Despite local histories that have been published on the history of Columbus, Georgia, and its school system, very little has been written about Columbus’s freedmen schools created after the U.S. Civil War. As a result, a comprehensive history of Columbus’s freedmen does not exist, and those written are fragmented. The focus of this study is to document the beginnings of Columbus’s freedmen school efforts in the post-emancipation era, through those African Americans’ own historical voices and experiences. Though an analysis of archived unpublished letters, local and religious newspapers, census data, government documents, and meeting minutes, this study recovers the authentic perspective of Columbus’s freedmen as they embarked upon securing an education as well as exploring the limits of their freedom. This study is part of both the historiography of black education and of African Americans in the immediate post-Civil War Era.
","abstract_html":"<p>Despite local histories that have been published on the history of Columbus, Georgia, and its school system, very little has been written about Columbus’s freedmen schools created after the U.S. Civil War. As a result, a comprehensive history of Columbus’s freedmen does not exist, and those written are fragmented. The focus of this study is to document the beginnings of Columbus’s freedmen school efforts in the post-emancipation era, through those African Americans’ own historical voices and experiences. Though an analysis of archived unpublished letters, local and religious newspapers, census data, government documents, and meeting minutes, this study recovers the authentic perspective of Columbus’s freedmen as they embarked upon securing an education as well as exploring the limits of their freedom. This study is part of both the historiography of black education and of African Americans in the immediate post-Civil War Era.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Thomas, William Dwayne"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Art in History","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"History and Geography","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Sarah Bowman","Dr. Ryan J. Lynch","Dr. Gary Sprayberry"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:45:01Z","subjects":["Georgia","Columbus","Freedmen","Post-Emancipation","Reconstruction","African American Studies","United States History"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/theses_dissertations/420","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Sarah Bowman","Dr. Ryan J. Lynch","Dr. Gary Sprayberry"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Thomas, William Dwayne"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2021-01-13T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["History and Geography"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Art in History"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Georgia","Columbus","Freedmen","Post-Emancipation","Reconstruction","African American Studies","United States History"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/theses_dissertations/420"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Despite local histories that have been published on the history of Columbus, Georgia, and its school system, very little has been written about Columbus’s freedmen schools created after the U.S. Civil War. As a result, a comprehensive history of Columbus’s freedmen does not exist, and those written are fragmented. The focus of this study is to document the beginnings of Columbus’s freedmen school efforts in the post-emancipation era, through those African Americans’ own historical voices and experiences. Though an analysis of archived unpublished letters, local and religious newspapers, census data, government documents, and meeting minutes, this study recovers the authentic perspective of Columbus’s freedmen as they embarked upon securing an education as well as exploring the limits of their freedom. This study is part of both the historiography of black education and of African Americans in the immediate post-Civil War Era.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["“They Know Too Much Already:” Black Education in Post-Emancipation Era Columbus, GA, 1866-1876"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Sarah Bowman","Dr. Ryan J. Lynch","Dr. Gary Sprayberry"],"dc:creator":["Thomas, William Dwayne"],"dc:date.available":["2021-01-13T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Despite local histories that have been published on the history of Columbus, Georgia, and its school system, very little has been written about Columbus’s freedmen schools created after the U.S. Civil War. As a result, a comprehensive history of Columbus’s freedmen does not exist, and those written are fragmented. The focus of this study is to document the beginnings of Columbus’s freedmen school efforts in the post-emancipation era, through those African Americans’ own historical voices and experiences. Though an analysis of archived unpublished letters, local and religious newspapers, census data, government documents, and meeting minutes, this study recovers the authentic perspective of Columbus’s freedmen as they embarked upon securing an education as well as exploring the limits of their freedom. This study is part of both the historiography of black education and of African Americans in the immediate post-Civil War Era.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/theses_dissertations/420"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:subject":["Georgia","Columbus","Freedmen","Post-Emancipation","Reconstruction","African American Studies","United States History"],"dc:title":["“They Know Too Much Already:” Black Education in Post-Emancipation Era Columbus, GA, 1866-1876"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["History and Geography"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Art in History"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:45:01Z"}