and travel away from all I had even known. They worry for me. I worry for me a bit too—everything is so different here. The heat is stifling here in my on campus dwelling provided by the church, and people are still somewhat narrow-minded when it comes to Africans—many still believe they are of another entity and are less than us because of the color of their skin…it is a sad city at times. I begin my training on the 5th of August, and I plan to see some of the city in the mean time.

Yours, Sarah Anne

August 6th, 1973 Diary, There really wasn’t much to see of Raleigh, I have heard that much of the planning is amidst now. There are a few town squares and many popular local taverns. I have met some fellow educators that are lovely, and befriended an African teacher about my age, Joan. We began our training at the university yesterday and I was a little caught off guard. I anticipated rigorous reading and composition lessons—the same I endured at my own training previous—but there were many other lessons included I had not anticipated. Dr. Tupper gave several speeches in the last few days about not only education Africans to the best of our ability, but also encouraging these Africans to profoundly advance their race. Much like the cities the war was fought in, the people too needed to rebuild just as extensively. I look forward to our first day of classes in a week’s time.

Thankfully, Sarah Anne

August 25th, 1973 Diary, Today marked the end of 10 days of teaching at the African American University. I have a quaint little classroom where I teach English for five hours a day to classes of about twenty individuals. It brings me so much joy that not only freed men are attending, but also women. Although these people are very limited in their literacy skills, they possess a determination that I have not encountered in any child, man, or woman, that I have taught before. They work hard, learning things from the basics of how to form sentences, to reading novels. I am in shock every day that these people were, and still are, halted from obtaining a higher education on the reasoning that their skin is shades darker than mine. Every day at my job has been a joy so far, I finally feel like I have encountered the adventure I longed for just months ago. Time truly is passing by ever so quickly.

Best, Sarah Anne

September 17th, 1973 Diary,

Thankfully, I still possess my happiness and vigor for my job, but the adjustments I have made personally have been quite new. I have to say, this is my first time being surrounded by so many African Americans without whites present. I am one of the few white teachers on staff here, though I do not feel intimidated at all. I simply feel like a minority, slightly out of place and out of touch with the horrors these past slaves must have had to endure. I feel that this outsider feeling is probably how they feel going about their lives every day. It pains me so, but I will keep teaching and keep on fighting for their education until I am old and can no longer see, or until my fingers can no longer hold this pen steadily. I have not found a husband, mother writes me often reminding me that I must be looking, especially in the church I attend. But I have no sincere interest at this time. I am happy, on my own, and feeling warmth in the goodness I feel I am bringing to these people here. I attended a meeting just the other day where the President spoke of his dream to have trained more than 30,000 teachers here in the next thirty years. Imagine that! African teachers trained so that they can continue to spread the knowledge to others of their race, so that they may continue their education by educating others. So that they may embark on their own teaching adventures, much like I have mine. I feel at home now here in Raleigh; the old oak trees embrace me warmly as the temperatures begin to fall as autumn lies in the horizon. I am blessed to have such an opportunity at my feet.

All the best, Sarah Anne

Part 2: How to teach this content in an 8th grade class

-Field trip to Shaw would be interesting -Some sort of role play showing the small percent of NC freed slaves attended the university -a lesson on important African American historical sites in NC -have students write from differing points of view of people attending the college/working at the college -compare the different colleges/education opportunities available at the time

Dr. Lee, Sorry for my delay in posting. Let me know if I need to adjust the format from diary entries to a narrative according to your e-mail. Thanks!