Of Victorianism, Civilizationism, and Progressivism: The Educational Ideas of Anna Julia Cooper and W.E.B. Du Bois, 1892–1940

Abstract

Anna Julia Cooper and W.E.B. Du Bois were two of the most prominent African-American educators of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. During this period, they both envisioned a broad education tailored specifically to the critical intellectual and vocational needs of the entire black community. They also participated in international affairs, attended and worked together at some of the same conferences and meetings, and shared a belief that education should encourage blacks to place their situation and struggles within a global context. In developing their educational ideas, they both addressed a wide range of educational issues (black women's education, education of the black masses, and the history curriculum in black schools) that spoke to the universal as well as the local realities of black life in America. At the core of their educational thought was their belief that social advancement would result in equality for blacks.