Building Racial Tolerance Through Education: The Fisk University Race Relations Institute, 1944-1969

This study concerns Fisk University's efforts to address the racial tensions of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. Inspired by the racial tensions of the 1940s, Fisk sociologist Charles Spurgeon Johnson combined his expertise in race relations with the American Missionary Association and the Julius Rosenwald Fund to form the Fisk University Race Relations Institute. Johnson hoped that the Institute would serve as a vehicle to address racially-based issues and promote civil rights. This study shows that unlike the Southern grass-roots movements which educated and utilized the oppressed themselves to seek social changes, the Institute relied on sociological research, scholars, and educated leaders to stimulate those changes. This study contributes significantly to the current discussion of efforts made for social justice prior to the famed Civil Rights Era.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Education

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Sanders, Katrina Marie

Contributors dc:contributor

• Anderson, James D.

• History, Black

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI9737240

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/80189